Courses Offered

SOC 4015 Criminological Theory
A systemic and critical analysis of the major theories of criminality, including an examination of both traditional and contemporary theories. Consideration will be given to conceptualizations of crime, the relationship of criminological theories to crime on the streets, and specific aspects of criminal behavior. Required of all students.

SOC 4045 Crime, Police, and Punishment
A comparative study of crime, police, and punishment as seen in their historical settings. Topics include the development and reform of criminal law and procedure, urbanization and crime, crime trends, public order, the evolution of modern police forces and prisons, crime detection, and emerging trends in these areas.

SOC 4055 The Criminal Justice System
Provides a foundation and overview of the criminal justice system and process. The major components are discussed including crime, law, criminology, law enforcement, adjudication by the courts, corrections, juvenile justice, current issues and policies. This course is designed for students with only limited prior study in American criminal justice and little or no professional Criminal Justice experience in the United States. Permission of the Program Director required.

SOC 4065 Law and Social Policy
An exploration of various dimensions of the relationship between law and social policy in contemporary American society. In assessing how judicial opinions and legislative efforts affect social relations and institutional arrangements, inquiry is focused upon: (1) the ways in which social problems become defined as legal issues; (2) the forces which shape the initiation and ultimate formulation of legislative acts designed to affect public policy; (3) the role which cultural values and assumptions play in framing legal arguments and influencing judicial opinions and remedial programs; (4) the issue of compliance and the ways in which it is measured and enforced, and (5) the strengths and limitations of the law as a means of achieving specific social policy objectives.

SOC 4075 Advanced Research Methods and Analysis
In-depth coverage of data collection including questionnaire construction, advanced quantitative techniques and statistics, interpretation and drawing inferences, comprehensive use of SPSS, function of the SJU Institutional Review Board, and research report formulation. Students will select a topic, complete the literature review, and develop a research methodology that may later be used as the initial components of the masters thesis. Prerequisite: recent coursework and present working knowledge of basic research methods. Required of students intending to complete a masters thesis via SOC 6005. May be substituted for SOC 4005 as a core course.

SOC 4095 Ethics and Criminal Justice
This course will address ethical issues in the criminal justice system at both the theoretical and applied levels. Typical theoretical issues addressed might include the following: the relationship between law and morality; theories of punishment; conditions for the moral and/or legal responsibility of individuals; notions of procedural justice. Typical applied ethics issues might include the following: search and seizure rules; the insanity defense and the “guilty but mentally ill” verdict; plea bargaining; capital punishment; mandatory sentencing; civil disobedience; limits on the use of deadly force. Required of all students.

SOC 4105 Contemporary Criminology: Scope and Application
The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of topical issues in contemporary criminology. The course is designed to provide opportunities for active learning and critical analysis with an eye towards an understanding of the social reality of crime and crime control as well as how the social administration of justice operates. Specific areas to be discussed include: the correlates of crime (race, class, gender, and age); violent crime; economic crime; political crime; victimology; policing; and the control and regulation of criminals in the courts and corrections. Further, students will learn to apply their knowledge to better understand contemporary criminal justice research, evaluation, and policy analysis.

SOC 4125 Victimology
The course focuses on the contemporary concept and status of the victim, juxtaposed with their historical evolution in terms of compensation, retribution, and vengeance. Current victim assistance programs are evaluated. The definition of the victim is broadened to include currently undervalued categories. Other issues addressed are child abuse, environmental casualties, and controversies over recovered memories.

SOC 4145 Problems in Contemporary Corrections
The major problems of adult corrections, including prison and jail overcrowding, population forecasting, judicial intervention in correctional operations, prison disturbances, mental health and incarceration, pretrial and post-conviction alternatives to traditional incarceration, ethics and corrections, and the death penalty. Case study materials are employed, and current and ongoing correctional issues are discussed.

SOC 4155 Contemporary Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections
This course is designed to analyze the current legal, managerial, and political factors which impact upon the probation and parole system. It will examine organizational innovations, caseload management techniques, and technological advances used to confront such problems.

4165 Courts, Policies, and Administration
An examination of the principles and practices of court administration, its impact on the legal process, and interrelationships with other law enforcement agencies. Special emphasis is placed on methods and techniques needed to modernize the court system.

