Ⅰ. Objectives
This program focuses on training inter-disciplinary talents equipped with critical thinking ability, innovative consciousness, solid theoretical foundation and systematic expertise in the area of criminal justice and criminology, with strong investigation and research skills, capable of theoretical analysis and problem solving, and are able to dedicated to work and research in criminal justice systems with high proficiency in Chinese and English.
II. Duration and credits
The duration for full-time Master degree program is 3 years. Those who fail to graduate on schedule within the specified period may apply for an extension, but the extension period shall generally not exceed one year.
During the period of study, graduate students must complete 38 credits, of which course credits shall not be less than 30 credits. In addition, 8 credits for academic participation are required.
In principle, the courses must be completed within the first one and half a year.
III. The following courses comprise the curriculum:
Criminological Theories
This course focuses on historical and contemporary explanations of crime and criminal behavior, covering strain, control, cultural, labeling, and routine activity theories, etc. More recent endeavors towards theoretical integration and multidisciplinary advancement will also be introduced and examined.
Criminology and Criminal Justice
This course focuses on the administration and operation of criminal justice agencies. Students will learn the development of various criminal justice agency policies and procedures, and be able to analyze their rationales and logics with the help of theoretical tools.
Research Methods
This course/seminar is designed to equip students with knowledge and skills of research methods commonly used in social science research. Quantitative and qualitative methods will be introduced. Issues covered are related to but not limited to literature review, hypothesis formation, variable construction, research design, sampling process and the techniques and methods of data collection. Students will prepare a research proposal that details a research question and the research design appropriate for addressing that question.
Crime Prevention
This course summarizes and synthesizes the substantial crime prevention theories and practices to provide an approachable and comprehensive view for students. It also engages a multifaceted analysis of important issues on crime prevention at local and national levels.
Policing
The course is an introduction to the origin of modern policing as well as its contemporary policing theories and practices. The course focuses on the roles and functions of policing, police organizations, accountability, and policing strategies. It will also engage current controversies about community policing, public order, private security industry.
Drug Use and Abuse
This course introduces major types of drugs, the causes of drug abuse, as well as how drugs influence human behavior. It will provide a survey of the historical context of the legislative initiatives that have been attempted to combat the use of drugs, various drug control policies, and drug treatment programs.
Issues of Chinese Criminal Law
This course aims to help students to have a fully understanding about the criminal theories around the crime, criminal responsibility and the general principle of punishment as well as its system, and familiar with the main content of Chinese criminal law system and related judicial interpretations, focus on cultivating students' legal professional literacy and practical operation ability.
Issues in Criminal Policy
This course will critically introduce criminal policy in China and the Western context, including its evolvement, important issues, its relationship with the criminal justice systems, and criminal policies under different contexts in risk society. It will also introduce the performance of the operation of criminal policy and the evaluation research.
Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Justice
As an interdisciplinary course sitting in criminology, sociology, psychology and criminal justice, this course consists of three modules including introduction of basic theories, case analysis, and discussion of issues. By means of lectures and classroom discussion, this course provides a deep understanding of theories, phenomenon, causes of and judicial responses to juvenile delinquency.
Anti-corruption of Chinese Style
Anti-corruption is a global problem. Since the 18th National Congress, China has made great achievements in anti-corruption, providing a Chinese solution to the world's fight against corruption. This course aims to conduct in-depth research and analysis on China's anti-corruption efforts, improve students' awareness and understanding of Chinese-style anti-corruption, explore its characteristics, strategies, and effectiveness, and cultivate students' ability to analyze and solve problems.
Criminal Psychology
This course aims to enable students to understand crime from psychological perspectives, grasp the analytical methods, develop an understanding of criminal psychological characteristics of different offending and offender types, and learn of the application of psychology expertise and knowledge in the field of criminal justice.
Issues in Offender Correction
This course will provide macro and micro perspectives of offender rehabilitation, mainly introduce the basic concepts, principles, theories and development of offender rehabilitation, as well as the operation and application of offender rehabilitation, enabling the students to develop a deep understanding of offender rehabilitation.
Issues in Comparative Criminology
This course will introduce the status quo of international criminology, the latest development in research, and empirical studies, enabling students to gain a deep understanding of the country-specific and region-specific criminological theories and empirical research, and a broad understanding of issues in international criminology.
