Department of Criminal Justice and Security Studies
We offer a broadly structured interdisciplinary curriculum.
Existing within a Catholic University founded upon the Marianist tradition, our interdisciplinary program encourages students to become ‘improvement agents’ in their service to the community. They are expected to demonstrate the behavior necessary for effective personal and group relationships while incorporation the rights and responsibilities of individuals, accepting and utilizing criticisms and respecting human difference.
The Criminal Justice and Security Studies (CJSS) Department offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. It is a broadly structured, interdisciplinary and criminological curriculum comprised of faculty who are criminal justicians, criminologists, community activists, psychologists, political scientists, social workers, law and justice scholars and sociologists.
As a broadly structured interdisciplinary curriculum, the mission of the department is to provide students with knowledge of the historical, philosophical, social, political and legal theories, concepts, practices and events which shape the criminal justice system, its agencies and components in society. The department demonstrates an understanding and appreciation of diverse ideas and experiences.
100%
of students have a chance to participate in internships or service learning
93%
of students are employed or enrolled in an advanced-degree program after graduation
5 years
students can earn a bachelor's degree with a Juris Doctor
Light your path at UD
Our major is composed of an interdisciplinary curriculum comprised of faculty in criminal justice, management information security, sociology, anthropology, social work, political science and psychology. We offer four concentrations to enhance your degree.
Welcome
CJSS is dedicated to educating students who seek to serve the common good as law enforcement officers, lawyers, social service and nonprofit providers, security professionals, and the like.
The Department of Criminal Justice and Security Studies' accelerated pathway to a Juris Doctor (JD) is exclusively available to first year students. Incoming students declaring Criminal Justice Studies as a major with a Pre-Law concentration have an opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice Studies and a JD in 5 years, as part of our 3 + 2 or, in six years in the 3 + 3 pathway.
Criminal justice studies majors at the University of Dayton now have greater research, collaboration and experiential learning opportunities with their program’s transition to a department within the College of Arts and Sciences.
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University of Dayton students in this spring’s Introduction to Criminal Justice course are learning first-hand about life on death row by speaking directly with inmates featured in the book Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row by author Tessie Castillo.
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University of Dayton junior Huthayfa Usman created a reference guide for law enforcement to use when engaging the Muslim community. He hopes his guide, which provides basic information about Muslim culture, helps to build trust between community members and police.
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