University of Cincinnati: 12 Month Masters in Criminal Justice

University of Cincinnati is offering a 12 month masters program in Criminal Justice, entirely online. It is a groundbreaking step in online academics to provide a superb level of education in about one year’s time. This one year Criminal Justice program online is not for the faint-hearted and will push you to your limits. It is truly a full time program that is very accelerated, and yes, it is asynchronous.

I remember when I was looking for my master level education online that I wanted to go to a prestigious learning institution, pay as little as possible, and finish my education promptly. I didn’t want to take three years to complete my degree when I knew that I could do it in half the time. So after deep searching, I stumbled upon Boston University and found out that their Criminal Justice program took about a year and a half to complete (now it may be longer). At that time it was one of the fastest paced CJ programs out on the Net. It was accelerated, but allowed those that needed to keep their lifestyle and a career to complete their degree on their time.

University of Cincinnati’s Master in Criminal Justice Program is designed to provide such freedoms to the student, but I feel that their two year program would be semi-comfortable to take from the time management angle. In my opinion, their 12 month program is for those:

• who have no job and can afford to study full time
• have a part time job and are somewhat disciplined to keep up on assigned readings, papers, discussions, and exams.
• have a full time job or career and are entirely devoted to scholastic responsibilities.

The first group of people are going to have somewhat of a good social life. They will be able to spend time with their family and friends while completing their degree. The second group won’t be as lucky, but they don’t have to be deprived of socialization altogether. The last group will belong to scholastic troglodytes. Their propensity for social interaction will be diminished by exhaustive demands of their lifestyle.

So what does Univ. of Cincinnati offer in their 12 mo. Criminal Justice program?

Theoretical Core (15 credits)

• SEMINAR IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE – An overview of the criminal justice system, including the police, courts, prosecution, and corrections in the United States.
• PRO-SEMINAR IN LAW AND SOCIAL CONTROL – Study the nature of law, legal institutions, and related mechanisms of social control.
• SEMINAR IN CRIMINOLOGY – Learn about the nature of crime in American society at both the micro-level (why individuals commit crime) and the macro-level (why crime rates vary across communities).
• THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF CORRECTIONS – Explore the major justifications for corrections, with a special focus on rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and restorative justice.
• THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT – Examine the development and function of policing in contemporary American society. The impact of social, economic, and political forces are employed and analyzed within the context of recent research.

Administrative and Policy Core (9 credits)

• CRIMINAL JUSTICE MANAGEMENT – Take an in-depth look at criminal justice agencies within the context of current management principles, organizational theory, and administrative processes.
• CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY ANALYSIS – Learn policy implementation and effectiveness in the criminal justice system. Policies are evaluated on an informal and formal level in the areas of policing, corrections, and criminal justice.
• JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM – Examine the empirical literature on the juvenile justice system, especially as it relates to effective interventions, causes of serious delinquent behavior and how the juvenile justice system responds to those causes.

Research Core (9 credits)

• BASIC RESEARCH METHODS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE – An introduction to research design as applied to crime and criminal justice research. There is an analysis of the scientific method, sampling, and basic research design.
• APPLIED STATISTICS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE You will focus on the evaluation of criminal justice policies and practices. Topics that will be covered include the development of evaluation plans, process and impact evaluations, evaluation designs, and causal inference.
• APPLIED CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH METHODS – Study the issues concerning the conduct of research in criminal justice settings. There is a primary concern with evaluation research. This course also includes strategies for research planning, data analysis, and the presentation of research findings.

Special Topics (12 credits) – Choose 4 that you like the most

• SEMINAR IN WHITE-COLLAR CRIME – Examine the definition, measurement, extent, and costs of white-collar and organizational crime. Criminological theories proposed to explain individual and organizational forms of white-collar crime are reviewed and assessed.
• SEMINAR IN POLICE EFFECTIVENESS – Examine alternative criteria by which the effectiveness of police strategies can be assessed, and critically review empirical studies of police effectiveness.
• SEMINAR IN CORRECTIONAL REHABILITATION – Theories, techniques, and policies of correctional treatment from applied, planning, and evaluation perspectives.
• SEMINAR IN COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS – Provides an overview of the origins, nature, and effectiveness of various criminal justice programs found under the term “community corrections.”
• SEMINAR IN CRIME & THE LIFE COURSE – Provides a dynamic understanding and theoretical guide to the study of crime and offending.
• SEMINAR IN GENDER & CRIME – Examine the role of gender and crime including patterns of male and female crime as well as criminological explanations.

Demonstration Research Project (3 Credits)

• An individual project which will focus on a contemporary policy
  issue in the area of corrections, policing, and criminal
  justice.

This is the same information that is available to you in the brochure. This information is subject to change anytime. Classes may be added, renamed, or discontinued. Credit values may change and so may the scope of the program.

All this in about one year. That’s a lot, especially, at the graduate level. I highly recommend thinking about your present life situation before you apply to the one year program. If you have a lot of things going on in your life, or your self-discipline in the educational arena may be weaker than those of pure devotees, then you should consider the two year program. The two year program is exactly the same, but it is spread out over a span of 2 years. Don’t worry, you are not alone and most working professionals choose the two year option.

Perhaps, one may need to change their lifestyle altogether. We all don’t live a pure life anyway and sometimes we seek new opportunities to turn our life around with taking on new and exciting tasks, like a 12 month masters education. If you are behind this school of thought than more power to you.

In the end, you are responsible for your decision. Just don’t take on more than you can really handle as it may be very costly in an event you can’t keep up with all your diurnal tasks. Sanity and composure can help you tremendously in an accelerated Criminal Justice program like this one. So, try to keep some of it. I know you will do great!

For direct information on University of Cincinnati CJ program please visit their website.