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  • Introduction to Criminal Justice
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  • 110
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  • 3.0
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  • template_270.doc
    Uploaded: 10/12/2017 04:43:58 PM PDT

This course introduces students to the characteristics of the criminal justice system in the United States. Focus is placed on examining crime measurement, theoretical explanations of crime, responses to crime, components of the system, and current challenges to the system. The course examines the evolution of the principles and approaches utilized by the justice system and the evolving forces which have shaped those principals and approaches. Although justice structure and process is examined in a cross cultural context, emphasis is placed on the US justice system, particularly the structure and function of US police, courts, and corrections. Students are introduced to the origins and development of criminal law, legal process, and sentencing and incarceration policies.

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Successful completion of the freshman writing requirement.

  1. Understanding the Criminal Justice System
  2. Crime and Victimization
  3. Law Enforcement
  4. Courts and Sentencing
  5. Punishment and Corrections
  6. The Future of the Criminal Justice System

At the conclusion of this course, the student should be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of criminological theories used to explain crime and criminality;
  2. Explain the methods, theories, and concepts associated with the sources of crime data, the emerging patterns of criminal activity, and the costs of crime;
  3. Understand the history, development, and structure, and function of American police, courts, and corrections;
  4. Demonstrate an understanding of the history, structure, and function of the police;
  5. Convey an understanding of the process of adjudication;
  6. Show an understanding of corrections including the roles of probation, parole, and community corrections; as well as the functions of prisons and jails;
  7. Identify and describe special issues in the criminal justice system involving juvenile delinquency, drugs, and the future development;
  8. Critically analyze and discuss issues of crime and justice from varying perspectives;
  9. Utilize conclusions from scholarly research in creating informed positions on controversial issues in criminal justice;
  10. Demonstrate the ability to raise critically relevant questions based on independent reading of criminal justice literature;
  11. Effectively follow the appropriate writing style practiced in the social sciences;
  12. Explain the definitions of crime; and
  13. Understand the extent of the crime problem in America.

The writing assignment is recommended to be of a scholarly quality

Objective and subjective examinations/quizzes

Projects

Homework assignments

In class exercises/presentations

Criminal Justice Today by Frank Schmalleger, 2015, Pearson Prentice Hall, 13th Ed.

The American System of Criminal Justice by Cole and Smith, 2017, Cengage, 5th Ed. 

Criminal Justice in Action by Larry Gaines, 2015, Cengage, 8th Ed

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