Changes Strengthen MCC’s Criminal & Social Justice Program

One of Heloisa DaCunha’s favorite parts about teaching at Middlesex Community College is witnessing her students cross the stage at graduation. From seeing them arrive at Middlesex on their first day to watching them develop their knowledge, skills and sense of self, she feels proud of playing a role in her students’ successes.

“I really believe in the community college mission,” DaCunha said. “We’re providing this excellent education to students at an affordable cost. We’re serving a population that resonates with me and I can identify with them. So many are just like me – they’re the first in their families to go to college, English is not their first language, and they are not the typical college student who has the luxury of attending without other responsibilities.”

Born in Brazil, DaCunha came to the U.S. at 11-years-old, not knowing how to speak English. She was the first person in her family to go to college, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Criminal Justice from UMass Lowell. After 12 years as a professor at Middlesex, DaCunha was named the Department Chair of MCC’s Criminal and Social Justice program.

Before coming to MCC, DaCunha worked in Lowell for several years with survivors of rape and sexual violence. Her expertise then – and now at MCC – was counter-terrorism and criminology. Each faculty member at MCC offers a different focus to provide students with a full-range of what to expect in the workforce – whether their chosen career path is in policing at any level, the court system, corrections, social work, human services or at nonprofit or state agencies.

To incorporate more social justice topics into the curriculum, MCC professors ask students what they know about the changes that have been made and why it has happened. Students get a deeper understanding by engaging in conversations and conducting hands-on research projects. One of the projects involves looking into whether or not the criminal justice system is diverse and representative of the population it serves, and how that affects the relationship.

“Students focus on a major city in Massachusetts that is diverse and research the diversity in the department,” DaCunha said. “How many officers speak a second language, how many are female, how many are a person of color? Then, they make a decision – is the police department representative of the city they serve? Every time, they find that there is tension and that the department does not represent the community.”

Starting in the Fall 2022 semester, MCC will give officers who have gone through the Police Academy nine credits toward their degree. In addition to providing online, hybrid and accelerated options, as well as three degree options depending on their goals, this allows students to fit an education more easily into their lives while enhancing their careers.

“One thing that we do at the college-level that is not done anywhere else in training is teach them interpersonal skills,” DaCunha said. “Our program teaches them how to talk well, to present themselves, treat everybody the same, not use implicit bias, not profile, not stereotype. People really get that through a college education they can apply in the field.”