Criminal Justice Undergraduate Degree Requirements

Major Requirements
(36 total Units)

There are three areas of requirements for the CJ Major:

Criminal Justice Core Requirements
Public Administration Requirements
Elective Requirements

A minimum of 36 upper division major units are required.

View and download the Criminal Justice Undergraduate Program Advising Guide

Criminal Justice Core Requirements

(Take all 7 courses - 21 units)

AFRAS 380 - Blacks in the American Justice System (3 units)

Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences. Interpretation and application of constitutional principles and judicial decisions to political and social problems faced by Afro-Americans.

CJ 300 - Crime, Law, and Justice (3 units)

Prerequisite: Admission to the major or consent of instructor (nonmajors only). Criminal justice-role of law in society, definition and explanations of criminal behavior, criminal justice system, methods of research, and policy.

CJ 301 - Law in Society (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Theoretical study of law in society from classical social theorists. Major movements in legal studies during the last century. Comparative systems of law.

CJ 302 - Crime and Behavior (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Major disciplinary paradigms used both to explain criminal behavior and to inform official criminal justice policy.

CJ 303 - Criminal Justice and Social Control (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Interrelationship of social control, social policy and administration of criminal justice in contemporary American society.

CJ 540 - Applied Planning, Research and Evaluation in Criminal Justice (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Application of planning, research, program development, and evaluation principles to field of criminal justice.

CJ 304 - Race, Equity, and the Criminal Justice System (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Intersectional analysis of how race and equity have influenced the criminal-legal system over the past half-century. Implications for both citizens who have been criminalized and the people who work in the criminal-legal system.

Practicum Courses (Seniors only - Choose 1 course)

CJ 431 - Field Study in Local Corrections (3 units)

Prerequisites: Criminal Justice 330; 18 years of age; no convictions or pending charges. Structure, function, and mission of local prisons and jails. Legal authority under which accused and convicted offenders are detained. Prison life, prison culture, gangs, and survival behind bars. Lives and careers of correctional staff. On-site visits.

CJ 497 - Investigation and Report (3 units)

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and senior standing. Using library, Internet, and empirical research. Analysis of current criminal justice policy issues.

CJ 498 - Internship in Criminal Justice (3 units)

Students are assigned to various government agencies and work under joint supervision of agency heads and the course instructor. Participation in staff and internship conferences. Maximum credit six units.

CJ 550 - Study Abroad: Criminal Justice (3 units)

Prerequisites: Criminal Justice 301 and upper division standing. Selected topics in comparative criminal justice. Course taught abroad. May be repeated once with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.

CJ 543 - Community Resources in CJ (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Present and probable roles of public and private agencies and volunteers in criminal justice

ISCOR 450 - Study Abroad in International Security and Conflict Resolution (3 units)

Prerequisite: Upper division standing. Class Schedule may have other prerequisites. Selected topics in international security and conflict resolution. Course taught abroad. Potential additional prerequisites and location of course and organizational meetings. May be repeated once with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.

Public Administration Requirements

Take two (2) Public Administration courses (6 units total)

Elective Requirements

(Take 3 courses - 9 units) (Two courses - 6 units must be CJ specific) (May use additional Practicum courses as CJ specific requirements)

Electives in Law and Society

CJ 320 - The Administration of Criminal Law (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Constitutional law principles as implemented in criminal courts with emphasis on critical analysis of factual situations and the argument of legal issues in criminal cases from both defense and prosecution perspectives.

CJ 333 - Judicial Administration (3 units)

Prerequisites: Criminal Justice 300 and Public Administration 301. Significant developments at state and federal levels, including court unification and financing, leadership, congestion, training, selection, tenure, discipline, removal and retirement of court related personnel; and technological applications.

CJ 420 - Constitutional Issues in the Administration of Justice (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Constitutional legal theories and principles, especially the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution, as they affect criminal justice procedures and practices.

CJ 520 - Prosecutiorial Function (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Prosecutor’s function at local, state, and federal levels and in selected foreign nations, including appraisal of proposed national standards and goals for prosecutors.

ISCOR 421 - Alternative Dispute Resolution: Theory and International Applications (3 units)

Prerequisite: Upper division standing. Theory of collaborative negotiation and mediation, practice of negotiation and mediation skills and techniques, and focus on personal styles of mediation and collaborative negotiating. Emphasis on resolving conflicts on the international level.

