Monash University Handbook 2011 Undergraduate - Course

The Bachelor Arts (Criminal Justice) degree provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to understand the complexity of crime, to identify and evaluate the effectiveness or otherwise of the criminal justice process, and to consider new and radical alternatives for dealing with crime.

Students will compare and contrast regional, rural and urban crime and evaluate policies which are supposed to prevent crime. They will also study public safety, forensic psychology, causes of deviant behaviour, and security-related issues.

The course provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to better understand crime, crime prevention and the criminal justice process, and to analyse and evaluate traditional, innovative and radical alternatives for dealing with crime.

This course consists of a criminal justice major, a prescribed sequence from Australian Indigenous studies, a compuslory research studies unit and an arts minor, with additional studies chosen from a variety of arts disciplines.

Students must complete the following:

(a.) a criminal justice major (48 points) incorporating:

• ATS1283 Crime: Theory and practice
• ATS1284 The criminal justice process
• ATS2471/ATS3471 Comparative criminal justice*
• ATS2472/ATS3472 Crime and violence: Rural, regional and urban communities*
• ATS2734/ATS3734 Sociology of deviance*
• ATS3844 Forensic psychology

plus two of:

• ATS2473/ATS3473 Offender profiling*
• ATS2737/ATS3737 Social justice*

(b.) an arts minor in a different available area of study (24 points)

(c.) a first-year arts sequence in a third area of study (12 points)

(d.) two compulsory Australian Indigenous studies core units (12 points):

• ATS2364/ATS3364 Indigenous Australian politics and activism *
• ATS2369/ATS3369 Indigenous Australian human rights *

(e.) ATS2831 Quantitative social research

(f.) a further 42 points at first, second or third-year level

No more than 10 units (60 points) are to be completed at a first-year level.

Students must complete a minimum of 36 points at third-year level (across the duration of the degree).

By combining some of the core arts requirements, students can complete a double major in two different arts disciplines. For more details on this option, contact the Faculty of Arts.

* These units can only be undertaken at either level two or level three, eg students cannot study both ATS3734 and ATS2734.

Areas of Study

Minors can be taken in the following available areas of study:

• Australian Indigenous studies
• communications
• community welfare and counselling
• history-politics
• psychological studies
• psychology
• public relations
• sociology
• writing

Bachelor of Arts (Criminal Justice)