|Course Number:||CRIMLJUS 3630|
|Course Name:||Juvenile Justice (Online)|
|Course Description:||Conceptions of juvenile delinquency; the juvenile offender in the juvenile justice system; the philosophy, structure and function of juvenile courts; legal rights of accused juveniles, correctional theories, and programs in juvenile institutions; methods and models of rehabilitating juvenile offenders and prevention of juvenile delinquency.|
|Prerequisites:||CRIMLJUS 2230 with a "C-" or better and junior standing|
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice
NOTE: The information below is representative of the course and is subject to change. The specific details of the course will be available in the Desire2Learn course instance for the course in which a student registers.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to
- Explain juvenile delinquency at both the macro and micro levels using criminological theory.
- Identify the legal differences between juveniles and adults.
- Explain the difference between a delinquent and a child in need of protection and service.
- Discuss community prevention/intervention services.
- Explain juvenile corrections and probation, community treatment, and institutions.
- Identify the relationship between drugs, schools, peers, and delinquency.
- Develop and improve research and writing skills.
- Consider a career in Criminal Justice that deals specifically with juveniles.
Course Organization and Assignment Descriptions
Unit 1: Theories of Delinquency
First of all, please note that we begin the course with Chapter 3 of the textbook, "Inpidual Views of Delinquency." Here, we will begin looking at the many theories on why juveniles become juvenile delinquents. Chapter 3 covers biological, sociological, and psychological theories as to why juveniles commit crimes. Chapters 4 and 5 look at social factors: how family, community, peers, and school impact a child's behavior. The last chapter in this unit will look at "aging out" of delinquency. Why do some adolescents move from delinquent behavior to adulthood and some remain mired in delinquency, which in turn leads to adult criminal charges? How do you predict if a child will enter and remain in the criminal justice system? What signs point to a serious problem and how can this behavior change?
Unit 2: Social, Community, and Environmental Influences on Delinquency
In this Unit, we'll cover Chapters 7-11 of the textbook and take a look at the effect of different influences on juveniles. For example, peers, family, and schools all have different effects on juveniles. We'll also discuss females and why they usually have different reasons than males for engaging in criminal activity.
Unit 3: The Juvenile Justice System
The juvenile justice system is focused on helping to rehabilitate the juvenile. There are times when pure punishment is needed, and that punishment is imposed by the adult justice system. Some states have mandatory laws, placing a juvenile in the adult system based on age and type of offense. Other states use the discretion of the court. This unit will first look at the history of juveniles in the court system, and then review the court process. Lastly, we will review rehabilitation facilities both in the community and within an institution.
|Book Essay||50 points|
|Mini Assignments (11 @ 20 pts. each)||220 points|
|PowerPoint Presentation||100 points|
|Class Participation||30 points|
|A||450 - 500 points|
|B||400 - 449 points|
|C||350 - 399 points|
|D||300 - 349 points|
|F||0 - 299 points|