Introduction to Criminal Justice – CJUS 200

CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

An introductory course covering an overview of the whole criminal justice system in America, including discussion of law enforcement generally, the court systems, correctional organizations, the history of law enforcement in the U.S. and some other nations, and the ethics and philosophy of criminal justice generally.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

The purpose of this course is to expose the learners to introductory-level essential elements of the criminal justice system and to introduce critical thinking skills on biblical, ethical, and public policy levels as related to the study of Criminal Justice.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The student will complete 3 Discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 400-word minimum/500-word maximum, demonstrating course-related knowledge in response to the provided discussion prompt by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of the assigned Module: Week. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least 3 scholarly citations in APA format. Specifically, 1 citation will refer to the course materials, 1 citation will refer to the Bible, and the third may refer to a scholarly article published within the last five years. Replies to classmates must advance the discussion through a biblical worldview supported by at least 1 scripture. The student must then post 1 reply of at least 100 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of the assigned Module: Week.

Read and Interact Textbook Assignments (14)

Within this course, students will be assigned to read and interact with the textbook within the third party platform, SmartBook. Students must complete each reading and item in the textbook in order to earn the points associated with the assigned reading and prior to completing any Homework assignments. 

Interactive Exercise

You Make the Call activities give students the opportunity to learn and apply discretion by placing them in the role of a police officer in an engaging and interactive format.

Reflection Paper Assignment

The student will submit a 400-word summative assessment of his/her understanding of law enforcement, the courts, and the correctional system. The student will be required to include 3 in-text citations.

Application Essay Assignments (4)

The student is required to write a 400-word response to each question posed in the instructions for each Application Essay Assignment assigned. For each question, the student must support his/her assertions with at least 3 in-text citations.

Quiz: Bill of Rights Pre-Quiz

The student’s prior knowledge of the Bill of Rights will be assessed by this 10-question, multiple-choice test. Students have unlimited attempts to achieve the entire 10 points.

Quiz: Bill of Rights

This post-quiz will assess the student's knowledge of the Bill of Rights near the end of the course. The post-quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 10 multiple-choice questions, and have a 15-minute time limit.