Criminal Justice (CRIJ)
CRIJ 5330. Critical Analysis Of Justice Administration. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 530); Students engage in an analysis of the criminal justice system in the United States that covers the role of justice agencies as part of societal response to crime, the knowledge base of the criminal justice system, issues, problems, and trends.
CRIJ 5332. Perspectives In Criminology. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 532); Students survey major theories in criminology regarding the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and society’s reaction to the breaking of laws. Students examine the intellectual orientation, assumptions, and classification of theoretical perspectives, as well as the central hypotheses and empirical findings associated with each. Emphasis is placed on evaluating theoretical explanations, understanding methodological challenges in testing criminological theories, and assessing the implications of theory for criminal justice policy and practice.
CRIJ 5334. Courts & the Judicial Process. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 534); Students engage in a critical evaluation of the dispensing of justice in the United States using criminological research methods to study the legal system and its relationship with society. Students investigate the social contexts that influence the courts, and the course emphasizes an evidence-based approach to understanding court-related challenges.
CRIJ 5363. Youth Crime and Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 563); Students examine the correlates and responses to youth offending. The course covers three connected components: theorizing youth offending and victimization, historical and contemporary responses to youth offending, and evidence-based policies in prevention and reduction of youth offending.
CRIJ 5372. Community Based Corrections. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 572); Students are provided with an overview of the history, development, and use of community corrections. The course covers empirical and legal research on techniques and procedures used in the community supervision of adults and juveniles as well as those in community-based facilities. Students also learn about the use of social history, pre-hearing, and pre-sentence investigation reports. An emphasis is placed on issues within community-based corrections.
CRIJ 5392. Survey Of Research Methods. 3 Hours.
Students examine the theory and application of social science research techniques and designs, with a focus on the interpretation and use of research findings. Students who have not completed an introductory course in research methods within the past five years must take CRIJ 3378 as a prerequisite.
CRIJ 5393. Legal Aspects of the Criminal Justice System. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 593); Students may engage with principles of constitutional law, criminal procedure, criminal law, juvenile justice, civil liability, and judicial policy making on social control, prisons, and the death penalty. The primary emphasis is on engaging with legal research as relevant to understanding the criminal justice system and related processes.
CRIJ 6093. Independent Studies in Criminal Justice. 1-3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 693);This course is designed for the directed study of individual students who wish to engage in intensive study in some specific area of research. Variable Credit (1-3). . Course Equivalents: CRIJ 6393
Prerequisite: Consent of the Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs of the College and of the instructor directing the readings.
CRIJ 6099. Thesis. 1-3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 699); The completion and defense of the Thesis. (The student must be registered in 6099 the semester in which he/she receives his/her master's degree.) Variable Credit (1-3). Course Equivalents: CRIJ 6399 .
CRIJ 6332. Resource Development in the Organizational Context. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 632); Students analyze how the human resources function supports criminal justice leadership by providing specialized expertise in recruitment and staffing, training and development, compensation and benefits, performance management, and labor relations. Students examine the role of HR within modern criminal justice organizations, with attention to critical issues, legal precedents, and emerging challenges that shape personnel practices.
CRIJ 6333. Seminar In Organization and Administration. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 633); Students study the bureaucracy and complex organizations with a strong emphasis on the concepts and practices of the organization and management of public agencies in the United States. Special consideration is given to the various philosophies, typologies, and models of administrative systems in criminal justice.
CRIJ 6334. Applied Research Methods in Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 634); This course provides an overview of research methods used in criminological and criminal justice inquiry. Students examine methods and techniques of research and research design with attention to data collection and interpretation. The course focuses on developing the ability to evaluate empirical evidence and translate research findings evidence into policy and practice.
CRIJ 6335. Seminar In Leadership and Management. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 635); Students explore problems and alternative solutions in criminal justice management. The case study method and current readings provide an admixture of practical and educational experiences intended to foster and disseminate new ideas for management strategies, especially as this is impacted by leadership styles, human resources, and the environment.
CRIJ 6339. Police In Society. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 639); Students examine the evolution of police in modern society with a special emphasis given to the role of the police play in contemporary society. Current research examining the function of the police will be examined.
CRIJ 6360. Seminar In Deviant Behavior. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 660); Students analyze behavior which violates expectations that are shared and recognized as legitimate. Special attention is focused on societal reactions to such behavior.
CRIJ 6361. Criminal Justice Policy. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 661); Students explore each stage of the public policy process, including problem identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. Emphasis is placed on understanding how criminal justice actors, institutional structures, and contextual factors shape policy decisions and outcomes. Students assess the effectiveness of existing criminal justice policies and learn to critically evaluate reforms using empirical evidence and established evaluative criteria.
