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Criminal Justice Minor
A minor in criminal justice can be an ideal complement to many majors offered at Dordt. Combined with a criminal justice minor, majors such as psychology, political science, English, and biology can all lead to a rewarding career. Your education will help you understand the social and criminal issues families and communities face. Better yet, it will equip you to pursue a career that helps you solve those problems.
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Program Overview
As a criminal justice minor, you’ll take classes in forensics, political science, and more. You’ll learn key concepts needed to work in the field. You’ll also go beyond the basic facts and learn to think critically about justice.
Of course, you’ll train outside the classroom too. Learning from industry experts. Participating in hands-on activities like processing a crime scene. Experiencing a firearms training simulator. Interning with an organization in the criminal justice field. It’s all part of developing God-centered insight, skills, and knowledge to serve in the criminal justice system.
What You'll Learn
As a criminal justice major, you'll learn from faculty with a variety of experience. For example, our department chair Jon Moeller is a retired FBI agent who worked national investigations such as responding to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and the DC sniper killings.
Prior to his work in the FBI, he served as a 24/7 undercover detective for three years. Hear from Professor Moeller about his work serving in law enforcement and now as the president of the Iowa and Nebraska chapter of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), as a part-time and reserve county deputy, and how his faith and work as a law enforcement officer correlate.
What You Can Do With A Criminal Justice Minor
Some pursue careers in law enforcement or the court and legal system. Others find success as private investigators, crime scene investigators, or social workers. Whatever path you choose, your ability to apply a Christian perspective to criminal justice will set you apart in more ways than one.
Intelligence Analyst
An Intelligence Analyst is responsible for understanding and neutralizing threats by breaking down given information into components that help to develop plans of action.
Private Investigator
Private Investigators perform a variety of tasks that collectively search for information pertaining to a crime or case.
Parole Officer
Parole Officers deal with inmates that are about to be released by helping them find employment, housing, treatment, etc.
Career Preparation
Dordt University's 2023 Career Outcome Rate was 99.4%! “This data point tells us that Dordt graduates are prepared for the careers of their choosing,” said Amy Westra, director of Career Development. “A Dordt education provides students with industry-relevant courses and connections that make a difference.”
To earn a criminal justice minor, students will complete six criminal justice courses from a variety of choices within the program.
- Introduction to Criminal Justice: Overview of the criminal justice system, including criminal justice research, criminal law, procedure, evidence, criminology, victimology, policing, the courts, and corrections. Students will explore how our views of crime and the criminal justice system have been influenced by government leaders and the media. Students will also seek to apply biblical norms to our analysis of the criminal justice system with suggestions on reform.
- Speaking and Writing for Public Service: This course will help students develop their skills in interviewing, report writing, and giving court testimony, including a basic introduction to the rules of evidence and procedure as they pertain to this process. Students will engage the material through a series of simulations that allow them the opportunity to see the impact of decisions and performance in earlier phases of the process from initial contact to sworn testimony.
- Policing: This course provides an overview of the history, function, administration, and challenges facing modern police. Emphasis will be placed on major reform efforts, including evidence-based practices, community policing, and the challenges of militarization. Students will also evaluate the role of police in society, especially within the framework of a biblical, Reformed worldview.
- Corrections: This course provides an overview of the various means used to punish criminals and protect society. Students will develop an understanding of the concepts of incarceration, prison management, and rehabilitation (penology), especially in the United States. Students will study correctional philosophies, the challenge of prison violence and subcultures, rehabilitation efforts, and recidivism. This course will encourage students to critically assess the challenges facing the American correctional system through evidence-based policy analysis and comparative study of international approaches.
- Juvenile Justice: Students will review causal theories of juvenile crime and will also examine the history and philosophy of the treatment of juveniles in the criminal justice system and the goals and effectiveness of the system. Promising alternatives rooted in a biblical reconciliation worldview will be included. Problems such as gangs, drug usage, and school violence will also be explored. The emphasis will be on how to be a salt and a light in a strategic part of society.
- Criminology: A theory-based course that studies crime causation, typologies of crime, and crime control. It looks at both historical and modern theories, including those that look to individual, social, and structural causes. It also broadly analyzes the guardianship and enforcement functions of the criminal justice system. Students will be able to identify criminology theories in modern media and engage in theory-building exercises.
- Victimology and Family Violence: The victimology section will look at the various harms suffered due to crime, how victims interact with various agencies and players, public reaction to victims, the victims’ rights movement, and how to better serve the victims of crime through our criminal justice system. Students will also identify and describe the problem, measure its true dimensions, and review evidence and hypotheses of victimologists. In the family violence portion, theories on family violence will be analyzed, the consequences of family victimization will be considered, as well as how to recognize child abuse and understand the dynamics of partner violence. Students will analyze legal and enforcement responses, consider how institutional responses can prevent or lessen revictimization, and look to how a restorative justice model can alleviate some of the harms of victimization.
- Criminal Law: This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of criminal law focusing on a study of what constitutes particular crimes, both in the common law and by statute, including certain defenses. Principles learned in this course will help students develop a deeper ability to discern what constitutes fair administration of justice: dealing fairly with the accused while continuing to uphold the interests of both victims and society at large.
- Criminal Procedures: This course continues the material covered in Criminal Law, this time focusing on the procedural protections guaranteed by the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments to the Constitution, helping students develop a more sophisticated understanding of things like searches and seizures and the right to an attorney. Students will learn the crucial role these protections play in protecting the rights of those suspected or accused of criminal activity.
- Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice: This capstone course to the Criminal Justice curriculum will integrate topics from across the discipline to help students critically evaluate the system as a whole. Students will discuss themes of justice, Christian perspective, and special consideration will be given to the most recent developments in news, technology, and popular culture regarding the criminal justice system.
- Field Experience in Criminal Justice: This field experience provides exposure to the type of activities in which Criminal Justice graduates are likely to be involved. Requires 8-10 on-site hours per week plus one hour of weekly supervision. Application deadline for the spring semester is November 1; deadline for the fall semester is April 1.
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Faculty
With experience in a variety of fields, our faculty members are equipped and ready to help you succeed.
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Student Stories
Dordt students and alumni use their gifts to make a difference in the world. Check out their stories to see how Defender Nation lives out our mission to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.
Not Alone
Adam Vander StoepDespite growing up in Northwest Iowa, Adam feels more than prepared for his job in the concrete jungle of New York City after the experiences and education he received at Dordt.
Adam Vander Stoep
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