28 courses with the subject CJ, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
CJ 160Crime and Punishment1098
This introduction to various aspects of the criminal justice system includes law enforcement, the judicial process, and corrections and punishment. It also surveys criminological understanding of deviant and criminal behavior and of the historical changes in why and how we punish those who violate the law.
The adaptation of DNA analysis for forensic science investigation disrupted the field of criminal justice. DNA exonerations not only free actually innocent people from prison—in some cases after decades of wrongful incarceration–but they also raise questions about the processes and procedures that lead to wrongful convictions in the first place. Since the first DNA exoneration, questions have been raised about police interrogation techniques, eyewitness identification procedures, the quality of indigent defense, prosecutorial misconduct, and the scientific validity of several other fields of forensic science. In this course we will examine what DNA exonerations reveal about the field of criminal justice, how exonerations occur, what can be done to correct criminal justice processes to minimize the chance of wrongful convictions, and what happens after an inmate is exonerated. The vast majority of DNA exonerations occur in sexual assault and murder cases; students are forewarned that some of the discussion may be disturbing.
Cold cases represent the most frustrating part of the criminal justice system: an unsolved case. Working in conjunction with the AISOCC (The American Investigative Society of Cold Cases), students in this course examine and review an actual “cold” (i.e.: unsolved) case. By offering a “fresh set of eyes” students may contribute to the solving of the case while learning the practices of criminal investigation and the procedures of the American criminal justice system from a seasoned investigator. Given the sensitivity of the information that may be shared on the case, students must apply to the department to enroll in the course, be willing to sign a confidentiality agreement, and, potentially, submit to a criminal background check.
CJ 216Mass Incarceration and the Death Penalty1098
Our criminal justice system is one of the most important institutions in our democracy. Each day criminal courts across the United States address questions of individual and collective responsibility in the context of a society based on class, race and gender inequities. Students will carefully examine how the power of the state, manifested through institutional racism, is utilized as a method of social control. Students will focus on the root causes of mass incarceration of the poor, especially young African-American and Latino men and women. The second half of the course will focus on the impact of race and class on the imposition of the death penalty.
This course provides in-depth analysis, from a criminal justice perspective, of a substantive social issue confronting the criminal justice system. Topics vary from year-to-year. May be repeated for credit.
This course covers the legal, scientific, behavioral, and investigative aspects of criminal investigations. Topics include investigative theory and processes, collection and preservation of evidence, sources of information, interview and interrogation, uses of physical evidence and forensic science, specific types of criminal investigations including death, homicide, sexual assault, robbery, burglary, arson, explosives, computer and white collar investigations, and case and trial preparation.
This is an undergraduate-level course designed to provide the student with a foundation in crime scene investigation. The course is a complete and comprehensive look at processing a crime scene from the initial call to reconstruction of the crime scene for court presentation.
This course addresses different explanations of drug use and addiction. It also examines the connection between drugs and crime, while drawing on prevailing issues related to the war on drugs. Students will consider aspects to and consequences of drug policing, prosecution, and sentencing, both in the United States and globally. Students will also explore alternative drug policies, including public health approaches, alternatives to incarceration, and harm reduction.
This course will explore the historic phenomenon of serial murder, in the US and around the world, (e.g. from the 16th century cannibal family of Sawney Bean to Ted Bundy). Additionally, students will investigate a series of theoretical explanations to explain the behavior of serial killers. Lastly, students will compare and contrast serial murder portrayals within the popular culture juxtaposed to the realities is essential to our understanding of man’s contribution to the lore of monsters.
This course provides students with a perspective on the role of gender in crime and punishment. There are patterned differences in the roles males and females perform in the criminal justice system, in the crimes men and women commit, and in the crimes that victimize men and women. This course examines these questions from a historical and contemporary perspective, analyzing the changing legal status of women and the institutional response to women and victims and criminals.
Police officers are the public face of the criminal justice system. This course examines the organization and administration of the police in the context of social and political changes. Attention also is paid to the social and social psychological dimensions of policing, the culture of police officers, the impact of policing in communities, and policies governing the work of police officers and officials.
This course addresses a variety of issues related to juvenile justice. It examines the juvenile justice system and all its components including the police, juvenile courts and juvenile sanctions. In it students discuss the benefits and drawbacks of various programs and policies aimed at reducing juvenile delinquency, including D.A.R.E., and trying juveniles as adults. Students also will examine the various theories about why juveniles engage in delinquency.
The United States imprisons more people per capita than nearly all developed nations, and incarceration rates increased dramatically in the final quarter of the 20th century. This course examines the history of the prison as a means of punishment, the purpose and functions of prisons in modern society, and the successes and failures of the corrections system in the United States. In addition, the course considers shifts in the demographic profile of prisoners and the effects of increased incarceration on the home community of the incarcerated and the broader U.S. society.
This course focuses on the evolution of organized crime from its origins as federal protection groups (i.e. mafia, triads, yakuza) to the American Cosa Nostra as well as its more contemporary incarnation as a criminal network linking prison gangs, OMG’s (outlaw motorcycle gangs) white collar criminals, drug cartels and terrorist groups. Organized crime currently faced by law enforcement agents is a transnational threat. We will therefore focus our studies on the globalization of organized crime and its impact on individuals as well as nations. In order for us to create an atmosphere of honest dialogue with one another, creative exercises will be used to gauge your thoughts with one another through an open forum. We will discuss issues regarding the influence of Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) crime and its ability to circumvent our criminal justice system through corruption and society-at-large. Additionally, effective strategies utilized by law enforcement to deal with organized crime will be examined.
