College of Justice and Safety

Criminal Justice & Police Studies

Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice

Graduate Course Descriptions

CRJ 740 Special Problems in Criminal Law. (3)
Advanced study of criminal law and criminal procedure. Consideration of problems relating to the police role in the administration of criminal justice and judicial enforcement of limitations upon police practices.
CRJ 800 Advanced Criminal Justice Studies. (3)
Analysis of individual elements of the criminal justice process, including police, courts, corrections, and juvenile justice. Analysis of interactions among these elements. Includes theoretical perspectives on criminal justice and examination of empirical research. Application of planning and other administrative processes to criminal justice. Formerly CRJ 760.
CRJ 808 Analysis of Criminal Justice Data. (3)
Prerequisite: undergraduate research methods and undergraduate statistics. Examination of quantitative and qualitative techniques for analyzing criminal justice data. Computer analysis and interpretation of criminal justice data using various univariate, bivariate, and multivariate techniques. Qualitative techniques of data analysis, hypothesis development, and theory construction.
CRJ 810 Advanced Police Administration. (3)
An examination of the functions of the police in the Criminal Justice System; concepts and principles of police organizational structure; concepts and principles of administration and management with an emphasis on the environment, change, conflict, strategy and evolution.
CRJ 812 Police Human Resource Development. (3)
An examination of human resource management in policing. Case law and technical aspects of police recruitment, selection, and promotion are examined. Career development, compensation management, job analysis, performance appraisal and productivity measurement are analyzed.
CRJ 813 Analysis of Police Operations. (3)
An analysis of the strategies and programs utilized in modern police work. Previous research studies and contemporary methods for assessing the effectiveness of police practices are examined.
CRJ 814 Police and Society. (3)
Theoretical, historical and comparative perspectives on policing. Critical analysis of the function of police in modern society. Examination of various forms of police behavior, including police deviance.
CRJ 840 Punishment and Society: (3)
Beginning with the Enlightenment and Classical Philosophers (e.g., Montesquieu, Voltaire, Benthem) up through modern contributors to penology (e.g., Foucault, Garland), students will examine the foundations and philosophies that formed our views of punishment and social control and the impact on modern society.
CRJ 846 Legal Issues in Criminal Justice Administration. (3)
Legal research methodology; examination of employment problems including labor-management relations and discrimination; administrative agencies; civil liability, including vicarious liability and related issues.
CRJ 870 Theories of Criminology and Delinquency. (3)
Review of classical and current theories of criminology and delinquency and the underlying assumptions of each. Particular attention given to the interaction between ecological factors and the criminal justice system.
CRJ 871 Crime, Criminals and Victims. (3)
In-depth coverage of fundamentally important topics in contemporary criminal justice and criminology that explain relationships between crime trends and patterns, criminals and their decision-making processes including target selection, victims and their lifestyles/situations.
CRJ 872 The Community Context of Crime. (3)
Course examines crime and synthesizes the growing body of theory and research examining community level effects on crime/crime control. Through synthesis and careful analysis students are encouraged to develop innovative approaches to crime problems.
CRJ 873 Social Construction of Crime and Crime Control. (3)
In-depth examination of the social construction of crime including consideration of the process by which crime problems are generated. The role that the media, public officials, and social activists play is also examined.
CRJ 874 Crime and Popular Culture. (3)
Review of the interrelatedness of consumption, production, crime and popular culture. Examination of the social and symbolic construction of crime will be included by analysis of film, literature, music, and academic literature.
CRJ 876 Organizational Crime. (3)
This course explores empirical research, theories and concepts related to crime committed within organizational contexts. Particular attention is paid to forms of syndicated crime, corporate crime, governmental corruption, and state crime.
CRJ 875 Crime and Public Policy. (3)
Review of the policy making process in the criminal justice system. Examination of competing crime control policies and trends.
CRJ 888 Research Methods in Criminal Justice. (3)
Prerequisites: undergraduate research methods and undergraduate statistics. Empirical and scientific perspectives in criminal justice. Current research methods as they relate to criminal justice. Application and interpretation of data from research problems. Evaluation of research designs and their implementation in criminal justice.
CRJ 889 Qualitative Research Methods (3)
This is a survey course in research strategies characterized as qualitative in their epistemological presuppositions. The seminar course is designed to familiarize students with the varieties of qualitative research methods central to the social sciences.
CRJ 890 Topical Seminar in Criminal Justice. (1 -3)
May be retaken to a maximum of 9 hours on different topics.
CRJ 895 Research Practicum. (1-6)
Prerequisite: Candidacy, CRJ 808 and 888. Participation in the research practicum will provide students with a range of opportunities relevant to conducting criminal justice research, either individually or in a group, under the direct supervision of a graduate faculty member. In particular, the practicum will support students in learning to pose significant questions grounded in existing theory and inquiry, select and use methods appropriate to the question and research context, father appropriate evidence, subject the evidence to analysis, respond to critiques and provide advice and comments for other's research, organize oral and written presentations in response to fair and open critiques.
CRJ 897 Independent Study in Criminal Justice. (1-6).
Individual investigations in the field of criminal justice. Investigations may be conducted in the field and under the supervision of the research advisor and other staff member. Student must have the independent study proposal form approved by faculty supervisor and the Criminal Justice Graduate Program Coordinator in the College of Justice and Safety prior to enrollment.
CRJ 898 Thesis 1. (3)
CRJ 899 Thesis 11 (3)