SOC 4175 Violence and Victims
This course is designed to explore the serious problem of violence in our society from a sociological perspective. Violence is prevalent in homes and on the streets of the United States. This course will address a variety of types of violence, its causes, consequences, and theories for prevention. Topics which will be addressed include wife abuse, rape, child abuse, gang warfare, street violence, and serial murder. An emphasis will be placed on understanding the structural causes of violence such as gender, race, and social class inequality as well as the effect of pornography, the media, and drugs/alcohol on violence. Particular attention will be given to the consequences of violence for both individual victims and society as a whole.

SOC 4185 The Criminal Justice Process: Policy Values, Efficiency and Due Process
This course considers the criminal justice system from the point of arrest to final sentencing. Attention focuses on the impact of public perception on the police, prosecutors and judges. Probation and parole mechanisms will be viewed from a policy value standpoint.

SOC 4205 Mental Health and the Law
The purpose of this course is to acquaint criminal justice professionals with the mental health field and to serve as a primer for understanding mental health and mental health professionals. In addition, particular areas of interplay between mental health and criminal justice will be emphasized to provide a historical and up-to-date factual background.

SOC 4215 White Collar Crime
The course provides an understanding of the accounting and financial basis of embezzlement, fraud, corruption, and misapplication of funds. Legislation and regulation in government and business are examined. Consumer protection and corporate responsibility are discussed.

SOC 4245 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency: Issues and Responses
This course provides a contemporary overview of theoretical and programmatic issues and concerns in juvenile delinquency and the juvenile justice system, including a review of recent research. The course also focuses on a critical review of the trends in problem solving and delivery of services to this population.

SOC 4255 Therapeutic Strategies in Criminal Justice
An examination of the application of basic counseling principles to varied criminal justice settings, from adult correctional institutions to post-release situations. Special emphasis is given to innovative methods and programs.

SOC 4275 Community and Problem Oriented Policing
Introduction and analysis of the relatively new strategies of community and problem oriented policing. Significant attention is given to the rationale and implications of these methods of social control.

SOC 4295 Crime Analysis Using GIS Mapping
This course will examine the role of geographic information systems (GIS) in crime analysis by covering the basic components of a GIS and examining the use of GIS in police departments throughout the US. Special attention will be given to the use of GIS at the Philadelphia Police Department and will include techniques used to analyze crime patterns as well as a review of the way crime maps influence tactical deployment decisions. Finally, a visit to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit and/or Compstat meeting will illustrate the relationship of GIS to current crime problems in Philadelphia.

SOC 4305 Law Enforcement Management
An analysis of the principles and theories of the professional management and administration of law enforcement organizations. This course focuses on the execution and impact of policy decisions made by administrators in the courts, police departments, and other criminal justice agencies. It examines specific operational and staff functions, including budgeting, personnel, planning, and productivity measurement. Other topics include organizational, development, and information systems.

SOC 4315 Police Executive Management
This course will cover police management issues at the senior and conceptual levels. Specific areas include the strategy process, planning, implementation, leadership, quality, performance management, managerial problem solving, new policing strategies, and innovations. The course will be conducted as a seminar utilizing class discussion to develop critical thinking, knowledge of advanced management practices, and how to achieve effective results.

SOC 4325 Technology for the Police Executive
This course is geared to the non-technical police manager and is designed to give students an overview of major automated systems used today throughout the United States. Topics covered include: the Internet, project management, budgeting, automation via computer including networks, dealing with vendors, maintenance agreements, grants, and applying for technical grants. The course will highlight major public safety systems such as the National Crime Information Center (NCIC2000), computeraided dispatch, utilization of geographic information systems, and crime mapping. The course will also cover 911 systems, mobile/field communications, and vehicle mobile data terminals (MDT). No prior technical knowledge is required.

SOC 4345 Criminal Justice Administration
This course provides present and future senior managers with the skills to achieve organizational effectiveness. Major topics include organizational design and behavior, budgeting and financial management, diversity, performance evaluation, human resources management, labor relations, and the policy process.

SOC 4365 Federal Search & Seizure
This course is designed to teach the law of search and seizure as it is defined and applied in federal court. Instruction will focus on the requirements of the Fourth Amendment and the proper means by which a federal agent may obtain evidence through searches and seizures. This course will address legal and evidentiary issues associated with search warrants, exceptions to the warrant requirement, warrantless searches, frequent problems that confront federal agents, as well as emerging trends in the law of search and seizure.

