Master of Arts in Criminal Justice

This course is an examination of issues of professional and ethical behavior within the criminal justice system. Key issues examined include professional behavior of the individual and the agency. Current topics such as sexual harassment, accreditation and maintenance standards, and community relations are discussed.

This course will review and describe the various theories and implications of criminal acts in relation to behavior discipline, causative and scientific aspects. Analysis of criminal and non-criminal behavior is addressed regarding certain causes, controls, and legal aspects. Crime is analyzed from an interdisciplinary study of social problems and social responsibility perspectives. Distinctions are addressed regarding criminal behavior of perpetrators of serious criminal acts and the concept of social relativity to the study of criminality.

This course focuses on research design for criminological studies or security principles depending on the major selected. There is an emphasis on data collection methods and measurements of validity and reliability. The successful student will be able to gather and develop criminal justice/security research material into analytic data that can be easily interpreted. Students will learn the appropriate methods of assessing quantitative and qualitative data. Additionally students will learn the proper citation methods in APA. This course should be taken as one of the student’s first three courses.

The student will develop and evaluate policies and procedures in all phases of police administration. These include judicial decisions, which impact the legal status of the operation of police agencies. Additionally, administrative issues inherent in both large and small police organizations are assessed including: the history and context of police administration, police organizational tasks, leadership in the police organization, the role of the police manager, and the role of citizen oversight. Oversight committees addressing police accountability for community enforcement services are analyzed.

This course focuses on the fundamental principals, concepts, and development of criminal law and the constitutional provisions which govern it. The course further discusses the relationship of the individual to the state and includes an examination of the general framework of criminal law as a means of social control.

This course addresses the specific constitutional rights, including the fourth, fifth and sixth amendments as those that have a direct impact on the defendant and prosecution in the judicial process. The course will review issues of the pre-arrest stage to post conviction remedies, as well as the procedural laws in the criminal justice process and their limits. The parameters of these limits will be analyzed by studying various court decisions.

This course will discuss the role in establishing alcohol and other drug policies and the development of regulations for the implementation of federal policy. In addition, this course will focus on federal, state, and local agencies effects on addressing the drug problem and examine the impact of federal policy at the local level.

This graduate course examines and compares the legal and criminal justice systems of different nations. It focuses on historical, political and social factors, and explains their influence on legal institutions and systems of justice with a particular focus on the nations of Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East. The course will place particular emphasis on law enforcement, courts and corrections across the globe. Students will focus on criminal justice systems across the globe in order to help enhance the understanding of how the criminal justice system of the United States functions within the community of nations.

This course will discuss the social and legal problems involved with sexual exploitation of children. Major issues that will be examined in this course will be child pornography, prostitution, pedophiles, law enforcement sexual offender databases, and victimization.

This course addresses the definitions of deviant behavior and the causes and roots of violent behavior. It identifies what social deviance is and who is considered to be deviant in today’s society. The sociological and psychological issues are reviewed as they pertain to the methods of sentencing and the criminal justice system's approach to violence. In addition, the theory of prevention and treatment methods are studied as they relate to the criminal justice system.

Students will examine the role of forensic science in the investigation of crime by introducing the non-scientific student to the field. Through applications to criminal investigations, clear explanations of the techniques, and the abilities and limitations of modern crime labs, the course covers the realm of forensics. The various types of physical evidence normally encountered in criminal investigations will be studied with regard to collection and packaging techniques. Combining case stories with applicable technology, this course serves as an introduction to the field of forensic science investigations.

This course examines the historical roots of organized criminality. Structural models are compared for understanding emerging groups. Special attention is paid to dependencies and cooperation among ethnicities. Additionally, there will be a review of the activities associated with organized strategic aspects (i.e. profit-oriented ventures such as extortion, credit card fraud, counterfeiting, prostitution, drug trafficking, smuggling) and tactical issues (i.e. activities that support the criminal organization such as money laundering, violence, corruption, recruitment).

An examination of how to effectively manage critical incidents and hostage situations in law enforcement and corrections. Combining principles and applications from criminal justice, psychology, sociology, communications, business and other disciplines, this course presents an effective conceptual framework students can apply in high-pressure situations.

This course covers the development of the cartels and their organization, production, and distribution networks. It also provides an overview of U.S. counter-drug efforts and basic information on illicit drugs.

This course will examine in detail crimes such as murder, serial killing, rape, and related crimes of violence from a sociopsychological profiling perspective. Topics covered will include the foundations of criminal profiling, the elements and goals of criminal profiling, multidisciplinary theory, victimology, geographic profiling, the scientific method as applied to behavioral theories, and ethical considerations. Modus Operandi and Signature behaviors will be analyzed, and inductive and deductive profiling methods will be assessed.

This course is a study in the major decisions made by law enforcement executives from a variety of levels and locales. These decisions include issues in crisis management as well as inter-relationships among community leaders with police executives. Management styles are addressed to determine the most effective methods of implementing solutions to macro social community problems. Additionally, strategic decision-making processes are assessed to evaluate fairness and the aspects of voluntary cooperation and attitudes of all parties. The intent of the course is to provide a thorough analysis of executive decision making from which the student can appreciate the strengths and weaknesses executive decisions while reflecting on the student’s own style and approach to decision making.

This Independent Study is an opportunity for Criminal Justice or Security Management graduate students to pursue an independent research project under the mentorship of a single professor. Students must complete 24 credits of study before taking this course. Participation is at the discretion of the faculty member. The course requires a major research paper; there will be no examination. Students will submit a request to take the independent study to the Registrar and will include the name of a faculty with whom they have coordinated. Prior to registering, students should first contact the professor with whom they wish to mentor their independent study, coordinate an agreement on the grading requirements, and then NOTIFY their Student Advisor with the name of their professor. The final approval to take the independent study will be made by the Department Chair.

The course focuses on advanced administration and management issues related to corporate security functions, including strategic and operational management, risk management, contract security services, management of emergencies and loss prevention. Students will assess vulnerabilities and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Report on terrorist attacks upon the Unites States. Facility protection standards are used to determine appropriate courses of action, from a security management perspective, using threat models and risk assessment concepts. Research is required and application of critical thinking is applied to address external threats and countermeasures. Practical exercises are conducted to apply research findings.

This course examines the global terrorism phenomenon and the social, economic, political, and religious conditions of select states, groups, and individuals that influence the terrorist mindset. Students examine the definitions, origins and development of terror as a means of influencing public policy decisions and in fostering transitions in public power to promote group goals. Specific historical instances of the use of terror are evaluated, assessed, and analyzed. Examples of groups such as the Al-Qaeda terrorist network are assessed including focused discussions on current events. Topics include: geography and geopolitics of terrorism, origins and history of terrorism, characteristics and goals of terrorism, role of politics and religion in terrorism, media impact on terrorism recruiting, and Al-Qaeda in Iraq organization.

This course will examine cybercrime and the legal, social and technical issues cybercrime presents. With a multi-disciplinary perspective, we will focus on ways information technology is used to commit crimes, investigative techniques used to discover the crimes, and the challenges involved in prosecuting cybercrimes These challenges include jurisdictional issues, application of traditional laws to cybercrimes, and privacy issues encountered during prevention, investigation and prosecution.

Comprehensive final examination for students in the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program. The "Comprehensive Final Exam" is tailored specifically to each program and must be taken after students have completed 36 hours of study (i.e. during the semester following the final course) and successfully completed before the award of a degree.