Criminal Justice

Program Goal and Outcomes

Program Goal
To prepare students for professional opportunities in the criminal justice field and for a wide array of entry-level positions in criminal justice, or to prepare for further training.

Program Outcomes
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to...

• Demonstrate effective written and interpersonal communication skills
• Demonstrate a high level of inquiry, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrate effective quantitative skills
• Demonstrate computer and information literacy
• Demonstrate an understanding of the liberal arts, natural sciences, and social sciences
• Discuss the legal system in the United States, including the origins and history of the law, the development of common law, statutory law, constitutional law and how this affects the criminal justice system
• Analyze the substantive and procedural operations of the criminal justice system with focus on the prosecutorial, judicial, and defense functions
• Evaluate issues of justice, professionalism and ethics within law enforcement, the courts, and the private sector security industry
• Examine the external and internal factors that control the dynamics of law enforcement from the police, prosecution, and defense perspectives as they apply to ethical, moral, and legal applications
• Discuss the origins and development of the law of search and seizure on the federal and state levels, the ethical and legal issues surrounding the exclusionary rule as it impacts the Fourth and Fifth
• Amendments, and the workings of an adversarial system of justice
• Discuss the principles of criminal responsibility and the requirement of culpable mental states, the various defenses used to negate or to mitigate criminal liability, victims' interaction with the criminal justice system, and the prevailing theories and philosophies for criminal punishment including restitution, retribution, rehabilitation.
• Discuss and compare recognized biological, psychological, and sociological theories about the causes of criminal behavior and the types of criminal behavior and methods for predicting future crime.
• Analyze the management and organizational components in the modern police organization and the various methods and theories of policing, including reactive, proactive, problem-solving, community policing.

Semester 1

Basic Skills Assessment
All degree applicants are required to complete two Basic Skills Assessments, one in reading and one in math, to determine the level of readiness for beginning their selected program. Additional studies may be required.

Criminal Justice Orientation (1 credit)
Succeed by learning how to use your Penn Foster program, and become familiar with the criminal justice system.

Objectives:

• Understand how to use your Student Portal, including your My Homepage and My Courses pages.
• Access the Penn Foster Community and use it to find answers.
• Connect with Penn Foster on various social media sites.
• Describe how the police legal system and corrections system work together to solve crimes, make arrests, prosecute cases, and deal with convicted offenders.
• Identify the different tasks that police officers, private security personnel, and federal law enforcement officers do in their jobs.
• Outline the steps of the criminal justice process, starting with the arrest, moving through

Information Literacy (1 credit)
Get better at finding and using information!

Objectives:

• Search the Internet more effectively.
• Get tips about search engines and reliable websites.
• Learn how to search libraries and other information centers for important, useful information.

Introduction to Criminal Justice (3 credits)
Begin your study of the exciting field of criminal justice.

Objectives:

• Discuss the nature of crime and how it affects society
• Explain the history, organization, role, and function of policing, as well as its issues
• Identify the various roles of the judicial process and the stages of a trial
• Describe the role that correctional institutions have fulfilled, their design, the people who live there, and the difficulties encountered when leaving the structured environment of prison
• Recognize how juvenile justice and terrorism impact criminal justice in the United States

Introduction to Courts (3 credits)
This course looks at the relationship among the judiciary, defense, and prosecution involved in the United States Courts system. You're studies start with an overview of the basic structures of courts. You'll also look to the successive steps involved in prosecutions and cover topics such as plea bargains, trials, juries, sentencing, and appeals.

Objectives:

• Point out the structure and working process of the legal system in the United States
• Analyze the emergence of law in the different systems of litigation in America
• Distinguish between the civil and criminal litigation in state and federal courts in the US
• Analyze articles relating to the US court system

Computer Applications (3 credits)
Microsoft® Office allows people to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases. This course will teach you how to use three popular tools from the Microsoft® Office Suite — Word™, Excel®, and PowerPoint®. In this course, you'll learn how to use Word™ to create and edit text documents, insert figures and tables, and format pages for a variety of uses. You'll then learn how to use Excel® to organize and format data, including charts, formulas, and more complex tables. Next, you'll learn how to use PowerPoint® to create and deliver slide shows. Finally, you'll complete a graded project, which will test the skills acquired in Word™, Excel®, and PowerPoint®.

