Fayetteville State University
College of Arts & Sciences
Department of Criminal Justice
CRJC 351 D1 Special Problems in Criminal Justice
Spring 2016
I. Locator Information:
Instructor: Zahra Shekarkhar
Course # and Name: CRJC 351 Special Problems in CRJC
Semester Credit Hours: 3
Day and Time Class Meets: Online
Class Location: Online/Blackboard
Total Contact Hours for Class: 40
Email address: zshekark@uncfsu.edu
Office Location: Lauretta Taylor Building, Room 315B
Office Phone: (910) 672-2094
Office hours: Mondays & Wednesdays (1pm-4pm) and Tuesdays & Thursdays (11am-12:15pm) or by appointment
Note: If FSU must close for an emergency during the semester, classes may continue using Blackboard, per
institutional instructions.
FSU Policy on Electronic Mail: Fayetteville State University provides to each student, free of charge, an electronic
mail account (username@uncfsu.edu) that is easily accessible via the Internet. The university has established FSU email as the
primary mode of correspondence between university officials and enrolled students. Inquiries and requests from students
pertaining to academic records, grades, bills, financial aid, and other matters of a confidential nature must be submitted via FSU
email. Inquiries or requests from personal email accounts are not assured a response. The university maintains open-use
computer laboratories throughout the campus that can be used to access electronic mail.
Rules and regulations governing the use of FSU email may be found at
http://www.uncfsu.edu/PDFs/EmailPolicyFinal.pdf
II. Course Description: The purpose of this course is to examine a number of different topics not usually discussed in
traditional criminal justice courses. Five different topics are discussed in depth.
III. Disabled Student Services: In accordance with Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ACA) of 1990, if you have a disability or think you have a disability to please contact the Center for
Personal Development in the Spaulding Building, Room 155 (1 st Floor); 910-672-1203.
IV. Title IX – Sexual Misconduct
Fayetteville State University (University) is committed to fostering a safe campus environment where sexual misconduct —
including sexual harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking - is unacceptable and is not
tolerated. The University encourages students who may have experienced sexual misconduct to speak with someone at the
University so that the University can provide the support that is needed and respond appropriately. The Sexual Misconduct
policy can be found at the following link: http://www.uncfsu.edu/Documents/Policy/students/SexualMisconduct.pdf
Consulting with a Health Care Professional - A student who wishes to confidentially speak about an incident of sexual
misconduct should contact either of the following individuals who are required to maintain confidentiality:
Ms. Dionne Hall
Licensed Professional Counselor
Spaulding Building, Room 167
(910) 672-2167
psmith@uncfsu.edu
Ms. Linda Melvin
Director, Student Health Services
Spaulding Building, Room 121
(910) 672-1454
lmelvi10@uncfsu.edu
Reporting an Incident of Sexual Misconduct - The University encourages students to report incidents of sexual
misconduct. A student who wishes to report sexual misconduct or has questions about University policies and procedures
regarding sexual misconduct should contact the following individual:
Ms. Victoria Ratliff
Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Students
Spaulding Building, Room 155
(910) 672-1222
vratliff@uncfsu.edu
Unlike the Licensed Professional Counselor or the Director of Student Health Services, the Deputy Title IX Coordinator is
legally obligated to investigate reports of sexual misconduct, and therefore cannot guarantee confidentiality, but a request
for confidentiality will be considered and respected to the extent possible.
Students are also encouraged to report incidents of sexual misconduct to the University’s Police and Public Safety
Department at (910) 672-1911.
V. Textbook: There is no textbook required for this course. However, select readings will be provided to you throughout
the semester on the course website on Blackboard.
VI. Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1) Think critically about special issues not usually considered in traditional criminal justice courses.
2) Discuss research pertaining to each special topic.
3) Have a wider view of different issues impacting the criminal justice system.
VII. Course Requirements and Evaluation Criteria:
I reserve the right to change the scheduled date, number, or nature of all course assignments to facilitate course
objectives. If these evaluation criteria must be revised, the instructor will distribute a written amendment to the
syllabus. Any changes will also be announced via Blackboard and email.
Course Setup
This course will be structured in 3 sections. Section I will cover 1 topic, Section II will cover 1topic, and Section III will
cover 3 topics. At the start of the semester, only the material for Section I will be available to you. After the completion of
Section I, Section II will open, and after that section is completed, Section III will be opened. At the start of each section
you will be provided a schedule of due dates for assignments and discussion forum posts.
Exams, assignments, readings, lectures, and other material will be posted under the “Content” tab of the course
website on Blackboard. Discussion forums will be posted under the “Discussions” tab of the course website on
Blackboard.
