assignment 1 EG

CRIM 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice Syll abus

Credits: 3 Prerequisites: None Delivery: Web (ANGEL, http://cms.psu.edu) Dates: See the Calendar tab in ANGEL. Instructor: See the Orientation folder in ANGEL.

Course Overview

Description

The course will provide an introductory examination of the American criminal justice system. The course can be divided into five core components.

Component One: Chapters One through Four will present an overview of American criminal justice. It will present material on crime and justice in America, victimization and criminal behavior, the criminal justice system and its operations, and criminal justice and the rule of law. The Chapters will provide relevant examples of current public policies, models of criminal justice, crime typologies and their measurement, theories of victimization and criminal behavior, and the goals and laws of criminal justice in America.

Component Two: Chapters Five and Six offer an in depth examination of policing, police operations, challenges and issues in policing, and police and constitutional law. This component will provide a history of law enforcement, their functions, organization, and strategies, and will examine the current state of law enforcement. Discussions will include a focus on police professionalism, police powers under the 4th and 5th amendments, and law enforcement restrictions and accountability.

Component Three: Chapters Seven through Nine focuses on the American court system. Particular emphasis is placed on pre-trial processes, prosecution and defense, determination of guilt, punishment philosophies, and sentencing. Chapters within this component will examine qualifications and qualities of judges, pretrial processes and bail, roles and responsibilities of the prosecution and defense, the stages of a criminal trial, plea bargaining, the goals of punishment, and court decision making.

Component Four: Chapters Ten through Twelve will focus on the Correctional aspect of the Criminal Justice System. It will discuss a historical overview of corrections including the distinctions between local, state, and federal incarceration facilities. Additional focus will be on

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the challenges of probation and parole supervision along with the social and legal challenges of offender re-entry into society.

Component Five: Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen are supplemental to the traditional Criminal Justice System studies and include the unique distinctions of Juvenile Justice and how youthful offenders have similar rights yet a distinctive process from the treatment of adults in Criminal Justice. The final chapter is an overview on the Homeland Security mission and how this holistic approach to public safety is closely interactive with the Criminal Justice System in America.

Objectives

Throughout the semester, students will:

1. Examine the historical roots and development of American police, courts, and corrections and how these historical developments have influenced our current criminal justice system.

2. Evaluate the main functions of each core component in the American criminal justice system in a context leading to an understanding of due process rights and protections afforded to every citizen.

3. Explain and analyze current issues and problems which exist within our criminal justice system through critical thought and examination of current events and case studies locally relevant to the individual student.

Organization

This course is made up of 15 lessons. For each lesson you will need to complete two (2) required assignments:

• a discussion board forum and • a lesson activity, consisting of a short essay.

With each of the Five Components there is: • one (1) graded quiz comprised of multiple choice questions.

Assignments are due on Sunday at 11:55PM Eastern Time. A cumulative final exam will also be required on the last week of the semester and this exam will consist of five short essay questions drawn from the five component subjects of the course.

Online Learning & Attendance

This course has been developed to promote asynchronous learning. The instructor and students do NOT meet on a designated day and time each week. For each lesson, there is a timeframe to complete all activities and assignments, and you may work at your own pace within that timeframe. However, you must adhere to the deadlines outlined on the calendar. (See the Calendar tab in ANGEL. Or check the Orientation folder under the Lessons tab.) You should log into the course daily to check for updates, review lessons, and participate in activities.

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Texts & Other Materials

There is one required text.

J. A. Fagin, CJ2013 Pearson Education (You may use a hard copy or purchase an e-version through www.CourseSmart.com.) (ISBN: 9780132961271).

Grading

Final letter grades will be assigned based on the scale below.

Scale

LETTER GRADE

MINIMUM PERCENT

A 95 A- 90 B+ 87 B 83 B- 80 C+ 75 C 70 D 60 F 0

Deadlines

All assignments are due by 11:55 PM Eastern Time on the date indicated on the calendar. (See the Calendar tab in ANGEL. Or check the Orientation folder under the Lessons tab.) As a general rule, you will NOT be able to go back and make up missed assignments. It is your responsibility to keep up with your assignments.

