Faculty:

• Shavonne Arthurs, Ph.D.
• Susan Eichenberger, Ph.D.
• Barbara Flowers, B.S.
• James Paharik, Ph.D.
• Deborah Slates-Ciocco, M.A.

The criminal justice major at Seton Hill University is a coordinated approach based on both restorative justice philosophy and evidence-based practices. It has been designed to provide students with a firm theoretical and practical understanding of the American criminal justice system. Students learn the theories, research methods, and evidence-based approaches behind our systems of law enforcement, courts, corrections, and juvenile justice. Students also gain practical knowledge and experiences in the field through service-learning projects, community collaborations, and internships with agencies working within the components of the criminal justice system. Criminal justice students leave Seton Hill University well prepared to enter their chosen field or to undertake graduate education.

Learning Objectives: Criminal Justice

Through a coordinated educational approach, criminal justice students, upon graduation, will be able to:

1. Evaluate the importance of rehabilitative practices as an effective social and policy approach.
2. Distinguish the principles and conventional operations of the criminal justice system including police, courts, corrections, and juvenile justice.
3. Critique the fundamental criminological, sociological, and psychological theories and principles related to criminal offending and victimization, and the systemic responses to each.
4. Develop the cultural, social and interpersonal competencies to effectively work with diverse populations.
5. Prepare, examine, and undertake criminological research, using appropriate methodological and statistical procedures.
6. Modify existing, and create new, criminal justice interventions and procedures, based on sound theoretical/philosophical concepts and on evidence-based practices.
7. Incorporate ethical and values-based services in the professional practices within the criminal justice system.
8. Relate the interactions of the criminal justice system to societal inequities.

All candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice must complete the Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements, the capstone assessment requirement, and the required courses for the major.

The capstone assessment includes successful completion and public presentation of a showcase portfolio. The portfolio includes specific assignments that demonstrate fulfillment of the criminal justice learning objectives. It also includes a reflective essay addressing how both the criminal justice and University learning objectives are important to the student’s chosen field and how their coursework, internship, and extracurricular experiences have prepared them for this field.

A minimum of 120 credits is required.