School of Human Services at Springfield College

B. Criminal Justice Concentration

The mission of the Criminal Justice Concentration is to empower the criminal justice practitioner to advocate for meaningful change, within the criminal justice system that will embrace a collaborative effort between the community, and those charged with the administration of justice within that community. The concentration will activate and articulate a construct of an emerging notion of social and economic justice.

The Criminal Justice Concentration enables members of the local police departments, sheriff's departments, correctional officers and counselors, victim advocates, and other law enforcement practitioners to gain an undergraduate degree while maintaining their full-time employment. Adults already working in the human service field can also utilize this concentration to focus their learning on ways that enable them to enter the criminal justice system.

Graduation requirements
  • Students must earn 120 credits to graduate. Of those credits, 48 must be taken at Springfield College (residency requirement)
  • Students must complete all three levels of required courses:
    1. All College Requirements (ACRs) -- see Table B.1 below
    2. SHS requirements -- see Table B.2 below
    3. Criminal Justice Concentration (Minimum 18 credits taken in residence) -- see advisor for individual circumstances
  • Group Project must focus on a criminal justice issue
All College Requirements

There are nine ACRs. They can be met by any ACR course, transferred or in residence.
Table B. 1 -- ACRs
Lab Science 3 credits
Computer Science 3 credits
Math 3 credits
Health 3 credits
Fitness 4 credits
Language and Communication 3 credits
Language and Communication 3 credits
Literature 3 credits
Philosophy or Religion 3 credits
Total 28 credits


SHS Requirements

  • Criminal Justice Concentration students must meet all SHS course requirements as shown below.
Table B.2 -- SHS Requirements
-- must be taken in residence at Springfield College

Core I -- Education, Oppression, and Social
Intervention (US History)		 4 credits
Core II -- Mobilizing Resources, Political Economy 4 credits
Core III -- Social Movements (US History) 4 credits
Human Services Portfolio Development (HSPD)
-- (can be waived)		 3 credits
Issues in Research 3 credits
Group Project I 4 credits
Group Project II 4 credits
Group Project III 4 credits
Senior Seminar 2 credits
Total 32 credits


Students must take 24 total credits in the Criminal Justice Concentration. Required Courses (Table B.3 below) must be taken at the School of Human Services to be counted toward fulfillment of the 24 credits.

Table B.3 -- Criminal Justice Concentration Required (Core) Courses

The Changing Nature of Criminal Justice
(new proposed course)		 3 credits
CJWB 210: Contemporary Issues in
Constitutional Interpretation		 3 credits
CJWB 260: Race and Justice 3 credits
Transformational Alternatives: The Complexity
of Ethical Actions (new proposed course)		 3 credits



Pre-Core Courses (see Table B.4 below) and Elective Courses (see Table B.5 below) will count for 12 credits toward the 24 total credits in the concentration.

Table B.4 -- Criminal Justice Concentration
Pre-Core/Prerequisite Courses

CJWB 151: Criminal Justice: An Introduction 3 credits
CJWB 160: Criminal Law Concepts 3 credits
CJWB 239: Ethics and Law 3 credits



Table B.5 -- Approved Elective Options in the Criminal Justice Concentration

Courses may be taken from one focus area or a combination of areas based on the student's educational needs, prior experience and professional goals.

General Courses
HUSB 118: Oral Communication 3 credits
HUSB 221: Interviewing Techniques 3 credits
CJWB 249: Juvenile Justice 3 credits
CJWB 165: Law and Social Change 3 credits
HUSB 369: Victimization 3 credits
HUSB 185: Issues of Adolescence 3 credits
CJWB 211: Violence and Social Control in
U.S. History and Society		 3 credits
Counseling/Advocacy Courses
HUSB 337: Confronted By Violence 3 credits
HUSB 142: Law and Legal Advocacy 3 credits
CJWB 156: Crisis Intervention 3 credits
CJWB 241: Coping with Disease and Death 3 credits
CJWB 464: Substance Use and Abuse: From
Prevention to Treatment		 3 credits
Police Oriented Courses
CJWB 152: Police and the Modern Society 3 credits
CJWB 155: The Criminal Court System 3 credits
CJWB 131: Women and Crime 3 credits
CJWB 134: Police Administration and Organization 3 credits
Corrections Courses
CJWB 154: Corrections 3 credits
CJWB 129: The Administration of Community-
Based Correctional Programs		 3 credits
CJWB 145: Politics of Prisons 3 credits
Legal Issues Courses
CJWB 120: Survey of American Jurisprudence I 3 credits
CJWB 121: Survey of American Jurisprudence II 3 credits
CJWB 182: Law and the Politics of Poverty 3 credits
CJWB 238: Liability Issues for Public Officials 3 credits


Portfolio Development Process

The School of Human Services offers students the opportunity to validate college-level knowledge acquired outside of the classroom. Through its portfolio development process, the School of Human Services provides a framework to assist students in reflecting upon and articulating their college level experiential learning.

A portfolio is a written document that articulates knowledge equivalent to that taught in a college course. A three-credit course has been developed to help students:
  • Identify,
  • Organize,
  • Categorize, and
  • Present this knowledge in a portfolio.
The writing of a portfolio requires a substantial commitment of time and effort. It is both a process and a product. The awareness of individual achievement and the potential of receiving college credit for experiential learning, provides the student with:
  • Savings of both time and money, and
  • Allows the opportunity to present diverse college-level learning in a coherent document.
Springfield College 263 Alden Street, Springfield, MA 01109-3797 413.748.3000
Page updated on: 03/24/2008