CRIJ 6365. Community Theory and the Administration of Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 665); Students examine the nature of criminal justice organizations as components of the political, social, and economic inter-organizational networks that comprise communities. Topics such as the intersection of criminal justice, mental health, juvenile justice and educational systems are examined. The impact of criminal victimization and attributes of communities that foster crime are examined in detail. The processes that motivate and implement change in community-based organizations are also addressed.
CRIJ 6368. Seminar on Drugs, Society, and Policy Issues. 3 Hours.
SH Prior Course ID: CJ 668); Students critically evaluate the historical and contemporary forces that shape drug laws, analyze the pharmacological effects and societal impacts of commonly used substances, and assess prevention and treatment approaches for substance use disorders. Emphasis is placed on developing evidence-based evaluations of current drug policies and considering how policy design influences public health and criminal justice outcomes. Students engage with contemporary debates, analyze empirical research, and propose informed policy recommendations.
CRIJ 6372. Seminar In Criminology and Corrections. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 672); Students expore an in-depth examination of historical and contemporary issues and policy trends in corrections. It is designed to provide a comprehensive and critical analysis of correctional policies, principles, goals, and issues across time. The correctional goals of retribution/punishment, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation may be examined, as well as their influence on current correctional practice and reform efforts. The primary focus of the course will be on institutional settings, with attention to the evolution of correctional philosophy, policy development, management strategies, and various issues that impact the operations of facilities and the daily lives of incarcerated persons.
CRIJ 6385. Statistics For Criminal Justice Research. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 685); Students examine foundational statistical concepts relevant to criminal justice and criminological research, including data and measurement, probability and distributions, statistical inference, and methods for comparing groups and analyzing relationships among variables (chi-square tests, t tests, one-way analysis of variance, and linear regression). Emphasis is placed on understanding when and how to use these methods and how to interpret results in applied research contexts.
CRIJ 6386. Statistics For Criminal Justice Research II. 3 Hours.
Students cover statistical analyses and techniques such as reliability tests, factor analysis, and multiple imputation. Various modeling strategies are also covered, including logistic regression, ordinal regression, Poisson regression, and negative binomial regression.
Prerequisite: CRIJ 6385.
CRIJ 6387. The Ethics Of Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 687); Students explore ethics and moral philosophy in criminal justice, including the role of natural law, constitutional law, code of ethics, and philosophical principles. Strong emphasis is placed on examining the role of justice in a free society and the practical implications of justice to practitioners of police, courts, and corrections.
CRIJ 6388. Emergent Issues In Criminal Justice Leadership. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 688); Students engage in a course that serves as a capstone course, providing an opportunity for the integration of information offered in the program and its relationship to emergent issues. Students may address the effect of emergent perspectives in organization theory on public administration in general and more specifically upon criminal justice management and leadership. Students may examine the impact of emergent technology upon criminal justice operations as well as study the integration of organization theory, principles of public administration, and community expectations of criminal justice leaders.
CRIJ 6392. Program Evaluation In Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 692); Students study the principles and techniques of program evaluation, including models and case studies.
CRIJ 6394. Special Topics-Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 694); Students engage in a course designed to give graduate students academic flexibility. Students may examine special topics in the field of criminal justice and criminology. Students may repeat this course for credit when topics differ.
CRIJ 6396. Legal Aspects Of Criminal Justice Management. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 696); Students are provided an overview of the legal issues commonly facing managers in criminal justice agencies. Particular emphasis is placed on public employment law including the hiring, promoting, disciplining and discharging of employees, fair employment practices, and agency and administrator civil liability. Both state and federal statutory and case law are examined.
CRIJ 6398. Research & Writing in Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 698); Students engage in academic research and writing in criminal justice. Students may learn to formulate clear and focused research questions, identify and assess data sources, and understand the structure of scholarly research articles. The course also exposes students to the research interests of department faculty, providing insight into contemporary issues and methodological approaches in the field.
CRIJ 7070. Independent Studies in Criminal Justice. 1-3 Hours.
Directed readings designed to give the student flexibility in developing an area of specialization. Variable Credit (1-3). A student can take only two CRIJ 7070 courses. Course Equivalents: CRIJ 7370
Prerequisite: Enrollment requires prior permission of the appropriate Dean and the supervising faculty which is given only when necessary to meet specific needs of the student and the College.
CRIJ 7330. Seminar In Organization Theory. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 730); Students examine organizational behavior and research applied to criminal justice contexts. Major theoretical frameworks, including their historical development and implications for understanding and improving organizational functioning, are explored. Students analyze how organizational theory informs the structure, operations, and challenges of criminal justice institutions.
