Marion, N. E., & Oliver, W. M. (2012). The public policy of crime and criminal justice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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1 MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy Course Syllabus Course Description Examines all aspects of the criminal justice system from an organizational perspective, evaluates criminal justice agencies and organizations in the larger environmental context. Includes analysis of external organizations, public interest, and state and national policy and explores the changing and expanding role of the criminal justice system. Course Textbook Marion, N. E., & Oliver, W. M. (2012). The public policy of crime and criminal justice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Course Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. Evaluate various types of public policy and public ideologies. 2. Compare and contrast internal and external influences on criminal justice public policy. 3. Assess the role of criminal justice public policy with law enforcement, the courts, and correctional systems. 4. Evaluate the role and impact of public opinion and policy on criminal justice laws, sentencing, and rehabilitation over the past 50 years. Credits Upon completion of this course, the students will earn three (3) hours of college credit. Course Structure 1. Unit Learning Outcomes: Each unit contains Learning Outcomes that specify the measurable skills and knowledge students should gain upon completion of the unit. 2. Unit Lesson: Each unit contains a Unit Lesson, which discusses unit material. 3. Reading Assignments: Each unit contains Reading Assignments from one or more chapters from the textbook. A course overview video is provided in Unit I. 4. Key Terms: Key Terms are intended to guide students in their course of study. Students should pay particular attention to Key Terms as they represent important concepts within the unit material and reading. 5. Discussion Boards: Discussion Boards are part of all CSU term courses. More information and specifications can be found in the Student Resources link listed in the Course Menu bar. 6. Unit Assessments: This course contains five Unit Assessments, one to be completed at the end of Units I, II, IV, VI, and VIII. Assessments are composed of written response questions. 7. Unit Assignments: Students are required to submit for grading Unit Assignments in Units III and V. Specific information and instructions regarding these assignments are provided below. Grading rubrics are included with the Unit III and V assignments. Specific information about accessing these rubrics is provided below. 8. Final Project: Students are required to submit for grading a Final Project in Unit VII. Specific information and instructions regarding this assignment are provided below. A grading rubric is included with this assignment. Specific information for accessing this rubric is included below. 9. Ask the Professor: This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content related questions. 10. Student Break Room: This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 1

2 CSU Online Library The CSU Online Library is available to support your courses and programs. The online library includes databases, journals, e-books, and research guides. These resources are always accessible and can be reached through the library webpage. To access the library, log into the mycsu Student Portal, and click on CSU Online Library. You can also access the CSU Online Library from the My Library button on the course menu for each course in Blackboard. The CSU Online Library offers several reference services. and telephone ( ) assistance is available Monday Thursday from 8 am to 5 pm and Friday from 8 am to 3 pm. The library s chat reference service, Ask a Librarian, is available 24/7; look for the chat box on the online library page. Librarians can help you develop your research plan or assist you in finding relevant, appropriate, and timely information. Reference requests can include customized keyword search strategies, links to articles, database help, and other services. Final Project Overview The project for this course requires you to select one major criminal justice reform area that has evolved over the past 50 years and evaluate the role that public opinion and public policy played in the reform. As part of the evaluation, you will be expected to provide an overview of the evolution of public policy and opinion on the selected reform over the past 50 years. Examples of types of major criminal justice reforms that might be considered as topics include, but are not limited to, the following: Crime control policies Drug enforcement policies Policing strategies Sentencing guidelines Offender incarceration (punitive vs. rehabilitative approach) Community corrections Juvenile justice Victim rights Again, these are just examples of broad categories that you might select to examine in this research project. This research project is broken down into the following three components that will be completed during the course: 1. During Unit III, students will submit an overview of their research project and an annotated bibliography. 2. During Unit V, students will submit the section of the research paper that examines the evolution of the reform issue over the past 50 years. 3. During Unit VII, students will submit the Final Project. More detailed descriptions of each component are provided below. Students will be expected to incorporate into the Final Project any recommended changes to resources being utilized that were listed in the annotated bibliography during Unit III, as well as suggested changes to reform issue history section submitted during Unit V, based upon the feedback from their instructor during those units of the course. Unit Assignments Unit III Annotated Bibliography Overview and Annotated Bibliography Part 1 of the Final Project includes both an overview of the research project and an annotated bibliography. In the overview section, you must identify the criminal justice reform that will serve as the basis for your research project and briefly describe what specific areas or topics will be included as part of the examination of this criminal justice reform. The overview section should be no more than two pages in length. The annotated bibliography must include a minimum of six scholarly resources that you plan to utilize in the research paper. Each resource must be formatted per APA (6th ed.) guidelines and include a brief description of the information included in the resource and why it is relevant to the research project. You will be allowed to utilize more scholarly MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 2

