B.S. in Criminal Justice

The world of criminal justice is much more than police officers, corrections officials, criminal defense lawyers, or security and loss prevention personnel. At the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, the boundaries of criminal justice have expanded beyond traditional views of the field to include emphases on law and justice, organizations and leadership, global criminology, and crime policy. Criminal justice education today is about more than the criminal; it involves understanding the victim and the community: repairing harm, reducing fear, rebuilding safe communities, and assuring justice in spirit and act. The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice has had a long-standing attachment and commitment to improving a wide range of justice system agencies. The school actively engages external partners in an ongoing conversation about research, community service, and salient policy questions. Part of this dialogue is supported by an ongoing program of applied and social science research. Much of this research focuses on evaluating existing government crime-control programs and policies to determine whether they work, as well as inquiries about the etiology and prevention of crime. In addition, much of our research examines the unintended consequences of policy: institutionalized racism, differential impact of justice policy on certain groups, and the like. Research conducted at Northeastern on these topics is approached with ethical sensitivity and scientific rigor. Criminology and criminal justice, as a social science, began in the early part of the twentieth century. Nearly one hundred years old, the field has blossomed in large part through the ingenuity of several notable scholars. The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice is pleased to be home to many of the country’s preeminent contemporary scholars. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice faculty members regularly present at scholarly conferences, national and international seminars, and to policymakers worldwide. The B.S. in Criminal Justice offers students a rigorous interdisciplinary and experiential education in the causes and consequences of crime and the responses of criminal justice, social service, and community-based organizations to crime and other forms of deviance. Students majoring in criminal justice receive excellent preparation for further study in graduate or professional schools as well as for careers in criminal justice, security, crime prevention, and other related areas.