Graduate Course Descriptions
- 401 - Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Justice
- 402 - Theories and Research in Crime and Delinquency
- 404 -Institutional and Organizational Linkages: Politics and Policy in the Criminal Justice System
- 407 - Statistics
- 409 - Criminal Justice Research and Methodology
- 412 - Ethics in Criminal Justice
- 420 - Managerial and Organizational Techniques For Criminal Justice Practitioners
- 430 - Communication and Conflict Resolution in Criminal Justice Settings
- 440 - Advanced Statistics and Computer Applications
- 445 - Program Evaluation
- 450 - Crime and Racial Ethnic Minorities
- 455 -Topics in Comparative CRMJ Organization: Police, Court, and Correctional Organization
- 460 - Criminal Justice Computer and Information Systems
- 465 - Policy Analysis
- 470 - Labor Management Relations
- 490 - Special Topics
- 499 - Independent Study
- 500 - Directed Research
- 501 - Thesis Research
- 502 - Practicum
- 595 - Thesis Supervision
- 605 - Master's Study
401 - Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Justice
This is a multidisciplinary study of historical and philosophical aspects of criminal justice organization and procedure. Historical development beginning with Anglo-Saxon England are traced and reviewed, as are philosophical concepts such as the rationale for punishment and deterrence, as well as for the juvenile justice system.
402 - Theories and Research in Crime and Delinquency
This is a comparative review of dominant contemporary theories and research on the causes of crime and delinquency, including theories based on biological, psychological, and social factors. The course also examines social system theories of deviant subcultures, social disorganization and strain, and ecological characteristics of population distribution across geographic areas. It emphasizes the competing theories that seek to explain the causes of crime, the current status of research on these theories, and differences in their implications for crime control. Syllabi: Fall 2008.
404 -Institutional and Organizational Linkages: Politics and Policy in the Criminal Justice System
This course offers a system's approach to the understanding of the criminal justice system in general and, particularly, in Cook County, the largest such system in the United States. Using current issues, the interactional processes within and among the system's components are analyzed and relationships to other institutions (social, political, public and private) are explored and matters of organization and procedure are emphasized.
407 - Statistics
Presented in the initial statistics course are the basic concepts and procedures used in descriptive and inferential statistics. Students will learn about data organizing and summarizing strategies, standard scores and percentiles, measures of central tendency and variability, elementary probability theory, hypothesis testing, correlation and simple linear regression, t-tests, anova, and non-parametric techniques, and will also be taught how to use statistical packages in the computer analysis of data.
409 - Criminal Justice Research and Methodology
This course presents the fundamentals of social science research. It covers the full range of designs from pro-experimental to experimental, as well as major threats to research validity and methods for overcoming such threats through sound design and analysis. In addition, students will acquire skills in several different methodologies data collection techniques including simulation, observation, survey methods, and field research. Specific examples of research problems in criminal justice will be presented. Syllabi: Fall 2008.
412 - Ethics in Criminal Justice
Using a moral perspective, the course defines the responsibilities of criminal justice personnel and explores the ethical dilemmas faced by police, court, and corrections officials as they carry out their duties. The course does not teach ethical theories per so (although some very basic distinctions are drawn) but rather explains the unique nature of reasoning in ethics and how students can learn to think constructively and articulate the inherent ethical issues in the field of criminal justice. Included is an explanation of what ethics is and how we form ethical judgments, what ethics is not (for instance, that it is not handing out "the one right answer" to settle and ethical dilemma), and a technique for calculating students' ethical maturity levels and for challenging them to analyze and question their own and others' belief systems.
420 - Managerial and Organizational Techniques For Criminal Justice Practitioners
This course provides a conceptual and practical framework of information on management. Topics examined include: planning and budgeting, motivation, authority, and different styles of leadership. Emphasis is on the need for criminal justice administrators to plan, organize, communicate, make decisions, and lead.
430 - Communication and Conflict Resolution in Criminal Justice Settings
This course offers a study of human and interpersonal relations in criminal justice settings. It examines methods of analyzing the nature of conflict in various circumstances and the application of appropriate strategies such as mediation, arbitration, role playing, language exploration, which may lead to the resolution of conflict. The course includes experiential exercises and simulated conflict interactions among students and the instructor.
