Criminal Justice

College of Arts and Sciences
Bloomington

Departmental E-mail
crimjust@indiana.edu

Departmental URL
www.indiana.edu/~crimjust

Graduate Faculty
Degrees Offered
Program Information
Special Departmental Requirements
Master of Arts Degree
Doctor of Philosophy Degree
Courses
Cross-Listed Courses1

Graduate Faculty

(An asterisk [*] denotes associate membership in University Graduate School faculty.)

Professors
Roger J. R. Levesque, Coramae Richey Mann (Emerita), Harold Pepinsky, Leon E. Pettiway, Hilliard Trubitt (Emeritus)

Associate Professors
Steven Chermak, Ellen Dwyer (History), Stephanie Kane, Mary Lee Luskin, William Oliver*, Philip Parnell (Anthropology), Dennis Rome, Steve Russell, Marla Sandys, Kip Schlegel, Arvind Verma

Assistant Professors
Veronica Herrera*, William Alex Pridemore, Jody L. Sundt

Graduate Advisor
Associate Professor Steven Chermak, Sycamore Hall 302, (812) 855-9325

Return to Top

Degrees Offered

Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy

Return to Top

Program Information

The department offers the opportunity for multidisciplinary graduate degrees in criminal justice that are designed for students coming from a variety of academic backgrounds. A degree in criminal justice may serve as a stepping stone to further graduate work (in the case of those awarded the Master of Arts degree) to law school, or to administrative, research, and management careers in the criminal justice system or the private sector. The faculty represents a diversity of approaches to criminal justice studies: anthropology, criminal justice, geography, history, law, political science, psychology, and sociology. Students may also study with faculty from other departments and schools who make up the university-wide criminal justice consortium.

Return to Top

Special Departmental Requirements

See also general University Graduate School requirements.

Return to Top

Master of Arts Degree

Admission Requirements
Applicants must submit the following: (1) an official undergraduate transcript; (2) a 300- to 500-word statement of academic and professional goals; (3) scores from the analytical, verbal, and quantitative sections of the GRE; (4) evidence of potential for success in graduate work, as attested by letters of recommendation from those familiar with the applicant's academic performance (two of the applicant's three letters must be from faculty members); (5) international TOEFL is required of all foreign students.

Course Requirements
A total of 36 credit hours, 15 of which must be taken in the Department of Criminal Justice. Required are P501, P502, P594, P595, and P610 or P670.

Thesis
Optional. Students may earn up to 6 credit hours for an M.A. thesis.

Return to Top

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Admission Requirements
Applicants must submit the following: (1) an official undergraduate transcript; (2) a 300- to 500-word statement of academic and professional goals; (3) scores from the analytical, verbal, and quantitative sections of the GRE; (4) evidence of potential for success in graduate work, as attested by letters of recommendation from those familiar with the applicant's academic performance (two of the applicant's three letters must be from faculty members); (5) international TOEFL is required of all foreign students.

Course Requirements
A total of 90 credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree, of which 12 credit hours are in core proseminars and another 12 credit hours in other required courses. Of hours needed for the degree, a student must complete 9 credit hours beyond the required core proseminar in each of two areas of specialization within the curriculum and complete a minor, consisting of 6 credit hours beyond the required proseminar in a third area of specialization. The minor may be selected from outside the Department of Criminal Justice. Students are required to complete courses in each of the four substantive tracks that the program is organized: P501, P502, P610, P670. All students are required to complete P594, P595, and P596. A research skill requirement may be satisfied by completing P599 or a research skills course approved by the Director of Graduate Affairs. A dissertation for up to 30 credit hours is required.

Foreign Language/Research Tool Requirement
One of the following: (1) reading proficiency in one of the languages from those approved by the Department of Criminal Justice or a language demonstrably useful in the student's research program; or (2) the research-tool requirement may be satisfied by either 3 credits of advanced research or statistics course work. Students may obtain a list of approved tool-skill courses from the department.

