Graduate Certificate in
Criminal Justice

This non-credit orientation is a foundation-building experience that introduces and refreshes the skills necessary for success in your Graduate Certificate Program. You'll learn how to navigate ProQuest, Ashworth College's online library, and review the distinguishing characteristics of academic journals and other publications. Internet research skills are polished enabling you to identify credible and unbiased Web sites for your research. Emphasis is placed on submission requirements, project structures, and writing formats used throughout your coursework, and APA writing style. The final portion of this course provides you the opportunity to research and explore the various career fields in the world of Criminal Justice.

This course presents an advanced overview of the organization and operation of the criminal justice system in the United States. The purpose and function of the system in apprehending offenders, the prosecution of offenders, and the punishment of offenders is reviewed. Other important criminal justice issues, such as theories of criminal behavior, measurement of crime and assessment of crime statistics, trends in criminal behavior, management of criminal behavior in the United States, and special topics such as juvenile delinquency, comparative criminology, technology and crime, and terrorism are also covered.
Credit Hours: 3

This course examines policy making in the context of the criminal justice system. The relationship among law, politics, and policy in determining the degree and allocation of resources toward problem resolution is studied. The functioning of the subunits of the criminal justice system, i.e., police, courts, and corrections, is assessed, both within the criminal justice system and their respective milieus. Lingering and evolving issues, such as racism and terrorism, and the best approaches for addressing them are also explored.
Credit Hours: 3

Criminology is a study in the causation of criminal behavior. The basic question addressed is "What causes criminality?" The history of criminological thought is examined. Among the topics explored are various schools of thought about criminal behavior, the biological roots of criminal behavior, and the three main types of theories of criminal behavior. This course also addresses criminal statistics and the methods that criminologists use in conducting research. Discussions of crimes against the person, crimes against property, white-collar crimes, organized crimes, and drug crimes are included.
Credit Hours: 3

Terrorism has emerged as a major threat to America and its way of life. This course provides an overview of global terrorism in the 21st century and examines the difficulties associated with defining terrorism, understanding its causes, and developing appropriate models for intervention. Focus is on the problem terrorism creates for the law enforcement community. Among the topics addressed are: definitions, typologies, profiles, networking, types of terrorism, domestic and international intelligence, weapons of mass destruction, homeland security.
Credit Hours: 3

In this course, current critical issues in criminal law and procedure are addressed. Emphasis is placed on the significance of recent judicial decisions to criminal law and procedure. The principles of criminal law and procedure are examined, including the general principles of substantive criminal law, due process requirements, punishments, criminal responsibility, and the procedural requirements for judicial processing of criminal offenders.
Credit Hours: 3

This course introduces some of the basic ethical systems and their application to the criminal justice field. It commences with broad concepts, such as the most widely accepted schools of thought in the field of ethics. The focus then turns to the principle of retributive justice, the two standard justifications for law, and discussion of why moral people sometimes intentionally break the law. Specific ethics applications in the fields of law and criminal justice are presented, including the ethical considerations of the prosecutor, the judge, the defense attorney, and the law enforcement officer.
Credit Hours: 3

This course provides a theoretical and practical overview of management theories and their application to the workplace dynamics of individuals, teams, and intra- and inter-organizational relationships within the criminal justice system. Insight into the unique and difficult issues facing law enforcement leaders and the move from the traditional police department to “community policing” are presented.
Credit Hours: 3

Investigating Difference is an introduction to the broader field of comparative criminology. Comparative criminology seeks to expand our knowledge of crime and criminality by contrasting and comparing the theory and practice of criminology and criminal justice between various cultures and societies and among the various subgroups within societies. In any society, it is imperative to have a basic knowledge of how geography, population, and history interact with the cultural values held in that society and to understand how this combination affects behavior patterns in business, crime, leisure, politics, and other life activities of that society.
Credit Hours: 3