Criminal Justice (M.S.)
The Master of Science with a major in criminal justice at the University of North Georgia (91ÁÔÆæ) is designed for practitioners already in the field or in military service and others that are seeking to improve their credentials and knowledge base for professional advancement.
The focus of the program is on international crime and justice. Additionally, the program helps develop an understanding of theory, policy, and administration in criminal justice.
Criminal Justice (M.S.) Program Quick Facts
- Online program, no campus visit required
- Asynchronous online classes
- Program length 30 credit hours
- Open enrollment any semester
- No entrance test required
- Focus international crime and justice
- Courses offered on an annual rotation
Program Application Deadlines
All application materials are to be received prior to the deadline. If program capacity is met prior to established admission deadlines, we will stop accepting applications for admission and cancel remaining incomplete applicants. Completing your application earlier is better.
Fall Deadline
- July 15
Spring Deadline
- December 1
Summer
- April 15
How to Apply to 91ÁÔÆæ's Criminal Justice (M.S.) Program
About the Criminal Justice (M.S.) Curriculum
Required Core: 15 Credit Hours
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This course provides an analysis and investigation of criminological theory with an emphasis on understanding theoretical principles in application in criminal justice policy, treatment, and practice. Pre-requisite: An undergraduate course in criminology or social theory
Hours:
3
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This course consists of an examination of research methods, including research paradigms and methodologies across criminal justice, research question formulation, research project design, and research ethics.
Hours:
3
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This course provides a foundation for the use of statistical methods in criminal justice research. It will review fundamentals of research, showing the interplay between the theory, the research, the statistical method, and the interpretation of analytical and statistical concepts and procedures relevant to crime and criminal justice policy data. Contemporary race, gender, and other diversity issues, and their relevance to criminal offenders, crime victims, and the criminal justice system, are explored using statistical techniques on live data from a variety of criminal justice data banks.
Hours:
3
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In the last two decades, transnational crime has experienced an unprecedented expansion, now accounting for roughly 15 percent of the world's GDP. Profits from transnational crime groups have been termed the 'global shadow economy' or the 'dark side of the economy.' The purpose of this course is to study crime and criminal justice from a global perspective. The course will examine how globalization and improvements in communication technologies have led to a recent growth in transnational crime. The course will explore issues surrounding the definitions, incidence, and trends in transnational crime. The course also analyzes efforts made by contemporary nation states and multilateral agencies to combat illicit transnational activity. Specific crime topics discussed include, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, the trafficking of persons, the sex industry, fraud, cybercrime, and transnational criminal organizations.
Hours:
3
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This course is a survey of program evaluation and policy analysis techniques relating to the philosophical and practical administration of criminal justice. The focus is on how policy in criminal justice is created, analyzed and changed. The student will be introduced to critical issues in criminal justice and policymaking at the local, state, and federal levels as well as effective and ineffective policies and strategies used in the criminal justice system.
Hours:
3
Capstone: 3 Credit Hours
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A capstone course designed to strengthen the analysis and comparison of various theories and methodological models as they pertain to criminal justice issues in a global society. Emphasis is on the critical examination of current trends and research in criminal justice as well as design and implementation of criminal justice research.
Hours:
3
Electives (Choose Four): 12 Credit Hours
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The purpose of this course is to examine the development and role of police in modern society. This not a course on police administration or criminal investigation, rather the course examines the function of police in the context of the large society. As such, it will explore such topics as, the history of policing, police recruitment, police misconduct, police discretion, police culture, patterns of police-community relations, crime prevention strategies, the relationship between police and the media. Like other course in the graduate curriculum, this class will integrate theory, research, and policy by relying on academic journal articles as the source for class discussions.
Hours:
3
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This course is an examination of the liability issues that challenge criminal justice professionals in the performance of their duties. The course will result in an examination of how management and administration in criminal justice relates to ethical, civil, and criminal behaviors of personnel.
