Welcome

The School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University is an international leader in research and education on crime and justice issues.  We are also the nation's oldest continuous degree-granting program in criminal justice offering bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. We are particularly known for our research in the areas of policing and security, violence and its prevention, international study of crime and justice, gender and justice, and emerging crimes such as cybercrime, counterfeiting, environmental and natural resource crime, and extremist groups.

Homicide as an Infectious Disease

School of Criminal Justice faculty April Zeoli, Jesy Pizarro, and Chris Melde, along with Dr. Sue Grady from the Department of Geography, found themselves in the international media spotlight as their research on the spread of homicides gained the attention of scholars, police officials, policymakers, and journalists.  The study was based on analysis of over 2,300 homicides that occurred over 26 years in Newark, New Jersey.  The study is published in Justice Quarterly.

New Federal Grants to Continue Work on Violence and its Prevention and Control

A series of new grants have been awarded to the School of Criminal Justice to continue and extend its work on violent crime.  These include the Project Safe Neighborhoods and Drug Market Intervention programs involving Tim Bynum, Natalie Hipple, Ed McGarrell, and Heather Perez; projects in Detroit and Flint involving Tim Bynum, Ed McGarrell, and Jesy Pizarro; and in San Juan, Puerto Rico involving Jesy Pizarro, Bill Terrill, and Ed McGarrell.

Extremist Group Research Receives New Funding

Dr. Steve Chermak's research on extremist groups received additional federal research funding to continue to build the extremist group database and to generate new understanding through continued publications from this unique database.  Chermak collaborates with Ph.D. alum Jeff Gruenwald who is now a faculty member at the University of Arkansas.  They are aided by a group of graduate student research assistants including Mike Suttmoeller and Celinet Duran.

Crichlow Wins Award at the Midwest Criminal Justice Meetings

Ph.D. student Vaughn Crichlow was awarded the outstanding student paper award at the recent annual meeting of the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association.

 

Inaugural Inside-Out Course Celebrates Successful Completion

Dr. Jennifer Cobbina offered a unique course experience this fall semester by developing what is known as an "Inside-Out Prison Exchange Course" at the Cooper Street Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan.

The Inside-out program involves a course held within the correctional facility and involving a group of traditional MSU undergraduate students along with a group of "non-traditional" inmate students.  The semester long course culminated with a session involving guests including Warden Barrett and members of his staff, MSU faculty and the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, and state representative Earl Poleski.  The students presented the results of research projects as well as giving heartfelt talks about how much the course meant to them.  It was clear to all present that true learning had occurred among both the inside and outside students.  Congratulations to Jennifer as well as to doctoral student Kimberly Bender who served as teaching assistant for the course.