The Department of Criminal Justice at Indiana University bridges the gap between the law and the social sciences. We do so through the study of the administration of justice (both civil and criminal), the nature of crime, and the relationship between law and society. We embrace the importance of cross-cultural inquiry, and our research explicitly examines the international dimensions of justice. We consider the profound role that mental health concerns play in the experience of violence and responses to it.

The Department of Criminal Justice treasures its long tradition of innovation to the study of criminal justice. From its earliest days as the home where Professor Robert Borkenstein developed the breathalyzer to its current status as a leader in interdisciplinary approaches to crime, law and justice, the Department continues to broaden the boundaries of the discipline. We do much more, however, than contribute to the field of Criminal Justice. We bring our understanding of law, crime and justice to other disciplines, from the long-established fields of Anthropology, History, Medicine, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology to such exciting new interdisciplinary fields as American Indian Studies, Cultural Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Developmental Science, Psychology and Law, and Women’s Studies. We take interdisciplinary work seriously and resist stifling disciplinary boundaries. We expect students to explore and experiment with emerging areas of inquiry and we seek to provide them with the theoretical and methodological skills needed to do so.