3 resources in the final research paper as appropriate. The intent of the annotated bibliography is to demonstrate that you are headed in the right direction with your research for the paper. Part 1 of the Final Project should be approximately 4 5 pages in length (2 page overview, with the rest dedicated to the annotated bibliography), not counting the cover and reference pages. Please review the general guidelines for papers to obtain a description of other formatting requirements. You cannot use any Wiki, Ask.Com, dictionaries of any kind, or encyclopedias of any kind. You can use online resources, journal articles, and/or books. The annotated bibliography will ensure two things; first, is that there are enough credible resources to utilize in the development of your research paper, and second, you are headed in the right direction with your research paper. Your annotated bibliography should: Summarize the sources: What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The annotations for each source should be written in paragraph form. Do not exceed 300 words per annotation. Try to be concise and succinct. Be formatted per APA (6th ed.) guidelines If you need assistance with writing this assignment, you are encouraged to utilize the Success Center and its resources. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Unit V Paper Segment Criminal Justice Reform History Part 2 of the Final Project includes the section of the research paper focused upon the history of the criminal justice reform. In this section, you will (1) identify and discuss the issues that are included with the selected reform, (2) provide a narrative timeline describing how the reform has evolved over the past 50 years, and (3) briefly discuss the relevance of this criminal justice reform to public policy making, specifically within the field of criminal justice. Please note that you are only briefly discussing the connection between the selected criminal justice reform area and public policy making in the last part of this section of Part 2 of the project. A full discussion on the topics highlighted in item 3 above will be included in the final paper. More information about this is provided in the Final Project section of this Course Project description. In addition to the textbook, you must incorporate at least four other scholarly resources in these sections of the research paper. You are encouraged to at least use some of the scholarly resources that were submitted as part of the Annotated Bibliography in Part 1 of the Final Project. Part 2 of the Final Project should be 5 7 pages in length, not counting the cover and reference pages. Please review the general guidelines for papers to obtain a description of other formatting requirements. You must only submit Part 2 of the paper during Unit V. Part 1, which was created during Unit III, must not be included with this submission. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. Final Project During Unit VII, you will submit the Final Project. The Final Project will consist of the following components: (1) Overview section submitted during Unit III; (2) Criminal Justice Reform History section submitted during Unit V; and (3) Evaluation of the role public opinion and public policy played in the evolution of the selected criminal justice reform. Information presented in each section should be supported with scholarly resources. MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 3