This course is structured around comparisons of how crime and punishment are dealt with in other cultures and nations. The goal is to provide insight into other cultures, help illuminate underlying aspects of geopolitical conflict, and place the U.S. criminal justice system in sharper relief. Comparisons are drawn on what constitutes a crime, the judicial processes for determining guilt, and theories and practices of punishment.
This course provides a broad overview on white collar crime (i.e. definitions, theories, and characteristics). Additionally, the course will expose students to the various forms of white collar crime including but not limited to occupational crime, government crime, state corporate crime, and state crime. Students will also examine national and international responses to these crimes.
Crime mapping is the application of geographic information systems (GIS) to the patterns of criminal behavior. This course offers a theoretical and practical introduction to crime mapping. Skills developed include asking and investigating spatial problems, displaying and presenting spatial information, and conducting and reporting spatial research in areas relevant to criminal justice.
In this course students examine the causes and consequences of the criminal act of homicide. Readings and class discussions will focus on the history and antecedents of homicide and criminological analyses of who commits homicide and why. Students will also examine the categorization of homicide–e.g.: mass killings, spree killings, terrorism, domestic violence–in terms of both the criminal justice response and media coverage.
The increased intensity and extensiveness of surveillance is one of the defining characteristics of contemporary society. This course examines the role of surveillance in society, with special emphasis placed on surveillance as a means of criminal detection and social control. It considers a range of surveillance techniques, from hierarchical observation to CCTV monitoring of public space to the collection and sorting of personal data. Students are asked to consider these techniques in terms of sociological theories of power and social control.
This course provides an overview of hate crimes occurring within the United States. Additionally, this course will examine the dynamics that cause hate crimes and the consequences of these events among victims and their community. Moreover, the course will also explore the characteristics of hate crime offenders and the criminal justice response to these crimes. Lastly, the course will provide students with an international perspective by exploring hate crimes occurring in other countries (i.e. Australia, Spain, South Africa, and the United Kingdom).
This is an introductory course to the field of victimology. Students will explore the dynamics and impact of victimization with the focus on the following crimes: sexual violence, family violence, child abuse, and homicide. Additionally, the course will analyze the criminal justice system’s response to victims as well as victim compensation and rights.
This course examines historical and contemporary criminological theories and research on the nexus between race and crime. In addition, this course will also provide an overview of the contemporary responses to race and crime in the United States as well as abroad. To understand the connection between race and crime, this course will draw on both scholarly research and popular culture to develop a critical understanding of social inequality with respect to minority involvement in the criminal justice system.
CJ 310Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and the Law1098
In this course students will explore the origins, the history and struggle for civil rights. We will cover the impact that important social and political movements have had on changes in the law. In addition to the assigned texts, students will become familiar with Supreme Court decisions that have defined our constitutional rights in the modern era. The first part of the course will focus on the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The second half of the course students will study key provisions of the Bill of Rights, as well as Supreme Court decisions that have shaped these crucial protections against the power of the state.
SO 311 Social movements are integral for social change and social justice. This course will consider social movement, protest, and advocacy/activism. Students will engage with social movement theory, including resource mobilization, media representation, and movement framing, and they will link theory to criminal justice-focused social movements in Philadelphia/Pennsylvania. Not just an outside observer, students will attend organizational meetings and forums of their choice and write field notes and reports. Students will offer case histories of organizations, speak with members, and participate in efforts of their choosing. In doing so, students will engage with social movement issues, context, strategies, and goals through a grounded and active research approach. In this, students will discuss and think critically about research-activism: that, in conducting research, they effect social change. Organizations include, but are not limited to: Decarcerata PA, Philadelphia Reentry Coalition, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project, Art 4 Justice, Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Black Lives Matter Philadelphia, PA Innocence Project, Attic Youth Center, and the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Coalition. The course will involve guest speakers, and it is not internship-based.
Conflict Transformation in general can be divided into three main areas based on the role of the conflict specialist. Conflict specialists work toward transformation as third party neutrals, as advocates, and as justice facilitators. In each area the conflict worker aims at empowering the disputants to make their own decisions, actively have a say in the processes, in short, author their own histories. This course focuses on two of those three areas: Mediation and Conflict Coaching. In this class students will learn the process and major skills in mediation (neutrality) and conflict coaching (advocacy). Students will interact with other students through multimedia and various websites, and with the teacher. This course will give students a good sense of what happens in mediation and conflict coaching as well as practical exposure to the skills and strategies needed to be effective in both.
SO330 This course examines the notion of paradigms, the relationship of theory to empirical work, the formulation of hypotheses, questionnaire construction and multi-method research. The introduction to the major quantitative and qualitative research methods includes survey research, ethnography, interviewing and content analysis. A class project gives the student hands-on experience to aid in the development of the required individual research projects.
Why do some communities have so much more crime than others? What social conditions increase crime and violence in some neighborhoods while others are relatively free from such problems? What roles do race, class, and gender inequality play with respect to differences in crime? How do criminal justice institutions (such as the police and prisons) help or hinder the crime problems faced by local communities? This course addresses these and other related questions to examine the ways in which crime and violence are connected with various aspects of the communities within which they take place. This course will examine ecological theories, structural theories, and theories of disorder to explain differences in crime rates between communities. Finally, this course asks students to seek out solutions to improving community structures and relationships.
Why people engage in deviant behavior, including criminal activity, has long been the subject of sociological inquiry. In this course, a variety of theoretical perspectives are considered, including functionalist, radical, social psychological and structural theories. Among the questions to be asked are: Why do people commit deviant and criminal acts? What acts are defined as deviant and criminal, and why? Who has the power to define acts as deviant and criminal? Students will be expected to understand the various theories and their implications, as well as to develop an understanding of their own theory of deviance and criminality.
