Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Studies
The multidisciplinary program in Criminal Justice Studies explores the conception and implementation of the law, crime, and justice systems and ideas. The program emphasizes critical thinking about law, crime, and justice systems and their entanglement with larger political-economic processes. In particular, the program explores how ideas and systems of crime, law, and justice shape broader issues of social justice, especially those related to the experience of race, class, gender, sexuality, and age inequity in the U.S. The program teaches students the skills of critical analysis and ethical reasoning such that students can challenge structures and assumption and innovatively contribute to the assessment of alternative solutions to problems associated with the identification, control, and prevention of crime and delinquency.
Program Learning Outcomes:
- Learn how systemic inequality shapes and is shaped by crime, law, and justice systems.
- Describe how people and groups impact, engage, contest, and remake legal institutions and ideas.
- Critique and analyze claims, data, and knowledge about crime, law, and justice systems.
- Analyze the history and politics of criminological knowledge.
- Design and implement a senior capstone project that demonstrates effective written communication, ethical reasoning, and critical analysis.
Admissions Requirements
- Be a resident of California or another authorized state. See State Authorization.
- Have completed a minimum of 60 transferable semester (90 quarter) units.
- Have a grade point average of 2.0 (C) or better in all transferable units attempted.
- Have a grade point average of 2.0 (C) or better in all units completed at SF State.
- Be in good standing at the last college or university attended.
- Have completed all lower-division General Education requirements (39 semester units or 58.5 quarter units) with a grade of C- or better including the below four courses commonly called "Golden Four":
- Oral Communication
- Written Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Quantitative Reasoning
Criminal Justice Studies (B.A.) — 36 units minimum
Core Courses (18 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| C J 200 | Construction of Crime and Justice | 3 |
| C J 230 | Crime, Data, and Analysis | 3 |
| C J 300 | Criminal Justice: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective | 4 |
| C J 330 | Research Methods in Criminal Justice Studies Activity | 1 |
| C J 330GW | Research Methods in Criminal Justice - GWAR | 3 |
| C J 680 | Field Course in Criminal Justice | 4 |
Elective Courses (18-22 units)
Power and Inequality (3 units)
Select one:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| C J 435/LTNS 430 | Race, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
| C J/LTNS 485 | Latina/o Youth, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
| C J 530 | Geographies of Social Control and Urban Diversity | 3 |
| C J 605 | Criminalization of Gender and Sexuality | 3 |
Criminal Justice Law and Administration (3 units)
Select one:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| C J 400 | Police and Public Policy | 3 |
| C J 450 | Jails and Prisons | 3 |
| C J 480 | California Corrections System | 3 |
| C J 501 | Criminal Law | 3 |
| C J 502 | Criminal Procedure | 3 |
Select four additional Criminal Justice Studies Electives (12-16 units)
Other upper-division C J courses in addition to those listed below can be used as electives.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| AA S 595 | Asian American Communities and Public Policy | 3 |
| AFRS 375 | Law and the Black Community | 3 |
| AFRS 376 | Government, the Constitution, and Black Citizens | 3 |
| AIS 330 | American Indian Law | 3 |
| AIS 460 | Power and Politics in American Indian History | 3 |
| COMM 503 | Gender and Communication | 4 |
| COMM 525 | Sexualities and Communication | 4 |
| COMM 531 | Conflict Resolution | 4 |
| COMM 541 | Critical Approaches to Culture and Communication | 4 |
| COMM 543 | Dialogues Across Differences | 4 |
| COMM 564 | Issues in Free Speech | 4 |
| COMM 571 | The Rhetoric of Terrorism | 4 |
| COMM 573 | The Rhetoric of Criminality and Punishment | 4 |
| COUN 630 | Legal Center Training I | 3 |
| COUN 631 | Legal Center Training II | 3 |
| C J/I R 306 | Crisis in Central America: U.S. Policy and the Root Causes of Chaos | 4 |
| C J 320 | Literature in Criminal Justice - Crime Control, Due Process, and Class Justice | 3 |
| C J 323 | Ethics in Criminal Justice | 3 |
| C J 335 | Legal Writing and Research | 4 |
| C J 340/I R 341 | Comparative Criminal Justice | 4 |
| C J 400 | Police and Public Policy | 3 |
| C J 401 | Criminal Profiling | 3 |
| C J 405 | Organized Crime | 3 |
