COURSE SYLLABUS
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC STATE UNIVERSITY
CRIMINAL JUSTICE 8811: Criminal Justice Leadership & Management
Fall, 2008
Section: 1 (Online)
INSTRUCTOR: BECKY KOHLER da CRUZ, J.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
OFFICE: UH 219
OFFICE HOURS:
PHONE: 344-2748 E-MAIL: Becky.daCruz@Armstrong.edu
M/W 11:00 to 1:30, T/H 2:00 to 2:30, or by Appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice agencies, as fostered by ethical leadership. Focus
on administrative theory and its application to practical reality.
COURSE RATIONALE:
This course provides a general overview of the issues and problems in the management of
criminal justice agencies with an emphasis on ethical leadership. Students are provided an
opportunity to address real criminal justice management issues and problems, and discover ways
to resolve them while applying theory to practical situations. Issues examined are particularly
relevant to the administration of police, courts, and corrections. Upon completion of this course
students should be able to identify various management styles and recognize each style’s
strengths and limitations relative to organizational problem solving. Specifically, the student will
be able to:
1.
Identify criminal justice agency goals and purposes as well as describe the
environments in which they must operate;
2.
Describe organizational structures and management practices commonly found in
criminal justice agencies;
3.
Describe and apply methods of evaluating and improving organizational
performance; and
4.
Describe and apply methods of identifying and solving management and
organizational performance problems.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2008). Criminal Justice Organizations:
Administration and Management (4th ed.). Wadsworth. ISBN # 9780534645878.
WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS:
Week 1
Introduction to the course room
Basic Concepts for Understanding Criminal Justice Organizations
Chapter 1
Article: Feeley, M. M. (1973). Two models of the criminal justice system: An
organizational perspective. Law and Society Review, 7(3) 407-425.
Week 2
Structure of Criminal Justice Organizations
Chapter 2
Article: Bohn, R. M. (2006). “McJustice:” On the McDonalization of Criminal
Justice. Justice Quarterly, 23(1), 127-144.
Week 3
The Criminal Justice System in Its Environment
Chapter 3
Article: Wenzel, S. L., Longshore, D, Turner, S. & Ridgely, M. S. (2001). Drug
courts: A bridge between criminal justice and health services. Journal of
Criminal Justice, 29, 241-253.
Week 4
Problems of Communication
Chapter 4
Article: Wright, K. N. (1980). The desirability of goal conflict within the
criminal justice system. Journal of Criminal Justice, 9, 209-218.
Week 5
Motivation of Personnel
Chapter 5
Article: Engel, R. S. (2001). Supervisory style of patrol sergeants and lieutenants.
Journal of Criminal Justice, 29, 341-355.
Week 6
Job Design
Chapter 6
Article: Rosecrance, J. (1987). Getting rid of the prima donnas: The
bureaucratization of a probation department. Criminal Justice and Behavior,
14(2), 138-155.
Week 7
Leadership
Chapter 7
Article: Souryal, S. S. & Diamond, D. L. (2001). The rhetoric of personal loyalty
to superiors in criminal justice agencies. Journal of Criminal Justice, 29, 543554.
Week 8
Personnel Supervision and Evaluation
Chapter 8
Article: Marquart, J. W., Barnhill, M. B., & Balshaw-Biddle, K. (1996). Fatal
attraction: An analysis of employee boundary violations in a Southern prison
system. Justice Quarterly, 18(4). 877-910.
Week 9
Occupational Socialization
Chapter 9
Article: Pogrebin, M. R. & Poole, E. D. (1988). Humor in the briefing room: A
study of the strategic uses of humor among police. Journal of Contemporary
Ethnography (formally Urban Life), 17(2), 183-210.
Week 10
Power and Political Behavior
Chapter 10
Article: Terrill, W. & McCluskey, J. (2002). Citizen complaints and problem
officers: Examining officer behavior. Journal of Criminal Justice, 30, 143-155.
Week 11
Organizational Conflict
Chapter 11
Article: Jenn, K. & Mannix, E. (April, 2001). The dynamic nature of conflict: A
longitudinal study of intragroup conflict and group performance. Academy of
Management Journal, 238-251.
Week 12
Decision Making
Chapter 12
Article: Gilbert, M. J. (1997). The illusion of structure: A critique of the classical
model of organization and the discretionary power of correctional officers.
Criminal Justice Review, 22(1), 49-64.
Week 13
Organizational Effectiveness
Chapter 13
Article: Rosecrance, J. (1988). Maintaining the myth of individualized justice:
Probation presentence reports. Justice Quarterly, 5(2), 235-256.
