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We study all aspects of crime and societal reactions to crime.
Study the social, political, economic, and cultural forces that influence definitions of crime, individual offending and crime rates, policy choices about how society responds to crime, and all aspects of the criminal justice system.
Evidence-based judgments and prudent policy choices about crime and justice require an understanding of crime, criminal behavior, criminal justice processes, and the law. The study of criminal justice at the University at Albany addresses these phenomena.
The internationally renowned UAlbany School of Criminal Justice is home to the 5th ranked PhD program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. We were the first program in the nation to offer a PhD in Criminal Justice, virtually inventing the discipline when a star-studded group of faculty embarked a wholly new endeavor, bringing together scholars from law, public administration, psychology, sociology, and related fields to create a program that looked beyond the offender to explore the nature of crime and the entire criminal justice system.
Since its inception, the School has remained interdisciplinary in its approach. Our graduates have been highly successful as academics and as practitioners. Graduates find opportunities in the expanding academic field of criminal justice research and teaching, all the operating agencies of criminal justice, and in the many private and non-profit organizations that provide services or make policy recommendations.