Greenfield Community College

Criminal Justice

The Criminal Justice Program at GCC will provide you with a solid background in criminal justice. You will learn about the various components of the criminal justice system—law enforcement, courts and corrections—as well as the social issues surrounding the system.

• View degree requirements: AS in Criminal Justice or AS in Criminal Justice Commonwealth Transfer Compact Option
  
• View expected competencies for program graduates.
• Search for course descriptions in our online catalog

Some facts about criminal justice

Our nation's criminal justice system, a growing area for career opportunities, relies upon a large, well-trained, caring work force for its effectiveness.

More than two million people are currently employed in the criminal justice system and the private sector security areas. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts a strong demand for parole officers, police and security personnel and other positions related to the criminal justice system beyond the year 2000.

The Criminal Justice Program at Greenfield Community College will prepare you to become a part of this system and its private sector affiliates. The curriculum leads to an associate in science degree. This degree provides the option of entering the work force or transferring to a four-year school to complete a bachelor's degree. Some GCC graduates continue their education further by going to law school or entering other graduate fields of study.
Career Opportunities in Criminal Justice

Greenfield Community College's Criminal Justice Program provides students with a broad education in the varied operations, functions, and objectives of law enforcement, courts, and corrections. The curriculum leads to an Associate in Science degree and prepares students to enter the field directly through employment with criminal justice agencies or to transfer to Bachelor degree programs in four-year colleges throughout the country. Graduates of GCC's Criminal Justice Program have gone on to work in law enforcement, corrections, criminal justice education, social work and law.

Career opportunities in criminal justice include

• Law enforcement, at the local, state or federal level
• Courts, at the federal or state level
• Court diversionary programs
• Corrections, at local, state, and federal levels
• Crime prevention in both the public and private sector
• Industrial and retail security
• Rehabilitation programs for criminal offenders and juveniles
• Victim/witness advocacy
• Probation/Parole

Transfer opportunities

Many GCC graduates transfer to four-year colleges, including Northeastern University, Westfield State College, Western New England College and the University of Massachusetts.

Advantages of our program

• smaller classes
• accessible faculty and close faculty/student interaction
• flexible full-time or part-time scheduling
• academic tutoring
• supervised field experience
• contact with police, judges, lawyers, courts and correction personnel working in the community
• lower tuition and expanded financial aid opportunities
• career counseling by faculty with extensive experience working in various fields of criminal justice

Expected competencies

Upon graduation from the GCC Criminal Justice Programs, students will have demonstrated the ability to:

1. Apply skills and knowledge necessary for entry-level positions and/or continued study in criminal justice or related fields.
2. Explain the basic concepts, operations and services of the primary agencies that make up the criminal justice system.
3. Analyze theoretical perspectives on normative behavior and social deviance and identify specific crime typologies and offender profiles.
4. Understand the historical and current roles that diversity plays in our society in lawmaking, criminal conduct, criminal justice practices, crime control policies and treatment of victims.
5. Demonstrate proficiency in identification and explanation of Constitutional processes, substantive law content, and application of appropriate techniques in the investigation, apprehension, prosecution, defense, adjudication, punishment, and rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
6. Demonstrate essential skills including reading, writing, communications, critical thinking and reasoning.
7. Utilize the knowledge and terminology required of a criminal justice professional.
8. Analyze current issues facing the criminal justice system and ethical choices confronting criminal justice practitioners.
9. Analyze career opportunities and assess skills and abilities in relationship to specific positions.