Criminology and Criminal Justice Major

Favian Guertin-Martin teaches a criminal justice class.

Overview

Degree Level: Undergraduate
Degrees Offered: Bachelor of Arts

Department: Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice
school/college: College of Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Arcadia’s Criminology and Criminal Justice major will introduce you to schools of thought and social theories on the origins, nature, and extent of criminal behavior, criminal justice, and the justice system. Students gain hands-on investigative experience in our Crime Scene House, study unsolved criminal cases in our Cold Case Practicum, and examine the prison system through our Inside Out course.

As a Criminal Justice major, you’ll:

Learn about corrections, juvenile justice, social policy, criminal behavior, and criminal justice systems;
Choose a concentration in Social Justice or Law Enforcement;
Study connections between the criminal justice system and other social institutions;
Explore international criminal justice issues;
Examine the relationship between criminal behavior and justice and sociological factors such as class, gender, and race.

Explore a Typical Course Path to Graduation

Criminology & Criminal Justice Abroad

Arcadia University is ranked in the top 10 in the country for study abroad. We encourage you to explore all your options.

LEARN MORE ABOUT STUDY ABROAD

Minor

Think critically about criminal justice and prepare for professional training or graduate education.

VIEW MINOR REQUIREMENTS

Above: Student researching as part of Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Dr. Favian Guertin-Martin’s Untapped: Exploring the Sociocultural and Scientific World of Beer course.

STUDENT OUTCOMES

Featured Courses

Race, Crime, and Justice

Required Course

This course examines historical and contemporary criminological theories and research on nexus between race and crime. We'll cover contemporary responses to race and crime in the United States and abroad. To understand the connection between race and crime, you'll draw on both scholarly research and popular culture to develop a critical understanding of social inequality with respect to minority involvement in the criminal justice system.

Criminology

Required Course

Why people engage in deviant behavior, including criminal activity, has long been the subject of sociological inquiry. In this course, a variety of perspectives are considered, including functionalist, radical, social, psychological, and structural theories. Among the questions asked: Why do people commit deviant and criminal acts? What acts are defined as deviant and criminal, and why? Who has the power to define acts as deviant and criminal?

Inside Out

Required Course

This unique course is affiliated with the national Inside/Out program. Class meetings take place at the Philadelphia Prison System’s House of Corrections where students have the opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system in the United States. The class is composed of Arcadia students (outside) and incarcerated individuals (inside). Inside and outside students meet once a week in the House of Corrections to discuss readings related to the course topic and to work on research projects.

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