Bachelor of Social Science (Criminal Justice)

What is this course about?

CSU's Bachelor of Social Science (Criminal Justice) course is designed to enhance the knowledge and professional capacities of people involved in occupations related to criminal justice and social justice.

About the course

Charles Sturt University's Bachelor of Social Science (Criminal Justice) course contains a core of vocationally relevant subjects which will enhance the knowledge and professional capacities of people involved in occupations related to the operation and administration of criminal justice and social justice.

Key points

students will graduate with the award Bachelor of Social Science (Criminal Justice)
this degree has been designed with extensive consultation with police, the justice community and academics, to ensure it is vocationally relevant and up to date with latest issues
through a proactive placement with a justice organisation, students gain a systematic introduction to the professional environment

Your course is recognised by industry

The Bachelor of Social Science (Criminal Justice) is a nationally accredited and registered award in tertiary education.

Hands-on experience

As a result of the integration of field work placements into the course, students gain an important introduction to diverse professional environments.

Academic expectations

For each 8 point subject at CSU, students should normally expect to spend between 140-160 hours engaged in the specified learning and assessment activities (such as attending lectures or residential schools, assigned readings, tutorial assistance, individual or group research/study, forum activity, workplace learning, assignments or examinations). The student workload for some subjects may vary from these norms as a result of approved course design.

Students will be assessed on the basis of completed assignments, examinations, workplace learning, or other methods as outlined in specific subject outlines.

Where applicable, students are responsible for travel and accommodation costs involved in workplace learning experiences, or attending residential schools (distance education students).

Expectations relating to academic, workplace learning, time and cost requirements for specific subjects are provided in the subject abstracts and in course materials.

Where it will take you

Graduates could adapt to a range of careers in criminal justice and beyond.

You could consider: corrections, probation and parole and associated work with offenders and families, juvenile justice, justice research and policy, policing, and in other justice and social justice occupations.

Professionals teaching you

The course is taught by dedicated professionals with a wide range of industry experience in law, corrections, criminology, psychology and sociology. They include:

Justice Studies staff:

Kim Browne – interests include criminal law, DNA evidence, human rights, international law and illicit trafficking in antiquities.

Emma Colvin – interests include therapeutic initiatives, bail, punishment, vulnerable populations and human rights.

John Gaffey – interests include crime and the media, crime and popular culture, media and discourse.

Dr Alison Gerard – interests include women refugees and securitisation, human rights, prisons, sex work, conflict transformation.

Dr Piero Moraro – interests include theories of punishment, political obligation, deliberative democracy, enfranchisement, and citizenship theory.

Dr Kate Seymour – interests include corrections, gender and crime, and serving police officers in the NSW Police Force.

Other Staff:

Dr Andrew McGrath – interests include juvenile offending, risk and needs assessment of juvenile offenders labeling theory.

Dr Len Palmer – interests include technology and gender, ethnicity, modernity and culture; discourse theory and cultural discourses.

Dr Oliver Villar – interests include security studies, US-Colombia relations, American foreign policy, and inter-American cocaine drug trade.

The course comprises 16 core subjects, a choice between two psychology subjects, a minor comprised of five subjects and one restricted elective (192 points):

Core Subjects

JST108 Justice Studies: Theory and Practice (16 credit points)
JST201 Criminal Law and Process
JST203 Punishment and the State
JST204 Crime, Delinquency and Social Welfare
JST205 Criminology
JST123 Indigenous Australians and Justice: An Introduction
JST302 Criminological Perspectives on Social Problems
JST318 Human Rights & Policing
JST320 Drugs, Crime and Society
JST321 Government, Civil Society and Justice
POL106 Government and Policing
PSY211 Psychology of Crime
PSY313 Psychology and the Legal System
SOC101 Introductory Sociology
SOC205 Social Research
SPE211 Foundations of Social Policy

Psychology Subjects

PSY111 Psychology for Health Services (unless intending to take a psychology core minor, in which case, PSY101 Foundations of Psychology must be taken instead)

PSY101 Foundations of Psychology *

Minors

Students complete a minor of five subjects from one of the following:

Juvenile Justice

Students must complete five of the following:

HSC205 Child Abuse and Child Protection
HSC321 Welfare Practice with Children, Young People and their Carers
JST212 Juvenile Justice - Context
JST215 Juvenile Justice - Practice
JST330 Restorative Justice - Community Conferencing
JST331 Crime Prevention and Young People
LAW307 Youth and the Law
SOC203 Sociology of Youth
WEL218 Developing Cross-cultural Competencies
WEL407 Child and Adolescent Welfare in Aboriginal Communities

Management

MGT100 Organisations and Management
MGT210 Organisational Behaviour
and 3 from:
MGT320 Managing Change
INR210 Industrial Relations in Australia
HRM210 Human Resource Management
HRM310 Developing Human Resources
HRM320 Issues in Human Resource Management
HRM330 Strategic Human Resource Management
EMG100 Introduction to Emergency Management
EMG101 Emergency Management Planning 1
EMG102 Emergency Management Planning 2

