Criminal Justice (CJ)

Credits: 1. Contact Hours: Lecture 1.

Orientation to academic program requirements, career awareness, strategies for successful transition to college. Topics include: University and LAS College requirements and procedures; occupational tracks and career options open to criminal justice; and introduction to career planning. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only. (Typically Offered: Fall)

Credits: 1. Contact Hours: Lecture 1.

Foundations for student success in the criminal justice major. Students will examine current issues in crime and criminal justice and build career awareness and planning skills through guest speakers and field trips. Offered on a satisfactory-fail basis only. (Typically Offered: Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Provides systematic overview of law, police organization and behavior, prosecution and defense, sentencing, the judiciary, community corrections, penology, and capital punishment. The course demonstrates the role of discretion in all of these agencies as well as the sociological influences of age, race, gender, and social class on criminal justice system processes. (Typically Offered: Fall)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

The nature of crime and criminology; the concept of crime; statistics and theories of criminality; major forms of crime; official responses to crime and control of crime. (Typically Offered: Fall)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Examination of the characteristics of victims of crime, victim-offender relationships, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system, as well as the physical, emotional, and financial harm individuals suffer at the hands of offenders. In exploring these dynamics and connections, this course will address the theory, history, research, legislation, and policy implications related to victimization.

(Cross-listed with USLS 3330).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Intersections of ethnicity, culture, assimilation, immigration/migration, crime, and the criminal justice system in the United States. Topics include: criminality among Latinos/as and the challenges they face within the CJ complex (cops, courts, corrections, as well as immigration and border control) situated within mass incarceration; the use of criminalization as a form of social control; and Latino/as' human and civil rights and the role that race, ethnicity, gender, class, and immigration status play in the criminal justice system and border control enforcement. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement. (Typically Offered: Fall)

(Cross-listed with AFAM 3350).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 2, Discussion 1.

Empirical and theoretical readings on the intersection of race, ethnicity, crime, and the criminal justice system in contemporary society. Topics include, but are not limited to racial and ethnic relations in society, media, violence, policing, and disparity and discrimination in crime and punishment. Criminological theories of racial and ethnic antagonism. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Introduction and overview of law enforcement in the United States. Theory and research on police history, function, and organization; constitutional issues of policing; and critical topics, such as community policing, officer discretion and decision-making, corruption, use of force, and racial profiling. The course illustrates the interconnections between communities, police organizations, citizens, and criminal offenders. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Introduction and overview of corrections in the United States. Theory and research on probation, parole, intermediate sanctions, prison, inmate society, inmate behavior and misconduct, capital punishment, recidivism, correctional treatment, rehabilitation, and offender reintegration into society. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Introduction to various efforts to prevent crime and juvenile delinquency, as well as the reduction of specific risk factors for both. Theories that provide the baseline for various approaches to prevention, as well as the development, operation and effectiveness of prevention efforts centered in various social institutions such as the family, schools, neighborhoods/communities, religion and the media. Examine programs originating from within the traditional criminal justice institutions of the police, courts, and correctional systems. (Typically Offered: Spring)

(Cross-listed with USLS 3600).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Intersections of race/ethnicity, class, gender, culture, acculturation, and immigration/migration in the victimization experiences of Latina women interacting with criminal justice systems and services. Topics include: domestic/intimate partner violence, sexual assault, human trafficking among Hispanic, Latina, and Chicana women, and the impact of language barriers, abuser threats of deportation, social and institutional discrimination and racism, cultural norms, and cultural insensitivity among first responders and service providers on help-seeking, well-being, and interactions with the criminal justice system. Meets U.S. Cultures and Communities Requirement.