PHIL 510 - Philosophy of Law (3 units)

Prerequisite: Upper division or graduate standing. Philosophical and ethical investigation into the nature of law, rights, liberty, responsibility, and punishment.

POL S 338 - The Legislative Process (3 units)

Detailed analysis of legislatures. Special attention devoted to impact of dynamic factors on formal procedures. May include a substantial amount of material about foreign political systems.

POL S 346 - Law and the Political System (3 units)

Courts as political institutions and judges as political actors. Dynamics of civil and criminal litigation. Law and politics, judicial selection, and impact of political factors on judicial decisions.

POL S 347A - American Constitutional Law (3 units)

Substantive principles of American constitutional law. Constitutionally provided powers of and constraints on government action as defined by the United States Supreme Court. May include study of judicial review, commerce clause, federalism, and separation of powers. Satisfies graduation requirement in United States Constitution.

POL S 348 - Supreme Court/Constitutional Issues (3 units)

Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and their relationship to contemporary political and social issues. Not open to students with credit in both Political Science 347A and 347B.

POL S 541 - Special Problems in Public Law (3 units)

Prerequisite: Three units selected from Political Science 346, 347A, 347B, or 348. Issues of contemporary relevance in field of public law, examining legal, moral, and political implications.

POL S 347B - American Constitutional Law (3 units)

Substantive principles of American constitutional law. Civil rights and liberties protected by the Constitution against government action. May include discussion of freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, as well as defendants’ rights and protection from discrimination. Satisfies graduation requirement in United States Constitution.

WMNST 370 - Women, Law, and Policy (3 units)

Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences required for nonmajors. Legal factors affecting women in employment, education, health and welfare, property ownership and criminal justice, including investigation of public policy issues which affect women’s lives.

Electives in Crime and Behavior

CJ 570 - Organized Crime: Domestic and International (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Interdisciplinary analysis of organized crime’s impact on criminal justice and public policy on both domestic and international levels.

CJ 321 - Juvenile Justice (3 units)

SOC 444 MAY BE TAKEN IN LIEU OF THIS COURSE

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Assessment of the structure and functions of agencies and institutions which comprise the juvenile justice system in America; evolution of policies and programs for prevention of delinquency and treatment of the juvenile offender.

CJ 571 - Organized Crime: Domestic & International Perspective (3 units)

Prerequisite: Upper division major or graduate standing. Interdisciplinary social science analysis of illicit drug use, markets, and trafficking. Comparative assessment of the efforts of state and non-state actors to regulate, counter, and disrupt illicit drug use, markets, and trafficking.

CJ 596 - Special Topics (1-3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Selected current topics in criminal justice. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496,596 courses applicable to a bachelor’s degree.

POL S 322 - Politics and Conflict (3 units)

Prerequisite: Political Science 102. Nature of interpersonal, group, and societal conflict and mechanisms that can facilitate conflict resolution and bargained agreement.

POL S 370 - Political Violence (3 units)

Prerequisites: Political Science 101, 102 or 103; and completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences required for nonmajors. Underlying conditions, expressions, and consequences of violence within political systems.

PSY 340 - Social Psychology (3 units)

SOC 410 MAY BE TAKEN IN LIEU OF THIS COURSE

Prerequisites: Psychology 101; completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences. Major problems and findings concerning group behavior and group membership, the socialization of the individual, and processes of social interaction.

PSY 350 - Abnormal Psychology (3 units)

Prerequisites: Psychology 101; completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences. Causes and treatment of abnormal behavior with emphasis on major behavior disorders.

PSY 365 - Drugs and Behavior (3 units)

Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.A.2. Life Sciences. Fundamentals of regulation, administration, tolerance, dependence, and physiological activity of drugs. Effects of stimulants, depressants, opiates, psychedelics, and psychotherapeutic drugs on the nervous system and on cognitive, personality, and behavioral functioning.

SOC 410 - Social Psychology (3 units)

PSY 340 MAY BE TAKEN IN LIEU OF THIS COURSE

Prerequisites: Sociology 101 and completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences required for nonmajors. Major theories, problems, and findings concerning the relationship of the individual and society. Topics include consciousness and construction of meaning, self-concept and social identity, socialization and interaction, group behavior and group membership.