Hours:
3
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The purpose of this course is to examine criminal behavior through a psychological perspective. Upon completion of this course, students should have acquired knowledge regarding the major psychological theories of criminal behavior as well as specific psychological disorders that potentially contribute to criminal behavior, such as personality disorders, impulse control disorders, and sexual disorders. Students will study the behaviors and traits of the perpetrators and victims of such crimes as, serial murder, rape, child molestation, domestic homicide, mass murder, and serial arson. The course will also familiarize students with various techniques for analyzing and understanding criminal behavior though crime scene analysis. These techniques include an introduction to the fundamentals of criminal investigative analysis, criminal profiling, risk assessment, and interview strategies. Critical thinking skills are emphasized by the utilization of case studies that will involved an analysis of offender psychopathology, modus operandi, and signature.
Hours:
3
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This course is a study of federal, state, local, and private and other organizational entities involved in homeland security. It addresses the evolution of homeland security from early to modern times with an emphasis on the emerging homeland security structure, culture, and organization. Students will evaluate contemporary homeland security issues and policies, and critically compare and contrast them. Additional topics include emergency management, national and international laws that impact homeland security, the protection of civil liberties, the bureaucracy of managing homeland security, and the modern threat of cyber, international, and domestic terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Pre-requisite: CRJU 1100 or acceptance into the MSCJ program.
Hours:
3
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An interdisciplinary examination of the main areas of family violence: spousal abuse, child abuse, sibling violence, etc. Research in the field will be reviewed for factors related to causation and prevention.
Hours:
3
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The course includes an overview of management and administration in criminal justice agencies. The course examines organizational structure, communication, leadership, motivation, employee evaluation and supervision as well as external environmental demands and situations. There is an emphasis on the role of the criminal justice administrator in policy formulation and program development.
Hours:
3
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This course is designed as an examination of both traditional and non-traditional security concerns. The course will highlight the importance of context and the development of decision-making skills by those that craft foreign policy and military missions. All elements of security will be examined: military security, environmental security and resource security. The graduate portion of this course will expand discussions beyond traditional national borders to examine regional and global trends in security studies. The graduate student will be expected to synthesize the activities of their particular state within both regional and international security structures.
Hours:
3
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The aim of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the U.S. national security process and how it develops, executes and implements policy for the issues that face America in the 21st century. We will spend significant amounts of time discussing the major actors in the National Security Establishment (the Presidency, National Security Council, Congress, the Military, the Intelligence community, the judiciary, public and media) and how they participate in a process your textbook author Sam Sarkesian calls "somewhat of a mystery or `muddling through'" (181). Structure and theory are applied to organize, clarify and understand this process, and historical and modern-day examples are used in extensive class discussion to connect process to policy. A semester-long research project affords the student an opportunity to apply this process to a topic of specific interest in U.S. national security policy.
Hours:
3
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The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the impacts of terrorism and political violence on the world system. The pressures of globalization have caused significant changes in the abilities of terrorists to take on action of global importance.
Hours:
3
Typical Course Rotation
Fall
- CRJU 7001 - Criminological Theory (Hayes)
- CRJU 7002 - Research Methodology (Hayes)
- CRJU 7115 - Corrections and Penology (Batchelder)
- CRJU 6350 - Family Violence (Foster)
- CRJU 6325 - Homeland Security (Orr)
Spring
- CRJU 7005 - Global Crime and Justice (Hayes)
- CRJU 7010 - Criminal Justice Policy (Hayes)
- CRJU 7500 - Comprehensive Seminar (Hayes)
- CRJU 7120 - Forensic Behavior Analysis (Orr)
Summer
- CRJU 6325 - Homeland Security (Orr)
- CRJU 6440 - Criminal Justice Administration (Orr)
- CRJU 7112 - Police and Society (Hayes)
- CRJU 7003 - Statistics for Criminal Justice (Batchelder)
- CRJU 6350 - Family Violence (Foster)
Questions?
crju_grad@ung.edu
For questions about the application process, contact:
Graduate Admissions
grads@ung.edu
706-864-1543