CJ& 101 Introduction to Criminal Justice

5 credits

Overview of the criminal justice system and its basic policies, institutions, and dilemmas, examining the role of police, courts, and corrections. Students analyze sociological theories and perspectives to issues in law enforcement, adjudication, and corrections.

This course meets the Social Science general education distribution requirement.

Prerequisites: ENGL 93 (or placement into ENGL 99 )

Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Discuss the nature of justice, and list various types of justice
Describe the process of American criminal justice, including the stages of criminal case processing
Recognize the major sources of crime data, their uses and limitations
Explain the role of policing in a modern society
Explain the nature of due process and the specific constitutional amendments upon which due process guarantees are based
Explain the differences between the federal and state court systems
Describe criminal court systems and adversarial concepts
Describe correctional systems and list the purposes of punishment
List the basic differences between juvenile and adult systems

College-Wide Learning Outcomes
This course teaches to the college-wide learning outcome of Cultural Humility, the ability to practice lifelong learning and critical self-reflection in order to understand one’s own cultural identity and its impact on being open to and supporting the cultures of others.

Total Hours: 50 Theory (Lecture) Hours: 50