This introductory criminology course begins by examining a central question, ‘what is crime?’ In so doing, the course explores the construction of laws and their application in the context of power, examining how perceptions of crime are influenced by wider societal forces. The course also introduces major theoretical explanations of crime within criminology, which will be applied to different categories of crime and specific case-studies. Understandings of criminal behavior can help shape policies to control crime, and this course examines the utility of contemporary crime control measures in light of the theories explored.

This course examines the major components of the Criminal Justice System through a critical lens. It will explore its historical foundations, while mapping out the contemporary picture, by examining the various roles and functions of agencies which comprise the Criminal Justice System – including (substantive and procedural) criminal law, police, courts, and corrections. Critically, this course will pay attention to the ways in which the criminal justice system operates in relation to larger societal forces, including structures of race, class, and gender.

This course is designed to be an introduction to the Juvenile Justice System. We will focus on the functioning and process of the juvenile justice system and explore the historical foundations and contemporary juvenile justice system. We will assess how juvenile crime is measured, examine various theories of delinquency, and identify pathways and risk factors of delinquency. Finally, we will examine potential solutions to delinquency, weigh the costs and benefits of these various actions, and discuss how to rehabilitate both low level and serious and chronic youthful offenders. To achieve these objectives, I have chosen a textbook that focuses attention on pathways and prevention of juvenile delinquency. Course’s role in the curriculum: This course satisfies a program elective in the Criminology major.

This course is intended for social science majors with an emphasis on gathering reliable information for conducting investigations. This is an in-depth examination of the interview tactics used by investigators to gather information about an event. Topics include cognitive evidence, eyewitness memory, post event information, contemporary interview techniques, mindfulness, system 1 and 2, and reliability of cognitive evidence. This serves as a program elective for the criminology major.

Many Americans are only exposed to crime and the U.S. criminal justice system through what they see in media, including local and national news and film and television programs. However, these offerings often present misleading, if not inaccurate, depictions of their subjects. These representations have important consequences for how we view our system, our support for criminal justice reform, and our attitudes toward the real-life counterparts of the fictional characters we see on screen. In this course, we will explore the structure and function of the mass media, particularly as it relates to crime, the American criminal justice system, and American politics. We will examine the media’s depictions of crime and criminal justice, its policymaking role, and how media interacts with the major American criminal justice institutions. We will also explore the realities of the criminal justice system by viewing film and television representations of important aspects of criminal justice and evaluating those depictions through consideration of the academic literature of and practitioner understanding on the subject.

This course will introduce students to key themes, perspective, and issues in the sub-field of Critical Criminology. Critical criminology is a diverse area of criminological theory and research that focuses on the ways in which inequality and power-relations shape societal and institutional approaches to ‘crime’. Critical criminological approaches depart from the focus at the center of mainstream criminology, which is the search for the causes of crime, instead, asking a more fundamental question about the basic category of crime itself. Amongst other things, they ask: how does power shape how the law is made, how do individuals and groups come to be criminalized, and who is punished? Critical criminologists also examine the role of larger inequalities and power in understanding criminal behavior, while expanding the notion of crime to include a broader range of social harms, including corporate and state perpetuated violence.

This course examines the major components of the Criminal Justice System through a critical lens. It will explore its historical foundations, while mapping out the contemporary picture, by examining the various roles and functions of agencies which comprise the Criminal Justice System – including (substantive and procedural) criminal law, police, courts, and corrections. Critically, this course will pay attention to the ways in which the criminal justice system operates in relation to larger societal forces, including structures of race, class, and gender.