Objectives:

• Create various Microsoft® Word™ documents.
• Produce a thorough Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet.
• Identify the basic skills needed to use Microsoft® PowerPoint®.
• Synthesize what you’ve learned by integrating Word™, Excel®, and PowerPoint®.

English Composition (3 credits)
This course teaches the skills and techniques of effectively developing, drafting, and revising college-level essays toward a specific purpose and audience: active reading, prewriting strategies, sentence and paragraph structure, thesis statements, varied patterns of development (such as illustration, comparison and contrast, and classification), critical reading toward revision of structure and organization, editing for standard written conventions, and use and documentation of outside sources. Students submit two prewriting assignments and three essays (process analysis, comparison and contrast, and argumentation).

Objectives:

• Use writing skills to construct well-written sentences and active reading skills to understand and analyze text
• Develop paragraphs using topic sentences, adequate detail, supporting evidence, and transitions
• Contrast the revising and editing steps of the writing process
• Distinguish between different patterns of development
• Write a process analysis essay using prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing skills
• Recognize how to determine the reliability of secondary sources and to give proper credit to sources referenced in an essay
• Write a comparison and contrast essay by using persuasive writing techniques to defend a claim
• Create a sound written argument using techniques of drafting and evaluating sources

Essentials of Psychology (3 credits)
This course covers the psychology of biology and behavior, consciousness, memory, thought and language, intelligence, personality and gender, stress, and community influences.

Objectives:

• Describe the science of psychology, basic structure and function of the human nervous system, and basic structure and function of the sensory system
• Explain various states of consciousness, learning theories, and thought processes and development
• Summarize the nature of human motivation and development, the human development cycle, and approaches to understanding and assessing personality
• Prepare an essay on the topic of conditioning, memory, or motivation and emotion
• Recognize psychological disorders and available treatments
• Explain social psychology as it relates to attitudes, influences, behaviors, and stress
• Use critical thinking skills to determine the likely causes of behaviors of individuals and groups discussed in case studies

Proctored Examination
You will be required to complete a proctored exam on selected courses each semester. These assessments will evaluate the knowledge and skills that you learned during the semester. You choose the time, the location, and the qualified exam supervisor.

Semester 2

Introduction to Sociology (3 credits)
This course begins with an introduction to the field of sociology and discusses social structure and social interaction through groups, networks, and organizations. It also discusses deviance, crime, and social control; describes the effects of stratification, racial and ethnic inequality, sex, gender, and sexuality; discusses the role of health, family, education, and religion in sociology; and concludes with the topics of politics, the economy, population, social movements, technology, and social change.

Objectives:

• Categorize the concepts and trajectories of sociology and culture
• Analyze the discourse of social structure, human interaction, sexual orientation, and deviance
• Point out the factors determining social, global, and gender stratification
• Compose essays reflecting on deviance and economy in society
• Compose an essay that answers questions about privilege and gender differences
• Distinguish the various institutions in the current global system and the effects of education in them
• Differentiate between the phases of evolution and social changes determined by the impact of population

Criminal Law (3 credits)
With this course, you'll review the history of criminal law, from its start in the common law (and the principles of applying case law) to its contemporary forms of statutory and regulatory law. You'll look at crimes and their underlying elements, consider what a prosecutor needs to show in order to secure a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt, examine the traditional form of criminal law as well as strict liability and victimless crimes, discuss a range of criminal offenses, such as inchoate and property-based crimes, crimes of violence and administrative crimes, and consider the excuses, justifications, and defenses to the prosecution of such activities.

Objectives:

• Explain the principles of criminal responsibility
• Distinguish between morality and law
• Describe how crimes are classified
• Cite the origins of criminal law
• Describe the police power of government
• Analyze constitutional limitations on criminal liability
• Cite the basic elements of a criminal act
• Deconstruct inchoate, or anticipatory, crimes, crimes against the person, and crimes against property, habitation, and public morality
• Outline the various defenses and punishments

Course Assignment:

• Complete a research project where you’ll assume the perspective of a criminal defense lawyer in two high-profile murder cases.