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: CJ 2400
Introduction to the principles and practices of criminal investigation. Topics include crime scene management, evidence collection and preservation, interviewing and interrogation techniques, and legal considerations. Students will develop investigative writing skills and analyze real-world cases using contemporary investigative tools and methods. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Explores homicide as a societal, legal, and criminological phenomenon. Focus on criminological and interdisciplinary perspectives about homicide offending and victimization, homicide causes, homicide correlates, and legal and criminal justice system responses to homicide. (Typically Offered: Fall)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Introduction and overview of white-collar crime as a form of deviance. Theory and research on occupational, corporate, and organizational offending; prevalence, costs, and consequences of white-collar crime; predictors and correlates of white-collar crime; and political, business, and public policy responses to white-collar crime. (Typically Offered: Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Introduction and overview of criminal offenders. Theory and research on epidemiology, offender typologies, etiology of violence, recidivism, societal costs, correctional supervision, treatment, and prevention of serious antisocial behavior. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

(Dual-listed with CJ 5040).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Development, implementation and evaluation of criminal justice policies affecting major areas of the criminal justice system. History, development and operation of the criminal justice system, including policing, courts/sentencing, corrections, crime prevention, and offender rehabilitation. (Typically Offered: Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Analysis of the drug problem, including issues arising from the use and abuse of legal and illegal drugs and their relation to crime and the criminal justice system. Examination of issues related to effective prevention and treatment, crime, and the debates over the most effective policies for the control or prevention of drug abuse. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Overview of the relationship between gender and crime. Examination of gender and gender roles definitions; how gender impacts criminal behavior in terms of offending, victimization, criminal justice processing, and working in the criminal justice system; and theories used to understand the gender gap in offending.

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

History, philosophy, demographics, administration, and punishment rationales of capital punishment in the United States from its founding to the present. Methods of execution and trends in public opinion about the death penalty. Examination of correlates of capital offending and criminological characteristics of persons who are sentenced to death.

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Introduction to contemporary issues in policing in the United States. Topics include: the media/law enforcement relationship, cultural competence for police, use of technology, and career foundations for hiring and advancement. Scenario-based learning in individual and group settings will help students to grasp the challenges next generation leaders will face in policing. (Typically Offered: Fall)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Theories of correctional treatment and techniques associated with counseling criminal defendants and offenders. Examination of modalities used by correctional counselors, probation officers, and pretrial service officers to assess risk, need, and responsivity factors. Topics include basic dimensions of defendant/offender risk assessment, therapeutic interventions and cognitive behavioral based curriculum of behavioral change and special treatment issues with specific types of offenders. (Typically Offered: Spring)

Credits: 3.

Prereq: CJ 3520
Experiential course where students learn about corrections careers through field visits to state correctional agencies. Focus on corrections supervision, treatment, and management of persons awaiting trial and convicted of crimes. Corrections career topics include education and experience needed, physical stamina, communication styles, behavioral change skills, interacting with visitors, and manage job and personal stressors. Requires travel to corrections centers in Iowa. Requires passing a background check. Program fees may apply. (Typically Offered: Fall)

(Dual-listed with CJ 5700).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Ethical issues and considerations in policing, the practice of law, sentencing, corrections, criminal justice research, and crime control policy. Decision-making by criminal justice professionals in an environment of competing interest. Policy and legal issues confronting the American criminal justice system from an ethical perspective. Emphasis on moral and ethical issues in the criminal justice process. (Typically Offered: Spring)

Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.
Repeatable, maximum of 9 credits.

Thematic or topical issues and studies dealing with the sociology of police, judiciary, institutional and community-based corrections, gender/ethnicity and crime/delinquency, criminal and delinquent gangs, and crime and delinquency prevention.

(Dual-listed with CJ 4040).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Graduate Standing or Permission of Instructor
Development, implementation and evaluation of criminal justice policies affecting major areas of the criminal justice system. History, development and operation of the criminal justice system, including policing, courts/sentencing, corrections, crime prevention, and offender rehabilitation. (Typically Offered: Fall, Spring)

(Dual-listed with CJ 4700).
Credits: 3. Contact Hours: Lecture 3.

Prereq: Graduate Standing or Permission of Instructor
Ethical issues and considerations in policing, the practice of law, sentencing, corrections, criminal justice research, and crime control policy. Decision-making by criminal justice professionals in an environment of competing interest. Policy and legal issues confronting the American criminal justice system from an ethical perspective. Emphasis on moral and ethical issues in the criminal justice process. (Typically Offered: Spring, Summer)