SOC 412 - Social Construction of Reality (3 units)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Analysis of reality as an ongoing social process. Creation and internalization of social worlds through language. Common sense and the multiple realities of everyday life. Dynamic emergence of social structure.

SOC 442 - Sociology of Murder (3 units)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Characteristics and distribution of murder, including historical and cross-cultural comparisons. Social psychological, structural, cultural and situational explanations of causes and consequences of juvenile, gang, domestic, mass, serial and sexual murders.

SOC 443 - Crime and Society (3 units)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Social origins, forms, and functions of criminal law. Sociological theories about causes and consequences of crime. Measurement and distribution of violent crimes, property crimes, victimless crimes, white collar crime, and their impact on communities and society.

SOC 445 - Sociology of Deviance (3 units)

Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Conformity and nonconformity; the relationship between individual liberty and social control; stigma and the labeling of deviant behavior such as prostitution, alcoholism, drug addiction, and crime.

SOC 444 - Juvenile Delinquency (3 units)

CJ 321 MAY BE TAKEN IN LIEU OF THIS COURSE

Prerequisite: Sociology 101. Sociological theories about causes and consequences of juvenile delinquency. Social origins of juvenile justice system, with attention to methods of control and prevention at community and national levels.

WMNST 572 - Women and Violence (3 units)

Prerequisite: Three upper division units in women’s studies. Forms of violence against and by women. Processes which shape women’s resistance to, and collusion in, social, economic, political, and sexual violence.

Electives in Criminal Justice Systems

AFRAS 380 - Blacks in the American Justice System (3 units)

ANTH 360 - From the Grave: Modern Forensic Anthropology (3 units)

Prerequisite: Completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.A. 2. Life Sciences. If a biological sciences course is not taken to satisfy Foundations of Learning II.A. 2. Life Sciences, a college course in biological sciences is required. Physical anthropology and skeletal biology within medicolegal context. Methodologies used in science of forensic anthropology, as interdisciplinary nature and authorities in related fields.

CHEM 300 - Forensic Science (3 units)

Prerequisite: Chemistry 100 or completion of General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.A. Natural Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning. Techniques and case studies of mysteries solved by molecular analysis: chemical and DNA analysis of crime scenes, biochemical explanations of mysterious deaths and accidents, molecular hallmarks of forgery, chemical methods in crime deterrence, chemical causes of fires and structure failure. Not applicable to chemistry majors.

CJ 305 - Professions and Ethics (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Professional roles and responsibilities of practitioners and administrators in criminal justice agencies, including consideration of the ethical responsibilities of criminal justice practitioners.

CJ 310 - Law Enforcement (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Administrative relationships within the criminal justice process with special reference to problems of courts and police and probation agencies.

CJ 330 - Corrections (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Contemporary policies and practices of local, state, and federal correctional agencies, influence of reform movements, and the interrelationship of corrections with other criminal justice system components.

CJ 510 - Contemporary Issues in Law Enforcement (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 310. Assessment of problems confronting administrators of law enforcement agencies and of recent efforts to enhance the capability of agencies to control criminal activity while guarding individual liberties.

CJ 531 - Probation and Parole (3 units)

Prerequisite: Criminal Justice 300. Basic concepts, history, legislation, and practices used in work with juveniles and adults who have been placed on probation or parole; criteria of selection, methods of supervision, and elements of case reporting.

CJ 496 - Special Topics in Criminal Justice (3 units)

Selected current topics in criminal justice. See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor’s degree. Maximum credit six units.

CJ 499 - Special Study in Criminal Justice (3 units)

Prerequisites: Twelve units of upper division criminal justice and consent of instructor. Individual study. Maximum credit six units.

POL S 479 - National Security Policy (3 units)

Objectives, instruments, and consequences of national security policy.

PSY 321 - Organizational Psychology (3 units)

Prerequisite: Psychology 319. Proof of completion of prerequisite required: Copy of transcript. Human behavior in context of organizational life. Factors related to effectiveness of individuals and groups within organizations, including organization design, leadership and control, motivation, cooperation, and conflict.

SOC 430 - Social Organization (3 units)

Prerequisites: Sociology 101 and completion of the General Education requirement in Foundations of Learning II.B., Social and Behavioral Sciences required for nonmajors. Social structure of societies. Historical examination of structure and development of social institutions, communities, and other large scale organizations.