SOC 4375 Forensic Financial Analysis
This course covers the detection of illegal financial transactions. Major topics include money laundering, fraud, embezzlement, and illicit accounting practices. Students will learn data gathering and analysis techniques for financial transactions, records, legitimate businesses, illegal organizations, and individuals. The course will include preparation for trial. Prerequisite: a basic course in accounting or permission of the instructor.

SOC 4385 Drugs: Threats, Laws, and Strategies
This course covers illegal drugs and narcotics including prescription medication diverted for illicit use. Major topics include drug types, brief history, emerging tends, relevant federal and state laws, typical domestic and foreign sources, production and distribution methods. A strategy overview includes the National Drug Control Policy; agencies involved; the role of education, interdiction, investigation, prosecution, treatment and rehabilitation; and coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement.

SOC 4395 Criminal Procedure: Investigation to Testimony
This course will cover current law and its practical application to the phase of law enforcement from the initial investigation of a person through testimony at trial. Areas of emphasis will include a legal “stop” versus profiling, appearance at a preliminary hearing, preparation for and testimony at trial, the role of and what to expect from the trial judge, prosecutor, and particularly the defense attorney. This course will be especially useful for present and future criminal investigators and police officers.

SOC 4405 Organized Crime: Targets and Strategies
This course will investigate the social, economic, and political impact organized crime has on our society. We will target specific industries where organized crime has influence/control (e.g. construction, waterfront, garment, trucking, and convention centers). The course will explore criminal, civil, and administrative strategies to control and/or remove the influence of organized crime in those industries.

SOC 4415 Terrorism: Threats and Strategies
This course is designed to give the student an understanding of the concepts of terrorism, both domestic and international. Lecturer will address the causes and effects of terrorism as they relate to political structures from both religious and historical perspectives; noting its impact on the world today.

SOC 4425  HOMELAND SECURITY

This course focuses on the consolidation of responsibilties and functions across agencies, at various jurisdictional levels, that have the charge of mitigating hostilities, threats, hazards, and consequences.   Further, this course incorporates the pillars of robust response systems.  This course is designed to develop analytical skills that will prepare students to identify, evaluate and resolve complex policy issues and initiate practical actions.   Though the range of relevant issues extends from local matters to national security, this course will concentrate on preparedness strategies for state, urban and local areas.

SOC 4435 Youth Cultures and Deviance
This course offers economic, cultural, political, and social perspectives on American youth based on sociological theory. Special attention will be paid to youth popular culture and the unique social problems facing young adults (e.g. gangs, drugs, suicide, and teen pregnancy).

SOC 4445 Victim Offender Mediation
The introduction of restorative justice philosophy into the traditional criminal justice system has resulted in the adoption of a number of dialogue processes, which will be the focus of this new offering. The course will explore the humanistic mediation model and the community mediation model used by many local mediation groups. The course will also cover other processes such as community sentencing circles, restorative conferencing, reparative boards and family group conferencing. Participants will not only learn the theories behind these practices, but will have and opportunity to experience them through roleplays. Resolving conflict and dealing with the aftermath of crime through dialogue is a highly valued skill in restorative justice.

SOC 4455 Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice
This course will focus on the differing experiences of women and men as victims, offenders, and professionals in the criminal justice system. There will be a particular focus on the relationship between gender and the justice experience especially that of victim - offender. The course will also examine gender based employment issues for criminal justice professionals.

SOC 4465 Violence Between Intimates
This course examines theories of intimate violence, as well as empirical research that tests the theories. Violence in various types of intimate relationships will be discussed: heterosexual marriage, gay and lesbian relationships, dating relationships, and parent-child relationships.

SOC 4475 Restorative Justice: Theory
Restorative justice is a new movement in the fields of victimology and criminology. Acknowledging that crime causes injury to people and communities, it insists that justice repair those injuries and that the parties are permitted to participate in that process. This course will provide the student with a strong foundation in restorative justice through the use of text, supplemental readings, videos and guest speakers. Students will also gain an understanding of how restorative justice differs from our traditional justice process.

