Criminal Justice B.S., Criminology Concentration

The Criminology concentration is designed to provide Criminal Justice majors with a more in-depth and focused understanding of crime causation, crime patterns, and contemporary issues in crime and crime policy. This concentration will be particularly relevant for students who are interested in graduate study in Criminology and those who are interested in crime analysis, crime policy, and crime control. The concentration is open to all Criminal Justice majors.

Requirements for the Criminal Justice Major

The Criminal Justice major consists of 42 credits. All students must complete at least 21 credits of Criminal Justice coursework at Westfield State University. There are six required courses in the major (Major Core) that comprise 18 of the 42 required credits. For students entering Westfield State University in the academic year 2025-26 or later, all Criminal Justice majors must receive a grade of C- or above in all six core classes. Students earning a grade below a C- in any of the six major core classes must retake that class until they earn a grade of C- or above, with a cumulative CJ core GPA of 2.3. Students transferring into the major must complete at least 24 credits at Westfield State with a 2.3 GPA or greater.

Students are not required to take a concentration for the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Degree
Students may take only one concentration for the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Degree, even if they have completed the coursework for more than one concentration

Major Core Courses

CRJU 0101 - Introduction to Criminal Justice Credits: 3
CRJU 0121 - Theories of Crime Credits: 3
CRJU 0201 - Law Enforcement and Society Credits: 3
CRJU 0202 - Introduction to Corrections Credits: 3
CRJU 0205 - American Judicial System Credits: 3
CRJU 0231 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice Credits: 3
ENGLISH

Criminal Justice Majors must take ENGL 0204 - Composition II: Rhetoric and Research (3 credits), preferably during their Sophomore year.

Requirements for Criminology Concentration

UPPER-DIVISION ELECTIVES

Students choose upper-level electives in the major to complete 21 credits for the major, 18 of these upper-division elective credits must be from the courses listed below, to complete the 42-credit requirement. Students may take any other 3 upper-division credit Criminal Justice elective to complete the 21-credit upper-division credit requirement for the major.

CRJU 0216 - Deviance and Culture Credits: 3
CRJU 0303 - Patterns of Criminality Credits: 3
CRJU 0304 - Prevention and Control Credits: 3
CRJU 0310 - Organized and White Collar Crime Credits: 3
CRJU 0311 - Victimology Credits: 3
CRJU 0312 - Women in the Criminal Justice System Credits: 3
CRJU 0319 - Economic Crime Credits: 3
CRJU 0323 - Religion and Crime in Contemporary America Credits: 3
CRJU 0326 - Planned Change in Criminal Justice Credits: 3
CRJU 0327 - Race and Ethnicity in the Criminal Justice System Credits: 3
CRJU 0329 - Crime and the Media Credits: 3
CRJU 0332 - Homicide Credits: 3
CRJU 0333 - Terrorism Credits: 3
CRJU 0334 - Drugs and Crime Credits: 3
CRJU 0335 - Comparative Criminal Justice Systems Credits: 3
Any CRJU Special topics course with content appropriate to Criminology
CRJU 0353 - Corruption and Political Crime Credits: 3
CRJU 0354 - Evaluating Criminal Offenders Credits: 3
CRJU 0355 - High Profile Crimes and Trials Credits: 3
CRJU 0359 - Geographic Information Systems Applications in Crime Analysis Credits: 3
CRJU 0360 - Violence and Aggression Credits: 3
CRJU 0361 - Contemporary Theories of Crime Credits: 3
CRJU 0365 - Evidence-Based Crime Policy Credits: 3
CRJU 0398 - Field Practicum in Criminal Justice Credits: 3-6 (must be Criminology related; up to 3 credits may be applied to the concentration)
CRJU 0399 - Independent Study Credits: 3-6 (must be Criminology related; up to 3 credits may be applied to the concentration)
Students may petition the department chair to apply relevant courses from other majors to be applied to Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, Criminology Concentration.

Additional Graduation Requirements

All students must meet the University Graduation Requirements and complete a general education or common core of studies, distributed among the different academic areas as detailed in General Education: WISE or Common Core .