Course Descriptions

This course focuses on the major elements of the American criminal justice system. It covers the history and operations of law enforcement, criminal courts and correctional agencies.

This course is designed to introduce the student to the workings, organization and impacts of the judicial system in the United States.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311. Cross-listed with GOVT 2392. 

This course examines the nature, extent, causes and treatment of crime and delinquency, criminological theory, agencies of control and programs of crime prevention.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course examines the history and nature of law enforcement, emphasizing the roles of various law enforcement personnel, including police administration, investigation and patrol.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course examines the history and nature of corrections in the United States. It covers both institutional and community corrections, including alternatives to incarceration such as probation and parole.  
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course examines common behavioral science statistical techniques such as frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, variability, correlation and tests of significance, chi-square and non-parametric tests.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311. Cross-listed with PSYC 3381 and SOCI 3381.

This course examines common methods of conducting research in the field of criminal justice. A variety of research methodologies are covered, including experiments, survey research, field research and evaluation research.  
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

The capstone course for the criminal justice major, this course is designed to be taken in the student’s senior year and involves the discussion and application of various theories and methodologies. The course culminates in the writing of a capstone project.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course examines the history and nature of victimology, emphasizing the role of the victim in the criminal justice and victimization processes. 
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course focuses on current major developments in the American criminal justice system. It covers recent and very specific developments in law enforcement, criminal courts and/or correctional agencies.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311. Cross-listed with SOCI 3323.

This course examines drugs and crime and their impact on society, emphasizing the treatment, prevention, criminalization and decriminalization of controlled substances in the United States.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311. Cross-listed with PSYC 3325.

This course focuses on the needs of the victims and the offenders, along with the community, as opposed to the general legal principles or the punishment of offenders. It covers recent and very specific developments in the criminal justice field. 
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course will introduce students to the complex world of environmental crime. This course examines the works of major criminological scholars and recent developments in the field of criminal justice and in academia. Topics that will be discussed will range from the different types of environmental crime, wild-life crimes, corporate crimes and sustainable actions that have a positive impact on the environment. The causes of environmental crime and the societal impacts of these crimes on a victimized society will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course will provide the student with an overview of the history, development and philosophy of the probation and parole including but not limited to community corrections, corrections, and juvenile justice. The student will become familiar with probation, parole, the theoretical constructs inherent in probation and parole and how they interrelate with the apprehension, processing, and punishment of offenders. Current and future issues in the fields of probation and parole will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course examines the death penalty internationally and in the United States. It covers the history of the death penalty, methods of execution, its impact as a deterrent to murder, its legal status, its connections to race, social class, gender, geography, religion, economics and the issue of miscarriages of justice.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311. Cross-listed with SOCI 3347.

This course examines the history and nature of juvenile justice, emphasizing the juvenile court system and the variety of correctional settings for juveniles.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course will introduce students to the complex world of wildlife crime nationally and internationally. This course examines the works of major criminological scholars and recent developments in the field of criminal justice and in academia. Topics that will be discussed will range from the different types of wildlife crime, the illegal ivory trade, conservation efforts and the extinction of species. The causes of wildlife crime and the societal impacts of these crimes on a victimized society will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course will introduce students to the unique world of art crime. This course examines the works of major criminological scholars and recent developments in the field of criminal justice and in academia. Topics that will be discussed will range from the different types of art crime, art heists, art forgery, fraudulent art and looted art. The causes of art crime and the societal impacts of these crimes on a victimized society will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course will introduce students to the various types of white-collar crime. This course examines the works of major criminological scholars and recent developments in the field of criminal justice and in academia. Topics that will be discussed will range from the different types of white-collar crime, organizational crimes, corporate crimes, occupational crimes and political crimes. The causes of white-collar crime and the societal impacts of these crimes on a victimized society will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course explores the ethical responsibilities of criminal justice practitioners in the criminal court system, law enforcement and the variety of correctional settings.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course is designed to introduce the student to pertinent issues that concern media coverage of crime and criminal justice. Crime coverage in several different forms of mass media is examined (including news media, entertainment media, reality television and infotainment media.) Emphasis is placed on understanding the importance of systematic content analysis as a methodological approach in studying crime in the media.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311. Cross-listed with SOCI 3365. 

This course will introduce students to the various types of sexual crimes. This course examines the works of major criminological scholars and recent developments in the field of criminal justice and in academia. Topics that will be discussed will range from the different types of sex crimes, origins of sex crimes and current efforts in the fight against sex crimes. The causes of sexual crimes and the societal impacts of these crimes on a victimized society will also be discussed.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311.

The course is designed to introduce the student to the workings, organization and impacts of different criminal justice systems around the world. The course content will expose the student to the different components of international criminal justice systems including, but not limited to, international issues in criminal law, law enforcement, courts and criminal procedure, prisons, parole, probation and various agencies that administer those laws and programs.  
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course examines the history and nature of women in crime and criminal justice, emphasizing the role of females in criminal justice and in the delivery of crime.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

This course requires a student to work a total of 120 hours over the course of a single semester in a local criminal justice agency, directly supervised by a professional at the agency. A paper describing the agency and the work the intern accomplished is expected at the end of the internship.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311

The course will provide an examination of the history of punishment abroad in specific criminal justice systems. Emphasizing the criminological evaluation of current trends concerning criminal offenders in the criminal justice systems abroad; particular attention is given to the punishment of offenders, the different typologies of offenders and the impact of punishment on individuals and on their respective society. The course will culminate with a trip abroad.
Prerequisite: CRJU 1311 or permission from the instructor.

In this course, students will be introduced to various types of drug abuse prevention and psychotherapies and learn how these are integrated into a comprehensive community approach to reduce drug addiction. Drug abuse and dependence as a risk factor for other social problems and implications for policy change are explored within a social justice framework. This course meets the Texas Certification Board of Addition Professionals' prerequisites for certification as a 'Certified Prevention Specialist' by providing the student with half of the 100 required hours in ATOD prevention training.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1301 and PSYC 3325 or permission of instructor or CRJU 1311