Master of Arts Criminal Justice

The Master of Arts in Criminal Justice degree at Wayland is designed to help students be effective agents of change within their community and the world. By analyzing the social and legal aspects of crime, students learn how to better address the problems related to crime and justice within our society. Our fully-online program offers a variety of Specializations geared towards enhancing student’s skill sets in different areas, while offering the flexibility of online classes.

Our Criminal Justice students have the opportunity to learn from a diverse range of faculty, not just in the traditional fields of law and law enforcement, but in social work, counseling, human services, public administration, and sociology. Our faculty members consist of both current and retired lawyers, judges, assistant district attorneys, emergency response personnel, military officers, law enforcement officers, licensed professional counselors, social workers, alternative dispute mediators, and public administrators. This unique approach goes beyond a mere understanding of the law and how it applies to criminal offenders and helps prepare students to understand people better as a whole. In that process, our students can begin to see how the criminal justice system can work to bring about positive change in their community and within the broader scope of society.

With courses like CRIJ 5301: Restorative Justice, CRIJ 5315: Trauma-Informed Investigations, CRIJ 5321: De-escalation Training Techniques, and HMNS 5311: Navigating Mental Health Emergencies, our program goes beyond the basic overview of the law and focuses on helping students develop personally and professionally in areas of growing need within the criminal justice system. With its commitment to Christian education, Wayland is uniquely situated to focus on the concept of restorative justice and the need for mental health awareness. Our approach recognizes that crime is rarely an isolated event in and of itself, but is usually connected to a series of events and situations. By studying the past and understanding the creation and implementation of local, state, and federal laws, students can begin to understand how such laws have impacted society. This societal impact extends to both the social and cultural effect on human behavior, as well as the internal influence on individuals, and is often foundational to understanding the functions of the criminal justice system as a whole. By helping our students understand the systemic problems in society and how such things continue to impact individuals in the present, we can better prepare students to help others in positive ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Information

Contact Us

Contact Us

Apply Now

Apply Now

Academic Catalog.

Academic Catalog

Course Rotations

Course Rotations