Ethics in Criminal Justice (3 credits)
Responding to situations ethically is crucial to public protection and the integrity of the legal profession.

Objectives:

• Describe morality and ethics within the context of human behavior.
• Discuss issues of ethics and law enforcement.
• Discuss the ethics of both punishment and correction.

Course Assignment:

• Complete a research project and provide ethical solutions to five given scenarios.

Science Elective (3 credits)
(Choose one) ...

SCI120 - Introduction to Biology
An introductory course that explains the origin of life and the relationships between all living things. It describes how a significant number of organisms are structured and how they work, in order to enable students to discuss intelligently the various forms of life and their processes.

Objectives:

• Analyze cells and their processes for obtaining energy and reproducing.
• Explain how traits are passed on from one generation to the next.
• Explain how different species of living things have evolved and are classified.
• Write responses to fundamental biology essay prompts.
• Identify the characteristics and behavior of plants and animals.
• Diagram the anatomy and physiology of the human body.
• Describe the ecology of living things.

SCI140 - Nutrition
Nutrition is the science that investigates how the body takes in, breaks down, and uses foods. The course will provide you with basic information on how these processes take place, including information about nutrients and how they contribute to the way the body functions. This will help you to have a better understanding of your decisions about food and diet. You’ll also learn about physical activities that can contribute to a healthier lifestyle. Because a central focus of nutrition studies is on health promotion, suggestions for individual nutrition choice will be discussed, as well as tactics for maintaining a healthy weight and keeping food supplies safe.

Objectives:

• Describe how nutrition supports a body's wellness
• Recognize the body's use of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins
• Identify the body's use of water, minerals, and micronutrients
• Discuss what nutritional needs are for a healthy weight and for an athletic lifestyle
• Define food safety and the nutritional needs of humans over a lifetime
• Prepare a research paper on a nutritional topic

Digital Textbook: Nutrition for Healthy Living

SCI110 - Earth Science
This course will allow you to learn about planet Earth and the various aspects of the environment.

Objectives:

• Describe specific characteristics of Earth.
• Describe different types of rocks and minerals.

Police Studies (3 credits)
Looks at the role of policing in America; discusses the existence of a police subculture, the role of management, and the nature of patrolling; considers different strategies for investigating and solving problems; includes a discussion about ethics, civil liability, and possible directions for policing in the future.

Objectives:

• Explain the roles and functions of police in American society
• Describe the development of policing, and recognize how it shaped policing in the modern era
• Describe the processes involved in police training, selection, and development, including the impact of race and gender
• Discuss the structure of police organizations, and describe levels of administration and supervision
• Explain how various police operations are carried out, including those performed by patrol, investigations, traffic, and paramilitary units
• Discuss the issue of police discretion, including how and when police officers use discretion and its effects
• Define police use of force, and discuss the patterns and legal requirements for use of force
• Describe the major perspectives of police behavior, and discuss why the police can be seen as a subculture
• Describe the role of ethics within police operations, and list several forms of police deviance
• Discuss the nature of criminal and civil liability as they relate to police operations
• Describe the factors that impact the relationship between the police and the public, and explain the concepts of crime prevention and community policing
• Discuss the nature and extent of the drug problem in the United States, and describe the nation's strategy in terms of police planning and operations
• Discuss the issues associated with terrorism and homeland security as they affect society and the institution of policing

Textbook: Policing in America

Course Assignment:

• Complete a research project regarding the investigation and analysis of “victimless” crimes.

CJS210 - Police: Crime Scene Investigation Basics
This course provides an understanding of the scientific theory, practices, and techniques used to process a crime scene. It examines how crime scene professionals protect themselves and the evidence at a crime scene. It identifies and describes the different roles that law enforcement professionals execute at the scene of a crime. The course also describes the types of evidence and how evidence is collected and secured before a crime lab processes it.

