CRJU110 - Introduction To Criminal Justice
Fall, 2005
"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously
committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest
of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the
heart of every human being."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn – The Gulag Archipelago
|
Dr. David B. Gulick
Office Hours:
12:30 - 2:00 MWF Otherwise by Appointment
dgulick@udel.edu
Catalogue Description:
A general introduction to the study of the
American system of criminal justice. The crime problem, the
police, the judicial system, and correctional agencies will be examined.
Special emphasis will be placed on depicting both the legal and behavioral
realities of each stage of the criminal justice process.
Expanded Description:
American systems of justice administration
(federal, state, local) will be examined from a critical perspective.
The content of the course will focus on the following general objectives:
- To
familiarize the student with standard concepts, definitions, systemic
relationships, and key cases which define the structure and process of
American criminal justice;
- To
examine the nature of our "knowledge" of "crime" and
its persistence within the American polity;
- To
introduce the student to some of the "common sense" myths which
distort our understanding of the character of American criminal justice;
- To
introduce the student to criminal justice as a career option; including
job opportunities, professional organizations, standard literature of the
field, and state-of-the-art techniques for locating and retrieving
field-related information;
- To provide a forum for
gaining perspective and understanding of contemporary crime and justice
issues as they appear in the media.
Course Philosophy:
This freshman-level course is
presented within the context of the following working assumptions:
·
A basic knowledge
of the workings (theoretical and actual) of the American criminal
justice apparatus is not only fundamental to a legitimate liberal arts education, it is a critical element of citizenship. It justifies both the cost of the course and
the considerable investment in time and effort required both of the instructor
and the students.
Corollary – The instructor takes the course seriously. Students are
expected to do so also.
·
Large
“lecture” classes, properly prepared and
augmented by additional resources, are effective vehicles of learning.
Corollary – The instructor is responsible for preparing stimulating
and informative lectures and developing in-class as well as out-of-class
resources. Students are responsible for attending class regularly, proactively
thinking about course-related materials, and taking responsibility for their
own learning.
·
Any student
accepted to the University
of Delaware is capable of
doing well in this course.
Corollary – Should the instructor be presented with the question;
“I’ve read all of the material, studied properly, and come to class
regularly and am still doing poorly, what can I do?” the answer is
“I don’t know.” Though this situation should rarely,
if ever, arise, University Counseling Resources are available and students are encouraged to
take advantage of them early in the semester.
InsCourse Requirements and Resources:
- Text: Inciardi,James A. Criminal Justice, Harcourt, Brace,
Jovanovich, (7th ed.) 1998. (Required)
NOTE: The text will
be the primary resource around which lectures will pivot. Some chapters will be
covered in detail. Others will be highlighted only, and some will be skipped.
Additionally, some chapters will be assigned for study and inclusion on
exams without being discussed in class.
- Teaching
Assistants: The teaching assistant for this semester will be introduced in
class. If you are having trouble with the course, need to schedule a
make-up exam, or otherwise need to discuss course related issues, you can
contact the assistant by email. If necessary, s/he can help direct you to
University resources that were developed to help students having academic
difficulties.
- Email:
Students are required to have their University of Delaware
email accounts activated by the end of the week of class. At that point,
students will be held accountable for information sent to the class via
email. Email from accounts
outside the University will not be answered.
- LISTSERV:
Techniques for using LISTSERV groups related to the field of criminal
justice, particularly CJUST-L, will be presented in class.
- World
Wide Web: A vast array of criminal justice resources, including federal, state,
and local agencies; crime statistics, and divergent views of the problems
of crime and justice are available on the Web. Students will be strongly
encouraged to avail themselves of these resources.
- It
is assumed that students are familiar with all academic policies stated in
the University
of Delaware Undergraduate Student Handbook.
- All
assigned text material must be read and studied prior to
class. The text will be used as a resource for the majority of exam items
as well as a general guide to course content. Class time will be used to
supplement, clarify and critique material from the text. Students
unfamiliar with text materials will find the content of class lectures
difficult to grasp. Additionally, exams will include materials from
the text, including entire chapters, not specifically covered i n class.
- A
study guide consisting of a pool of multiple choice items from which exam
items will be drawn (stripped of answers) will be made available prior to each exam.
- Exams:
There will be three hourly exams, the third being administered on the date
assigned for the semester “final” (see dates below). The third
exam will cover the last part of the course and a collection of T-F items
from previous exams. Exams I, II, will consist of 50 multiple choice items
drawn the text and 50 true-false questions covering information presented
in lectures, in-class films and assigned readings. Makeup exams will be
administered strictly according to University policy. Exams missed without
an approved excused can be can be made up, but 30 pts. will
be deducted from the score.
Exam Schedule:
Sept. 30 Exam
I – Chaps. 1,2,4,5 and
lecture notes
Nov. 11 Exam II – Chaps. 6,7,8,10,11 and lecture
notes
Final Exam Date (TBA)
Exam III – Chaps. 12,13,14,15 notes from lectures and films, T/F Items
from Exams I and II included.
Grades:
Grades will be
calculated exclusively by a weighted distribution based
only on exam scores. Do not ask to be given extra points. The
following scoring format will be applied:
90 = A
89 = B+
80 = B-
79 = C+
70 = C-
69 = D+
60 = D-
59 = F