Students with an excused absence (hospitalization, jury duty, or family emergency) may be asked to produce proper documentation in order to make up graded work. All make-up work is at the discretion of the instructor.

Valid Excuses A major advantage of an online course is the flexibility it affords students for doing assignments. All assignments are intended to be accessed and completed within a window of several days duration, and can be done from anywhere in the world. (The necessary technology, even if you are not at home, will frequently be available at internet cafes, copy shops, or libraries.) The dates of these assignments have been provided to you well ahead of time in the course calendar. Given this flexibility, an unexpected event that makes it impossible for a student to complete an assignment on time should be very rare. It is expected that students plan ahead and allocate their time accordingly.

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A student must inform the instructor as early as possible if they anticipate it will be impossible for them to execute an assignment on time. If a student does not notify the instructor, and fails to submit the assignment on time, that student will receive zero credit. If a student only notifies the instructor of a valid conflict after the assignment window has opened (or, for homework, less than 48 hours before the assignment is due), the instructor may arrange to have the deadline changed for that student, but the decision and any possible penalties are left to the discretion of the instructor. If a student anticipates a valid conflict and informs the instructor before the assignment window opens (or more than 48 hours before the homework is due), the instructor may allow the student to submit the work at a later (or earlier) time without penalty. Valid conflicts are items that make it impossible for a student to complete the assignment at the scheduled time, primarily including illness, or family emergencies. Travel plans (except as required by university-sponsored activities) DO NOT constitute valid conflict. Students should plan to be available online until they finish the assignment. Encountering technical problems at the last minute is not a valid conflict.

Assignments

Basic information about each assignment category is provided below. For detailed instructions about each assignment, see the ANGEL Website.

ASSIGNMENT POINTS Discussion Board Forums 140 Lesson Activities 280 Quizzes 50 Final Exam 100 Total 570

Note on Feedback: You can expect meaningful feedback on all written assignments within one week of the deadline.

Discussion Board Forums

V a lu e : 1 4 x 1 0 P T S , 1 4 0 P T S t o t a l W e e k s : 2 -1 5 Criminal justice is a field in which there are many different opinions. To promote student engagement and critical thinking, these discussion board forums will ask you to critically analyze a particular question and respond to it in an academic manner (a manner that isn’t personal opinion, but academically based). Students are expected to post their own individual response and to receive full credit students should provide some credible response, comment, or reply to another student's forum post.

Grades for your discussion board forums will be based upon:

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• Does the answer directly address the question? • Does the student critically analyze the course material? • Is the response thorough enough to show a deep level of understanding, analysis, and

application? • Does the student provide relevant examples to back up their response? This may include

links, references to the course text, referring to other academic sources.

Discussion board forums must:

• Demonstrate strong critical thinking skills as evidenced by analyzing and evaluating relevant theories, literature, and data

• Demonstrate personal application of concepts – use relevant personal/professional examples

• Be submitted by the appropriate and established deadlines • Use clear, concise language and appropriate terminology (do not use text message format,

abbreviations etc.)

Lesson Activities

V a lu e : 1 4 x 2 0 P T S , 2 8 0 P T S t o t a l W e e k s : 2 -1 5

Each week, students will complete a lesson activity. Lesson activities are provided to enhance what students have learned in the textbook, lesson notes, and supplemental material for that week's topic. Lesson Activities will focus on active learning and critical thinking and will encourage the student to use internet search resources and other public domain or open sources to combine current events and relevant case studies that are locally relevant to the student.