SOC 4485 Restorative Justice: Practice
This course places restorative justice theory into practice. Students will learn and become proficient in several restorative practices including peacemaking circles, sentencing circles, restorative conferencing, reparative boards, youth aid panels, and victim offender mediation. As an experiential course, students will participate in all of the practices throughout the semester. Some of these practices are hundreds of years old. Many criminal justice agencies see potential widespread application. The skills taught in this course can be used in any situation involving conflict. Prerequisite: SOC 4475.

SOC 4495 Federal Criminal Law and Prosecution
This covers federal criminal law and its enforcement. Major areas include an overview of federal crimes, elements of the United States Code, origin and scope of federal criminal law, and the role of federal agents in the support of prosecutions. Specific topics include mail and wire fraud, the Hobbs Act, official bribery and corruption, organizational crime, drug enforcement, money laundering, criminal civil rights violations and remedies, interference with witnesses, federal versus state prosecution, sentencing guidelines, and asset forfeiture.

SOC 4505 Federal Criminal Justice
This course will examine the criminal justice at the federal level. The main areas are the role of each branch of government; how agencies are funded; the major investigation, prosecution, probation, and correction elements; and individual investigative agencies including Inspector General. The course will cover the mission of and interrelationships among individual agencies.

SOC 4515 Diversity in Criminal Justice
The purpose of this course is to present a conceptual framework to provide understanding of the special conditions of minorities in the context of the criminal justice system and encourage the development of culturally and gender specific compatible skills and practical approaches to more adequately meet the challenges presented by working with minority population concerns, problems and needs.

SOC 4525 Criminal Jurisprudence
As a branch of constitutional law, criminal jurisprudence focuses on the balancing of individual rights with police functions and the need to ensure public safety. Basic principles of criminal jurisprudence will be taught using the case study method. Emphasis will be directed at the body of law and doctrine that has developed under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments since the 1960s. Topics will include due process and confessions, remedies for constitutional violations, punishment and sentencing.

SOC 4535 Crime and Urban Communities
This course examines crime and delinquency at the level of the urban neighborhood. This course takes an in-depth look at the theories and research that has emphasized the community level factors that lead to crime and delinquency, and examines the topic of what neighborhoods can do to prevent crime. The course will also consider policies that aim at alleviating neighborhood problems and reducing crime. The course has a practical component that requires students to apply what they learn in class to specific problems of crime and disorder in local communities.

SOC 4545   Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis

This course pursues the deliberative and cognitive activities and methodologies that surround the production of intelligence information, in support of decision-making at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels of law enforcement.   Also examined are the structure and supervision of the intelligence analysis unit at various levels of law enforcement, and the role of the analyst.  

SOC 4555 Law Enforcement Intelligence: Policy and Process
This course provides insights into the contemporary functions of law enforcement strategic, tactical, and operational intelligence and its influence upon crime prevention policy. The discussion will include the intelligence process in the context of intelligence unit structure and supervision, operating procedures, and resources. The course will examine how law enforcement intelligence relates to organizational relationships, planning, and decision-making.

SOC 4585 Professional Writing for Law Enforcement
The course is designed to develop the cognitive and technical skills of effective writing for law enforcement. Primary emphasis will be given to the "craft of writing", thus, learning the techniques and skills of effective communication in the law enforcement workplace. Class assignments will enhance students' use of computer technology in the writing process. These tools are then applied to a variety of topics, including correspondence, memos, investigative reports, and presentations.

SOC 4595 Electronic Intelligence Analysis
This course will use the latest computer technology to train students in the use of Analyst Notebook 6, an electronic version of link analysis, telephone toll analysis and flow charts. Analyst Notebook 6 is the program currently being used by the CIA, FBI, NSA, US ARMY, INS, CUSTOMS, SECRET SERVICE, HOMELAND SECURITY, DEA, and more than 1500 other National, State and Local Law Enforcement agencies throughout the world, to combat Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, Money Laundering and Organized Crime. It is a hands-on training course and is limited to twenty-five students. Prerequisite: SOC 4545.

SOC 4605 Basic Principles of Behavior Analysis
Learning serves as the basis for behavior change. In the field of criminal justice, programs often attempt to rehabilitate delinquents and offenders. This is an advanced course on principles of learning. This course will cover studies of principles of learning from relatively simple animal studies to more complex issues such as the acquisition of human language. We will outline from a behavior analytic perspective on such issues as thinking, feeling, and imagining. We will follow the structure of Catania's text including an overview of learning processes, learning without words in an evolutionary context, and with words examining memory.