Week 14
Change and Innovation
Chapter 14
Article: Allen, R. Y. W (2002). Assessing the impediments to organizational
change: A view of community policing. Journal of Criminal Justice, 30, 511517.
Week 15
Research in Criminal Justice Organizations
Chapter 15
Article: Ferguson, J. L. (2002). Putting the “what works” research into practice:
An organizational perspective. Criminal Justice Behavior, 29(4).
Final’s Week
Paper Due
CLASS FORMAT:
This class is completely an online course. However, please use the course room, email, phone,
and my office to communicate with me and other classmates about course material.
CLASS CONDUCT:
Students are required to follow appropriate netiquette in the course room. Any behavior, which is
disruptive to the learning environment, is strictly prohibited. If you fail to engage in appropriate
course room conduct, you will be removed from the course room.
EVALUATION METHODS:
Weekly Discussions:
You will have two postings to complete under the Discussion link every week. Your
initial posting for each question is due by midnight Friday and your response to at least
one other student is due by midnight Sunday each week. No late postings will be read or
graded.You will receive a zero for not posting on time. Each initial posting is worth 1.5
points and the response posting to a fellow student is worth .5 points. Therefore you earn
2 points per question. There will be 30 questions over the course of the semester (2
questions per week with 2 points for each question = 60 points total for Discussion
postings).
Postings must address the question posed and be substantive i.e. incorporate reading
material, lecture notes, and/or outside research to answer the questions. Be sure to cite the
material used. Each posting must be at least 250 words long (1 typed page). Be sure you
have checked your postings for grammar and spelling mistakes also.
Paper:
I.
Overview
Each student will be required to write on a topic relevant to the class material.
Specific topics will be selected in consultation with the instructor. A paper (20
page minimum – not counting title paper, references, tables, etc.) will be required
on your specific topic.
II.
Paper
A.
The paper must summarize and discuss your topic. It must contain:
1.
A clear statement of the problem or issue of concern,
2.
Summaries of present relevant research from at least 10 sources,
3.
A discussion of the implications of proposed solutions for future
policy, practice, and research in juvenile justice, and
4.
The student’s evaluation and conclusions regarding possible
methods of managing the problem; i.e. the student’s opinion on
the issues raised.
B.
The instructor is looking for what you have learned about current issues
how the administration and management influences the inner workings
of criminal justice agencies. The paper is expected to have content and
thoughtful analysis on the topic on an “advanced” level. I expect that the
paper is based on adequate references of scholarly materials rather than
introductory textbooks or popular writings. I encourage you to add your
own opinions; however, those opinions should be carefully considered,
logical, and supported by evidence or outside rationale. The most
common mistakes are (a) just summarizing the topic and not analyzing it
or discussing your views, (b) failing to relate the subject to larger
(broader) agency issues as found in the readings. Broader issues are how
the research might yield a different approach to criminal justice,
usefulness of various alternatives, different approaches to agency
management, etc.
III.
Format and Submission of the Paper
A.
Title page with your name, title of the paper, and course number.
B.
The length of the paper is a minimum of 20 pages, typed, double-spaced
content. This does not count the title page or the reference page(s).
C.
Minimum of at least ten (10) references should be on a separate sheet.
References should not be before 2000. You must reference all sources
used within the paper in order to avoid plagiarism. Use APA format.
D.
Grading will include an assessment of the student’s understanding of the
materials, the adequacy of the critique, and the logical quality of the
written and verbal argument. Final papers are due during finals week.
The date will be announced in the course room. Late papers will not be
accepted and a grade of zero will be assigned. Plagiarism will result in an
automatic zero.
FINAL GRADE STANDARDS:
Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 points
Weekly Discussions . . . . . . 60 points
100 points
You can earn a maximum of one hundred (100) points in this course. The approximate letter and
numerical equivalents are as follows:
Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Points
100-90
90-80
80-70
70-60
60-0
Percent
90%-100%
80-90%
70-80%
60-70%
below 60%
STANDARDS OF HONESTY:
The college experience is founded on the concepts of honesty and integrity. Dishonesty, cheating,
and plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course. Plagiarism is representing someone else’s
work as your own. It includes quoting or paraphrasing a secondary source without citing that
source, or copying, buying, or stealing written work from another person or another source. All
class writings must be a student’s own original work, created this semester for this particular
course. Remember, plagiarism is not only immoral- it is illegal. Students who commit plagiarism
will receive a zero (0) for that work. If cheating/plagiarism continue, the student will receive a
failing grade in the course and I reserve the right to submit student’s plagiarism to the Student
Honor Court as provided for the Student Handbook. Such an offense can be referred to the
university’s honor court and become a matter of your academic record.