Bachelor of Science (BS)
Criminal Justice
Degrees and Certificates
-
Criminal Justice, -
Criminal Justice, Master of Science (MS)
Courses
CRJ1001: Introduction to Criminal Justice System
Credits 4This course is intended to be an examination of the criminal justice system and will provide a core understanding of the history, processes, and functions of the three primary components: law enforcement, corrections, and the court system. Emphasis will be placed on contemporary problems in the definition of law, strategies of policing, judicial systems, enforcement of the law, correctional practices, and sentencing. This course will familiarize students with the operation of the criminal justice system and law enforcement in the United States and provide an appreciation for the values and viewpoints that make up that system.
CRJ2100: Introduction to Law Enforcement
Credits 4This course introduces students to the foundations of law enforcement in the United States, examining the historical development, organizational structure, and operational functions of police agencies. Students will explore the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement officers, including patrol, order maintenance, crime prevention, and investigation. Emphasis is placed on understanding the constitutional principles that guide policing practices, particularly those related to search and seizure, use of force, and interrogation. Through this overview, students will gain insight into how modern law enforcement balances public safety with the protection of individual rights.
CRJ2200: Introduction to Criminal Courts
Credits 4This course provides a comprehensive look at the criminal court system in the United States. All levels are explored (local, state, federal, and international courts). Courtroom work groups as well as the roles of judges are examined. Relevant issues such as judicial selection, judicial decision making, and judicial review are covered. Trends in the court system will also be discussed.
CRJ2300: Introduction to Corrections
Credits 4This course provides a broad examination of the American correctional system. The course considers the purposes of punishment and examines correctional facilities as well as community-based corrections. The student will examine the challenges related to operating a facility, including respecting the rights of inmates while ensuring safety and security. The course concludes with a review of key contemporary issues, including the death penalty.
CRJ2800: Criminal Law and Procedures
Credits 4This course begins with an introduction to the nature of criminal law, including the definitions and elements of crimes and defenses available to those being prosecuted. The course then examines the procedures that take place after an arrest is made, including pre-trial activities, courtroom processes, jury procedures, and appeals.
CRJ3003: Juvenile Delinquency
Credits 4This course examines the nature and extent of delinquency, as well as theories of delinquency and the various causes. In addition, an overview of the juvenile justice system will be presented. Specifically, issues and trends regarding juveniles and the police, the juvenile court system, and juvenile corrections will be examined. Current methods of treatment and prevention will also be discussed.
CRJ3004: Race, Class, and Gender in Criminal Justice
Credits 4This course will focus on theoretical foundations and current research on theories of racial, ethnic, class, and gender discrimination within America's criminal justice system. Emphasis will be placed on the most recent research on patterns of criminal behavior and victimization, police practices, court processing and sentencing, the death penalty, and correctional programs as they relate to minority groups.
CRJ3005: Criminal Justice Management and Administration
Credits 4This course covers modern management theory and the application of management techniques to the criminal justice system. This course focuses on criminal justice managers and supervisors, their jobs, and the complicated interrelationships between members of criminal justice agencies and the communities they serve. Topics covered include: leadership, organizational behavior, and employee supervision.
CRJ3011: Criminology
Credits 4This course focuses on the causes of crime and theories of criminal behavior including, biological, psychological and sociological theories. Students will also explore recent developments in criminological theory and current issues in criminology.
CRJ3014: Criminal Justice and the Media
Credits 4Criminal Justice and the Media will explore the relationship between the mass media, crime and the criminal justice system in the United States. It will examine the role media plays in the social construction of crime and justice, and the impact of the media on attitudes and perceptions of crime and criminality. Particular attention is paid to the relationship of the media and crime prevention, and the impact of the media on the operations of the agencies in the criminal justice system from law enforcement to corrections.
