Policing

If “public health” refers to caring for the collective health of a population, then “public health economics” is the science of how a society takes on and manages this responsibility with limited resources. Public health policy is broad: While some of it does focus directly on healthcare, other areas as disparate as environmental protection, individual habit change and infectious disease control all contribute to the economics of public health.1 Studies indicate that there are economic benefits to preventing disease, not just for sick individuals, but for society at large.

While crime frequently dominates the news cycle, media outlets often sensationalize the lives of perpetrators while the needs of victims are all too often overlooked. Those most deeply affected tend to have their stories buried and their voices silenced, even as criminals sometimes rise to the status of pseudo-celebrities. Shifting the focus back to victims of crime ensures that these individuals are considered in studies of criminal justice and by policymakers, preventing a one-sided story. This is called victimology: the scientific study of the physical, emotional and financial harm people suffer because of criminal activities.

Evidence-based public health interventions have saved millions of lives since 1854, when Dr. John Snow first identified a public water well as the source of a major cholera outbreak in London. In the decades since, public health interventions have been instrumental in improving the health and well-being of people in large and small communities.1

Nobody likes a 404 page. It’s never the page you were trying to find, and it’s usually not your fault that you ended up there. Standard error messages can be inscrutable, and the typically austere 404 page itself can disconnect the user from the overall site experience, which can sour them to your site and even your brand. So how do you create a 404 page that is dynamic, that easily redirects the user back to the content they want and that’s even a little bit fun?

“Community corrections” refers to any program that supervises offenders outside of the prison system, including probation, parole, work release, day reporting centers or residential “halfway house” programs. Community corrections has a long history in the United States, where there are presently two offenders on parole or probation for every individual currently serving time in prison.1 This long history has yielded many evidence-based practices in community corrections that are proven to decrease recidivism and are less costly than incarceration.2

Learn about NASPAA accreditation and why it’s an important accreditation to have for most MPA programs.

“Terrorism” is a term that holds strong connotations in the United States and across the world. If the Oxford Dictionary defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in pursuit of political aims,” then we can define counter-terrorism as the lawful protection of civilians against violence and political persecution.

Criminology is a branch of sociology that focuses on the causes, effects and social impact of crimes. In many ways, the social aspect of criminology defines the field. For the criminologist, the ability to shift between conveying information with authority and listening carefully with compassion lies at the heart of communication in criminal justice. No matter what role you fill in this field, communication—both written and oral—is the number one skill you can polish in preparation for a criminology career.

As technology evolves, it adapts to our social habits and expectations while simultaneously broadening our awareness of local, national and international current events. In recent years, this has included greater awareness of community-police relations, a few specific instances of which have had tragic outcomes and caused public scrutiny of modern policing tactics. The cumulative impact of these incidents, in conjunction with an increasingly all-encompassing and remotely accessible internet, has necessitated the integration of more and smarter technology into contemporary police work.

Human activity has had an effect on the environment for thousands of years, from the time of our very earliest ancestors. Since Homo sapiens first walked the earth, we have been modifying the environment around us through agriculture, travel and eventually through urbanization and commercial networks. At this point in earth’s physical history, our impact on the environment is so substantial that scientists believe “pristine nature,” or ecosystems untouched by human intervention, no longer exist.1