Criminal Justice 650

CRJU 650
Criminal Justice Ethics

1.     Catalog Entry
CRJU 650
Criminal Justice Ethics
Three credit hours (3)

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Theories and practices in the areas of legality, morality, values and ethics within the criminal justice system.


2.     Detailed Description of Course
I. Overview of Ethics & Morality
    A. Define Ethics
    B. Define Morality
    C. Discuss Ethics from a Historical Perspective
    D. Discuss Modern Ethics
    E. Discuss CRJU Ethics

II. Discussion of Ethical Theories, Concepts and Issues
    A. Stocism
    B. Hedonism
    C. Virtues
    D. Religion
    E. Naturalism
    F. Utilitarianism
    G. Duty & Reason
    H. Social Justice

III. Discussion of Behavior
    A. Determining Moral behavior
    B. Developing Moral behavior
    C. Behavior and the law
        1. Lying
        2. Racial Prejudice
        3. Racial Discrimination
        4. Egoism and abuse of authority

IV. Justice
    A. Define Justice
    B. Explore the concept of Justice
    C. Apply Justice to “Criminal Justice”

V. CRJU Ethics
    A. Ethics and the Police
    B. Ethics and Legal Professionals
    C. Ethics of Prosecution
    D. Ethics and Corrections
    E. Ethics of Probation and Parole

VI. Ethics Today
    A. Ethics and CRJU policy
        1. Ethics and the Death Penalty
    B. Restoring Ethics


3.    Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
•    Class discussion
•    Class debate
•    Group exercises
•    Written exercises
•    Group presentations
•    Student presentations
•    Role playing
•    Lecture
•    Audio-Visual Resources


4.     Goals and Objectives of the Course
•    Discern between Ethics and Morality
•    Understand the many dynamics of Morality
•    Understand various ethical systems
•    Establish a conceptual understanding of Justice
•    Discuss ethics in Law Enforcement
•    Discuss ethics in Courts
•    Discuss ethics in Corrections
•    Discuss ethics as it relates to Criminal Justice Policy
•    Discuss moral/ethical considerations of the death penalty


5.    Other Course Information
None

6.     Review and Approval
February 7, 2002