CRJ3015: White Collar Crime
Credits 4This course examines the various types of "white-collar" and economic crimes in America. These include corporate crimes, such as consumer fraud and stock fraud, environmental crimes, corruption, medical crime, and computer-based crime. Students will learn about pyramid schemes, e-mail and Web-based crimes, boiler-room operations, and criminal organizations posing as religions or charities.
CRJ3023: Organized Crime
Credits 4This course is intended to provide a historical review of activities of national and international organized groups. Emphasis is placed on the nature and concept of organized crime, both traditional and nontraditional, as well as the rise of the modern street gang. Cultural and social implications of the presence of organized crime and emerging strategies used in the fight against organized crime are examined in depth.
CRJ3024: Serial Killers and Mass Murderers
Credits 4This course involves the exploration into serial killers and mass murderers, and the impact each has on society and individual victims. This course examines issues of causation and the social environmental linkage of recent and notorious cases including the mind set of offenders.
CRJ3025: Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
Credits 4This course examines systems of law, police, courts, and corrections in different countries to show the various ways policing, adjudication and corrections systems can be organized and operated.
CRJ3026: Concepts in Crime Mapping and Prevention
Credits 4This course is intended to be an overview of the various facets of crime mapping and prevention theories including, criminal behavior and victimology. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the role of place and space in crime theory, in analyzing crime patterns, and how the environment can be altered to prevent crime and/or reduce the fear of crime.
CRJ3300: Community Based Corrections
Credits 4This course will introduce students to the procedures, practices, and personnel involved in community-based corrections. Students will learn about the wide array of effective punishments and treatment programs that constitute alternatives to incarceration, and which are designed to meet the level of risk posed by, and the needs of, each individual. These include probation, parole, electronic monitoring, house arrest, day-treatment centers, boot camps, restitution, fines, and more.
CRJ3500: Ethics in Criminal Justice
Credits 4This course examines ethical issues faced by actors in the criminal justice system. The focus will be placed on the philosophical and practical approaches to solve ethical dilemmas within the complicated criminal justice system.
CRJ3600: Introduction to Forensics
Credits 4This course will be an in-depth look at specific areas of forensic science. The course will focus on the Crime Scene, Physical Evidence, Organic and Inorganic Analysis, Paint Analysis, Fire and Explosion Investigation, Fingerprints, and Impressions.
CRJ4001: Victimology
Credits 4The course is a comprehensive look at the theories of victimology and the interaction of crime victims with others in the criminal justice system.
CRJ4002: Restorative Justice
Credits 4This course defines restorative justice and its values, explores its foundational underpinnings, and details ways to build restorative justice into policy and practice. The course will expose students to how restorative justice fits into our criminal justice system and how it can be applied effectively.
CRJ4003: Critical Issues in Criminal Justice
Credits 4This course examines contemporary issues involving the criminal justice system. Students will investigate all sides of current controversies and analyze their impact on the institutions that comprise the system
CRJ4009: Illegal Immigration and the Criminal Justice System
Credits 4This course provides an in-depth overview of immigration policy in the United States with a focus on how immigration patterns, laws, and related policies have affected the criminal justice system. Current issues related to immigration and its effects on American society will be analyzed including ways immigrants find their way into the United States, find work, residency issues, and the roles of the criminal justice system in responding to the presence of documented and undocumented immigrants. Proposed changes to immigration law and policies, including criminal justice system responses, will also be examined.
CRJ4011: Terrorism and Homeland Security
Credits 4This course focuses on the theories of domestic and international terrorism and the criminal justice response to homeland security.
CRJ4015: Bloodstain Pattern Analysis
Credits 4This course explains the underlying scientific principles involved in bloodstain pattern analysis, which helps in the reconstruction of violent crime scenes. Topics include, the general properties of blood, droplet directionality, documenting bloodstains, and dealing with the risk of blood borne pathogens.
CRJ4021: Cyber Crime
Credits 4This course is designed to introduce the student to the investigation of computer crime and the forensic examination of digital evidence. This course involves intensive study of the history and terminology of computer crime; the types of crimes committed in cyberspace; a behavioral profile of computer offenders; legal issues in cyberspace; the proper collection and preservation of digital evidence, and an overview of computer forensics.