| C J 410 | Crime Scene Investigation | 3 |
| C J 420 | Introduction to Forensic Science | 3 |
| C J 435/LTNS 430 | Race, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
| C J 450 | Jails and Prisons | 3 |
| C J 451 | The Architecture of Incarceration | 3 |
| C J 452/SOC 451 | Criminological Theory | 4 |
| C J 460 | Community Corrections and Sentencing | 3 |
| C J 461/I R 361 | Terrorism and Covert Political Warfare | 4 |
| C J 470/SOC 452 | Juvenile Justice | 4 |
| C J 471 | Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice | 3 |
| C J 475 | Intervention Policies in Juvenile Justice | 3 |
| C J 480 | California Corrections System | 3 |
| C J/LTNS 485 | Latina/o Youth, Crime, and Justice | 3 |
| C J 490 | Immigration, Criminalization, and Justice | 3 |
| C J 501 | Criminal Law | 3 |
| C J 502 | Criminal Procedure | 3 |
| C J/SOC 510 | Analysis of the Felon in Society | 3 |
| C J/SOC/USP 511 | Critical Analysis of Re-entry and Housing | 3 |
| C J 515 | Extremism as Crime | 3 |
| C J 525 | Global Restorative Justice and Corrections | 3 |
| C J 530 | Geographies of Social Control and Urban Diversity | 3 |
| C J 535 | Alternatives to Criminalization | 3 |
| C J 550 | School Violence and Discipline | 3 |
| C J 570 | Urban Violence | 3 |
| C J 600 | Youth Gangs in Community Context | 3 |
| C J 605 | Criminalization of Gender and Sexuality | 3 |
| HIST 465 | American Ethnic and Racial Relations II: 1890-Present | 3 |
| HIST 470 | The U.S. Constitution to 1896 | 3 |
| HIST 471 | The U.S. Constitution Since 1896 | 3 |
| HIST 472 | The Supreme Court and Social Change in U.S. History | 3 |
| I R 259 | Children and Youth in International Relations | 4 |
| I R 334 | International Organizations: New World Order | 4 |
| I R/C J 360 | Intelligence and Intelligence Agencies | 4 |
| I R/PLSI/C J 362 | The Making of US Foreign Policy | 4 |
| I R 436/PHIL 435 | Human Rights in Global Perspective | 3 |
| I R 453 | Women and Media in International Relations | 4 |
| I R/PLSI 459 | Refugees in Global Perspective | 4 |
| LTNS 415 | Latina/o Economic Empowerment | 3 |
| LTNS 470 | Latina/o Immigration to the U.S. | 3 |
| PHIL 335 | Law and Society | 3 |
| PHIL 378 | Philosophy of Criminal Law | 3 |
| PHIL 380 | Philosophy of Law | 3 |
| PLSI 478 | Judicial Process | 4 |
| PLSI/USP 512 | Urban Politics and Community Power | 4 |
| PLSI 552 | Individual Rights and the Constitution | 4 |
| PSY 472 | Introduction to Legal Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 475 | Psychology of Policing | 3 |
| PSY 547 | Social Conflict and Conflict Resolution | 3 |
| RRS/SOC 330 | Comparative Race and Ethnicity in the U.S.: Class, Gender, and Nation | 3 |
| RRS 571 | Women, Race, and Class | 3 |
| SOC 455 | Punishment and Social Control | 3 |
| SXS 455 | Sex, Power, and Politics | 3 |
| SXS 569/PHIL 455 | Sex and the Law | 3 |
| WGS 513 | Gender, War, and Militarism | 3 |
| WGS 514 | Women and the Prison Industrial Complex | 3 |
| WGS 554 | Gender and Global Migration | 3 |
A minimum of 30 upper-division units must be completed for the degree (including upper-division units required for the major, General Education, electives, etc.). A student can complete this major yet not attain the necessary number of upper-division units required for graduation. In this case, additional upper-division courses will be needed to reach the required total.
Up to a total of 6 transfer units in the following Criminal Justice courses completed at a community college may be counted toward meeting the "general electives" requirements for the major:
- Introduction to Criminal Justice
- Concepts of Criminal Law; for applicable courses, go to the ASSIST website: http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html.
Complementary Studies
Bachelor of Arts students must complete at least 12 units of Complementary Studies outside of the primary prefix for the major. (Note: Students may not use an alternate prefix that is cross-listed with the primary prefix for the major.)
Students who complete two majors or a major and a minor automatically complete the Complementary Studies requirement. Additional ways to complete Complementary Studies for students in the Criminal Justice Studies major is to meet with an advisor to identify 12 units of courses complementary to the major. With advisor approval, up to 12 of these units may be used to satisfy units in the major. Consult with your major advisor for assistance.
Students who have earned AA-T or AS-T degrees and are pursuing a similar B.A. degree at SF State are required to fulfill the Complementary Studies requirement as defined by the major department. Students should consult with a major advisor about how transfer units and/or SF State units can best be applied to this requirement to ensure degree completion within 60 units.