SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Code:

CRJ270

Instructor:

Jesse L. Harris, Jr.

E-mail: jesseharris@forrestcollege.edu

            jhar53@charter.net

Phone: 864-844-5893

Course Schedule:

This course meets in the Library on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:38pm to 9:41pm starting June 30, 2008 to September 13, 2008.

Credit Hours:

4.5 Credit hours awarded upon successful completion of course requirements

Text:

Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice, Joycelyn M. Pollock, 5th Edition, 2007, Thomas Corporation, ISBN#13:978-0-495-09343-5.

Course Description:

This course examines how personal and moral beliefs influence the relationship between criminal justice and social justice. Topics include ethical reasoning, the nature of criminal guilt, law making, law enforcement, judicial processing, punishment, and emerging issues (technology and media). Upon completion of this course, students should be able to describe and define how personal and moral beliefs affect the world of criminal justice, define how ethical reasoning occurs, and recognize the place of law and punishment within an ethical system.

Course Objectives:

Note:  You may expect that questions on your tests/exams will be based upon demonstrating your knowledge of the following course objectives.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Describe how personal and moral beliefs affect the world of criminal justice.
  2. Analyze the nature of criminal guilt.
  3. Define how ethical reasoning occurs.
  4. Recognize the effects of ethics on judicial processing and punishment.
  5. Identify how ethics affect law making and law enforcement.
  6. Recognize the place of law and punishment within an ethical system.

Identify emerging ethical issues in the field of criminal justice.

Prerequisite:

None

Course Outline:

NOTE: Instructor reserves the right to modify the outline as needed

Week One                   Introduction, Chapters 1

Week Two                   Chapters 2 and 3

Week Three                Chapters 4 and 5-Project Assignment (7/16)

Week Four                  Chapters 6

Week Five                   Chapter 7

Week Six                    Project Work and Test 1-(Chapters 1-7) (Due 8/6)

Week Seven               Chapter 8 and 9

Week Eight                 Chapter 10 and 11

Week Nine                  Chapter 12 and 13

Week Ten                   Chapter 14 – Student Project Due (9/3)

Week Eleven              Chapter 15 – Final Test 2-(Chapters 8-15) (Due 9/10)

Instruction Method:

A variety of instruction techniques will be used in this course.  These practices include (but are not limited to) class lecture; small group work; discussion; group projects; out-of-class assignments; individual assignments; electronically based research; expected e-mail communications, etc.

Grading:

Class Attendance (being physically present in class) ................................................... 10%

(This means 1 point for each week you physically attend class)

Cumulative Test 1 .......................................................................................................... 30%

Cumulative Test 2 .......................................................................................................... 30%

Student Project (assigned by instructor) ....................................................................... 30%

*Missed tests:  If you miss a test, you must schedule to take the test within one week of having missed it or you will not be eligible to take the test at all.

Grading Scale:            A          =          90-100

                                    B          =          80-89

                                    C         =          70-79

                                    D         =          60-69

                                    F          =          Below 60

Attendance:

Regular attendance is expected because it is through regular attendance that you will hear and learn from the experience of your instructor as well as from the input (questions, answers, discussions, concerns) of others of the members of your class.  You may also “attend” classes (when you are not physically able to be present in class) by communicating with members of your assigned group and finding out from them what class materials you have missed and/or other aspects of what went on in class that you should know about.  You can also “attend” by keeping in touch with your instructor through the use of e-mail.  Let your instructor and members of your group know that you might be late, or that you’re too ill to come to class, or that you’ve missed an assignment and are trying your best to complete it, etc.  As you can see by the section on grade assignment (above), you will earn one point for every week of perfect attendance.  You attend ten weeks and you receive a very positive 10% of your grade.  You must be in attendance for your scheduled test dates.  You must be in attendance for your scheduled group presentation dates.

Make-up work:

It is the individual student’s responsibility to find out from one of his classmates and/or group members what materials he/she might have missed as the result of having missed a class session.  Call your classmates; e-mail them; keep up with them; be responsible for getting the information that you need in order to demonstrate competence in this course.

Academic Dishonesty

Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on exam, or homework or failure of the course, and/or suspension /expulsion from the college.

Resources

The College has adequate resources to assist students in researching projects (i.e. books, magazines, newspapers, Internet, LIRN).

Changes

In accordance with the policy of the College, your instructor has the right to change the syllabus in a manner that he/she feels necessary in order to better accomplish the goal(s) of this course.