CRJ4500: Violence in Society
Credits 4This course will provide an overview of violence and its impact on society. This course examines a number of different types of both individual and collective violent acts and the behaviors, ideas, perceptions, and justifications that connect these different types of violence. The course will also look at violence prevention and possible solutions for violence reduction.
CRJ4600: Crime Scene Investigation and Case Management
Credits 4This course covers crime scene investigation and reconstruction, focusing on effective methodologies and efficient investigation of crime scenes and criminal tools including fundamental collection, preservation and management techniques, documentation protocols, and proper courtroom presentation techniques.
CRJ4650: Forensic Issues
Credits 4This course will be an in-depth look at specific areas of forensic science. The course will focus on the collection, preservation, and examination of physical evidence, drug analysis, toxicology, biological evidence, firearms, documents, fingerprints, and digital evidence.
CRJ4999: Senior Seminar (Capstone)
Credits 4The Senior Seminar (Capstone) course is designed to provide students the opportunity to reflect upon their Criminal Justice education and demonstrate the specific competencies acquired from prior coursework. This course is designed to ensure that graduates of the Criminal Justice program are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue further study in the discipline or seek entry-level positions within criminal justice agencies or related professional organizations. The Capstone course emphasizes the connection between scholarship, policy and practice.
MCJ5001: Foundations in Criminal Justice
Credits 4This course is intended to be an overview of the historical and contemporary criminal justice system and an introductory look at student research interests. Emphasis will be placed on the relationships among law enforcement, courts, and corrections with an introduction to the basic categories of criminal behavior. The overall goal of the course is to prepare the individual for success as a graduate student and in the study of criminal justice. Students will learn to recognize and utilize appropriate scholarly sources, how to critique those sources, and use them to develop a topic suitable for a capstone project.
MCJ5003: Ethics and Moral Behavior in the Criminal Justice System
Credits 4This advanced course in ethics and moral behavior discusses, examines, considers and critiques the various facets of justice, crime, and ethics within the criminal justice system. A major emphasis will be placed on the theoretical foundations of ethics as they apply to the fields of criminal justice practice. Students will examine the diverse values and ethical dilemmas that arise in law enforcement, the courts and corrections. In addition, we will explore the same concerns in the formulation of crime control policies at the federal, state, and local levels.
MCJ5100: Advanced Research Methods and Analysis I
Credits 4This course will provide an overview of research methods and data analysis in criminal justice and will focus on both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. This course will cover several topics including approaches to theory and method, research ethics, research design, descriptive statistics, sampling, survey research methods, as well as participant observation and case studies. This course will introduce the student to the application of Minitab statistical software.
MCJ6001: Criminal Justice Administration
Credits 4This course is a critical examination of theories, concepts, and principles concerned with organizational behavior and functions of personnel administration with special attention paid to criminal justice applications. More specifically, this covers how these concepts may be practically applied to administrative and managerial practices in criminal justice organizations.
MCJ6002: Juvenile Justice Administration
Credits 4This class will provide an assessment of the current policies and practices of agencies that process youthful offenders. Students will examine, discuss and critique the underlying philosophy, procedures, and administration of the juvenile justice system. Major concerns will center on the effectiveness of the contemporary juvenile court, including an assessment of the policies and practices of agencies involved in processing youthful offenders through the juvenile court system. Student discussions will relate these issues to current and developing public policy.
MCJ6003: Criminological Theory
Credits 4This course provides a comprehensive analysis of major classical and current criminological perspectives including social, behavioral and biochemical theories of crime. Particular attention is given to sociological constructions of criminality.
MCJ6004: Criminal Justice Planning & Innovation
Credits 4This course discusses the application of planning theory and techniques to the criminal justice system as well as to agency specific problems. The class emphasizes problem identification, goal-setting, forecasting, and the selection of alternative courses of action. Students become familiar with computerized data analysis and case study simulation in order to illustrate suitable planning techniques as well as pitfalls that can be avoided by implementing such techniques.
