Advanced Criminal Justice Leadership – CJUS 730

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

Course Description

To be an organizational leader demands an understanding of the basic principles and practices underlying the management of large and diverse organizations. The contrast of management of stability and control with the management of chaos and instability suggests different techniques of leadership and management. Modelling, inspiring, challenging, enabling, and encouraging subordinates toward the organization mission is key to solid organizational leadership. Additionally, having tools to make leadership decisions in extreme situations is necessary for all criminal justice leaders. This course covers sound leadership principles necessary for an ethical high performing law enforcement organization by student self-reflection, peer feedback, and subordinate feedback. Additionally, students are challenged to create sound leadership policies necessary for a high performing criminal justice organization.

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

Rationale

Without warning, a police leader can be called to a scene of a critical incident. The police leader will make decisions on behalf of the department that not only may define the leader’s career but also defines the public’s view of that very organization where the leader works. Literally lives of citizens and lives of subordinates may balance in the hands of this police leader. At other times, a police leader may not be challenged with a split second leader decision; rather, they may be challenged by a set of circumstances that will require a well-thought-out leadership decision. This class challenges the academic and police practitioner to hone their leadership skills by an in-depth exploration of an extensive array of leadership theories.

Course Assignment

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)

The student will complete 3 Discussions in this course. The student will  post one thread of at least 500  words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of the assigned Module: Week. The student must then post 2  replies of at least 250  words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on  Sunday of the following assigned Module: Week. For each thread,  students must support their assertions with at least 3  scholarly citations in APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least 1  scholarly citation in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include relevant scholarly references and one scriptural reference.

Literature Review Assignments (2)

The student will critically review 8–11 scholarly (peer reviewed preferred) articles in a minimum of a 5–7 pages. The student should pay particular attention to the identification of the premise and supporting points of the articles, a synthesis of the articles, and a critical evaluation of the premise(s) and supporting points of the articles. The paper must follow current APA guidelines. The page count does not include the title page, abstract, reference section, or any extra material. See the assignment instructions and grading rubric for additional instructions and guidance. The student should follow the article focus prompts in the Literature Review: Criminal Justice Leadership Assignment Instructions and the Literature Review: Servant Leadership Assignment Instructions closely.

The student will analyze a present organization where sound leadership principles are necessary for the organization to operate ethically and most effectively. While this organization may be any criminal justice organization, the student should select an organization that they are able to research to gain a deeper understanding of the functions of its management and its management philosophies. To gain insight into the leadership practices of this organization, the student may conduct Internet research on the organization or interviews of higher-level management. Analyze the organization for evidences of the path-goal theory and assess how the path-goal theory can be used to strengthen the organization from a management perspective. In addition, analyze the organization for evidences of Kouzes and Posner's Steps One and Two and discuss how they are implemented. If evidence does not exist, then the student will explain how Steps One and Two can be used to improve the organization and its leadership effectiveness. Also, the student will examine the organization for evidences of LMX. Be sure to assess how the “Inspire a Shared Vision” or the “Model the Way” concepts exist within the organization through the lens of a Christian Worldview. This assignment is required to be a minimum of 6 pages and should include scholarly research from the past five years. Current APA guidelines are required. See the Organizational Analysis Assignment Instructions and Organizational Analysis Assignment Grading Rubric.

The student will write a paper on the similarities in delegation within an organization compared to Kouzes and Posner’s thoughts on “Enable Others to Act.” Apply the leadership philosophies of “Fostering Cooperation” and “Strengthening Others” to the management styles that exist within the organization that you selected. The student will identify and explain how the organization effectively creates a collaborative criminal justice work environment through effective leadership. Apply “Enabling Others to Act, Fostering Cooperation, and Strengthening Others” through a Christian Worldview lens to explain how it could improve the leadership within the organization.

This assignment is required to be a minimum of 5 pages and should include scholarly research from the past five years. The paper must follow current APA guidelines. The page count does not include the title page, abstract, reference section, or any extra material.

See specific detail in the Subordinate Support Assignment Instructions and Subordinate Support Assignment Grading Rubric.

Research Paper Assignment

The student will use a provided case study (or the actual law enforcement agency where he/she works with permission from the instructor) to produce a leadership training program. The 15–18-page paper will use current APA formatting (title page, abstract, main body, reference section) and must have 15–20 recent relevant scholarly sources. The paper shall have a Christian Worldview section with at least 1 reference to the Holy Bible. See specific details in the Research Paper Assignment Instructions and Research Paper Grading Rubric.

Executive Summary Exercise Assignment

The student will write a 1-page Executive Summary Exercise Assignment. This summary shall be addressed to the Chief of Soma-Pseudo Police Department (or to the actual department head if the student is writing about the agency where he/she works). The Executive Summary Exercise Assignment is based upon the Research Paper Assignment in this course. The focus of this paper is to provide a decision-maker with a brief summary of the main/extended proposal (the Research Paper Assignment focuses on a leadership training program in this instance) so that the decision-maker can make an informed decision. See the Executive Summary Exercise Assignment Instructions and the Executive Summary Exercise Grading Rubric.

PowerPoint Teaching Lesson Assignment

The student will prepare a 12–15-slide PowerPoint presentation based upon the notion of culture and leadership introduced in the Northouse text. Each main slide must have 100–150 words of speaker notes. The presentation will have a title slide, introduction slide, 12–15 main body slides, and appropriate reference slides. It is expected that a minimum of 5 scholarly sources shall be used in creating the slides. See the PowerPoint Teaching Lesson Assignment Instructions and the PowerPoint Teaching Lesson Grading Rubric.