Criminology Electives

(Go to Class Search for specific course offerings each semester and prerequisites):

CRLS 2100. Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice
Definitions of delinquent behavior. Nature, etiology, and extent of juvenile delinquency; contributing social problems; adolescence as a subculture. The adjudication process for juveniles: philosophy, development, and organization. Diversion, detention, and treatment of the juvenile offender.

CRLS 2110.  Media and Violence

Historical overview of how urban crime has been portrayed in the media.  Analysis of contemporary media presentations of urban crime, criminals, and the criminal justice system (including police, courts, and the correctional system).  Social scientific theory and analysis regarding media portrayals of crime, criminals and the criminal justice system.

CRLS 2200. White Collar Crime

Survey of current theoretical, research and public policy issues regarding white-collar crime.  Definitions and typologies of various types of white collar crimes and activities.  The nature, extent, and consequences of white-collar crime in the U.S.  Assessment of strategies for combating white-collar crime as well as prospects of alternatives systems of control, such as civil litigation.

CRLS 2300.  Police and Society

Social and historical origins of the police; police organization; police culture, roles and careers; police in the legal system, police discretion in practice, police and the community.

CRLS 2350.  Police Organization and Management

Organization and administration of police agencies. Principles of planning, personnel management, line operations, staff and auxiliary services. Organizational models and leadership styles. Internal control and policy formation. Evaluation of effectiveness.

CRLS 2400.  Carceral Systems

Examination of current carceral realities in the criminal justice system including formal institutions, operations, and economies of punitive structures and practices. Analysis of relevant theories, ideologies and policies.

CRLS 2500.  Criminal Court Process

Analysis of the criminal court process from its initial stages through post-conviction review. Topics include court structure, the legal actors of the court process, prosecutorial and defence decision-making, bail setting, plea bargaining, trial operations, and the organization and management of judicial and prosecutorial discretion. 

CRLS 2540.  Surveillance, Law and Society

When and why are we surveilled? Who benefits and who is harmed? What laws protect our privacy?  Drawing on social science research, case law, journalism and digital media, students will critically evaluate the socio-legal use and consequences of surveillance technologies.  Emphasis on collaborative learning and reflection.  No prior knowledge of field is assumed.

CRLS 2800. Criminal Investigation
Fundamental principles and procedures of criminal investigation. Crime scene search and recording. Collection and preservation of physical evidence. Obtaining testimonial evidence.

CRLS 3120. Comparative Justice Systems
The nature and character of police, prosecutorial, court, and correctional activity and operations in world legal systems. An examination of common law, civil law, socialist, and Islamic systems of law and social control.

CRLS 3130. Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice
Examination of the roles of women in the criminal justice system. Critical analysis of the relationship of women as offenders, as victims, and as agents of social control. Review of relevant theories and practices and both historical and contemporary issues

CRLS 3140. Race, Crime, and Punishment
Focus on the impact of race in the American Criminal Justice System with an emphasis on the social context of urban inequality.  Examines different paradigms of race, the link between inequality and violence, the historical and contemporary importance of race in the law, and how discrimination shapes the administration of justice.  

CRLS 3150.  Reentry and Life after Incarceration

Discusses the reentry process as a topic of sociological and criminological examination; investigates the empirical realities of reentry challenges; identifies the most common factors associated with success and failure; reviews the theoretical work in this area; and explores questions of transformation and change, paying close attention to the voice(s) of those individuals that have experienced reentry. 

CRLS 3170. Policy and Practice for Children Impacted by Parental Incarceration
Increase understanding of the experiences and issues faced by children with incarcerated parents, focusing on racial, ethnic and socioeconomically marginalized and disenfranchised populations.  Evaluate appropriate evidence-based practices, strategies and policies.  Identify and evaluate evidence-based practices and policies that positively impact children with incarcerated parents.  Develop legislative and advocacy strategies to promote these practices and policy change.  Emphasis on collaborative learning.

CRLS 3570. Drug Crime and Policy in America
Presents a problem-oriented approach to understanding the effects of illegal drugs and drug trafficking on individuals and communities. Explores drug treatment and policies aimed at controlling drug use. Considers the effects of current enforcement strategies on drug use and drug markets and, ultimately, on American society.

CRLS 3600. Victimology
Examination of the roles and functions of the victim within the civil and criminal justice systems. An investigation into victim attitudes, beliefs, problems, and needs; theories of victimization; experiences of victims within the legal system; victim assistance programs; and public policy and victimology.

