The Online Criminal Justice Bachelors of Science is a fully-online bachelors degree program for students who have completed AA or AS degree in Criminal Justice. Courses are all asynchronous on Blackboard, except for the transfer seminar which meets once per week via zoom. Students take 12 credits (4 classes) fall and spring, and 6 credits (2 classes) in the summer.
*This program is only available to students that have graduated from CJA*
The Criminal Justice Bachelor of Science (Institutional Theory and Practice) provides a comprehensive understanding of the components of the American criminal justice system. It is a dynamic major that responds to issues of diversity as well as innovations and changes in the technological arenas, which inform criminal justice professionals. The Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice focuses on the institutions of criminal justice, particularly the police, courts, and corrections.
Courses
Course Name
CJBS online student success workshop UGR 080
Course Description
This workshop provides students with academic, professional development, and community building opportunities to support successful student experiences in undergraduate online degree programs. Students participate in weekly workshops to enhance their time management, academic reading and writing, information literacy and critical thinking skills, and to plan for career or graduate education goals. Experts in each of these topics lead weekly live workshops online.
Course Name
Research Methods and Statistics for Criminal Justice CJBS 250
Course Description
This course will present the research process, types of studies, appropriate descriptive statistical techniques and guidelines for formulating research questions and testable hypotheses. It will also review how to decide on an appropriate population for study, how variables are constructed, and how data are collected and organized, and discuss sampling methods and sample size. A variety of research methods will be covered, including experimental, quasi-experimental and survey methods, as well as other forms of data collection and the use of existing databases. Students will also be exposed to qualitative methodologies including ethnography, observation, content-analysis, and interviewing techniques.
Course Name
Transfer Seminar Landmark Supreme Court Cases HUM 300 (choose 1)
Course Description
Citizenship, Rights and Expression: This course will explore the concepts of citizenship, civil rights and human rights by way of a focal U.S. Supreme Court case and other related cases. Using the lens of a legal and socio-cultural framework, students will analyze how these concepts and cases are confronted in works of modern or contemporary art.
Stop, Question, Frisk and the Law: Terry v. Ohio in Cultural and Historical Perspectives :
This course explores through historical and cultural perspectives the landmark Supreme Court case Terry V. Ohio, which confirmed that it is not unconstitutional for police to "stop and frisk" a person they reasonably suspect to be involved in a crime. The class will pay particular attention to the decision’s shifting consequences for America’s criminal justice system across six decades. The course will culminate in a close examination of the competing statistical claims made in recent challenges to the NYPD’s use of stop-question-frisk in New York City. Along the way, students will refine their legal research and workplace writing skills. This class prepares students, as future criminal justice professionals, to analyze and contextualize struggles for justice through legal studies and the humanities.
The Criminalization of Love and Marriage: Loving v. Virginia:
he course will examine how the struggles over the relationship between intimacy, race, and the law have shaped society and culture in the United States, focusing on Virginia’s 1924 criminalization of interracial marriage, the overturning of this law by the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, and the resonance of this case in ongoing debates about racial equity. Students will learn the social, economic, and historical contexts surrounding the law’s regulation of marriage and other forms of intimacy.
Stop, Question, Frisk and the Law: Terry v. Ohio in Cultural and Historical Perspectives :
This course explores through historical and cultural perspectives the landmark Supreme Court case Terry V. Ohio, which confirmed that it is not unconstitutional for police to "stop and frisk" a person they reasonably suspect to be involved in a crime. The class will pay particular attention to the decision’s shifting consequences for America’s criminal justice system across six decades. The course will culminate in a close examination of the competing statistical claims made in recent challenges to the NYPD’s use of stop-question-frisk in New York City. Along the way, students will refine their legal research and workplace writing skills. This class prepares students, as future criminal justice professionals, to analyze and contextualize struggles for justice through legal studies and the humanities.
The Criminalization of Love and Marriage: Loving v. Virginia:
he course will examine how the struggles over the relationship between intimacy, race, and the law have shaped society and culture in the United States, focusing on Virginia’s 1924 criminalization of interracial marriage, the overturning of this law by the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, and the resonance of this case in ongoing debates about racial equity. Students will learn the social, economic, and historical contexts surrounding the law’s regulation of marriage and other forms of intimacy.
Course Name
Diversity and Criminal Justice (Select one course)
Course Description
The Law and Politics of Race Relations LAW 313
Analysis of the politics of race and racism in the United States through the examination of major court decisions and of legislations affecting minority groups. Treatment of racial minority groups in the criminal and civil justice systems, and by courts, police and prisons will be included.
Police and Diversity PSC 202
This course will explore the pervasive influence of culture, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and various disabilities on daily encounters, contacts and interaction between police officers and civilian employees of police organizations, and other community members. The emphasized focus is on the cross - cultural contact, ethno- cultural diversity, the need for awareness and understanding of cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and an array of disabilities and other differences. The need to understand these differences is rooted in the concept of procedural justice and respect for those of different backgrounds that influences the decision making processes regarding deployment and other operational considerations.
