With the Criminology & Criminal Justice System Certificate at UMass Amherst, you'll be equipped to analyze and critique criminal justice structures and processes from a social science perspective.

You'll explore the sociological theories of crime, law, and the criminal justice system through central topics including criminological theory, sociology of law, deviance and conformity, access to justice, inequality, mass incarceration, and other subjects.

Students who pursue the Criminology & Criminal Justice System Certificate often go on to graduate programs or law school to work in a variety of roles—as prosecutors or defense attorneys, social justice activists, educators, probation or parole officers, consultants, policy analysts, and law enforcement officers.

Please note this is not a law enforcement program. Completing the Criminology & Criminal Justice System Certificate does not provide educational incentives for regular full-time officers in participating cities and towns through salary increases provided by the Quinn Bill (Police Career Incentive Pay Program).