Administered by Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice
43.101 Introduction to Criminal Justice (3) - Offers a comprehensive survey and basic understanding of the role and function of the criminal justice field. Attention is given to crime and criminal law, law enforcement, police, courts, corrections and juvenile justice.
43.200 Criminology (Fall) (3) - Discusses the major sociological theories of crime and justice. Presents the scope of crime in the United States and other countries. Probes each major type of crime, namely, homicide, rape, white-collar crime, political crime organized crime, property crimes, drug crimes, prostitution and pornography. Describes and analyzes law enforcement system. Prerequisite: 43.211, 43.244
43.210 Criminal Justice Statistics (3) - This course introduces students to the logic of statistical analysis in criminal justice research. Students will create and manage data sets, learn how to use statistical software and interpret statistical information in criminal justice journals. Prerequisite: 43.101
43.220 Criminal Justice Research (3) - This course introduces students to the logic of inquiry in criminal justice research. Students will learn how to pair research objectives with specific research methods in the design of qualitative, comparative and quantitative research projects. Prerequisites: 43.200 and 43.210.
43.242 Juvenile Delinquency (3) - Examines social pressures operative upon children in American society, which leads to formation of delinquent personality. Consideration of treatment and prevention, juvenile courts, clinics and correctional institutions, evaluation of theories, concepts and relevant empirical research.
43.320 Victimology (Spring) (3) - Examines the short-term and long-term effects of victimization on individuals and groups from such crimes as family violence, rape, street crime, business fraud, corporate negligence and political wrong doings. Prerequisite: 43.244
43.330 White-Collar Crime (3) - This course will discuss the major types of individual and organizational white-collar crime. Individual white-collar crime includes acts such as embezzlement, fraud, identity theft, computer crime, bribery and corruption, while organizational white-collar crime includes such acts as health and safety violations, large scale fraud and political corruption. The course addresses the dynamics, the social causes, the legal responses and the prevention of white-collar crime. Prerequisite: 43.200.
43.342 Penology (Spring) (3) - Penology studies the social rationales, methods and consequences of punishing and rehabilitating law breakers. Includes a social history of prisons, jails and punishment, the interpersonal dynamics within the institution, the inmate social order, causes of riots, treatment programs and alternative models and policies. Prerequisite: 43.211, 43.244
43.400 Mass Media and Crime (3) - This course probes three main areas: first, the mass media's relationship to criminal behavior, violent ideation and the promotion of stereotypical attitudes toward groups that could elicit criminal or violent acts; secondly, the mass media's influence on the public's view of crime, punishment and crime control - the creation of an "informal consensual reality," replete with dangers, crime waves, moral panics and support for draconian legal measures; and thirdly, the mass media's potential for constructive social change in the public's understanding of crime and in the state's policy regarding crime control. Prerequisites: 18 credits in criminal justice or permission of the instructor.
43.410 Criminal Law (3) - This course examines criminal law from a combined social science and legal perspective. Focus is on the substantive law with a special emphasis on personal crimes. Students will sharpen their skills in case analysis, legal reasoning and legal research. Prerequisite: 18 credits in criminal justice or permission of the instructor.
43.420 Crime, Social Inequality and Social Identity - This course focuses on the interaction between socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, gender and crime, specifically the relationship between these categories of offending, patterns of victimization, and treatment by the criminal justice system. These categories, or social roles, are understood both as characteristics that may relate to social inequity, as well as forms of group or social identity that have historically structured both the quantity and type of offenses as victimizations. Prerequisite: 18 credits in criminal justice or permission of the instructor.
43.430 Special Topics (3) - Study of a topic in criminal justice; topic varies with each presentation of the course.
43.495 Criminal Justice Internship (1-15) - An on-the-job apprenticeship in which students are exposed to the responsibilities, skills and activities necessary to accomplish jobs in criminal justice agencies, including public and private, local, state and federal, investigatory and correctional agencies. Pass/fail only. Prerequisite: 43.244.