Women in Policing PSC 235
An analysis of the social and political forces that guided the evolution of women's role in policing from ancillary specialist to integrated member of the police establishment. Role enhancement from "Police Matron" to "Policewoman" to "Police Officer" is studied against the backdrop of women's reform movements. Title VII Equal Opportunity Act of 1972 and Supreme Court rulings abolishing barriers to women in policing are examined. Study of women police in other countries in state and federal agencies. Topics include female officers' occupational role conflicts; performance on patrol; coping with physical and psychological stressors - male peer prejudice jealous mates favoritism sexual harassment; women's special attributes in policing; female detectives; the future including the role of women in key policy-making decisions.
Analysis of the politics of race and racism in the United States through the examination of major court decisions and of legislations affecting minority groups. Treatment of racial minority groups in the criminal and civil justice systems, and by courts, police and prisons will be included.
Police and Diversity PSC 202
This course will explore the pervasive influence of culture, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and various disabilities on daily encounters, contacts and interaction between police officers and civilian employees of police organizations, and other community members. The emphasized focus is on the cross - cultural contact, ethno- cultural diversity, the need for awareness and understanding of cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and an array of disabilities and other differences. The need to understand these differences is rooted in the concept of procedural justice and respect for those of different backgrounds that influences the decision making processes regarding deployment and other operational considerations.
Women in Policing PSC 235
An analysis of the social and political forces that guided the evolution of women's role in policing from ancillary specialist to integrated member of the police establishment. Role enhancement from "Police Matron" to "Policewoman" to "Police Officer" is studied against the backdrop of women's reform movements. Title VII Equal Opportunity Act of 1972 and Supreme Court rulings abolishing barriers to women in policing are examined. Study of women police in other countries in state and federal agencies. Topics include female officers' occupational role conflicts; performance on patrol; coping with physical and psychological stressors - male peer prejudice jealous mates favoritism sexual harassment; women's special attributes in policing; female detectives; the future including the role of women in key policy-making decisions.
Course Name
Policing and Law (Select one course)
Course Description
Category A Policing
Police Work with Juveniles PSC 306
The philosophy and methods of police programs for prevention and control of juvenile delinquency and youth crime. Emphasis on specific techniques and a consideration of the issues and problems to be resolved by police.
Police Ethics PSC 321
An identification and analysis of the diverse ethical issues encountered in the police service. Traditional ethical theories will be examined and will be applied to such topics as discretion, deadly physical force, misconduct, authority and responsibility, affirmative action, civil disobedience, undercover operations and privacy.
Police Use of Force: Legal, Theoretical and Practical Implications PSC 324
This course offers a deep examination of police use of force and its implications for American police and the communities they serve from a current and historical context. Permissible limits of police use force are the subject of constant debate, interpretation and policy analysis. Topics include escalation, de-escalation and assessment period; problems arising between citizens and police resulting from use of force; social changes that impact police legitimacy; challenges and solutions for contemporary use of force; reasonableness; excessive force; proportionality and necessity.
Category B Law and Courts
Jurisprudence LAW 301
This course considers the study of the theory and philosophy of law and the relationship between law and society. Issues to which special attention will be paid include the problem of disobedience, the nature of the judicial process, and the relations between law and personal morality. Current controversies about civil disobedience, the role of courts, non-victim crimes and the relationship of the police to the rule of law will be explored.
Category C Corrections
Race Class and Gender in a Correctional Context COR 320
Examination of the role of race, class and gender within the institutional correctional community. Analysis of the impact upon clients, staff and administration through examination of current correctional institutions and case studies by selected corrections experts.
Police Work with Juveniles PSC 306
The philosophy and methods of police programs for prevention and control of juvenile delinquency and youth crime. Emphasis on specific techniques and a consideration of the issues and problems to be resolved by police.
Police Ethics PSC 321
An identification and analysis of the diverse ethical issues encountered in the police service. Traditional ethical theories will be examined and will be applied to such topics as discretion, deadly physical force, misconduct, authority and responsibility, affirmative action, civil disobedience, undercover operations and privacy.
Police Use of Force: Legal, Theoretical and Practical Implications PSC 324
This course offers a deep examination of police use of force and its implications for American police and the communities they serve from a current and historical context. Permissible limits of police use force are the subject of constant debate, interpretation and policy analysis. Topics include escalation, de-escalation and assessment period; problems arising between citizens and police resulting from use of force; social changes that impact police legitimacy; challenges and solutions for contemporary use of force; reasonableness; excessive force; proportionality and necessity.
Category B Law and Courts
Jurisprudence LAW 301
This course considers the study of the theory and philosophy of law and the relationship between law and society. Issues to which special attention will be paid include the problem of disobedience, the nature of the judicial process, and the relations between law and personal morality. Current controversies about civil disobedience, the role of courts, non-victim crimes and the relationship of the police to the rule of law will be explored.
Category C Corrections
Race Class and Gender in a Correctional Context COR 320
Examination of the role of race, class and gender within the institutional correctional community. Analysis of the impact upon clients, staff and administration through examination of current correctional institutions and case studies by selected corrections experts.
As a transfer student, you can make one-on-one appointments with any advisor in the Academic Advisement Center using Navigate. Advisors can see what CJBS major requirements you’ve completed and which ones you still need, while also confirming whether you need to fulfill additional general requirements.
In the unlikely case that you need further advising for complex major-related questions or issues, the advisor will refer you to Wanda Owens (reachable at CJBS@jjay.cuny.edu).
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