Kerry L. Muehlenbeck

An introduction to crime and society's responses to it. Examines the nature and causes of crime, the criminal law, constitutional safeguards, and the organization and operation of the criminal justice system including the police, courts, jails, prisons, probation and parole departments, and community corrections agencies. Covers the history of the criminal justice system, terminology and career opportunities. Prerequisites: None.

Covers philosophy of legal sanctions and historical development from the common law to modern American criminal law, classifications of crimes, elements of and parties to crimes, general definition of crimes, common defenses utilized. Includes specific offenses and the essential elements of each offense.

Prerequisites: None.

Introduces and explores ethical issues and the justice system. Focuses on ethics and the law, the police, courts and corrections. Reviews ethical theory, concepts and practices as they relate to administration of justice. Explores issues of how media/social media shape ethics. Encourages critical thinking and value decision making in criminal justice system situations. Prerequisites: None.

Study of deviance, society's role in defining behavior; theories of criminality and the economic, social, and psychological impact of crime; relationships between statistics and crime trends. Examines crime victimization and the various types of crime and categories of offenders. Required in the AJS curriculum. Prerequisites: None.