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bout Criminal Justice Sciences

History of the Department

The Department of Criminal Justice Sciences was established at Illinois State University in 1972 as a program in Corrections. Due to the changing needs for education in this rapidly growing academic and professional field, the decade of the 1980s brought major changes to the department.

The curriculum underwent major revisions; policing, research, courts, and special-topics courses were added; the name of the department was changed to Criminal Justice Sciences; and the Master of Criminal Justice Sciences program was added.

Philosophy of the Department

The purpose of the Criminal Justice Sciences program is to provide the student with a system orientation to the field of criminal justice. Study in criminal justice involves the application of the principles and the related behavioral and social issues in the field.

The program focuses on the building of knowledge in the areas of policing, courts, and corrections from a social science perspective. Students develop a knowledge base for an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the kinds of problems and circumstances that often result in criminality.

Finally, the program provides students with the opportunity to gain necessary skills in the area of interviewing, program development, community organization, planning and research to function in a professional position in the field of criminal justice.