Criminal Justice

This course is a focused examination of emerging and dynamic problems or issues facing law enforcement, the judicial system, and the correction's system. The course will examine how the selected special topics affect each of these three components of the criminal justice system. This course will cover specific subject matter in depth that was only covered cursorily in lower level criminal justice courses as well as subject matter not ordinarily covered in the existing curricula. Examples include, but are not limited to, alternative punishment schemes, emerging patterns of violence, organized crime, white-collar crime, cyber-crime, corruption in the criminal justice system, euthanasia and mercy killing, victimology and victim services, civil disobedience and the rule of law, women and minorities in the justice system, child abuse, sex-trafficking, insanity pleas, Homeland Security and terrorism, death penalty, prison overcrowding and community corrections, serial killers and mass murderers, etc.

    The focus of this competency is to examine the historical background, the traditions, and the legal principles that underlie the Courts as an integral component of the American system of Criminal Justice. Both differences and similarities inherent within the State and Federal Court processes will be analyzed, and the procedures through which the criminal courts uphold the basic rights and liberties of all U.S. citizens, both victims and the accused, will be explored. A primary focus will be placed upon understanding the respective roles played by Judges, Prosecuting Attorneys, Defense Counsel, Police, and Probation Officers and other Court-related personnel in the criminal court process.

The focus of this competency is to provide students with an academic focus of criminology through an examination of its theories, basic assumptions and definitions via the interdisciplinary disciplines of sociology, psychology, and biology.  Research methodologies will accentuate the understanding of these theoretical perspectives and their direct practical application.

The focus of this competency is to introduce students to the history, function, and role of law enforcement in American society. The multi-dimensional work of policing is emphasized. Practical and critical approaches to law enforcement are undertaken to explore prevailing and dissenting perspectives in issues in contemporary policing. This course provides an in-depth examination of one of the three cornerstones of traditional policing, criminal investigation. Topics include physical evidence, information sources, interviews and interrogations, eyewitness identifications, crime scene reconstruction, homicide investigations, burglaries, robberies, sex crime investigations, specialized investigations, and managing criminal investigations.

This course introduces students to the study of deviance and victimology within criminal justice. This course also examines the theories and research of deviance (including white collar/corporate crime, sex crimes, gangs, abductions, racism, child abuse, etc.) and victimology (the scientific study of victimization, including the relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system (law enforcement, victim services, courts, and corrections). Finally, an examination of actual court cases will assist in illustrating social policy as it relates to criminology: research used in criminology; typologies such as violent crime; crimes against individuals; and victim-centered responses.

This course provides an introduction to basic research methods including the conceptualization of a research theory or problem, literature review, and the collection and analysis of data to reach a conclusion. While research methods can be applied to any discipline, this course focuses on the study of empirical research in the fields of criminology and criminal justice. This course will concentrate on the basic logic, terminology, and concepts in research methodology as well as the "doing" and implementation of research - data collection, analysis techniques, and an introduction to statistical applications.

The internship is the field experience for students majoring in Criminal Justice, and utilizes a concurrent model of field education. This model affords students the opportunity to simultaneously practice in the field and uses seminars as a forum to improve their service skills and enhance their team building skills. Students coordinate their internship experience with the faculty internship advisor and the site supervisor at the location of the field experience. The internship is designed to enable the student to experience increasing levels of responsibility within the fieldwork facility. The field experience is a minimum of 150 hours on site, along attendance at regularly scheduled internship seminar meetings. Students may intern at their work site with approval from the faculty internship advisor or may choose an internship position available in the community.