Qualifying Examination
All doctoral students are expected to demonstrate basic proficiency by passing written doctoral examinations in two of the following core areas: (1) nature of crime; (2) criminal justice systems and processes; (3) law and society; (4) cross-cultural studies..

Dissertation Proposal
Dissertation proposals must be submitted only after successfully completing the required qualifying Ph.D. examinations. An oral defense of the dissertation proposal is required.

Final Examination
Oral defense of the dissertation is required.

Ph.D. Minor in Criminal Justice
Students from other departments or schools who wish to minor in criminal justice should consult with the Director of Graduate Affairs, who will ordinarily serve as the minor advisor. The usual requirement for a minor is at least 12 graduate credit hours in criminal justice. P501 and P502 are required and the remaining 6 hours are elective credits in the department. A Declaration of Minor Form must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Affairs.

Return to Top

Courses

Courses in the 300s and 400s listed here are open to graduate students with the prior approval of the director of graduate affairs in criminal justice and the course instructor.

P411 Criminal Justice Management (3 cr.)

P482 The Family and Formal Control Systems (3 cr.)

P501 Proseminar: Criminal Justice I (3 cr.) A proseminar to provide an intensive introduction to the basic areas of criminal justice.

P502 Proseminar: Criminal Justice II (3 cr.) Theories of crime and delinquency.

P512 Corrections (3 cr.) Reviews historical and philosophical bases of correctional system and examines components of system (community corrections, jails, and prisons). Focuses on the structure and functions of the corrections system with particular attention to the role of broader social forces on the development and operation of the system.

P515 Police in Society (3 cr.) Covers the bases and impacts of recent changes in U.S. policing, particularly with respect to community-oriented policing. Changes are analyzed in terms of the organizational and political contexts in which they occur as well as from historical and cross-cultural perspectives.

P517 Juvenile Justice (3 cr.) Examines historical development of juvenile justice system, tradition of reform, underlying ideologies, and current debates.

P519 Probation and Parole (3 cr.) Primary emphasis on the development and evaluation of probation, parole, and other systems of community corrections. Examines the theoretical underpinnings of community programs for offenders, and analysis of recent research will be undertaken. The policy implications for this area will also be studied.

P520 Public Control of Deviant Behavior (3 cr.) Critical review of theoretical and empirical literature on selected topics in deviant behavior, including prostitution, child abuse, psychopathy, homosexuality, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism.

P594 Introduction to Research Methods (3 cr.) P: one semester of graduate-level statistics (S540 or equivalent). Research methodology in criminal justice. Research design, scientific methods, quantitative applications, ethical questions, and the role of the criminal justice researcher.

P595 Data Analysis in Criminal Justice I (3 cr.) Data analysis applied to criminal justice data, including measurement, tables, graphs, probability, nonparametric statics, matrix algebra, correlation and regression, and tests of significance.

P596 Data Analysis in Criminal Justice II (3 cr.) P: CJUS P595. Focus on the general linear model and multivariate statistical techniques such as logit, probit, and structural equation modeling.

P599 Research Practicum (1-6 cr.) Required course for Ph.D. students. Designed to provide guided experience in conducting research independently. The topic and scope of the student's effort must be approved in advance by the professor.

P600 Theories of Crime Causation (3 cr.) Examination of theories of crime and criminal behavior from three major perspectives: biology, psychology, and sociology. The goal of the seminar is twofold: (1) to understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing theories from these diverse perspectives, and (2) to suggest that theoretical explanations of crime must of necessity be multidimensional in order to encompass the complexity of the problem.

P602 Courts and Criminal Justice (3 cr.) Addresses the nature and operation of courts with respect to criminal cases: structure and administration of courts; recruitment and selection of major participants; and specific decisions in the processing of criminal cases, including the decision to charge, pretrial release, trials and plea bargains, and criminal appeals.

P610 Law and Society (3 cr.) Study of the interaction between social forces and legal processes, focusing on the question of what shapes the law. Subareas to be examined include the courts, sentencing, police, crime, deviance, and community-based justice. Emphasis on the links between crime-related behavior as defined by the law, its social and cultural environments, and the individual.