Assignments
Throughout the semester you will have a number of assignments, worth a varying amount of points. These assignments
may include watching films and answering questions, as well as looking up relevant material/information and answering
questions. In total, there will be 80 points of activities, which makes up 28.6% of your final grade.
Discussion Forum Posts
Throughout the semester you will be asked to participate in a number of online discussion forums. I anticipate around 7 or 8
discussion forums total. Each forum will be worth a varying amount of points and will vary in length. Students will be
asked to write anywhere between a couple sentences to a few paragraphs. Some posts will ask about your reaction/opinion
to a certain issue, while other posts may ask specific questions about assigned readings and/or films. In total, all forum
posts will be worth 60 points, or 21.4% of your final grade.
Exams
There will be THREE exams, one for each section. The exams may consist of multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank,
and short answer questions based on lectures, assigned readings, and films. Exam I and II are worth 40 points each (or
14.29% of your final grade each). Exam III is worth 60 points (or 21.42% of your final grade). In total, exams make up
50% of your final grade.
Open and close dates for the exams will be announced at the beginning of each new section.
General Online Exam Instructions
These are general instructions that will apply for any online exam given in this course.
Rule 1. You must take your exam alone. You cannot get assistance from anyone else while taking an exam. Any violations
of this instruction will be treated as academic dishonesty, and treated accordingly.
Rule 2. Time Length. Unless otherwise indicated, all exams will be forced completion (that is, once the exam (or part of an
exam) is started, is must be finished within the time allotted) and timed. The length of time allotted for an exam will be
stated in the exam instructions. The time length will be determined based on instructor assessment of how long it should
take a reasonably prepared student to completely answer the questions. The time length may vary based on the nature of the
material, the exam, and other considerations.
Blackboard has an auto-submit feature that will automatically save and submit an exam once time is up. In this case, you
will only receive credit for the questions that you have answered. You are responsible for effectively managing the time
provided for online assessments. Even if the auto-submit feature is not used or if it is broken, you are still responsible for
completing the exam on time. If you go over the allotted time for the exam, 2 points may be deducted for every extra
minute taken. I you exceed the time limit by more than 20 minutes, you will automatically receive a zero for the exam.
Blackboard problems occurring while completing online exams or other assignments. If you have a problem accessing or
completing an online course requirement, you must first contact the Blackboard helpdesk, to determine whether or not your
problem is a general one (that is, a problem that many people are having) or a specific one (a problem that you, and only
you, are having).
Once you have determined the nature of your problem, you should then contact me to let me know the nature of the
situation. You should do this as soon as possible, via an email, a call, or a visit. Be prepared to show proof of having
contacted Blackboard, especially if you are asserting that the problem is a Blackboard one.
Contacting me immediately provides a record that you are experiencing a problem with completing an assignment, and that
you are taking steps to resolve it. Please note that, depending on the nature and timing of your problem, I may not be able to
address your issue immediately. However, a remedy, if warranted, will be provided to you in a timely fashion. To reduce
the potential for cheating, the remedy provided may mean that you have to compete a different version of the assignment.
You may also have to complete the assignment at a different time. Failure to follow instructions given for addressing any
Blackboard problems experienced may result in a 0 score for the particular assignment.
Attendance Requirements
This course utilizes the Blackboard Learning System. We do not meet in a classroom. Interaction will occur in the online
environment. All students are expected to know and utilize all of the different elements of Blackboard and Outlook for
communication with all class participants. Discussion of the subject matter for the course will take place within Discussion
Forums. This is not a self-paced course. Graded assignments have deadlines and these deadlines must be followed in
order to be successful in the course.
It is your responsibility to review Blackboard each and every day for assignments, changes in class procedure, etc. While in
most cases I will send an email regarding any updates, it is your responsibility to review Blackboard on a regular basis to
keep up with changes in class.
Policy on Late or Missed Assignments
Late Assignment Policy
Any assignment or discussion forum post made after the due date/time will be subject to the following late penalty: (a) up
to 24 hours after the due date: 20% point deduction; (b) 24 hours or more after the due date: 20% + extra 10% for each 24
hour period thereafter total deduction. For example if you submit an assignment that is due on Sunday at 11:55pm on
Sunday at 11:56pm you will be penalized 20% of the assignment grade. If you submit the assignment on Monday at
11:56pm you will receive a 30% grade deduction. If you submit the assignment on Tuesday at 11:56pm you will receive a
40% grade deduction, and so on. After 7 days no late assignments will be accepted.