4 Sections of the Final Project that were previously submitted in Units III and V must include any updates that were recommended by the course instructor as part of feedback given during previous reviews of these sections. The final section of the paper, Section 3 Evaluation, will be created and submitted with the Final Project. While the level of detail in each section of the Final Project will vary, it is anticipated that Section 3 will be approximately 3 5 pages in length. This should result in a Final Project (Parts 1, 2, and 3) that is pages in length, not counting the cover and reference pages. Please review the general guidelines for papers to obtain a description of other formatting requirements. Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided below. APA Guidelines The application of the APA writing style shall be practical, functional, and appropriate to each academic level, with the primary purpose being the documentation (citation) of sources. CSU requires that students use APA style for certain papers and projects. Students should always carefully read and follow assignment directions and review the associated grading rubric when available. Students can find CSU s Citation Guide by clicking here. This document includes examples and sample papers and provides information on how to contact the CSU Success Center. Grading Rubrics This course utilizes analytic grading rubrics as tools for your professor in assigning grades for all learning activities. Each rubric serves as a guide that communicates the expectations of the learning activity and describes the criteria for each level of achievement. In addition, a rubric is a reference tool that lists evaluation criteria and can help you organize your efforts to meet the requirements of that learning activity. It is imperative for you to familiarize yourself with these rubrics because these are the primary tools your professor uses for assessing learning activities. Rubric categories include: (1) Discussion Board, (2) Assessment (Written Response), and (3) Assignment. However, it is possible that not all of the listed rubric types will be used in a single course (e.g., some courses may not have Assessments). The Discussion Board rubric can be found within Unit I s Discussion Board submission instructions. The Assessment (Written Response) rubric can be found embedded in a link within the directions for each Unit Assessment. However, these rubrics will only be used when written-response questions appear within the Assessment. Each Assignment type (e.g., article critique, case study, research paper) will have its own rubric. The Assignment rubrics are built into Blackboard, allowing students to review them prior to beginning the Assignment and again once the Assignment has been scored. This rubric can be accessed via the Assignment link located within the unit where it is to be submitted. Students may also access the rubric through the course menu by selecting Tools and then My Grades. Again, it is vitally important for you to become familiar with these rubrics because their application to your Discussion Boards, Assessments, and Assignments is the method by which your instructor assigns all grades. Communication Forums These are non-graded discussion forums that allow you to communicate with your professor and other students. Participation in these discussion forums is encouraged, but not required. You can access these forums with the buttons in the Course Menu. Instructions for subscribing/unsubscribing to these forums are provided below. Click here for instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe and post to the Communication Forums. Ask the Professor This communication forum provides you with an opportunity to ask your professor general or course content questions. Questions may focus on Blackboard locations of online course components, textbook or course content elaboration, additional guidance on assessment requirements, or general advice from other students. MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 4

5 Questions that are specific in nature, such as inquiries regarding assessment/assignment grades or personal accommodation requests, are NOT to be posted on this forum. If you have questions, comments, or concerns of a nonpublic nature, please feel free to your professor. Responses to your post will be addressed or ed by the professor within 48 hours. Before posting, please ensure that you have read all relevant course documentation, including the syllabus, assessment/assignment instructions, faculty feedback, and other important information. Student Break Room This communication forum allows for casual conversation with your classmates. Communication on this forum should always maintain a standard of appropriateness and respect for your fellow classmates. This forum should NOT be used to share assessment answers. Grading Discussion Boards 2%) = 16% Assessments 10%) = 50% Unit III Annotated Bibliography = 10% Unit V Paper Segment = 10% Final Project = 14% Total = 100% Course Schedule/Checklist (PLEASE PRINT) The following pages contain a printable Course Schedule to assist you through this course. By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted. MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 5

6 MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy Course Schedule By following this schedule, you will be assured that you will complete the course within the time allotted. Please keep this schedule for reference as you progress through your course. Unit I Criminal Justice and Public Policy Overview Course Overview Video: See Study Guide Chapter 1: Criminal Justice and Public Policy Assessment by Unit II Criminal Justice Policy Process and Ideology Chapter 2: Criminal Justice Ideology Chapter 3: The Criminal Justice Policy Process Assessment by Unit III Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches Role in Criminal Justice Policy Chapter 4: The Executive Branches Chapter 5: Legislative Branches Chapter 6: Judiciary Annotated Bibliography by MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 6

7 MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy Course Schedule Unit IV External Influences on Criminal Justice Policy Chapter 8: Public Opinion and the Media Chapter 9: Interest Groups Assessment by Unit V Bureaucratic Influences on Criminal Justice Public Policy Chapter 7: Bureaucracies Paper Segment by Unit VI Criminal Justice Policy: Law Enforcement and Courts Chapter 10: The Police Chapter 11: Courts Assessment by MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 7

8 MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy Course Schedule Unit VII Criminal Justice Policy: Corrections and Juvenile Justice Chapter 12: Corrections Chapter 13: Juvenile Justice Final Project by Unit VIII Criminal Justice Policy Case Study Chapter 14: Criminal Justice Policy: A Case Study Assessment by MCJ 6530, Critical Analysis of Criminal Justice Public Policy 8