Criminal justice is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the study of criminal behavior and society’s response to it. The field draws upon the insights of the social and behavioral sciences, the physical sciences, statistics, and the humanities to illuminate the issues of maintaining social order in a constitutional democracy committed to individual freedom, equality, and justice. More specifically, the field focuses on the causes and prevention of criminal behavior. The criminal justice system is composed of the police agencies, prosecutors, the legal profession, the courts, and correctional agencies, among others. The system is a part of a larger social system which inevitable influences the effectiveness and fairness o flaw enforcement. Criminal justice analyzes system responses to changes in social structure and cultural values, and the reciprocal relationship between societal values and law enforcement.

The program is intended to prepare students for careers in public security, criminal justice administration, law and paralegal professions, public administration, policy analysis, and graduate study in the social and behavioral sciences.