CRJS 501 Criminal Justice Theory

1
CRJS 501Criminal Justice Theory

• Session 1
• Course Introduction
• Criminal Justice Theory and Criminal Justice as
  an Academic Discipline

2
Question

• Whats the first thing that comes to mind when
  you hear the term CRIMINAL JUSTICE?

3
Question

• As a criminal justice graduate student (and as a
  citizen and/or criminal justice professional) in
  thinking about contemporary criminal justice
  issues, what is your PASSION?

4
Course Goals

• FOUNDATION FOR EXAMINING ISSUES in criminal
  justice.
• THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK to critically analyze
  contemporary CJ policies and practices.
• OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP IDEAS around contemporary
  issues in CJ.

5
What Id Like You to Learn From this Course

• The THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES that provide the
  foundation of the discipline of criminal justice.
• An UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY OF THE EVOLUTION
  OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE as an academic discipline.
• How to CRITICALLY EXAMINE CONTEMPORARY ISSUES in
  criminal justice with attention to existing
  theories and a fresh perspective.
• How to WRITE/PRESENT AN APA FORMAT LITERATURE
  REVIEW PAPER.

6
Criminal Justice as an Academic Discipline

• What is criminal justice?
• What does criminal justice involve as an academic
  discipline?
• Is criminal justice really (and does it need to
  be) an independent discipline?

7
CJ Flow Chart created by the 1967 Presidents
Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal
Justice http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/flowchart.ht
m.
8
Comments on CJ Education Readings?
9

• Academic Criminal Justice has seen (since the
  LEAA funding in 1968) phenomenal growth, unequal
  in any other science or profession in the history
  of humankind (Adler, 1995, p. 21)

10
Criminal Justice Theory

• What is a theory?
• Why do we need a theory or theories of criminal
  justice?
• What are some examples of the application of
  theory to criminal justice policy and practice?
• How does theory guide research?

11
Comments on CJ Theory Readings?
12

• How is it that we have entire academic degree
  programs dedicated to the study of criminal
  justice, and yet most programs curricula do not
  address explicitly its theoretical forces and
  underpinnings? Our students, especially those in
  graduate programs aspiring to work in academe,
  must have a solid grasp of both the why of
  crime and the why of criminal justice and crime
  control.
• (Kraska, P.B. (2006). Criminal Justice Theory
  Toward a Legitimacy and an infrastructure.
  Justice Quarterly, 23 (2), 167-185. p. 181)

13

• as a former Alaskan fishing guide who has been
  chased by grizzly bears, I can say on good
  authority thatbelieve it or nottheorizing can
  actually be exciting (Kraska, p. 3)

14
Thinking about Contemporary Issues in Criminal
Justice. Some Examples to Get Started

• Police use of force and policies on less than
  lethal force
• Racial Profiling
• Offender Profiling
• Specialized courts
• The use of Actuarial Tools to Predict
  Dangerousness
• Three Strikes Legislation
• Prison Rape Elimination Act
• Intensive Supervision Probation and Parole
• Challenges to felony voting laws

• Patriot Act and Surveillance
• Restorative and Community Justice Initiatives
• Sex offender registration
• Civil commitment of sexual predators
• Mandatory DNA sampling of convicted felons
• Recent State and US Supreme Court Decisions to
  halt executions deeming lethal injection as cruel
  and unusual punishment.
• Shaming Laws
• Other??

15
What is Your Theoretical Orientation? Some
questions to think about

• Why is there a disproportionate number of Black
  Americans incarcerated in the United States?
• Why were habitual offender laws been revived with
  a vengeance in the late 20th century?
• Why is the recidivism rate so high for offenders
  coming out of jails and prisons?
• Why is lethal injection suddenly under
  constitutional attack?

16
Theoretical Orientations
17
Types of Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

• EMPIRICAL Report original research.
• REVIEW Critical evaluation of published work.
• THEORETICAL Review, integration, synthesis of
  existing research literature to advance theory.
• METHODOLOGICAL New methodological approach
  presented.
• CASE STUDY Description of case material while
  working with an individual or organization to
  illustrate a problem or to highlight issues in
  research or theory.

18
Coming up with a Literature Review Topic

• Criminal justice as an academic discipline is
  concerned with the scholarly examination of
  criminal justice as a social phenomenon. Along
  these linesWhat questions are of particular
  interest to you? What is your passion? What
  questions get you wondering, concerned, riled up?

19
Writing a Literature Review/Theoretical
Paper(See McShane Williams (2007), Ch 7)

• Paper should review existing research in a
  particular area involving contemporary issues
  with attention to theoretical perspectives or
  particular theoretical focus.
• Sections of Paper
• Title Page
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Body of Paper -- Method (will be very brief in a
  review paper), Analysis (helpful to include
  subheadings)
• Discussion

20
Term Paper Proposals

• Due Next Class session. Include
• TOPIC A contemporary CJ issue, policy, or
  practice.
• EXPLANATION -- Why you are interested in the
  topic? What direction will you go with your paper
  (e.g., how you will approach/organize,
  theoretical perspective you will offer).
• ABSTRACT 150 word description of the purpose of
  your paper, sources you will use (e.g., published
  literature), and conclusions.