CRIJ 7333. Proseminar In Criminal Justice Issues. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 733); This course is designed to further doctorial students' professional development in the areas of teaching, research, and career preparation. It will prepare students for successful college teaching, develop and refine skills related to research and writing, and help students prepare for job searches.
CRIJ 7334. Seminar In American Policing. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 734); Students examine the philosophy and role of policing in the United States, politics of policing, managing police organizations, police community relations, police operational and administrative practices, police research, police executive development, emergent issues and problems in policing.
CRIJ 7336. Seminar in American Corrections. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 736); Students engage in an in-depth examination of the various issues and problems in corrections as they relate to administration and management. A variety of problems is explored, including the philosophical justification for prisons, personnel management, sentencing and its implications, community-based corrections, rehabilitation, judicial intervention, and correctional reform.
CRIJ 7337. Criminological Theory. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 737); Students analyze an in-depth overview of the major paradigms that seek to explain the causes of crime and deviant behavior. Special attention is given to the social, political, and intellectual contexts from which each theoretical perspective emerged. Students will engage with criminological theories through a philosophy of science lens, focusing on key issues such as theory construction, theoretical integration, formal evaluation, and contemporary theoretical developments. Emphasis is placed on cultivating the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to produce rigorous, theory-informed scholarship in criminology.
CRIJ 7338. Seminar In American Courts. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 738); Students examine the role and structure of prosecution, public defense, and the courts in the United States jurisprudence with emphasis upon criminal law and problems in the administration of justice.
CRIJ 7340. Administration of Justice. 3 Hours.
Students in this advanced seminar address criminal justice systems theory, discretionary decision-making in criminal justice, and factors related to differences and discrimination in system processing.
CRIJ 7342. Advanced Statistics I. 3 Hours.
Students are introduced to multivariate statistical techniques, including multiple regression, logistic regression, discriminate analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, canonical correlation, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling. Course Equivalents: CRIJ 7442
Prerequisite: CRIJ 6385 or equivalent in past years.
CRIJ 7366. Seminar on Penalty of Death. 3 Hours.
Students examine the death penalty with a focus on areas of research needed in order to better evaluate the appropriateness of this sanction. This course includes: 1) a specific focus on the death penalty from a variety of different perspectives; 2) a critical examination of the existing body of scholarship; and 3) the identification of what is needed for evolving scholarship in each area.
CRIJ 7371. Special Topics-Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 771); Students engage in a course designed to give graduate students academic flexibility. Students may examine special topics in the field of criminal justice and criminology outside of the available course offerings. Students may repeat this course for credit when topics differ.
CRIJ 7373. Research Practicum. 3 Hours.
(SH Prior Course ID: CJ 773); Students engage in supervised training, including special applications in information acquisition, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display in criminal justice.
CRIJ 7375. Seminar in Legal Aspects of Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.
Students may engage with principles of constitutional law, criminal procedure, criminal law, juvenile justice, civil liability, and judicial policy making on social control, prisons, and the death penalty. The primary emphasis is on engaging with legal research as relevant to understanding the criminal justice system and related processes.
CRIJ 7387. Research Design. 3 Hours.
Students engage in advanced study of scientific inquiry with an emphasis on the practical aspects of research design and implementation. Topics may include the philosophy of science; the relationship of sampling theory to statistical theory; studies in causation; non-experimental research; data systems and modern data processing techniques.
Prerequisite: CRIJ 7434 and consent of instructor.
CRIJ 7389. Advanced Statistics II. 3 Hours.
Students engage in a survey of reliability analysis, loglinear, and logit loglinear analysis, nonlinear, weighted and two stage least-squares regression, probit analysis, survival analysis and Cox regression.
Prerequisite: CRIJ 7434.
CRIJ 7393. Data Management and Analysis. 3 Hours.
Students develop proficiency in the management and analysis of quantitative data in criminology and criminal justice. Students are taught the basics of using one or more statistical software packages. The process of identifying and downloading secondary datasets from data housing websites is discussed, and the procedures by which data are cleaned, organized, and analyzed is demonstrated. Key statistical concepts and issues regarding data management, multivariate statistical analysis, and appropriate diagnostic tests are introduced.
Prerequisite: CRIJ 7342.
CRIJ 8099. Dissertation IV. 1-3 Hours.
Advanced research in criminology or criminal justice. Variable Credit (1 to 3). Course Equivalents: CRIJ 8399
Prerequisite: CRIJ 8396, CRIJ 8397, and CRIJ 8398.
CRIJ 8396. Dissertation. 3 Hours.
Advanced research in criminology or criminal justice.
CRIJ 8397. Dissertation II. 3 Hours.
Advanced research in criminology or criminal justice.
Prerequisite: CRIJ 8396.