Sociology

Students must complete five of the following:
SOC102 Social Inequality
SOC203 Sociology of Youth
SOC215 Gender, Family and Society
SOC212 Class: Images and Reality
SOC308 Community Analysis
SOC314 Organisations, Culture & Society

Psychology (core minor)*

PSY102 Foundations of Psychology 2M
PSY201 Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology
and 3 from:
PSY202 Developmental Psychology
PSY203 Social Psychology
PSY304 Psychopathology
PSY305 Psychology of Personality
PSY306 Theories of Psychological Intervention
PSY308 Psychology of Learning

(* PSY101 Foundations of Psychology needs to have been completed in order to complete this minor)

Psychology (applied minor)#

Students must complete five of the following:
PSY113 Child and Adolescent Psychology
PSY213 Abnormal Psychology
PSY214 Health Psychology
PSY216 Psychology of Ageing
PSY218 Psychology of Substance Abuse
PSY316 Psychology of Stress and Trauma

# (no subjects in the Applied minor are accredited)

Policing

Students must complete five (or six if undertaking PPP1** subjects) of the following:

POL303 Organised Crime
JST226 Introduction to Police Investigation
JST228 Policing and the Community
JST319 Evidence and Procedure
JST309 Indigenous Issues in Policing
JST313 Investigative Interviewing
PPP101 * Simulated Policing (Acquiring Confidence) & Weapons and Tactics (4 credit points)
PPP106 * Simulated Policing (Acquiring Confidence) & Weapons and Tactics 2 (4 credit points)

(* conditions apply in terms of Professional Suitability)
(** must be both completed)

Justice Practice

Students must complete five of the following:
JST330 Restorative Justice - Community Conferencing
JST331 Crime Prevention and Young People
JST333 Community Corrections
SOC308 Community Analysis
WEL306 Non-metropolitan Welfare Services

Welfare

Students must complete five of the following:
HCS111 Introduction to Social Welfare
HCS103 Fields of Practice
HCS310 Mental Health and Mental Disorder
LAW211 Law for Human Services 1
WEL217 Social Dimensions of Disability
WEL229 Drugs, Alcohol and Gambling 2
WEL306 Non-metropolitan Welfare Services

Politics

POL212 Global Politics and Culture
POL205 Political Ideas
POL210 Politics of Identity
POL303 Organised Crime
POL305 Politics and the Media

Restricted elective

The restricted elective is chosen from the following:
JST212 Juvenile Justice 1 - Context
JST215 Juvenile Justice 2 - Practice
JST309 Indigenous Issues in Policing
JST319 Evidence and Procedure
LAW307 Youth and the Law
PHL209 Theories of Justice
POL303 Organised Crime
PSY218 Psychology of Substance Abuse
SOC215 Gender, Family and Society
or one additional subject selected from the minors listed above.

Distance Mode

The course comprises 16 core subjects, a choice between two psychology subjects, a minor comprised of five subjects and one restricted elective (192 points):

Core Subjects

JST108 Justice Studies: Theory and Practice (16 credit points)
JST201 Criminal Law and Process
JST203 Punishment and the State
JST204 Crime, Delinquency and Social Welfare
JST205 Criminology
JST123 Indigenous Australians and Justice: An Introduction
JST302 Criminological Perspectives on Social Problems
JST318 Human Rights and Policing
JST320 Drugs, Crime and Society
JST321 Government, Civil Society and Justice
POL106 Government and Policing
PSY211 Psychology of Crime
PSY313 Psychology and the Legal System
SOC101 Introductory Sociology
SOC205 Social Research
SPE211 Politics and Social Policy in Australia

Psychology Subjects

PSY111 Psychology for Health Services (unless intending to take a psychology core minor, in which case, PSY101 Foundations of Psychology must be taken instead)

PSY101 Foundations of Psychology *

Minors

Students complete a minor of five subjects from one of the following:

Juvenile Justice

Students must complete five of the following:
HCS205 Child Abuse and Child Protection
HCS321 Welfare Practice with Children, Young People and their Carers
JST212 Juvenile Justice - Context
JST215 Juvenile Justice - Practice
JST330 Restorative Justice - Community Conferencing
JST331 Crime Prevention and Young People
LAW307 Youth and the Law
SOC203 Sociology of Youth
WEL218 Developing Cross-cultural Competencies
WEL407 Child and Adolsecent Welfare in Aboriginal Communities

Management

Sociology

Psychology (core minor)*

* (PSY101 Foundations of Psychology needs to have been completed in order to complete this minor)

Psychology (applied minor)#

# (no subjects in the Applied minor are accredited)

Policing

Students must complete five (or six if undertaking PPP1** subjects ) of the following:
POL303 Organised Crime
JST226 Introduction to Police Investigation
JST228 Policing and the Community
JST319 Evidence and Procedure
JST309 Indigenous Issues in Policing
JST313 Investigative Interviewing
PPP101 * Simulated Policing (Acquiring Confidence) & Weapons and Tactics 1 (4 credit points)
PPP106 * Simulated Policing (Acquiring Confidence) & Weapons and Tactics 2 (4 credit points)

