Bachelor of Art in Criminology and Criminal Justice

University of Illinois at Springfield

They offer a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice, providing students the opportunity to discover, arrange, and make sense of facts about crime systematically. Students will gain an empirical understanding of the factors that influence individuals’ decision-making practices within various criminal justice institutions, including programs designed to prevent crime, meet the needs of victims, and rehabilitate criminals. These institutions and programs include the police, courts, probation and parole systems, correctional institutions, community-based programs, and social/human service agencies.Also, the degree has a strong emphasis on the behavioral and societal aspects of criminal behavior. Attention is also given to how we count, measure, and explain crime rates, why and how crime rates differ across populations, and the various tools criminologists use to predict and explain seemingly random and unexplainable behaviors. The issues examined in our courses are plucked straight from the headlines of the news of our day-issues that desperately need the attention of students who are willing to devote their life’s work to something greater than themselves.