Missed Assignment Policy
The opportunity to make up missed assessments of any kind will be provided only when there is a valid excuse (as
determined by me) for missing the scheduled assignment with clear documentation (e.g., bail papers, citations, hospital
admission/discharge papers, police reports, etc.) provided in a timely manner. You must give me prior notice (one week)
if you are aware of the conflict ahead of time. If it is impossible to provide prior notice (for instance, if you have suffered
an accident), you must contact me within a week of experiencing the incident causing you to miss the assignment.
Any make-up assignments allowed must be completed and submitted by the new due date provided; otherwise, you will
receive a grade of 0 points for the assignment. The requirements and nature of makeup exercises may be different from the
original exercise.
Generally speaking, you will be given ample time to complete all assignments and exams. Therefore, if you wait until
the last day/hour to take an exam or complete an assignment you run the risk of not completing the task on time or
running into computer/internet problems.
Academic Misconduct Policy
Student work must be original for this class. Promoting unoriginal work as if it is original is academic dishonesty, and is a
form of academic misconduct. Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty will be subject to disciplinary actions as
described in the student handbook. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following: cheating, plagiarism,
complicity in academic dishonesty (helping or attempting to help another student cheat) and misrepresentation to aovid
academic work (e.g. fabricating excuses of illness, injury, accident, family death, etc. to avoid the timely submission of
academic work or exam taking). These forms of academic misconduct also apply to online activity related to this course.
Any incident of academic misconduct can result in failure of the course.
Note: All student work is subject to review by Turnitin or other plagiarism detection methods. The judgment of
whether a student work product has been plagiarized will be made based on a combination of factors, including the
results obtained from plagiarism detection methods.
Cases of suspected academic misconduct will be handled in accordance with the procedures specified in the Student
Handbook’s Code of Conduct. Other, relevant University policies may also be invoked. The procedure can be found
here: https://www.uncfsu.edu/Documents/handbook/coc.pdf.
Blackboard Policy & Contact Information
It is your responsibility to review Blackboard each and every day for assignments, changes in class procedure, etc. While in
most cases I will send an email regarding any updates, it is your responsibility to review Blackboard on a regular basis to
keep up with changes in class. Grades will be posted on Blackboard. Students may review their grades with me at any time,
either during office hours or by appointment.
To contact Blackboard please refer to the following webpage: http://www.uncfsu.edu/itts/support
OR Call: Phone: 910.672.HELP or 910.672.4357. The ITTS Helpdesk is available 24/7!!
Communication Policy
In most normal cases, I will respond to an email or phone call within 48 hours of receipt during the business week (Monday
through Friday), and within 72 hours for all weekend or holiday correspondence. Depending on the nature of the inquiry, I
may send you an email as a response to a voicemail message (or vice versa).
Email Policy- “Netiquette”
Email can be a really powerful communication tool. However, there is room for misunderstanding and miscommunication,
and this reduces its effectiveness. To facilitate smooth online interactions, there are a few rules regarding the use of email
I’d like you to follow.
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FSU provides you with a free email address. Please make it the primary email address for all communications
regarding this class.
Email is my main point of electronic communication.
Regularly check your FSU email for communications from me. This is especially smart since you will be
notified by email of any changes posted to Blackboard.
In the subject line of your email please write “Special Problems in CJ.”
Begin your email with a greeting (e.g., Dear Professor) and include your full name within the message,
preferably at the closing. Please be careful not to misspell my last name in any communication with me,
it is unprofessional.
Respond to my emails in a timely fashion.
Be sure to write your email as you would write a paper. That is, use capital letters where capital letters are
supposed to go, use punctuation, and do not write like you are sending a text message. I will not respond to
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emails if they are unprofessional; please be sure to use appropriate and respectful language and structure in
your communications with me.
If you do not follow these rules you will receive an email from me asking you to resend the email in the
proper format.
Grades
Total Points Possible: 280
Exam 1: 40 points
Exam 2: 40 points
Exam 3: 60 points
Discussion Forum Posts: 60 points total
Assignments: 80 points total
Final course grades will be assigned as follows:
A (90-100%) =
B (80-89%) =
C (70-79%) =
D (60-69%) =
F (0-59%) =
252-280 points
224-251 points
196-223 points
168-195 points
0-167 points
FSU Policy on Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom
The Code of the University of North Carolina (of which FSU is a constituent institution) and the FSU Code of
Student Conduct affirm that all students have the right to receive instruction without interference from other
students who disrupt classes.
