North American Criminal Justice System

Crime, justice, and public safety are issues of paramount concern to all citizens. The North American Criminal Justice System course provides an overview of these issues. It is a foundational/required course for students majoring in criminal justice, but also appropriate for students considering careers in other fields, or students desiring to become informed citizens. The course provides an introduction to components of the criminal justice system—police, courts, corrections—as they function in the U.S. The course also provides an introduction to substantive and procedural laws, the relationship between criminal law and the constitution, and an introduction to criminological theories and the relationship between theory and social policy.