P619 Crime and Public Policy (3 cr.) Examines processes by which societies define crime and develop responses to crime. Particular attention is given to case studies of how particular policies were developed and implemented, and what effects these policies produced.

P622 Criminal Careers (3 cr.) A small number of career criminals commit the majority of serious crimes. Seminar explores the major personal and typological dimensions of such criminals by exposing the student to the commonalities among diverse forms of criminal activity and the implications for crime theory development and crime control policies.

P623 Violent Behavior (3 cr.) Critical analysis of current theory and research on violent behavior utilizing a multidisciplinary framework. Topics include concepts and methods in the study of violence; prediction of violence; family and sexual violence; institutional violence; drugs and violence; and prevention of violent behavior.

P625 Correlates of Crime (3 cr.) Examines the incidence and correlates (individual, community, and cultural) of crime and the varying methods of measuring crime. Implications for criminological theory and research are addressed.

P627 White-Collar Crime (3 cr.) Examines the data and research related to white-collar crime in an effort to understand issues of causation and social control of this particular form of crime. Places white-collar crime within the context of general theories of crime, and compares and contrasts the various legal mechanisms (civil administrative and criminal) available to control it.

P629 Victimization (3 cr.) Covers current theory, research and measurement issues pertaining to the nature, extent, causes, and effects of criminal victimization; evaluations of programs for crime victims; and political and ideological differences among varying views of victim rights.

P633 Dispute Settlement (3 cr.) Examines relationships between social and cultural contexts in the fields of crime and law. Focuses on factors that influence the development and use of dispute settlement processes, such as mediation and negotiation, and the evolution, development, and disintegration of legal and criminal justice systems.

P634 Sentencing Theory and Practice (3 cr.) Examines the theoretical and practical issues relating to the sentencing of criminals. In particular, focuses on the aims of punishment and the construction of sentencing models and alternatives designed to achieve these aims.

P637 Community, Crime, and Criminal Justice (3 cr.) Examines the role of community structure and function in the distribution of crime and the formal and informal response to crime.

P639 History of Criminal Justice in the U.S. (3 cr.) Examination of the development of the American criminal justice system, with particular attention to courts, prisons, and the police. Examines how definitions of deviance and criminality have changed over time and the ways class, gender, and race have shaped law and justice.

P670 Cross-Cultural Studies (3 cr.) Examines significance of cross-cultural research to criminology/criminal justice, research practices and problems, with emphasis on analysis of field experiences and findings.

P671 Comparative Justice Systems (3 cr.) Engages students in comparative issues and research to reveal political, historical, and cultural factors that have influenced criminal justice and law in the United States. Develops student abilities to conceptualize crime and law without using official legal concepts but for purposes of comparative social scientific research.

P672 Ideas About Justice (3 cr.) Explores a school or related schools of thought and practice about what "justice" means and requires. Special topics for the course may vary, focusing, for instance, on feminist justice, "just desserts" theory, restorative justice, retributive justice, or utilitarian justice.

P675 Women and Crime (3 cr.) Provides a flexible forum for the discussion of a previously neglected topic in criminology/criminal justice: women and crime. Includes discussion and debate on the nature and extent of women's criminality, processing of women through each step of the criminal justice system, and women working in criminal justice.

P680 Seminar: Issues in Criminal Justice (3 cr.) Selected topics in criminal justice that will vary from semester to semester. May be repeated for credit.

P682 Seminar on Law Enforcement and Minorities (3 cr.) Selected topics dealing with problems involving minorities and criminal justice system operations.

P694 Research in Criminal Justice (cr. arr.)* P: P594.

P751 Topical Research Seminar (3-12 cr.) Students are expected to demonstrate their skills in research design and data analysis on a topic agreed upon with the instructor. The instructor may encourage team research for appropriate designs and topics. Students are encouraged to develop topics related to dissertation research.

