Criminal Justice (A.S.)

The Criminal Justice program will prepare you for careers in law enforcement, investigation, corrections, courts, private security, juvenile justice, or related opportunities in the legal field. It also will help those of you who presently work in criminal justice and want to broaden or improve your job skills and knowledge, and those who want to learn more about our American legal and justice system and how laws work. In addition to law and the legal underpinnings of the criminal justice system, you will explore psychology, criminal behavior, political science, social systems and problems, communication skills, and ethics.

Program Outcomes

Successful graduates will be able to:
• articulate the philosophy, concepts and practices of the major components of the American criminal justice system: law enforcement, the courts, rehabilitation, detention facilities, and corrections;
• compare and contrast the various psychological and sociological theories that account for criminal behavior;
• evaluate the principal research methodology for measuring criminal behavior;
• explain the protections afforded criminal defendants by the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions, and identify the major Supreme Court decisions applicable to the American criminal justice system;
• distinguish between restorative and retributive justice models and explain the various societal responses to criminal behavior;
• demonstrate an understanding of how data on crime, recidivism, and crime prevention are collected, reported, and analyzed;
• describe a variety of psychological, social, cultural, and environmental factors that affect human behavior;
• demonstrate some of the ways social scientists research and interpret evidence;
• demonstrate academic skills required of all CCV graduates including competency in critical thinking, writing, information literacy, oral communication and quantitative reasoning; and
• identify their career and transfer options and assume a professional role in the workplace.

Program Requirements '09-'10

CRJ-1010 - Introduction to Criminal Justice
CRJ-2020 - American Judicial Process
CRJ-2050 - Criminology
POS-1050 - The Constitution*
ENG-1020 - Introduction to Research Methods*
PHI-1040 - Introduction to Ethics*
SOC-1020 - Ethnicity & Diversity in the U.S. or
SOC-2040 - Race, Ethnicity, Class & Gender*
POS-2070 - National Security & Terrorism* or
any 3-credit criminal justice course
EDU-2860 - Community & Work Experience
Electives – 12 credits

General Education Requirements

In addition to program-specific courses listed above, an associate's degree includes completion of general education program requirements, which together constitute a minimum of 60 credits.

*You may use a course to meet both a program requirement and a general education requirement; however, you may not use a single course to meet two general education requirements.

More info
Printable program description (Adobe version)