Criminal Justice

Mission Statement for The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice is designed to empower students as critical thinkers, effective oral communictors, and competent writers on subject matters of crime and justice; to include: (1) the nature, extent, and causation of crime; (2) the role of criminal law in the regulation of human conduct; (3) the philosophy, theory, policies, practices, processes, and reform of American police agencies at the federal state, and local levels; (4) the philosophy, local levels; (5) the philosophy, theory, policies, practices, processes, and reform of American correctional institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; and (6) the skills and methods in criminal justice research. Graduates who have acquired these skills and knowledge and have been exposed to other relevant topics such as juvenile delinquency, the role of women in the justice process, ethical concerns for criminal justice practitioners, understanding of the appreciation for cultural and ethnic diversity, the connection between drugs and crime, and the dynamics of gangs and violence, are prepared for graduate study, law school, or challenging careers in the field of criminal justice.
Students graduated from the Criminal Justice Program should be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge as stated in the following nine goals.
Goal 1 - Critical Thinking: Being able to analyze and discuss issues of crime and justice from different perspectives that reflect critical and independent thinking. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: any course(s) within the Criminal Justice Curriculum.

Objective A:                           The student should explain the arguments for and against various positions on any criminal justice issue.

Objective B:                           The student should address any criminal justice issue by explaining conservation and liberal perspectives.

Objective C:                          The student should demonstrate the ability to think critically and raise relevant questions when reading written materials (e.g. journal articles, books, etc.) in the existing literature that address criminal justice issues.

Goal 2 - Oral Communication: Being able to intelligently convey, present, and discuss ideas and Issues in one-on-one or group situations. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: any course(s) within the Criminal Justice curriculum).
Objective A: The student should demonstrate the ability to intelligently communicate ideas and issues in individual presentations.

Objective B: The student should demonstrate the ability to intelligently communicate ideas and debate issues in a class context.

Goal 3 - Written Communications: Being able to write effectively following appropriate writing styles as commonly practiced in the social sciences.
Objective A: The student should demonstrate the ability to complete course assignment(s) in a grammatically correct and structurally sound way, without spelling errors, and following appropriate social science writing styles, to include the American Psychological Association (APA) style.

Goal 4 - Theory of Crime: To understand the nature, extent, and causation of crime. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: CRJU 100 & CRJU 371).
Objective A:                            The student understands the definitions of crime.

Objective B:                             The student understands the extent to which the crime problem is being experienced in America.

Objection C:                             The student should explain and distinguish among the major schools of criminological thoughts: Classical, Positivist, Social Structure, Social Process, Conflict, and Integrated.

Goal 5 - Law and Society: Being able to explain the role of criminal law in the regulation of human conduct and maintenance of stability in society. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: CRJU 100 & CRJU 310)

Objective A:                       The student understands the historical development of criminal law for the resolution of personal conflicts and promotion of civility in societies.

Objective B:                           The student understands the role of criminal law in the American justice processes.
Goal 6 - Understanding the Police: Being able to describe the philosophy, theory, processes, and reform of American police agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: CRJU 100 & CRJU 376)

Objective A:                       The student understands the history, organizational structures and functions of police agencies at the federal, state, and local levels.

Objective B:                           The student should describe and distinguish among the various styles of policing and the philosophy and theory behind each style.

Objective C:                          The student should explain the constitutional framework within which the American police performs its duties.

Objective D:                         The student should explain at least three major problems or issues (e.g. corruption, excessive use of force, poor police community relations, etc.), confronting the American police and strategies for implementing change.
Goal 7 - Understanding Criminal Adjudication: Being able to explain the philosophy, theory, processes, and reform of American courts at the federal, state, and local levels. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: CRJU 100, CRJU 371, & CRJU 379).
Objective A:                           The student understands the organizational structures, functions, and jurisdictional authority of American courts (criminal and civil) at the federal, state, and local levels.

Objective B:                        The student understands the various elements of the trial process.

Objective C:                         The student understands at least three problems or issues facing the American judiciary (e.g. sentencing disparity, prosecutorial discretion, diminishing ethical standards among defense attorneys, etc.) and strategies for implementing change.
Goal 8 - Understanding Crime and Punishment: Being able to explain the philosophy, processes, and reform of American correctional institutions at the federal, state, and local levels. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: CRJU 100, CRJU 371, & CRJU 379).
Objective A: The student understands the history and philosophy behind the punishment of criminal behavior in America, to include the existing forms of punishment authorized under the current legal system.
Goal 9 - Research and Statistics: Being able to utilize knowledge in research methods and statistical applications to promote an understanding of criminal behavior and assess the effectiveness of criminal justice polices. (Courses most likely to provide an opportunity for the accumulation of evidence to show fulfillment of this goal: MATH 140 & PSYC 200. Also CRJU 300).
Objective A:                           The student understands basic statistics.

Objective B:                         The student knows how to use computer software necessary for statistical analyses.

Objective C:                        The student understands major research designs and sampling strategies.

Objective D:                        The student understands the research designs used in the Uniform Crime Report and the National Crime Victimization Survey.

Objective E:                          The student knows how to develop research projects.

Objective F:                          The student knows how to conduct individual research using the library reference materials or computer-assisted reference services.