About the Justice Studies Program

Offering the Bachelor of Science and the Associate of Science, UMA’s Justice Studies program prepares students for expanding opportunities in law enforcement--federal, state and municipal, paralegal positions–public and private, probation–state and federal,  risk management and forensics.  Program majors graduate with the advanced credentials employers in law-related fields increasingly prefer.  Some of those employers are

The program offers a Justice Studies Minor, an ideal vehicle for non-majors interested in law school, and a Advocacy Minor to prepare students to advocate in administrative, legislative and public opinion forums.  There are three certificates by which majors can obtain a credential in a particular specialty.  They are: Community Policing; Forensics and Paralegal Studies.

Graduates in both the Bachelor’s and the Associate's program will be able to:

• Describe the roles and interactions of the legal, judicial, corrections and law enforcement professions in the U.S.
• Recognize the police role in historical perspective and connect criminological theory to past, current and proposed practice.
• Find and identify the elements of any state or federal crime, using appropriate technology.

Students in the Bachelor’s program additionally will be able to:

• use critical thinking skills to illustrate how the Due Process Clause of the 14 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restricts state criminal law and police procedure in past decisions and apply those decisions to future hypothetical cases.
• compare the values in the criminal process of an international body, e.g. the International Criminal Court, or a foreign country to the United States' criminal justice values and assess the consequences of these differences. 
• complete an internship and senior capstone project.