MCJ6401: Critical/Controversial Issues: Law Enforcement
Credits 4This course focuses upon contemporary critical and controversial issues confronting law enforcement organizations. Discussions may include such topics as police functions; discovery of crime; gender, sexual orientation and/or race-ethnicity issues; the changing role of the police; police training and abuse of authority; local, State and Federal interagency relations; domestic terrorism; police/media relations; police/community relations; civil liability; hazards of policing; and, progressive changes in law enforcement.
MCJ6404: Political Terrorism
Credits 4This course presents an overview of the characteristics and causes of terrorism emerging in the 21st century. Students are exposed to the emergence of modern terrorism from several different areas of the world as well as an analysis from a criminal justice perspective of terror movements affecting the United States. Relevant issues include domestic terrorism undertaken for political purposes in liberal states, state-sponsored international and domestic terrorism, and the dilemmas of counterterrorism in a democracy.
MCJ6405: Organizational Leadership
Credits 4This course provides a survey overview of the major theories and research on leadership and managerial effectiveness in formal organizations with practical suggestions for improving leadership skills. Students will focus on the practical and theoretical applications of charismatic and transformational leadership, creating and communicating vision and values, inspiring others to act, risk management, empowerment, building trust and teamwork, mentoring, managing change, and converting crisis into opportunity.
MCJ6410: Legal Issues in Criminal Justice Administration
Credits 4Using case law, this course examines a variety of legal issues critical to a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the criminal justice system. Case briefs in this course provide accurate and concise coverage of topics of vital importance to criminal justice managers and personnel including: law enforcement, prison law, probation, parole, the death penalty, juvenile justice, and sentencing mandates.
MCJ6505: Management of Critical Incidents
Credits 4This course will examine the policies and systems necessary to govern in a wide variety of emergency situations. It will explore appropriate responses to serious incidents and disasters. Students will learn the techniques involved in planning and preparing for crises, and forecasting potential crisis situations.
MCJ6601: Resource and Agency Coordination
Credits 4This course exposes students to large-scale coordination challenges involved in responding to critical incidents when dealing with the wide variety of resources and agencies involved. Topics may include identification, prioritization, and assessment of resources (including financial, human, information, and physical), and agencies (including local, state, national, and international).
MCJ6620: Special Topics in Homeland Security
Credits 4This course will focus on changes in American policy and contemporary issues confronting local, state and federal criminal justice agencies as they relate to homeland security. Specifically, students will analyze the issues, the organizations and the resources developed since 9/11 and explore the policies and practices that have been developed for this purpose. Additional topics may include the adjudication process as it relates to issues of national security and the correctional practices employed to maintain national security.
MCJ6701: Theory and Practice of Community Corrections and Re-entry Programs
Credits 4The theory, structure, functions, and effectiveness of community corrections programs are studied, with particular attention to the focus of de-institutionalization of offenders, community-based treatment centers, community service agencies, work-release programs, re-entry and current trends in community corrections.
MCJ6705: Theory and Practice of Institutional Corrections
Credits 4This course will examine the theory, structure, and effectiveness of institutional corrections including prisons and penitentiaries, the history and development of punishment and corrections in this country, and operation of institutions. Prisoners, prison life, and prisonization (imprisonment) are also addressed in this course.
MCJ6985: Applied Professional Project
Credits 4The focal point of this course is the completion of an applied research project or paper that addresses an issue or policy or practice central to the field of criminal justice. This paper or project should allow the student to draw upon theories and research findings related to the problem or issue, develop a plan for identifying central issues and problems, critique past approaches to the issue or problem, and suggest directions for future efforts devoted to understanding or solving the issue or problem. This paper or project may be entirely based in a review of relevant research and theoretical literature but it may also incorporate empirical experiences drawn from an internship experience that is a part of the student's program.