SOC 4615 Applied Behavior Analysis
Often Criminal Justice Personnel are called to function as behavior managers. To function effectively as a behavior manager/analyst, Criminal Justice Personnel need to grasp the basic concepts of human behavior and its change. This course covers the practical aspects of being an applied behavior analyst working in the criminal justice system, school system and the community setting. The topics will cover: basic principles of applied behavior analysis; the application of these principles to children ADHD, ODD, and CD8; writing behavioral objectives; training parents and paraprofessionals to execute operant and respondent based treatments; programming for generalization; working as a behavior analyst in a CASSP system; and legal and ethical issues in the treatment of children in a diverse society.

SOC 4625 Behavior Analysis and Consultation
Professionals in the field of criminal justice often serve as consultants. Consultation has become a major approach to service delivery of psycho-educational services to children and adolescents. This course focuses on behavioral consultation in the juvenile justice system, school system, workplace, and community settings. The topics covered are best practices in behavioral consultation, the verbal behavior of the consultant and the consultee, building a consulting relationship, problem identification interviewing, direct observation methodology, problem analysis interviewing, skills and functional behavioral assessment methodology, functional analysis, standardized behavioral assessment, positive behavioral support and developing a competing behaviors model, treatment plan design and implementation, and treatment evaluation using single subject designs and graphical analysis of the data.

SOC 4635 Behavioral Development for Criminal Justice personnel
Many people in the justice system today are there because of emotional and behavioral disorders. Conceptualization of behavior problems and the origins of behavioral disorders are critical to the functioning of a criminal justice professional. This course focuses on Basic Principles in Behavior Analysis and how they shape the development of normal and abnormal children. The role of these principles in normal development and developmental problems such as language delays, motor developmental delays, conduct and oppositional defiant disorder, childhood depression and autism are explored. The course reviews field applications including observations, functional behavioral assessment, curriculum-based measures and intervention strategies that involve both the school and the family.

SOC 4645 Clinical Behavior Analysis for Criminal Justice Personnel
This course observes behavior analysis as it enters into the child clinical, adult clinical, supervisory level and organizational behavior. The primary goal of the course is to provide an overview and skills for behavior analysts in criminal justice to function as parole and probation officers with both adults and children, as well as organizational and system level change experts.

SOC 4805 Foundations of Addiction for the Criminal Justice Professional
The course is designed to meet the needs of the criminal justice professional in dealing with the human and social consequences of addiction. The course will provide an understanding of substance abuse problems and addiction in American society. It is designed to provide a framework for exploring the effects of these problems on the many aspects of American culture including: the individual, family, criminal justice system, healthcare system, and the workplace. Course content will also include a critical analysis of current and past treatment interventions.

SOC 4905 Directed Readings
An opportunity to conduct extensive literature review under the supervision of a faculty member. Such work must be preceded by a proposal and approved by the Director of the Graduate Criminal Justice program.

SOC 4915 Directed Research
An opportunity to conduct a research project under the supervision of a faculty member. Such work must be preceded by a proposal and approved by the Director of the Graduate Criminal Justice program.

SOC 4925 Internship in Behavior Analysis I
The academic component of a field experience or professional development in the behavior analysis field. Field experience based on 300 contact hours. Such work must be preceded by a proposal that must be approved by the Director of the Graduate Criminal Justice Program.

SOC 4935 Internship in Behavior Analysis II
The academic component of a field experience or professional development in the behavior analysis field.   Field experience based on 300 contact hours.    Such work must be preceded by a proposal that must be approved by the Director of the Graduate Criminal Justice program.   Prerequisite:   SOC 4925.

SOC 4945   Internship in Behavior Analysis III

The academic component of a field experience or professional development in the behavior analysis field.   Field experience based on 150 contact hours.   Such work must be preceded by a proposal that must be approved by the Director of the Graduate Criminal Justice program. Prerequisite:   SOC 4935.

SOC 6005 Thesis Supervision
An integrative course in which the student is expected to complete a research paper utilizing the research methods and subject matter competence obtained in previous courses. Prerequisites include SOC 4075 and 4585. Thesis courses may only be taken near the end of a student's curriculum, will be scheduled over a fall/spring sequence, and will be continued until the research is completed. Encouraged for students who plan to pursue a Ph.D. Permission of the Director required.