P794 M.A. Thesis (6 cr.)* P: P594.

P851 Reading in Criminal Justice (1-6 cr.)* Individualized readings on topics not covered in regular course offerings.

P855 Research in Criminal Justice (1-6 cr.)* P: graduate standing in criminal justice or consent of instructor. The student is expected to make substantial progress toward identification of an eventual dissertation project.

P859 Ph.D. Thesis (cr. arr., 30 cr. max.)*

Return to Top

Cross-Listed Courses1

Afro-American Studies
A669 Independent Project in Black Social Issues (3 cr.)

Anthropology
B370 Human Variation (3 cr.)
B600 Seminar in Bioanthropology (3 cr.)
E375 Mental Illness in Cross-Cultural Perspectives (3 cr.)
E380 Urban Anthropology (3 cr.)
E404 Field Methods in Ethnography (3 cr.)
E405 Principles of Social Organization (3 cr.)
E430 Kinship Organization (3 cr.)
E445 Medical Anthropology (3 cr.)
E451 Myth and Legend: Cultural Meanings and Interpretations (3 cr.)
E457 Ethnic Identity (3 cr.)
E480 Theory of Culture Change (3 cr.)
E500 Proseminar in Cultural and Social Anthropology (3 cr.)
E505 Social Organization and Process (3 cr.)
E600 Seminar in Cultural and Social Anthropology (3 cr.)
E606 Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology (3 cr.)
E620 Seminar on Cultural Ecology (3 cr.)
E681 Seminar in Urban Anthropology (3 cr.)
H505 History of Social Anthropology (3 cr.)
L500 Proseminar in Language and Culture (3 cr.)

Note: There are also a number of regional courses that might fit specific Ph.D. candidates, e.g., E510, Problems in African Ethnography and Ethnology (3 cr.).

Business
W516 Organizational Development and Change (3 cr.)
W601 Theoretical and Historical Foundations of Organization Theory (3 cr.)
W602 Seminar in Organizational Theory (3 cr.)
W603 Special Topics Seminar in Organizational Theory (3 cr.)
Z504 Organizational Behavior and Theory (3 cr.)
Z513 Administration of Personnel Systems (3 cr.)
Z514 Seminar in Industrial Relations (3 cr.)
Z517 Legal Issues in Human Resources (3 cr.)

Education
H551-H552 Comparative Education I-II (3-3 cr.)
H560 Education and Change in Societies (3 cr.)

Gender Studies
G601 Survey of Contemporary Research in Gender Studies: The Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 cr.)

Geography
G415 Advanced Urban Geography (3 cr.)
G440 Spatial Behavior (3 cr.)
G515 Mathematical Models in Geography (3 cr.)
G614 Seminar in Settlement and Urban Geography (3 cr.)

History
A325-A326 American Constitutional History I-II (3-3 cr.)
A347 American Urban History (3 cr.)

Journalism
J500 Introduction to Mass Media Research (3 cr.)
J514 International Communication (3 cr.)
J551 Seminar: Reporting the Law (3 cr.)
J572 The Press and the Constitution (3 cr.)
J614 Communication and National Development (3 cr.)
J651 Qualitative Methods in Mass Communication Research (3 cr.)
J672 Topics in Communication Law (3 cr.)
J673 Government and Mass Media (3 cr.)

Law
B601-B602 Criminal Process I-II (3-3 cr.)
B608 Family Law (3 cr.)
B659 American Legal History (3 cr.)
B701 Juvenile Justice System (3 cr.)

Linguistics
L619 Language and Society (3 cr.)

Philosophy
P526 Nineteenth-Century Philosophy (3 cr.)
P540 Contemporary Ethical Theories (3 cr.)
P543 Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy (3 cr.)
P545 Legal Philosophy (3 cr.)