(* conditions apply in terms of Professional Suitability)
(** must be both completed)

Justice Practice

Students must complete the five of the following:
JST330 Restorative Justice - Community Conferencing
JST331 Crime Prevention and Young People
JST333 Community Corrections
SOC308 Community Analysis
WEL217 Social Dimensions of Disability
WEL306 Non-metropolitan Welfare Services

Welfare

Politics

POL212 Global Politics and Culture
POL205 Political Ideas
POL210 Politics of Identity
POL303 Organised Crime
POL305 Politics and the Media

Restricted elective

Enrolment pattern

Session 1

JST108 Justice Studies: Theory and Practice (16 credit points)
SOC101 Introductory Sociology

PSY111 Foundations of Psychology for Health and Human Services
OR

PSY101 Foundations of Psychology*
* Students who undertake a core psychology minor should take PSY101 rather than PSY111.

Session 2

JST204 Crime, Delinquency and Social Welfare
POL106 Government and Policing
PSY211 Psychology of Crime
JST123 Indigenous Australains and Justice: An Introduction.

Session 3

JST201 Criminal Law and Process
JST205 Criminology
SOC205 Social Research
[ ] Minor/elective

Session 4

JST203 Punishment and the State
JST302 Criminological Perspectives on Social Problems
SPE211 Foundations in Social Policy
[ ] Minor/elective

Session 5

JST321 Government, Civil Society and Justice
PSY313 Psychology and the Legal System
[ ] Minor/elective
[ ] Minor/elective

Session 6

JST318 Human Rights & Policing
JST320 Drugs, Crime and Society
[ ] Minor/elective
[ ] Minor/elective

Distance Mode

Session 1

PSY111 Foundations of Psychology for Health and Human Services
OR
PSY101 Foundations of Psychology*
SOC101 Introductory Sociology

* Students who undertake a core psychology minor should take PSY101 rather than PSY111.

Session 2

JST204 Crime, Delinquency and Social Welfare
PSY211 Psychology of Crime

Session 3

JST108 Justice Studies: Theory and Practice (16 credit points)

Session 4

POL106 Government and Policing
JST123 Indigenous Australians and Justice: An Introduction

Session 5

JST201 Criminal Law and Process
Minor/elective

Session 6

JST203 Punishment and the State
SPE211 Foundations in Social Policy

Session 7

SOC205 Social Resarch
Minor/elective

Session 8

JST302 Criminological Perspectives on Social Problems
JST 205 Criminology

Session 9

JST321 Government, Civil Society and Justice
Minor/elective

Session 10

JST320 Drugs, Crime and Society
Minor/elective

Session 11

PSY313 Psychology and the Legal System
Minor/elective

Session 12

JST318 Human Rights and Policing
Minor/elective

Admission requirements

To be admitted into the course, prospective students need to indicate their likelihood of success through:

previous studies, and
other attainments and experience.

Previous studies

Previous studies include:

the NSW Higher School Certificate or interstate /overseas equivalent;
the International Baccalaureate Diploma;
a completed or part completed course of a university, college of advanced education or other accredited tertiary institution;
a completed or part completed course of a TAFE college or other accredited post-secondary institution (including TAFE Tertiary Preparation Certificate);
an approved Foundation Studies program certificate;
completion of undergraduate subjects as an Associate Student with the University or through another University, or Open Universities Australia.

NSW and interstate school leavers are normally selected on the basis of their Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) or interstate equivalent. You may also be admitted on the basis of a strong performance in subjects relevant to your course preferences.

Currently no secondary school subjects are prerequisites for admission to particular CSU courses however some courses assume a certain level of knowledge. This will be specified in the course information if applicable.

English language proficiency

The University has minimum requirements for English language proficiency prior to entry to our courses. Some courses also have a requirement for a higher entry or exit level of English proficiency. More information on English language requirements.

Attainment and experience

You may also be admitted to a course based on other attainments and experience. These may include:

voluntary or paid work experience;
performance in tests and examinations conducted by professional recognised bodies;
participation in continuing education programs and/or staff development programs conducted by adult education agencies, consultancies, professional bodies or employers;
completion of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT).

Internet access

CSU places great emphasis on services to its students. It is a leader in the provision of online services and, in particular, the use of the internet in the support of teaching, administration and communications with students.

The online environment is so integrated into all aspects of student life and the learning experience at CSU that the University now assumes that all on campus and distance education students at CSU will have ongoing access to an internet connected computer capable of communicating with CSU online systems.

Students enrolled in Information Technology subjects (i.e. with an ITC subject code) may be required to have additional hardware and/or software that is deemed essential for the completion of the learning activities in that subject.

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This course is available to commence study in

Session 1; Session 2

Australian and New Zealand students

Apply through UAC

Full-time on campus study commencing in Session 1 or Session 2

Admission code: 211867

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Apply online

Admission code: Distance education - EAQR

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International Students

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Admission code: n campus - IAQR
Distance education - JAQR

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Contact a Recruitment agent in your country who can answer your questions about CSU as well as help with the student visa application process.

International recruitment agents

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