CRLS 3620.  Criminal Violence in America

Analysis of violent crime in American society and the ways in which the criminal justice system responds to it.  Examination of the causes of violent crime, its prevention, treatment and public policy ramifications.  Historical and contemporary understanding of the significance of violence in American culture.

CRLS 3640. Domestic Violence in the United States
Focuses on the ways in which race and ethnicity shape definitions of and experiences with domestic violence and how different cultural groups interact with community and legal resources designed to assist victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. Examines the implications this has for policy, practice and justice in society.

CRLS 3660. Sex Offenses and Offenders
Offers overview and analysis of sexual offenses in the United States, including socio-legal, public and political approaches. Interpersonal, situational and institutional factors affect how we think about sexual violence and respond to it within systems of law, justice, health and social services. Types of violence and the impact on sex offenders, families, communities and victims/survivors are addressed.

CRLS 3680.  Family Violence and Public Intervention

Analysis of maltreatment of children, youth, spouses, and seniors within the family. Examination of causes and intervention methods emphasizing the response of actors and government agencies.

 CRLS 3700. Evidence

Basic principles of the law of evidence. Presentation of oral and demonstrative evidence in the trial process. The quantum of proof in criminal proceedings.

CRLS 3986. Internship and Seminar in Criminology and Law Studies

Field experience in a community social service agency for the purpose of furthering the student's integration of theory and practice in a professional setting. Placement is for a minimum of 140 hours per semester under the supervision of agency personnel, and includes a weekly seminar with the internship coordinator. S/U grade assessment. Limited enrollment.

CRLS 4000. Criminological Theory
Analysis of the nature and consequences of delinquency and crime. Classical and contemporary examinations of criminal behavior. The effects of social interaction, social class, social organization, small groups, and other variables on crime patterns and efforts to cope with crime. Relationship of criminological theory to social policy issues.

CRLS 4100. The Death Penalty in Sociolegal Context
Critical exploration of the philosophical, historical, and procedural issues that have attended the administration of judicial killings in the United States.  Attention to principles of capital sentencing jurisprudence in comparison with empirical analysis from various sources (social scientists, legal scholars, journalists, practitioners).

CRLS 4180.  Empathy, Crime and Justice

Social justice approach to the study of empathy as it relates to crime and justice; explore and cultivate various modes of empathetic knowing, specifically as these relate to criminal defendants, victims of crime, and various actors in the criminal justice system.

CRLS 4300. Transformative Justice

Transformative justice as a political framework for responding to violence, harm and abuse and aims to transform the conditions that enabled that harm. Addresses the foundations of transformative justice through a lens of peacemaking and nonviolence. Using intersectional theories and analyses of violence and accountability, considers abolition as a visionary process of dismantling carceral systems and building structures and relationships to replace it. 

CRLS 4350.  Neighborhoods and Crime

Surveys theoretical and empirical literature on the role that neighborhood characteristics play in crime, and to examine the utility of crime prevention strategies for reducing neighborhood crime rates.  Also works on developing the skills necessary to investigate Milwaukee neighborhood crime patterns and to create and deliver professional presentations and technical reports.

CRLS 4360.  Crime Mapping

A technological introduction to the basic functionality of ESRI's ArcGIS for mapping and analyzing crime data.  Students learn skills to create crime maps and analyze crime patterns and develop a solid base upon which to build further expertise in geographic information system (GIS) software and spatial analysis.  

CRLS 4400.  Criminal Law and Procedure

Studies criminal substantive law; constitutional limits and principles of criminal law and liability; defenses to criminal liability; definitions and classification; criminal procedure of crimes; constitutional limits and protections of criminal procedure. 

CRLS 4700. Ethics in Criminal Justice
An introduction to prevailing ethical controversies confronting the process and agencies of contemporary criminal justice. Special attention given to concrete ethical issues and dilemmas, which are encountered regularly by participants in the major components of the criminal justice system: police, courts, and corrections.

CRLS 4931.  Topics in Criminology and Law Studies

Lectures and discussions in an area which, because of its topicality, is not the subject of a regular course.  The special topics will be designated in the Schedule of Classes.

CRLS 4986.  Advanced Internship and Seminar in Criminology and Law Studies

Continuation of the internship experience (CRLS 3986).  Placement is for a minimu of 140 hours per term of supervised practice at the same agency as the previous term and includes a weekly seminar with the internship coordinator.  Credits earned cannot be counted toward the major.  S/U grade assessment.  Limited enrollment.  

CRLS 4995.  Independent Study in Criminology and Law Studies

Faculty-supervised, independent study/research of a specific area or topic in Criminology and Law Studies.  

 

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