The Criminal Justice Administration Program at The University of Findlay is designed to prepare you for rewarding and fulfilling careers in the criminal justice profession. The strength of our program is its comprehensive and interdisciplinary nature allowing you to choose the career path you desire.
Specifically, the criminal justice program will prepare you for careers in many diverse areas including law enforcement, corrections, courts, and juvenile justice. Special certification areas are also available in: national security policy/terrorism, disaster management, information assurance, legal/courts, rehabilitation/counseling, and criminal justice administration. Additionally, a separate major exists for those with an interest in forensic science. For your preview, sample course descriptions for the criminal justice program are provided below.
CJAD 101 Introduction to Criminal Justice
This course provides an overview and introduction to the world of criminal justice. Through this course, you will learn about the functions and interconnectedness of the major components of the criminal justice system such as law enforcement, courts, and corrections. You will explore significant policies like the War on Drugs and their impact on the system and its functioning. You will be exposed to intriguing explanations of criminal behavior and you will also learn about the diverse career opportunities available in the criminal justice profession.
CJAD 230 Police
This course is an overview of police functions and responsibilities at the local, state, and federal levels. Police operations are examined relative to effectiveness in crime control, delivery of services, and order maintenance. Topics will include major developments and significant issues such as diversity, profiling; rights and responsibilities of the uniformed officer; police professionalism; unionism; ethics; and corruption. Additional emphases include community relations, fitness issues, patrol/manpower distribution theories, and police subculture as a distinct value system.
CJAD 232 Corrections
This course explores the mysterious world of institutional corrections. Through this course, you will gain an understanding of the operations and culture of American prisons and jails. You will learn about the role of corrections officers, life as an inmate, and the challenges faced by administrators of correctional institutions and jails. Significant issues such as overcrowding, racial tensions, gang violence, AIDS, and riots are also addressed. In addition to institutional corrections, community-based sanctions are also covered giving you a holistic view of the corrections profession.
POLS 365 Judicial Process
This course provides you with a general overview of the American Court System. Specifically, you will survey the nature, function, and characteristic procedures of Anglo-American course of law. Development and types of law, jurisprudence, judicial selection, structure, and decision-making processes of the courts are discussed. The dynamics and operation of the American court system are analyzed within a historical and contemporary context.
CJAD 301 Forensic Science
This course explores the fascinating dimensions of forensic science and its role in solving crimes. Within this course you will be instructed in the distinctions and interconnectedness between traditional criminal investigation and forensic science. Basic theories of physical evidence processing, identification, collection, chain custody, fingerprints, trace materials, toxicology, blood, semen, photography, DNA, and other types of physical evidence issues will be discussed. A separate major is available for those whose career aspirations include forensic science.
This course explores the causes and correlates of criminal behavior. Drawing upon a rich history of interdisciplinary knowledge, you will be exposed to cutting edge theories explaining why individuals commit crime. Within this framework, you will study property crime, violent crime, white-collar crime, and technology-based offenses. Measurement of crime, theory development, the creation of legal categories, and significant policy issues are also explored.
SOCI 225 Juvenile Delinquency
This course provides an introduction to the characteristics, causes, and correlates of juvenile delinquency in America. Essentially, this course provides you with a rich understanding of the major risk factors and theories utilized in the prediction and explanation of delinquent behavior. Additionally, this course challenges you to think critically about the juvenile justice system’s response to delinquency and about critical issues such as the juvenile death penalty and waivers to adult court.
POLS 404 Politics of Terrorism
Low-intensity conflict is a significant characteristic of the contemporary international system. In the post-World War II period, scholars have accorded renewed attention to the study of terrorism as one form of this type of conflict. This course will provide you with an overview of the academic literature that addresses the following aspects of political terrorism: history, causes, theories, strategies and tactics, methods of prevention, and the future of the phenomenon.
