Foundations of Criminal Justice

Course Description

This course is a survey of the criminal justice system, including the agencies and processes involved in the administration of criminal justice. It provides an overview of police, prosecution, courts, and the correctional system. The problems of the administration of justice in a democratic society are also discussed.

Topics and Objectives

What Is Criminal Justice?

• Identify the major components of the criminal justice system and provide an overview of the criminal justice process.
• Recognize the different perspectives of individual rights and public-order advocates.
• Differentiate between the consensus and conflict models of the criminal justice process.

Crime Statistics

• Explain the differences between major crime reporting programs in the United States.
• Describe crime rates, arrest rates, and clearance rates in the United States.

Causes of Crime

• Explain the manner in which theories of crime are constructed.
• Identify the major theories purporting to explain criminal behavior.

Criminal Law

• Develop an understanding of modern criminal law, including its sources.
• Gain an appreciation for the types of defenses that may be acceptable under the U.S. legal system.

Policing and Police Issues

• Recognize the role of the police in contemporary society and be familiar with concepts such as community policing.
• Examine the issues facing police departments in today's society, including the legal constraints faced by the police.

The Courts and the Criminal Trial

• Outline the dual court system in the United States.
• Describe the historical development of U.S. courts.

Sentencing

• List the goals of criminal sentencing.
• Identify the alternatives available to today's sentencing authorities.

Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections

• Distinguish between probation and parole and examine the purposes of each.
• Identify the nature and purposes of community corrections.

Prisons and Jails

• Explore the history of prisons and jails in Western society.
• Explore prison society and the nature of inmate values and roles.
• Identify the issues facing prisons and prison administrators today.

The Future of Criminal Justice

• Examine high-technology crimes, including computer crime.
• Recognize the terminology associated with high-tech crime and computer crime.
• Identify some of the challenges faced by the criminal justice system in the face of modern technology.