Political Science
Y367 International Law (3 cr.)
Y388 Marxist Theory (3 cr.)
Y565 Public Administration, Law, and Policy: Approaches and Issues (3 cr.)
Y569 International Relations: Approaches and Issues (3 cr.)
Y575-Y576 Political Data Analysis I-II (3-3 cr.)
Y580 Research Methods in Political Science (3 cr.)
Y663 Political and Administrative Development (3 cr.)
Y665 Public Law and Policy (3 cr.)
Y673 Empirical Theory and Methodology (3 cr.)
Y685 Readings in Public Administration, Law, and Policy (1-4 cr.)
Y763 Political and Administrative Development (3 cr.)
Y765 Public Law and Policy (3 cr.)
Y771 Public Administration (3 cr.)

Psychology
P400 Psychological Measurement and Scaling (2 cr.)
P434 Community Psychology (3 cr.)
P460 Women: A Psychological Perspective (3 cr.)
P502 Developmental Psychology (3 cr.)
P511 Social Psychology (3 cr.)
P540 Principles of Psychological Assessment and Prediction (3 cr.)
P555 Computer Application in Psychological Research (3 cr.)
P615 Developmental Psychology I (3 cr.)
P619 Seminar in Personality (3 cr.)
P631 Intervention and Evaluation (3 cr.)
P632 Introduction to Clinical Interventions (3 cr.)
P634 Advanced Survey of Community Psychology (3 cr.)
P647 Decision Making under Uncertainty (3 cr.)
P648 Choice Behavior (3 cr.)
P721 Conflict, Aggression, and Altruism (3 cr.)
P734 Community Intervention (3 cr.)

Religious Studies
R661 Religion and Social Criticism (3 cr.)
R673 Religion and Violence (3 cr.)
R674 Ethics and Ethos (3 cr.)

Sociology
S324 Sociological Aspects of Mental Illness (3 cr.)
S325 Criminology (3 cr.)
S338 Sociology of Gender Roles (3 cr.)
S420 Topics in Deviance (3 cr.)
S427 Social Conflict (3 cr.)
S431 Topics in Social Psychology (3 cr.)
S432 Small Group Processes (3 cr.)
S438 Childhood Socialization (3 cr.)
S441 Topics in Social Theory (3 cr.)
S450 Topics in Methods and Measurement (3 cr.)
S510 Introduction to Social Organization (3 cr.)
S530 Introduction to Social Psychology (3 cr.)
S540 Sociological Theory (3 cr.)
S558 Advanced Research Techniques (3 cr.)
S610 Urban Sociology (3 cr.)
S612 Political Sociology (3 cr.)
S613 Complex Organizations (3 cr.)
S616 Sociology of Family Systems (3 cr.)
S617 Social Stratification (3 cr.)
S620 Deviance and Social Control (3 cr.)
S631 Intergroup Relations (3 cr.)
S632 Socialization (3 cr.)
S633 Social Interaction: Interpersonal Relations (3 cr.)
S640 Advanced Topics in Sociological Theory (3 cr.)
S647 Social Change (3 cr.)
S649 Theory Construction (3 cr.)
S657 Community Power, Politics, and Decision Making (3 cr.)
S658 Selected Problems in Cross-Cultural Sociological Research (3 cr.)

School of Public and Environmental Affairs
V502 Public Management (3 cr.)
V504 Public Organizations (3 cr.)
V508 Topics in Quantitative Analysis (3 cr.)
V512 Public Policy Process (1-3 cr.)
V516 Public Management Information Systems (3 cr.)
V517 Public Management Economics (3 cr.)
V540 Law and Public Affairs (3 cr.)
V550 Topics in Public Affairs (1-3 cr.)
V562 Public Program Evaluation (3 cr.)
V570 Public Sector Labor Relations (3 cr.)
V576 Comparative Approaches to Development (3 cr.)
V593 Analytic Methods for Planning and Policy Analysis (3 cr.)
V595 Managerial Decision Making (3 cr.)
V665 Seminar in Policy and Administration (3 cr.)
V670 Topics in Public Sector Labor Relations (3 cr.)

Return to Top

---

1 A student may choose from the following courses or other approved cross-listed courses to complete M.A. requirements