Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Systems

Program Description/Overview

The Criminal Justice Systems Department is specifically built and designed to meet the needs of working First Responders, Community Corrections, Correctional Staff, and those in the private sector.

This program consists of 48 units of lower division general education courses, 12 units of lower division pre-requisite courses, and 60 units of upper division program courses.

Advisory Board: San Diego Police Department (SDPD), Chief Nisleit; San Diego Probation Department (SDP), Chief Littlejohn, National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), CEO Cathryn Nacario, San Diego Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT), Director Dr. Mark Marvin

Program Learning Outcomes/Goals

The program learning outcomes reflect our program standards and those of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS):

1. Demonstrate understanding and a capacity to apply key theoretical orientations, major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in criminal justice.
2. Demonstrate the ability to apply ethical perspectives and judgments in employing core knowledge to related problems and changing fact situations. All students will be trained according to the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and must be in compliance and in congruence with the CJS Code of Ethics.
3. Demonstrate orally and in writing the ability to discern, analyze, and evaluate information utilizing sound logic.
4. Apply criminal justice theories and scientific principles learned in the classroom to real-world settings and changing situations.
5. Value empirical evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and reflect other values that are the underpinnings of the criminal justice field and as a science.
6. Demonstrate technological literacy and synthesize information gained through using computer search engines, accessing university library websites, and running computer programs.
7. Demonstrate the ability to communicate both written and orally with appropriate language for the intended audience
8. Recognize, understand, and respect the complexity of socio-cultural and international diversity.
9. Develop insight into their own and others’ behavior and mental processes and apply effective strategies for self-management and self-improvement.
10. Pursue realistic ideas about how to implement their knowledge, skills, and values in occupational pursuits in a variety of settings that meet personal goals and societal needs.

Student Learning Goals in conjunction with California Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) job standards and the objectives of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), and our Law Enforcement and Behavioral Health Partners:

1. Students will develop social (e.g., cultural competence, interpersonal), emotional (e.g., stress management and wellness), and cognitive skills (e.g., decision making and judgement) necessary to maintain very effective First Responder job performance.
2. Students will become the next generation of industry thought leaders to be at the forefront of Police Community Relations.
3. Students will build personal resilience and skills to enhance emotional regulation.
4. Students will learn how to promote wellness and work-life balance.
5. Students will develop capacity to recognize early warning signs and indications among peers and community members of behavioral health variations.
6. Students will acquire leadership skills that will provide them with enhanced opportunities for positive organizational development.

Training Model

This program offers comprehensive, trauma informed, ecologically focused and challenging courses taught from a transdisciplinary perspective. Using adult learning theory of andragogy (methods used to teach adults), students integrate their learning with past experiences and gain new insights, skills, and hands-on experiences with collaborative coursework, field placements, and research projects. With a focus on putting science into service, we encourage faculty supervised research development by having students participate in the writing, publication, and presentation of research in academic and community settings.

Professional Behavior Expectations/Ethical Guidelines

This program provides students a fundamental understanding and appreciation of societal interdependence as well as the development of multicultural and global perspectives. Considerable emphasize on the interdisciplinary nature of learning, trauma informed and ecological perspectives are reinforced. The program maintains high standards of integrity, ethical grounding, and quality of a comprehensive and global curriculum.

Our core values driven by the Academy of Criminal Justice Systems (ACJS) ethical guidelines embrace an interdisciplinary approach toward providing students with the knowledge and skills they will need to apply their education and the ever-changing and complex real world situations. Our core values are:

1. Facilitating integrative learning
2. Infusing transdisciplinary training
3. Planting the seeds of life-long learning
4. Establishing and maintaining sociocultural competencies
5. Advancing critical thinking skills
6. Providing opportunities for personal and social responsibility and growth
7. Incorporating the scientific method in understanding the interconnected complexities surrounding human conditions
8. Address social determinants of health
9. Develop and maintain wellbeing strategies
10. Imbuing trauma informed, ecological frameworks and integrated care into services and practices

Internship, Practicum, and/or Dissertation Information

An important component of the program is its nine-unit capstone sequence where students gain considerable practical training in four field placements (6 units), something not typical of most undergraduate programs. Students also gain research experience in their Senior Thesis courses (3 units).

Credit Units

Total Credit Units: 120

Total Core Credit Units: 117

Total Elective Credit Units: 3*

Total Concentration Credit Units: N/A

*Bridge courses or electives

Prerequisite Courses

Prerequisites are for students obtaining their GE requirements at Alliant.

The courses below are prerequisites for the major:

• CJS11010 - Introduction to Criminal Justice Systems (3 units)  
• CJS20000 - The Fundamentals of Criminal Law (3 units)  
• CJS20020 - Introduction to Law Enforcement Communication (3 units)  
• CJS20040 - Introduction to Social Psychology (3 units)  

Elective Requirements

All students in this program complete four interdisciplinary electives as part of the program requirement. The intention is for the students to learn and practice together across traditional disciplinary or professional boundaries when understanding and addressing challenging societal, community and individual issues.

Interdisciplinary areas of study include:

1. Clinical
2. Couple and Family Therapy
3. Criminal Justice Systems
4. Forensic

Coursework for each area are listed below.

Curriculum Plan

Recognizing the complexities within the field of Behavioral Health and Integrated Care, this program has incorporated into the curriculum several critical components needed for integration of knowledge into practice: trauma informed practices, an ecological framework, transdisciplinary approach, rigorous standards of academia, and evidenced-informed practices both in content and andragogy (e.g. interactive and self-directed methods rather than didactic seminars). Therefore, all upper division courses and some identified interdisciplinary courses are formatted as required two-course sequences (i.e., corequisite). In each required two-course sequence, the two courses that must be taken together. Registration in one of the two courses must happen in conjunction with the other course every time and in sequential terms. The corequisites, when applicable, are listed in each course description.

Additionally, students must pass CJS30000 - Introduction to Ethical Professional Practice (3 units)  in order to continue with the program.