Spring Semester 2015
CCJ 3024: ADVANCED PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
T 8:30 10:25am & R: 9:35-10:25
Building: AND 13
Instructor: Erin D. Castro
Office Room: Turlington Hall, 3353
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:30-1:30, or by Appointment
E-mail: erin.castro@ufl.edu
COURSE OBJECTIVE
This is an introductory course to the fields of criminal justice and criminology. The criminal
justice system is based on four main principles (Theories of criminal initiation, societal control
responses, court proceedings, and incarceration/rehabilitation), each will be discussed in greater
detail and placed within the greater context of the American criminal justice system. Conflicting
theories, agencies, and political agendas play a crucial role in how the system is structured and
used. Topics such as racial disparities, gender gaps, sexual orientations, and age will all be used
as examples of how the multilayered approach to the criminal justice system may create
consistency issues between special populations.
REQUIRED TEXT
Owen, S. Fradella, H., Burke, T., & Joplin, J. (2011). Foundation of Criminal Justice. Oxford
University Press.
ISBN: 9780195387322 *This textbook is REQUIRED. No, you may NOT use an older edition
GRADING ASSIGNMENTS
Participation
Assignments
Exams
Total
10pts. each
50pts. each
10pts.
40pts.
150pts.
200pts.
x4
x3
GRADE DISTRIBUTION
186+=A
180-185.5=A174-179.5=B+
166-173.5=B
160-165.5=B-
154-159.5=C+
146-153.5=C
140-145.5=C120-139.5=D
< 119.5=F
1
5%
20%
75%
100%
ASSIGNMENTS
There will be FOUR writing assignments throughout the semester, each worth 10 points (20% of
your grade). These assignments will consist of each student finding a recent news article from a
reliable (See attached list) news source regarding a topic related to the materials covered during
lecture. Using unreliable news sources, such as, Huffington Post, TMZ, Extra, Insider, etc., will
result in the loss of points. Choosing a topic discussed in the news article, students will then be
required to find two scholarly, peer-reviewed articles on the same topic. The idea will be to see if
students are able to use critical thinking skills to evaluate the relative validity of the news articles
based on scientific research examining the same issue. Grading rubrics for these assignments can
be found later in the syllabus. Please note that this rubric directly reflects and shows how points
for these assignments are allocated.
EXAMS
In this course there will be four possible exams, but only three will actually count toward your
final grade (150 points = 75%). The exams will be comprised of 25 multiple choice questions
and are designed to be completed within the allotted class hour. This exam structure allows
students the opportunity to drop the lowest of the four exams or to simply skip the last exam if
he/she feels comfortable with his/her overall grade after the third exam. The fourth exam will be
COMPREHENSIVE to help limit questions on sections the student did not do well on
previously.
*Given the flexibility in grading, there will be no opportunities for make-up exams. If there are
extenuating circumstances that will require a student to miss more than one exam, please come
see me and I will determine what course of action is appropriate.
PARTICIPATION/ATTENDANCE POLICY
There will be NO EXTRA CREDIT in this course. Instead 10 points (5% of your overall grade)
will be put toward your overall grade to help with students who would ordinarily be on the
border. This also means I do not round grades. The only time I will ever take points away from
students for participation is if the student has been a consistent distraction to others in the course;
otherwise the points are yours.
In a nutshell I do not demand that students come or regularly attend the classroom portion of the
course. HOWEVER, I will take attendance everyday to evaluate not only who is coming to class,
but will also refer to it when students come in with questions or help. I am here to help students
in any capacity I can, but showing up to class and paying attention will naturally increase
material comprehension and grade success.
OFFICE HOURS
Please see the first page for normal office hour times. This is an open time for students to come
in at any point during the two hour window for help otherwise e-mail me to set up an
appointment. *There is one Golden Rule to office hour appointments. Students who show up
more than 10 minutes late for these appointments will lose the privilege of being able to meet
with me ever again outside normal office hour times.
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ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states. “We, the members of the University
of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standard of honor
and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code. The Honor Code
(http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/process/student-conduct-honor-code/) specifies a number of
behavior that are in violation of this code and the possible sanction. Furthermore, you are
obligated to report and condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel.