Objectives:

• Summarize the importance of physical evidence
• Explain how to assess, photograph, sketch, map, and document a crime scene
• Recognize the different methods and technologies used to collect evidence
• Describe how to analyze and reconstruct a crime scene
• Write an essay on the methods of investigating a crime scene associated with arson

Textbook: Practical Crime Scene Processing and Investigation

Proctored Examination
You will be required to complete a proctored exam on selected courses each semester. These assessments will evaluate the knowledge and skills that you learned during the semester. You choose the time, the location, and the qualified exam supervisor.

Semester 3

Criminal Procedures (3 credits)
Become familiar with the procedures used in criminal cases.

Objectives:

• Outline the framework for studying criminal procedures.
• Handle matters involving arrests, search warrants, and probable cause.
• Describe exceptions to search warrant requirements.
• Discuss admissions, confessions, and pretrial identification.

Course Assignment:

• Complete a research project and apply what you’ve learned about criminal procedures to a real-life criminal justice case as chronicled in the book, The Innocent Man.

CJS130-Police Management
The police manager fills a vital role in the operation of a law enforcement agency. This course is designed to provide you with a fundamental understanding of the underlying principles and theories of management, both in general and as they specifically relate to police agencies.

Objectives:

• Define introductory concepts of police management
• Analyze the behavioral aspects of police management
• Identify the functional aspects of police management
• Categorize major issues in police management
• Develop solutions for issues with modern police management

Textbook: The Police Manager

CJS135-Introduction to Private Security
Private security departments must focus on the delivery of competent service to organizations and communities. 

Objectives:

• Compare private security to public law enforcement.
• Describe how the private security industry is regulated.
• Identify when a private security officer may make an arrest.
• Identify when the use of force and deadly force are justifiable.

CJS211-Correctional Institutions (3 credits)
This course is designed to introduce you to the correctional system in the United States. To this end, you’ll explore the American correctional context, correctional practices, and a number of correctional issues and perspectives.

Objectives:

• Explain the historical development of corrections in America as it relates to the purposes of punishment
• List the different types of correction programs, reforms, and the issues in them
• Discuss how different correctional programs handle the treatment of prisoners and how that has developed over time
• Analyze the trends in sentencing and corrections and their racial implications as well as the issues surrounding the incarceration of women and children
• Apply the philosophy and knowledge of corrections to initiating the process of reentry
• Demonstrate a high level of inquiry, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrate effective written and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrate effective quantitative skills
• Demonstrate computer and information literacy
• Prepare for the final exam

Intermediate Algebra (3 credits)
Algebra is the mathematical language used to interpret and represent patterns in numbers by using variables, expressions, and equations. Algebra is an essential tool used in business, science, and computer technology. Throughout this course, you’ll be introduced to algebraic concepts, along with real-world application problems from a variety of fields. In addition to providing a springboard to the discovery of underlying mathematical properties, these applications illustrate the importance of mathematics in your world.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate effective quantitative skills
• Solve algebraic equations, linear equations, inequalities, and absolute value equations
• Solve and graph linear equations and inequalities
• Solve polynomials
• Apply algebraic operations to rational expressions and rational equations
• Solve problems involving radicals and complex numbers
• Solve quadratic equations, rational inequalities, nonlinear equations, and nonlinear inequalities
• Calculate exponential and logarithmic functions
• Solve binomial expansions, sequences, and arithmetic and geometric series
• Prepare for the final exam

Additional Course Material:
Textbook: Intermediate Algebra

Arts and Humanities Elective (3 credits)
(Choose one) ...

HUM102-Art Appreciation
In this course, you will gain an understanding of artistic media, historical periods and artistic movements, the roles of the artist and the viewer, and the principles of art criticism.