Grades for your lesson activities will be based upon:

• Student’s ability to articulate definitions, concepts, and theories from all lesson sources including textbook, lesson notes, and supplemental materials

• Application of definitions and concepts to current issues within the criminal justice system

• Ability to apply and link core concepts with relevant examples to propose new decision making and problem solving solutions to criminal justice topics

Lesson activities must:

• Demonstrate strong critical thinking skills as evidenced by analyzing and evaluating relevant theories, literature, and data

• Demonstrate active learning through higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation)

• Demonstrate personal application of concepts – use relevant personal/professional examples

• Be submitted by the appropriate and established deadlines

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Quizzes

V a lu e : 5 x 1 0 P T S , 5 0 P T S t o t a l W e e k s : 5 , 7 , 9 , 1 2 , a n d 1 5

The course quizzes are provided as a practice tool to gauge comprehension of terminology and concepts. The questions are pulled randomly from a database of questions, and will consist of multiple choice answers. Correct answers for these questions will be provided to the student after quiz submission. The quizzes are graded. The quizzes have a total of 20 questions and there is no time limit however students are expected to take the quiz in one sitting.

Final Exam

V a lu e : 1 0 0 P T S W e e k : 1 6

Your final exam will be comprised of five short essay questions. Each question should be thoroughly answered and must show evidence of a) critical thinking skills (did student read the material, understand the material) and b) application (is the student able to provide relevant examples, integrate course book, forums, and activities). The test should be completed no later than the deadline provided by the Course Instructor (please keep in mind if you are graduating this is even more important) and late exams will not be graded. Your final exam is cumulative, meaning that you will be tested over all five of the component lessons content.

University Policies

Academic Integrity

Penn State defines academic integrity as the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. All students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.

Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course. Dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of other students. Students who are found to be dishonest will receive academic sanctions and will be reported to the University’s Judicial Affairs office for possible further disciplinary sanction. For further information, please read University Faculty Senate Policy 49-20 at http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/47-00.html#49-20.

Disability Access

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic adjustments in this course, contact the

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Office for Disability Services (ODS) at 814-863-1807 (V/TTY). For further information regarding ODS, please visit the Office for Disability Services Website at http://equity.psu.edu/ods/.

In order to receive consideration for course accommodations, you must contact ODS and provide documentation. (See the documentation guidelines at http://equity.psu.edu/ods/guidelines/.) If the documentation supports the need for academic adjustments, ODS will provide a letter identifying appropriate academic adjustments. Please share this letter and discuss the adjustments with your instructor as early in the course as possible. You must contact ODS and request academic adjustment letters at the beginning of each semester.

Nondiscrimination

Penn State is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, admission and employment for all persons. It is the policy of the University to maintain an environment free of harassment and free of discrimination against any person because of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, physical or mental disability, gender, perceived gender, gender identity, genetic information or political ideas. Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the realization of the University’s educational mission, and will not be tolerated. For further information, please visit the Affirmative Action Office Website at http://www.psu.edu/dept/aaoffice/.

TEACH Act

The materials on the course Website are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course and may not be retained or further disseminated.

University Emergency Procedure

In the event of a University-wide emergency, the course may be subject to changes. Exigent circumstances may require alternative delivery methods, class materials, and interactions with the instructor and/or classmates. In addition, there may be revisions to grading policies, attendance policies, and the course calendar, including assignments and their deadlines.

In the event of a University-wide emergency, please refer to the ANGEL Website at http://cms.psu.edu for specific information related to the course. For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to the Penn State Website at http://www.psu.edu or Penn State News at http://news.psu.edu.

To register with PSUAlert, a service designed to alert the Penn State community when situations arise that affects the ability of a campus to function normally, please go to https://psualert.psu.edu/psualert/. Subscribers can receive alerts by text message to cell phones, and also can elect to have alerts sent to an email address.

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Syllabus Subject to Change

The class will likely adhere to the information outlined in the syllabus and calendar, but adjustments may be made based on what actually transpires during the term. Be sure to check with a classmate after an absence to see if activities and assignments have changed. Remaining in the course after reading this syllabus will signal that you accept the possibility of changes and responsibility for being aware of them.