If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with me, your instructor.
If you work on your assignments with another student please let it be known that using the all the
exact same sources will be considered suspicious. Using the exact same information from the
exact same sources will be considered plagiarism as well, so BE CAREFUL.
DISABILITY
Student requesting classroom accommodations must first register with the Dean of Students
Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then
provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. Please visit the
DRC website for more information: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/ Located at Reid Hall, Room 001
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SCHEDULE
Week #
Week 1
Jan 6
Jan 8
Week 2
Jan 13
Jan 15
Week 3
Jan 20
Jan 22
Week 4
Jan 27
Jan 29
Week 5
Feb 3
Feb 5
Week 6
Feb10
Feb 12
Week 7
Feb 17
Feb 19
Week 8
Feb 24
Feb 26
Mar 3-5
Week 10
Mar 10
Mar 12
Week 11
Mar 17
Mar 19
Week 12
Mar 24
Mar 26
Week 13
Mar 31
Apr 2
Week 14
Apr 7
Apr 9
Week 15
Apr 14
Apr 16
Week 16
Apr 21
Lecture Topic
Introduction
Syllabus Day/ Get to know you
Introduction into Criminal Justice
Morality
Statistics & Morality
5 Concepts of Morality
Research & Justice
How to Research & Write
Types of Justice
Justice & Policy
Distributive & Individual Justice
Civil v. Criminal Justice
Justice Policy
Developing & Shaping Justice
Readings
Assignments
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter7
Assignment 1
Chapter 7
Exam 1
Deviance & Social Control
Deviance & Social Control
Medicalization
Criminological Theory
Classical & Psycho-social Theories
Structural Theories
Procedural Justice
Video & Discussion
Procedural Justice
NO CLASS
Constitutional Rights
Constitutional Justice
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 8
SPRING
Assignment 2
BREAK
Chapter 8
Exam 2
Criminal Law
History Criminal Law
Modern Criminal Law
Policing
Structure, Ethics, & Culture
Strategies & Philosophies
Courts
Workgroup & Trail Proceedings
Judicial Review
Corrections
Essential Tensions & Institutions
Community Corrections
Criminal Punishment
Justifications & Limitations
Chapter 9
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Assignment 3
Chapter 10
In-Class
In-Class/E-mail
FINAL EXAM
Assignment 4 DUE
4
Exam 3
CUMULATIVE
Assignment 4 DUE
RELIABLE NEWS SOURCES
*Please pick your news article from one of
the following sources
SCHOLARLY PEER-REVIEWED
JOURNALS
*These are SUGGESTED journal sources
Fox
CNN
CBS
ABC
NBC
MSNBC
Associated Press
Washington Post
Seattle Times
Los Angeles Times
New York Times
Gainesville Sun
USA Today
US News
Chicago Tribune
New York Post
Wall Street Journal
NPR
Orlando Sentinel
Miami Herald
Tampa Bay Times
Florida Times Union
Al Jareeza
World News
Reuters
Time
Forbes
Washington Times
Nature
Science
Criminology
Journal of Criminal Justice and Behavior
Justice Quarterly
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
American Sociological Association
American Journal of Medicine Association
American Psychological Association
Violence Against Women
Police Quarterly
Child Maltreatment
Journal of Theoretical Criminology
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
Journal of Criminal Justice
American Sociological Review
Behavioral Sciences and Law
American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse
American Criminal Law Review
American Sociological Review
Child Abuse & Neglect
Criminal Justice
Crime & Delinquency
Corrections & Sentencing Law and Policy
Deviance Behavior
Feminist Criminology
Gender & Society
Harvard Civil Rights Law Review
Homicide Studies
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy
Journal of Criminal Law
Journal of Crime, Conflict and the Media
Journal of Family Violence
Justice Policy Journal
Law and Philosophy
Law and Human Behavior
Victimology
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
Bureau of Justice Statistics
*You may also e-mail me if you have
another news source you believe to be
credible and would like to use for your
assignment.
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