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Canyon College

online Social Policy and Courts course at Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: Social Policy and Courts

Course Title:
Department:
Instructor: 		CJ420 - Social Policy and Courts
Criminal Justice/Criminology
James P. Conroy, MS Contact - Vita


Course Description:

This course centers on the role that is taken by the Courts in determining social policy as it relates to criminology. Emphasis is placed on social and political input as it influences judicial decision making, the role of the democracy and punishment in the Courts using current social policies.

Required Texts – Online Bookstore

Criminal Justice in America: Theory, Practice and Policy, 3rd Edition. By: Hancock, Barry W. And Sharp, Paul M. Copyright: 2004. 454 pp,
ISBN # 0130984116

This text is available at the online bookstore.

Grading Procedure:

Your grade will be determined as follows:

Midterm Exam:
Final Exam:
Writing Assignment: 		33 1/3%
33 1/3%
33 1/3%

The grades will be added and averaged to comprise your final grade. Each is based on 100%. Both the midterm and final examinations will be multiple choice and essay questions. The final examination will not be cumulative, however.

The writing assignment will consist of a 10 page paper, double-spaced, on one of the topics we have examined throughout the course. You will be requested to discuss your topic with the instructor prior to beginning this assignment. The writing assignment will be due anytime before taking the final examination.

Breakdown of Grades:

100-90
89-80
79-70
69-60
Below 60 		A
B
C
D
F

Method of Instruction:

CJ 420, Social Policy and Courts, is a distance-learning course offered through Canyon College. This class allows the student to work ay his or her own pace; as such, it is essential that the student reviews all available materials located in the text, the syllabus and any notes. Your mid-term and final examination swill be administered during the student’s fourth and eighth weeks, respectively.

Each student must submit to the instructor the following:

Name
E-Mail address, Telephone #
Course Expectations
Professional Work Experience
Educational Background/Major
Other Interests

Course Schedule:

Weeks I and II:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AMERICA:
  1. What is the Sequence of Events in the Criminal Justice System? Report to the Nations on Crime and Justice.
  2. The Rediscovery of Crime Victims, by Andrew Karmen
  3. Choosing Crime: Close Your Eyes and Take Your Chances, by Kenneth H. Tunell
  4. African American Males in the Criminal Justice System, by Jerome G. Miller
  5. Looking Backward to Look Forward: The 1967 Crime Commission Report in Retrospect, by Mark Moore
Weeks III and IV:

LAW ENFORCEMENT:
  1. The Development of the American Police: An Historical Overview, by Craig D. Uchida
  2. A Sketch of the Police Officer’s “Working Personality”, by Jerome Skolnick
  3. The Dark Side of the Force, by John Dorschner
  4. Police and Communities: The Quiet Revolution, by George L. Kelling
  5. The Future of Diversity in America: The Law Enforcement Paradigm Shift, by Charles M. Bozza
* End of Week 4- Midterm Examination

Weeks V and VI:

THE COURTS:
  1. Two Models of the Criminal Process, by Herbert L. Packer
  2. Fighting Crime in a Crumbling System, by Steven Brill
  3. Adversarial Justice, by Franklin Strier
  4. Guilty Until Proved Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy, by C. Ronald Huff, Arye Rattner and Edward Sagarin
  5. Priority Prosecution of High-Rate Dangerous Offenders, by Marcia R. Chaiken and Jan M. Chaiken
Weeks VII and VIII:

CURRENT ISSUES AND POLICY:
  1. The Social Construction of Crime Myths, by Victor Kappeler, Mark Blumberg and Gary Potter
  2. Restorative Justice and Offender Rehabilitation: A Meeting of the Minds, by Anne H. Crowe
  3. A Policy Maker’s guide to Controlling Delinquency and Crime Through Family Interventions, by Karen E. Wright and Kevin N. Wright
  4. Confronting Crime: Looking Toward the Twenty-First Century, by Elliott Currie
End of Week VIII: Writing Assignment Due and Final Examination Completed

This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor