AJS 200 - Current Issues in Criminal Justice

Description: Current issues, trends, and techniques related to and affecting the criminal justice system.

Credits: 3
Lecture: 3
Lab: 0

Course Content:

1. Crime in the United States 

a. criminal behavior 
b. murder rates 
c. race issues 
d. drugs and crime 
e. the criminal justice process 

2. Victimology 

a. victim rights 
b. childhood victimization 
c. battered women 

3. Police 

a. community policing 
b. multiculturalism 
c. use of deadly force and pursuits 
d. ethics 

4. Judicial System 

a. jury system 
b. expert witnesses 
c. insanity defense 

5. Juvenile Justice 

a. transfers to adult court 
b. kids and guns 
c. teen courts 

6. Punishment and Corrections 

a. trends in probation 
b. race issues 
c. women in prison 
d. prison overcrowding 
e. death penalty 

 
Learning Outcomes:

1. Explain how current social issues, trends in criminal behavior, and the criminal justice process itself effects crime rates.
2. Discuss current issues effecting victims of crime.
3. Identify and explain current social issues affecting police work. 
4. Discuss current policy issues related to police work. 
5. Discuss specific issues related to the contemporary judicial system. 
6. Assess recent trends in juvenile crime and resulting current philosophies and practices in juvenile justice. 
7. Evaluate trends and policies in corrections based on current literary courses.