Criminal Justice Master of Arts Degree Program

Program of Study

To satisfy requirements for the M.A. degree students must:

• Complete 33 credits of course work with a B (3.0) or better grade point average
• Complete two foundations courses:
  • - Crj 507 Theories of Crime
  • - Crj 540 Theoretical Foundations of Criminal Justice
• Complete the support sequence of statistics and research design:
  • - Crj 504 Applied Statistics I or equivalent
  • - Crj 505 MA Research Design or equivalent
• Elective credits - 18 credits from any Crj graduate-level courses. The credits may include one of four 9 credit elective tracks:
  • - Information Technology
  • - Crime Causation, Prevention, and Intervention
  • - Justice Systems
  • - Problem Solving and Analysis
• Capstone Experience Seminar - 3 credits (Crj799)
• Students must comply with the University’s statute of limitations requirement by completing all study from the date of admission within six years.  Students may, with approval, take relevant coursework elsewhere in the University. Up to 9 credits of coursework taken outside of the School of Criminal Justice, if approved, can be applied to the 33 credits.

Capstone Experience Seminar

The Capstone Seminar (Crj799) will provide the opportunity to demonstrate special field competency by synthesizing and refining graduate experiences around a set of related activities, built on each student's curricular choices and acquired specialized expertise.

Concentration in Information Technology (9 credits) (currently unavailable)

The information technology graduate curriculum provided by the School of Criminal Justice builds on the School's outstanding reputation as a center of high-level quantitative research in criminal justice.  The curriculum is designed to extend and expand the statistical and methodological expertise learned in the traditional sequence of the School's methods and statistical courses.

Course Requirements:

(1) Ist 523 (Fundamentals of IT) or Inf 523 (Fundamentals of IT)
(2) Crj 692 (Data Utilization in Criminal Justice)
(3) Crj 693 (Geographic Information Systems in Criminal Justice) or Crj 695 (Responsible Use of CRJ Information)
(4) A non-credit module encompassing data utilization software (focusing, for example, on SPSS)

Concentration in Crime Causation, Prevention, and Intervention (9 credits)

The study of the etiology of crime, offenders’ responses to interventions, and the efficacy of crime prevention strategies (examples include courses on sociological, psychological, other theories of crime; crime of place; gang behavior; terrorism; situational crime prevention; reentry; incarceration).

Select 9 credits:
Crj 601 Crime, Deviation, and Conformity
Crj 602 Psychological Factors of Crime
Crj 604 Gender and Crime in American Culture
Crj 605 Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime
Crj 610 Guns and Gun Control
Crj 611 Race and Crime
Crj 612 Homicide Research
Crj 613 Nature of Youth Gangs
Crj 614 Crime and Cities
Crj 632 Decision Making and Deterrence
Crj 643 Community Supervision and Treatment of Convicted Persons
Crj 645 Prison Environments
Crj 648 Terrorism and Public Security
Crj 656 Social Response to Youth Gangs
Crj 661 Modes of Correctional Intervention
Crj 667 Prison Reform
Crj 747 Violence in Criminal Justice
-- Other courses as advisor approved

Concentration in Justice Systems (9 credits)

The study of how societies respond to crime through policy and practice, and the value systems that underlie those responses (examples include courses on behavior of police, courts, and corrections agencies; law and social control; juvenile justice; international responses to crime).

Select 9 credits:
Crj 623 Substantive Criminal Law
Crj 625 Principles of Punishment
Crj 630 The Legal Rights of Children
Crj 636 Juvenile Justice
Crj 637 Public Opinion and Criminal Justice
Crj 641 Comparative Criminal Justice
Crj 642 Issues in Policing
Crj 644 The Incarceration Process
Crj 646 Sentencing
Crj 647 Innovations in Policing
Crj 649 Gender, Administration, and Policy
Crj 651 Policing in America
Crj 652 Prosecution and Adjudication
Crj 655 Crime, Criminal Justice and Public Policy
Crj 663 Organizational Change
Crj 720 Seminars on Specific Problems in Law and Social
Crj 720 Wrongful Convictions
Crj 721 Capital Punishment
-- Other courses as advisor approved

Concentration in Problem Solving and Analysis (9 credits)

Development of research, data and analytic skills that would prove useful in practice and policy settings (examples include courses on crime analysis; program evaluation; policy analysis; measurement of crime; spatial analysis; qualitative research; historical research; advanced statistical analysis).

Select 9 credits:
Crj 555 Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers
Crj 592 Data Utilization in Criminal Justice I
Crj 606 Measure of Crime and Delinquency
Crj 626 Law and Science in Criminal Justice
Crj 691 Program Evaluation
Crj 693 Geographic Information Systems in Criminal Justice I
Crj 694 Spatial Data Analysis - Criminal Justice
Crj 697 Qualitative Research in Criminal Justice
Crj 788 Special Methods Seminars
Crj 788 Historical Research Methods
-- Other courses as advisor approved

Collaborative M.A. in Criminal Justice and J.D. in Law

This collaborative program brings together the resources of the School of Criminal Justice and the Albany Law School.

The University at Albany’s School of Criminal Justice and the Albany Law School have established a collaborative arrangement for graduate students seeking to obtain a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Criminal Justice and the Juris Doctor (J.D.) in Law, via execution of a formal Articulation Agreement. The University will credit Albany Law School students with up to nine elective credits toward M.A. Criminal Justice program requirements by completion of relevant Albany Law School courses. Similarly, Albany Law School will credit law students who enter the Criminal Justice M.A. program with up to twelve relative elective credits toward the completion of the J.D. degree.

For more information, please contact the School of Criminal Justice at (518) 442-5210 or [email protected].

Please note: This program offers an internship, field experience, study abroad component, or clinical experience in the course listing as an option to fulfill course requirements. Students who have previously been convicted of a felony are advised that their prior criminal history may impede their ability to complete the requirements of certain academic programs and/or to meet licensure requirements for certain professions. If you have concerns about this matter please contact the Dean’s Office of your intended academic program.