SOCI 2120 - Introduction to Criminal Justice Systems
Student Learning Outcomes 1. Identify the current practices and functions of the criminal justice system;
2. Understand and communicate how crime data is collected and measured and how this data informs the claims of policy makers and public policy outcomes.
3. Demonstrate the ability to compare and contrast the institutional practices and stratification of the U.S. criminal justice system with other criminal justice systems in the developed regions of the world.
4. Communicate an understanding of sociological theories of the U.S. criminal justice system through academic research, in-class discussions, written assignments, and other methods.
5. Describe the functions of the social institutions connected to crime, e.g., polity, media, education, family.Course Description This course provides an introduction to social issues that are currently affecting the criminal justice system in the United States. The course will cover the history of the US criminal justice system and how our system compares with other countries. We will address how the U.S. criminal justice system attempts to create and preserve a balance between sustaining order, maintaining individual rights, and promoting justice. Important themes also include, but are not limited to: discussions of how crime and delinquency are measured, key correlates of crime, sociological approaches to researching crime, sociological theories of crime, the quality of crime data in the U.S. and how it is used to make public policy decisions, and the causes and consequences of mass incarceration in the United States.