440 - Advanced Statistics and Computer Applications
In this course students will be exposed to a variety of multivariate procedures for analyzing data. Topics to be covered include: principal components and factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, probit and logit regressions, canonical correlations, path analysis, manova, and discrimina-it function analysis. Students will be taught the underlying conceptual similarities and differences between these various procedures, as well as how to use the computer to analyze multivariate data sets.
445 - Program Evaluation
This course provides a review of state-of-the-art techniques for program evaluations in criminal justice settings. Students will learn step-by-step procedures for conducting program evaluations and will apply the procedures to real world-problems. The course differentiates between summative and formative evaluations and process and outcome studies. Focus will be on integrating evaluation techniques with agency operations and on using findings to improve policy and procedures.
450 - Crime and Racial Ethnic Minorities
This course examines race in the context of crime and social control. Included is an exploration of the differential rates of offending among minority groups in the United States, theoretical explanations for these differences, controversies over criminal justice policies in crime control and their impact upon racial minorities. Also examined are the broader implications these policies have on race relations. Although the course is primarily focused on race and ethnic differences in offending populations as a problem of criminal control agencies, an effort is also made to show how these policies are not developed in a vacuum. Students will review theories and data on these issues, as well as policy implications for policing, courts, and correctional agencies within the social and political context of race relations in the United States.
455 -Topics in Comparative CRMJ Organization: Police, Court, and Correctional Organization
This course examines criminal justice organizations in terms of their administrative forms and crime control programs. In this respect, the course will focus on the structural organization of criminal justice agencies, the determinants of alternative patterns of organizations in terms of community differences and the types of crimes and offenders, and will evaluate the relative effects of various organizational models on crime control. The comparative range of organizations will use models selected from the United States and other nations.
460 - Criminal Justice Computer and Information Systems
This course examines basic computer technology, its evolution, and its application to the field of criminal justice. In addition to classroom lectures and selected readings, the course involves hands-on computer exercises and discussions of specific computer applications. A course project involving the use of computer software will be assigned (topics and specifications for the project will be discussed on an individual basis beforehand).
465 - Policy Analysis
This course provides an overview of the policy process from identification of a problem to policy development, implementation, and evaluation. Each stop of the policy process is examined in depth, using examples from current issues in criminal justice. The course focuses primarily on policy-making at the national level but also examines the policy process in state and local governments.
470 - Labor Management Relations
This course examines of the purposes and functions of unions in dealing with other unions and with employers in the negotiations and administration of a collective bargaining agreement. The theory and philosophy of the labor movement is presented along with the philosophy of employers and employer associations in dealing with unions or employees in a non-union environment. The course provides an overview of the field of labor relations.
490 - Special Topics
Special topic course titles will vary. The student is allowed to enroll for more than one 490 course if the topics are sufficiently different.
499 - Independent Study
Prerequisite: Permission of the department's graduate director. This is a directed study course for advanced students, supervised by a member of the graduate faculty.
501 - Thesis Research
This course is designed specifically for students with a special interest in research or who intend to work toward a doctorate. A thesis committee, comprised of two or three faculty members, will work with the student in the development and completion of the research project.
502 - Practicum
The field practicum enables the student to apply their knowledge (conceptual, theoretical, methodological) in a practical setting. Placements are typically made with police, prosecution, judicial, probation and corrections agencies in and around Chicago. Students are supervised by the practicum coordinator and an agency administrator. Students are expected to work a minimum of 150 hours and write a log of activities as well as a research paper. Because the research paper is the major scholarly component of the practicum, it must be analytical in content and correct in all technical details.
595 - Thesis Supervision
This is a non-credit course. Students who are working on approved master's thesis research and are not registered for any course are required to register for thesis supervision.
605 - Master's Study
Prerequisite: Completion of the graduate core courses. This course is a non-credit means of permitting students to be formally enrolled at Loyola while preparing for the written comprehensive examination.
