Criminal Justice
5th Floor Gladfelter Hall
215-204-1375
https://liberalarts.temple.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/criminal-justice
Jennifer Wood
510 Gladfelter Hall
woodj@temple.edu
E. Rely Vîlcică, Undergraduate Chair
556 Gladfelter Hall
215-204-1643
rvilcica@temple.edu
Corissa Reilly, Criminal Justice Advisor
508 Gladfelter Hall
corissa.reilly@temple.edu
Joseph DelMastro, Manager Administration
509 Gladfelter Hall
215-204-1376
joseph.delmastro@temple.edu
Mission and Goals
The mission of the Bachelor of Arts program in Criminal Justice is to foster a comprehensive understanding of the nature of crime and the effectiveness and fairness of society's efforts to prevent and control it. Students engage in a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of crime, offenders, and victims, and the agencies, goals, laws, policies, and processes of the criminal justice system. The Criminal Justice major emphasizes critical thinking about the kinds of questions and problems that shape developments in research, practice, policy and reform, and the skills utilized by scholars and professionals in the field.
Careers
Majoring in criminal justice helps to prepare students for careers as practitioners, researchers, and academics in a variety of public and private sector professions in both adult and juvenile systems of justice, at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Graduates obtain positions with many different public and private criminal justice related agencies, including local, state, and federal law enforcement; district attorney offices; public defender offices; juvenile and adult probation agencies; city, county, and federal courts; crime victims advocacy agencies; organizations providing rehabilitation and reentry services; and social justice organizations.
Criminal Justice students learn the core liberal arts skills in oral and written communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking, also preparing them for career paths outside the traditional criminal justice occupations or for post-graduate education. Graduates move on to doctoral and master's degree programs in criminology and criminal justice, law school, social work, forensic psychology, business school, public policy, and a wide variety of other advanced degrees.
The department hosts an annual career fair every spring for Criminal Justice majors where representatives from over 40 local, state, federal, and private criminal and social justice related organizations gather to recruit Temple students for competitive internships and post-graduation careers.
Internship and Experiential Learning
Students are encouraged to enroll in our specialized internship program, earning 3 credits for CJ 4075 Criminal Justice Internship Seminar (which can be used toward the electives in the major) and 1–9 credits in CJ 4085 Criminal Justice Internship (which count towards the 123 credits required for graduation but may not be used to fulfill any requirements of the Criminal Justice major). This program runs in the Fall, Spring, and Summer (over the two summer sessions). Interested students should contact the CJ advisor, Corissa Reilly, for more information.
Many other courses in the department include experiential learning components. CJ 2701 Inside-Out Prison Exchange is part of an award-winning national and international program that originated here at Temple University's Criminal Justice Department. Students travel weekly to a local prison where they take a class with a select group of inmates. In other classes, students often take field trips, hear from guest speakers, and engage in hands-on research and policy-relevant projects.
Criminal Justice 4+1 Accelerated BA/MA Program
High-achieving undergraduates will be invited by the faculty of the Criminal Justice Department to apply for the 4+1 BA/MA accelerated program. Students admitted to this program begin taking graduate courses, along with their undergraduate curriculum, in their last three undergraduate semesters. After completing their Bachelor of Arts degree, they then complete the remaining requirements of a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice in the 5th year. Twelve credits of graduate work may count for both the Bachelor's and Master's degree programs; these are used as Criminal Justice major electives in the undergraduate degree. Eligible students will have a minimum 3.5 overall GPA and will be able to complete their Bachelor's degree in three semesters by the time they are admitted to the 4+1 program in the spring of their Junior year. Students must have completed or be enrolled in the following courses to be considered for this program: CJ 1001, CJ 2401, CJ 2597, and CJ 2602.
Eligible students will receive notification at the end of their Sophomore year, and applications will be accepted until September 30th of their Junior year.
Student Organization
The Criminal Justice Society hosts speakers from a variety of criminal justice related organizations, hosts information sessions on applying to graduate school and law school, and performs voluntary community service projects both within and outside the Temple community. Membership is open to all students majoring or minoring in Criminal Justice. For more information, contact the CJ Society advisor, Dr. Cheryl Irons, cirons@temple.edu.