Justice

The goal of the Mount Mary University justice program is to help you to:

• Understand the causes and impacts of crime, as well global justice, policy analysis and legal issues
• Learn about rights and how to protect them
• Understand the justice system, including partnerships of law, courts, corrections and the community
• Become a powerful negotiator and consensus-builder
• Ask the right questions about big issues
• Skillfully analyze and apply social justice and legal justice with the goal of real, long-term change for good
• Work in meaningful and life-changing ways to solve or prevent crisis-level problems
• Become a powerful and responsible global citizen

Experience Justice In and Out of Class

The justice curriculum helps you develop excellent persuasive writing skills, great speaking and negotiating skills, ethical decision-making skills, and networking skills to learn from judges, lawyers, victim’s advocates and law enforcement officers. 

In addition to traditional lectures and course discussion, you’ll get to go on field trips throughout the Milwaukee area to see a K-9 law enforcement unit, a federal courthouse, a women’s prison, a youth drop-in shelter and a religious center. You’ll also get to hear from experts in the field in class.

Justice Bachelor's Degree Requirements

All justice majors are required to complete an internship. Additionally, study abroad opportunities focusing on justice-relate topics are available year-round and are tailored to your individual interests.

A criminal justice concentration is available to students who want to focus on the criminal justice system and careers in law enforcement, the courts and corrections. In this concentration, you’ll take courses on subjects such as psychopathology and juvenile justice, as well as learn methods of evidence-based justice practices and new tools for working in the criminal justice system.

The Bachelor of Arts in Justice program requires a minimum of 53 credits. You also must fulfill the university’s core curriculum requirements located in the justice curriculum sheet.  

Complete degree requirements and a listing of courses are available in the Undergraduate Bulletin (PDF).

Pre-Law Preparation

At Mount Mary (or at any college) pre-law is not a major—it involves taking a challenging curriculum and developing your reading, writing, speaking, critical thinking and logical thinking skills. Learn how Mount Mary can prepare you for law school.

Faculty

The School of Arts and Sciences at Mount Mary is rich with talented faculty who care about their students.

Justice majors are encouraged to participate in student clubs and organizations across campus, including the Justice on the Rise club and student government, as well as participate in social justice projects.

Justice on the Rise Club

You can be a member, volunteer or officer of this completely student-run club. The Justice on the Rise club:

• Hosts film screenings for movies such as “The Invisible War”
• Connects with professional women leaders in the justice system
• Raises funds for donations to social justice charities such as the Sojourner Family Peace Center, Pathfinders and the Waukesha Women’s Center
• Provides volunteer support and student liaisons at women’s justice and leadership events for the public.

Service learning and social justice projects

The Milwaukee community offers many great partners for service learning or social justice projects. Here are some of the volunteer activities you could do:

• Help provide interpreter services for Milwaukee County’s Restraining Order Clinic
• Coordinate or participate in activities for National Victim of Crimes Awareness Week
• Help with census taking for homeless youth
• Design a survey for community services to help human trafficking victims
• Study mortality statistics for domestic violence cases
• Help to analyze challenges in the social justice system

With a four-year, liberal arts degree in justice you’ll be prepared for many career opportunities or for graduate school. You could work for a law firm, law enforcement agency, correctional facility, public policy organization, nonprofit organization or government agency. If you are interested in forensics, you may want to consider a science-related major or a double major in justice and a science-related field.

Entry-level positions include city police officer, juvenile corrections officer, corrections officer, probation agent, border patrol agent, paralegal or legal assistant. With advanced training or a graduate degree, you could pursue a career as a lawyer, judge, mediator, police detective, professor or researcher.

Salaries for justice majors vary, depending on your field and experience. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the following are annual median salaries, as of 2010:

• City or state police officer: $53,540
• Correctional officer: $39,020
• Fish and game warden: $49,730
• Judge: $119,270
• Lawyer: $112,760
• Mediator: $55,800
• Paralegal or legal assistant: $46,680
• Police detective: $68,820

Create your Career Network in College

Because of the versatility of a justice degree, all justice majors are required to complete an internship. During an internship you will gain essential experience, develop insight into careers you do and don’t want to pursue, and begin developing a network of professional colleagues.

Past Internship Sites

• 211 Wisconsin Call Hotline for Human Services
• Brown Deer Police Department
• Horizon House for Women in Re-Entry
• Immigration and criminal law offices
• Internet Predator Prevention website
• Justice 2000
• Los Angeles Police Department – Narcotics and Vice Unit
• Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge
• Milwaukee County Clerk’s Office
• Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office – Domestic Violence Unit
• Milwaukee Police Department – Cold Case Unit
• Milwaukee Public Defender’s Office – Investigations
• Racine Correctional Facility – Rehabilitation
• Racine County Police Department
• Safe and Sound Youth Violence Prevention Initiative
• Sojourner Family Peace Center
• St. Rose Youth and Rehabilitation Center
• U.S. Department of Forestry – Law Enforcement Unit
• U.S. Marshals Office
• Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department
• Wauwatosa Police Department
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections- Sexual Offenders, Milwaukee Unit
• Wisconsin Probation – Mental Health