Objectives:

• Define the language, visual elements, and principles of design of art
• Identify two-dimensional media
• Identify three-dimensional media
• Explain the evolution of art from ancient Mediterranean cultures through eighteenth century Europe
• Identify features and popular examples of art throughout the history of African, Asian, Pacific, and American cultures
• Compare the genres of the Modern and Postmodern eras of art from around the world

Textbook: Living with Art, 11th Edition

HUM104-Music Appreciation
In this course, you'll practice the skill of active listening. Learning to listen differently will allow you to experience all kinds of music in a new way. Most listeners are familiar with how music makes them feel, and we often say we like a particular piece of music because it has a "good beat" or a beautiful melody. This course will allow you to go deeper. You'll identify what the composer might have been trying to convey and listen for the way elements of musical composition and performance make each piece unique.

Objectives:

• Identify the building blocks of music a composer can use to create a piece, such as rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, form, and timbre
• Differentiate between the music of the baroque era and the musical styles of previous time periods
• List the major characteristics of classical music, including form, melody, and instrumentation
• Describe the musical trends and innovations that occurred during the romantic era
• Relate musical styles of the early twentieth century to comparable movements in art and literature
• Explain the evolution of American popular music in the twentieth century
• Describe the influence of world music on modern western composition
• Synthesize research comparing composers' influence in their respective genres

Textbook: Experience Music

ENG115 - Introduction to Literature
This course will allow you to develop your critical thinking skills and broaden your knowledge of literature.

Objectives:

• Identify themes and forms of literature.
• Define the main genres of literature—poetry, fiction, and drama.

Proctored Examination
You will be required to complete a proctored exam on selected courses each semester. These assessments will evaluate the knowledge and skills that you learned during the semester. You choose the time, the location, and the qualified exam supervisor.

Semester 4

Multicultural Law Enforcement (3 credits)
Examine the issues of crime and justice with respect to race and ethnicity.

Objectives:

• Discuss how race and ethnicity affect the likelihood of being victims of crime or offenders.
• Describe how people of various races and ethnicity are treated in criminal courtrooms and by police.

Prerequisites:

• Police Studies – CJS120

Juveniles and the Legal Process (3 credits)
Juvenile justice is a field for criminal justice professionals that offers a great deal of hope for permanent rehabilitation.

Objectives:

• Explain the philosophies and theories of the juvenile justice system.
• Identify the risk factors for delinquency.
• Discuss the different types of corrections available to juvenile offenders.

Criminology (3 credits)
Criminology is the discipline that studies crime and criminal behavior. In this course, you’ll study the causes of crime, reactions, and different forms of criminal behavior. You'll also explore the many interrelationships of the criminal enterprise, the criminal justice system, and the study of the reasons for criminality.

Objectives:

• Analyze the disciplines of criminology, victimology, and the associated research methods
• Point out the important theories in criminology
• Distinguish between violent crime, property crime, and white-collar crime
• Categorize the special types of crime and the future of crime
• Analyze theories on the emergence of law

Course Assignment:

• Research law enforcement policies related to crime rates and criminology theory

Free Elective (3 credits)
See the list of electives below

Free Elective (3 credits)
See the list of electives below

Proctored Examination
You will be required to complete a proctored exam on selected courses each semester. These assessments will evaluate the knowledge and skills that you learned during the semester. You choose the time, the location, and the qualified exam supervisor.

Electives

Free Criminal Justice Elective (3 credits)
(Choose one) ...

Terrorism (3 credits)
Terrorism became a major concern for all American citizens after the September 11, 2001 attacks, especially for law enforcement professionals.

Objectives:

• Discuss the theory and practice of domestic and international terrorism.
• Describe the world of the terrorist.
• Understand the role of law enforcement and security to keep our country functioning and free of domestic terrorism.

Organized Crime
This course opens with a consideration of the development and structure of organized crime, looks at the different types of criminal activity typical to organized crime, reviews international organized crime, and closes with a consideration of the tools and means available to law enforcement to battle organized crime.

Objectives:

• Discuss organized crime and the different theories offered to account for its existence
• Summarize the origins of American organized crime in various cities and among different ethnic groups
• Analyze the development of organized crime internationally Explain the varied activities of organized crime
• Describe the response of law enforcement to organized crime on a local, national, and international level

White Collar Crime
Understand how white collar crime is financially motivated and nonviolent and is committed for illegal monetary gain.