FSU Core Curriculum Learning Outcome under Ethics and Civic Engagement (6.03): All students will “prepare
themselves for responsible citizenship by fulfilling roles and responsibilities associated with membership in
various organizations.” Each classroom is a mini-community. Students learn and demonstrate responsible
citizenship by abiding by the rules of classroom behavior and respecting the rights all members of the class.
The FSU Policy on Disruptive Behavior (see FSU website for complete policy) identifies the following
behaviors as disruptive:
1.
2.
3.
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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Failure to respect the rights of other students to express their viewpoints by behaviors such as repeatedly
interrupting others while they speak, using profanity and/or disrespectful names or labels for others,
ridiculing others for their viewpoints, and other similar behaviors;
Excessive talking to other students while the faculty member or other students are presenting information or
expressing their viewpoints.
Use of cell phones and other electronic devices
Overt inattentiveness (sleeping, reading newspapers)
Eating in class (except as permitted by the faculty member)
Threats or statements that jeopardize the safety of the student and others
Failure to follow reasonable requests of faculty members
Entering class late or leaving class early on regular basis
Others as specified by the instructor.
The instructor may take the following actions in response to disruptive behavior. Students should recognize that
refusing to comply with reasonable requests from the faculty member is another incidence of disruptive
behavior.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Direct student to cease disruptive behavior.
Direct student to change seating locations.
Require student to have individual conference with faculty member. At his meeting the faculty member will
explain the consequences of continued disruptive behavior.
Dismiss class for the remainder of the period. (Must be reported to department chair.)
Lower the student’s final exam by a maximum of one-letter grade.
File a complaint with the Dean of Students for more severe disciplinary action.
Students who believe the faculty member has unfairly applied the policy to them may make an appeal with the
faculty member’s department chair.
VIII.
Academic Support Resources: This course uses Blackboard to disseminate course materials such as lectures,
readings, and assignments. If you have any trouble assessing Blackboard or specific course materials please
contact me as soon as possible to help remedy the situation.
IX.
Course Outline and Tentative Assignment Schedule
Section 1
Topic: The War on Drugs
Exam 1: Will be due by Saturday, Feb. 6th at
11:55PM
Due Dates for other assignments and discussion
posts will be posted under the “Section I” course
folder on Blackboard.
Section 2
Topic: Hate Crimes
Exam 2: Will be due by Friday, March 4th at
11:55PM
Due Dates for other assignments and discussion
posts will be posted under the “Section II” course
folder on Blackboard at a later date.
Section 3
Topic: Mental Illness & Crime
Topic: Mass shootings
Topic: School-to-Prison Pipeline
Exam 3: Will be due by Saturday, April 30th at
11:55PM for Graduating Seniors; Friday, May 6 th
by 11:55PM for non-graduating students
Due Dates for other assignments and discussion
posts will be posted under the “Section III” course
folder on Blackboard at a later date.
X.
Teaching Strategies
1)
2)
3)
4)
XI.
Lectures
Class discussions
Written assignments & Exams
Movie/documentary showings
Bibliography
Bartilow, H. A. Drug wards collateral damage: US counternarcotic aid and human rights in the Americas. Latin
American Research Review, 49, 24-46.
Febres, J., Brasfield, H., Shorey, R. C., Elmquist, J., Ninnemann, A., Schonbrun, Y. C., Temple, J. R., Recupero,
P. R., & Stuart, G. L. (2014). Adulthood animal abuse among men arrested for domestic violence. Violence
Against Women, 20, 1059-1077.
Horowitz, A. (2013). Mental illness soars in prisons, jails while inmates suffer. Huffington Post.
Johnston, C. H. (2015). Careers in Criminal Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Jones, S., Miller-Mack, E., & Ahrens, L. (2005). Prisoners of the War on Drugs. Northampton, MA: The Real
Cost of Prisons Project.
Philbin, T., & Philbin, M. (2009). Killer book of serial killers: Incredible stories, facts, and trivia from the world
of serial killers. Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks.
Ringhoff, D., Rapp, L., & Robst, J. (2012). The criminalization hypothesis: Practice and policy implications for
persons with serious mental illness in the criminal justice system. Best Practice in Mental Health, 8, 1-19.
Russell-Brown, K., & Davis, A. J. (2016). Criminal Law. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wessler, S. (2000). Addressing hate crimes: Six initiatives that are enhancing the efforts of criminal justice
practitioners. Hate Crime Series. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
Wright, J., & Hensley, C. From animal cruelty to serial murder: Applying the graduation hypothesis. International
Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 47, 71-88.