Learning Objectives for Essentials of Criminal Justice

Learning Objectives for Essentials of Criminal Justice

Learning Objectives for
Essentials of Criminal Justice

CHAPTER 1

Crime and Criminal Justice

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Discuss the formation of the criminal justice system
  2. Be able to define the concept of a criminal justice system
  3. Name the three basic component agencies of criminal justice
  4. Be familiar with the size and scope of the contemporary justice system
  5. Trace the formal criminal justice process
  6. Know what is meant by the term “criminal justice assembly line”
  7. Characterize the “informal criminal justice system”
  8. Describe the “wedding cake” model of justice
  9. Be familiar with the various perspectives on justice
  10. Understand the ethical issues in criminal justice

CHAPTER 2

The Nature of Crime and Victimization

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Be able to discuss how crime is defined
  1. Be familiar with the methods used to measure crime
  2. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of crime measures
  3. Recognize the trends in the crime rate
  4. Comment on the factors that influence crime rates
  5. Be familiar with international crime trends and how the US compares to other nations
  6. Know the various crime patterns
  7. Understand the concept of the criminal career
  8. Be able to discuss the characteristics of crime victims
  9. Distinguish between the various views of crime causation

CHAPTER 3

Criminal Law: Substance and Procedure

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Know the similarities and differences between criminal and civil law
  1. Understand the concept of substantive criminal law and its history
  2. Discuss the sources of the criminal law
  3. Be familiar with the elements of a crime
  4. Define the term “strict liability”
  5. Be able to discuss excuses and justification defenses for crime
  6. Be familiar with the most recent developments in criminal law reform
  7. Describe the role of the Bill of Rights in shaping criminal procedure
  8. List the elements of due process law
  9. Know about the role the Supreme Court plays in interpreting the constitution and shaping procedural laws.

CHAPTER 4

Police in Society: History and Organization

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Describe how law enforcement developed in feudal England
  1. Summarize characteristics of the first law enforcement agencies
  2. Discuss the development of law enforcement in the United States
  3. Analyze the problems of early police agencies
  4. Discuss how reformers attempted to create professional police agencies
  5. Describe the major changes in law enforcement between 1970 and today
  6. Be familiar with the major federal law enforcement agencies
  7. Summarize the differences among state, county, and local law enforcement
  8. Explain the role of technology in police work

CHAPTER 5

The Police: Role and Function

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Understand the organization of police departments
  1. Articulate the complexities of the police role
  2. Explain the limitations of patrol and the methods for improving it
  3. Summarize the investigation function
  4. Explain what forensics is and what forensic experts do for police agencies
  5. Understand the concept of community policing
  6. Discuss the concept of problem-oriented policing
  7. Be familiar with the various police support functions

CHAPTER 6

Issues in Policing: Professional, Social, and Legal

  1. Summarize demographic trends in policing
  1. Explain how minority and female officers act and are treated
  2. Explain police culture and personality
  3. Identify distinct policing styles
  4. Describe factors that affect police discretion
  5. Discuss four major problems of policing
  6. Distinguish between deadly and non-deadly force and methods for controlling them
  7. Explain the importance of less lethal weapons
  8. Be familiar with the Supreme Court’s involvement with the police through its effort to control search and seizure and interrogation, and the establishment of the exclusionary rule

CHAPTER 7

Courts, Prosecution, and the Defense

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Describe the varying structures of the state court system
  1. Describe the federal court system
  2. Summarize the selection procedures and duties of the trial judge
  3. Explain the role of the prosecutor
  4. Describe prosecutorial discretion and summarize its pros and cons
  5. Understand the role of the defense attorney in the justice process
  6. Discuss the different forms of indigent defense
  7. Summarize the pros and cons of private attorneys
  8. Be familiar with the expanding role of technology in the court process

CHAPTER 8

Pretrial and Trial Procedures

After completing this chapter, students will be able to…

  1. Summarize the bail process
  1. Discuss the main issues associated with bail
  2. Differentiate between the two main mechanisms for charging defendants (grand jury indictment or prosecutor’s information)
  3. Summarize the pleas available to a criminal defendant
  4. Explain the issues in plea bargaining
  5. Describe the plea bargaining process
  6. Explain the purpose of “pretrial diversion”
  7. Describe the goals and purpose of the trial process
  8. Explain the legal rights of the accused at trial
  9. Summarize the trial process

CHAPTER 9

Punishment and Sentencing

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Outline the historical development of punishment
  1. List the major goals of contemporary sentencing
  2. Distinguish between general and specific deterrence, incapacitation and retribution
  3. Compare rehabilitation with just deserts
  4. Identify various sentencing models
  5. Explain how sentences are imposed
  6. Summarize factors associated with sentencing decisions
  7. List the arguments for and against capital punishment
  8. Be familiar with the legal issues associated with capital punishment

CHAPTER 10

Community Sentences: Probation, Intermediate Sanctions, and Restorative Justice

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Be familiar with the concept of community sentencing
  1. Know the history of community sentences
  2. Recognize the different types of probation sentences
  3. Be familiar with the rules of probation
  4. Know about the organization and administration of probation services
  5. List and discuss the elements of a probation department’s duties
  6. Be familiar with the legal rights of probationers
  7. Debate the effectiveness of probation
  8. Know what is meant by intermediate sanctions
  9. Define restorative justice and discuss its merits

CHAPTER 11

Corrections: History, Institutions, and Populations

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Understand the meaning of the term “the new penology”
  1. Be able to explain how the first penal institutions developed in Europe
  2. Explain how William Penn revolutionized corrections
  3. Compare the New York and Pennsylvania prison models
  4. Chart the development of penal reform
  5. Know how parole developed
  6. List the purposes of jails and be familiar with the makeup of jail populations
  7. Be familiar with the term “new generation jail”
  8. Classify the different types of federal and state penal institutions
  9. Discuss prison population trends

CHAPTER 12

Prison Life: Living in and Leaving Prison

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Discuss the problems of the adult correctional system
  1. Know what is meant by the term “total institution”
  2. Differentiate between a no-frills and a rehabilitation philosophy
  3. Chart the prisonization process and the development of the inmate social code
  4. Compare the lives and culture of male and female inmates
  5. Be familiar with the different forms of correctional treatment
  6. Discuss the world of correctional officers
  7. Understand the cause of prison violence
  8. Know what is meant by prisoner’s rights and discuss some of the key privileges that have been granted to inmates
  9. Be knowledgeable about the parole process and the problems of prisoner re-entry

CHAPTER 13

Juvenile Justice in the Twenty-First Century

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Describe the history of juvenile justice
  1. Discuss the establishment of the juvenile court
  2. Describe the changes in juvenile justice that began in the 1960s and continue today
  3. Summarize police processing of juvenile offenders
  4. Describe the juvenile court process
  5. Explain the concept of waiver
  6. Explain the importance of In re Gault
  7. Describe the juvenile correctional process

CHAPTER 14

Crime and Justice in the New Millennium

After completing this chapter, students will…

  1. Discuss the impact of criminal enterprise crime
  1. Describe a ponzi scheme
  2. Be familiar with a mortgage fraud scandal
  3. Be familiar with various forms of green crime
  4. Discuss the various forms of cyber crime
  5. Know what is being done to thwart cyber criminals
  6. Be familiar with the influence of globalization on crime
  7. Understand the concept of transnational crime
  8. Be familiar with some of the most important transnational crime groups
  9. Tell how law enforcement is taking on transnational criminal syndicates
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