Objectives:

• Identify white-collar crime
• Explain the costs and victims of white-collar crime
• Contrast various theories of white-collar crime
• Explain occupational and governmental crime
• Summarize various state-corporate crimes, finance crime, and technocrime
• Analyze attempts to police and regulate white-collar crime
• Critique and defend legal approaches to white-collar crime

Prerequisites:

Courts - CJS123
Criminal Law - CJS238

Security and Loss Prevention
This course covers the primary functions of private security personnel.

Objectives:

• Use proven strategies to prevent and reduce loss that normally results from crime, accidents, fire, error, disasters, and mismanagement.
• Maintain order on private property.
• Protect people and property against crimes and disasters.

Computer-Based Crime
Presents the procedures used in criminal cases that involve the use of computers and cyberspace. Examines the history of computer-based crime and how technology has created new avenues to commit traditional crime as well all new opportunities for criminal behavior. Discusses a wide range of modern day cybercrime including hacking, digital piracy, online fraud, sex crimes, cyberbullying, and cyberterrorism. Looks at key theoretical perspectives, legal challenges, and perspectives on the future.

Objectives:

• Describe the factors that influence hacking, malware, piracy, identity fraud, and other computer-based traditional statutes crimes.
• Analyze the implications of various government legislation and the trends to minimize cybercrimes in the future.

Prerequisites: CJS101-Introduction to Criminal Justice

Textbook: Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: An Introduction

Crisis Intervention
Crises are a normal part of our lives. Whether it’s a devastating flood, a terrorist attack, cancer, or a loss of primary income, crisis workers have to be able to help clients overcome negative feelings and painful emotions.

Objectives:

• Deal with people in crisis in a culturally sensitive manner.
• Describe the different types of crises experienced in adolescence.
• Understand how to handle loss, posttraumatic stress disorder, and crises of victimization.

Prerequisites: Police Studies – CJS120

Security: Management
The security manager functions in the roles of loss prevention specialist, administrator, investigator, educator, team player, risk assessor, planner, budget master, and troubleshooter.

Objectives:

• Outlines the goals of security management.
• Describe regulations in the security industry.
• Discuss the major threats to safety and security.

Victimology (3 credits)
For every crime committed, there's a victim. Study the social science of victimology

Objectives:

• Identify a victim's rights.
• Describe the relationship between the victim and the criminal justice system.
• Discuss how the criminal justice system might be changed to better serve victims.

Community Corrections (3 credits)
Understanding the concepts of community corrections is an integral part of the study of criminal justice. Community corrections encompasses offenders who are supervised in community programs such as probation, house arrest, work release, or treatment court initiatives. Some may be assigned to community corrections in lieu of jail; others are placed on parole where they’re supervised in the community after serving a minimum term of incarceration ordered by the court.

As you work through this course, you’ll begin to understand the study of criminology and how to assess offenders who meet the criteria to be placed in community corrections programs. You’ll become knowledgeable about community corrections programs that can afford the offender opportunities to avoid re-offending while keeping the community safe. When considering community corrections, courts must evaluate the offender’s needs and the needs of the community. Here are some questions to consider when looking at a community corrections alternative to imprisonment:

• Can the offender pay for his or her crime without going to prison?
• Can the offender stay in the community while serving the court-ordered punishment?
• What type of program can serve as punishment, allow the offender to rehabilitate, and therefore allow the offender to meet his or her needs and possibly avoid further criminal behavior?

Your textbook will clarify these issues and will help you become familiar with the concepts associated with community corrections. It will also introduce you to theories and schools of thought to assist you in assessing criminal behavior and determining the needs of the offender and the risk he or she poses, while reviewing available intermediate sanctions and community correctional programs which will best serve the community and the offender.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to do the following:

• Analyze the development, theories, and programs/sanctions related to community corrections
• Distinguish between probation and parole and the way each one is implemented
• Point out the alternative supervision programs as options for correctional programs
• Analyze the treatment and supervision of the mentally ill, sex offenders, and juveniles under corrections
• Prepare a report for the mentioned factors that is addressed by your jurisdiction