IV. Academic Participation (8 credits, 2 credits for each section)
ⅰ. Social Practice. Participating in social practice is an important part to cultivate graduate students' ability of organizing, working and achieving goals independently. Master students are required to pay a visit to the field, either in China or a specific country/region, including judicial organs, administrative organs, law firms or enterprise law departments during their period of study. Credits will be given if they submit a report regarding practical work or profession (minimum 6000 words) upon the visit.
ii. Academic Lectures. Graduate students should actively participate in various academic lectures related to their major. All kinds of legal academic lectures held by our university can be recorded by paper card or IC card swiping system. If the number of records is at least 20 and the number of participation in the school's famous speakers is at least 10, the training link of academic lecture shall be regarded as passed and credits shall be given.
iii. Reading Reports or Literature Review. Graduate students must carefully read the literature designated by their tutor in the first three semesters, and write at least one reading report or literature review per semester according to the requirements of their tutor. After the reading report or literature review of each semester in the first three semesters is recognized as qualified by the expert group composed of the graduate school, its reading report or literature review link is regarded as passed and credits are given.
iv. Thesis Exercises. Master students submit one academic paper (more than 8,000 words, pass the check) or one research report (more than 8,000 words, pass the check) to their supervisors within the first week of the second semester of their second year of study or translate a foreign language document (more than 8,000 words) related to the dissertation that has been signed and approved by the supervisor. After it is recognized as qualified by the expert group composed of the graduate school, the thesis exercise link is deemed to be passed and credits are given.
V. Mid-term assessment
The mid-term assessment of master students shall generally be completed within one month after the beginning of the second spring semester. In the mid-term assessment, the tutor group of each discipline shall make comprehensive evaluation opinions according to the self-evaluation summary of postgraduates, the review of course learning, and the tutor's evaluation of Postgraduates' political and ideological performance, learning and scientific research ability. Basic requirements for the mid-term assessment of master students: correct learning attitude, complete all courses specified in the training plan and pass the examination, and the total credits of courses and degree courses completed shall meet or exceed the minimum training requirements of the University; At least three reading reports or literature reviews have been submitted to the tutor and certified by the tutor, and one academic paper or research report or foreign language translation (more than 8000 words) has been submitted to the tutor and certified by the tutor. After passing the mid-term examination, start writing the dissertation.
VI. Dissertation
ⅰ. Proposal
The proposal is generally arranged to be completed before the end of the spring semester of graduate school 2. Before writing the opening report, you should read at least 50 important documents at home and abroad (the amount of literature reading shall not be less than) 300000 words). Generally, the research time of the thesis shall not be less than one year. The opening report and thesis work plan shall be submitted to the Graduate Office for filing after being reviewed and approved by the tutor group of the discipline.
The content of the opening report includes literature review related to the selected topic, significance of the topic, research content, research methods, work plan and time arrangement of the paper, basic content of the paper, expected level, existing problems, etc. (no less than 5000 words), and the data index of the topic shall be attached.
ⅱ. Mid-term Examination of Dissertation
Half a year after the opening of the topic, the tutor group of the discipline shall conduct the mid-term inspection of the paper, mainly checking the writing progress and basic content of the paper.
ⅲ. Pre-defense
Pre-defense shall be conducted before the defense of master's thesis. The time for pre-defense is arranged 3 months before the oral defense.
ⅳ. Thesis Requirements
The topic selection of the thesis should have certain academic value and practical significance, clear views, careful demonstration, full and accurate information, note specification, and innovative ideas. Students should complete it independently, no less than 30000 words. For the detailed requirements of the dissertation, please refer to the writing specifications for Graduate Dissertations of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.
For international students receiving higher education in English, the dissertation can be written in English, no less than 15000 English words，and the abstract of the dissertation should be in Chinese. The University decides whether to defend the dissertation in English.
The dissertation of jointly trained master students shall be completed under the joint guidance of the two professors, and two different dissertations shall be submitted to the two colleges and departments respectively, which shall pass the defense and degree review of the two parties respectively. After the whole training process is completed and qualified, you can apply to obtain the degrees of the two universities if you meet the requirements for awarding master's degrees of the two universities.
VII. Other requirements
Applicants for excellent Master theses in our university must meet the following requirements: papers (or translations) are published in academic journals or received the formal acceptance letter of the papers, or published their papers (or translations) in the student journal SHUPL Law Review, and the number of words of the papers must (or Translations) exceed 8000.
For foreign students who use Chinese as their theses language, their Chinese proficiency shall reach the level 5 of Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education upon graduation. Foreign students who take English as their professional teaching language should have at least level 3 of Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education upon graduation.
