Radford University Registrar

Criminal Justice 430
COMPARATIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS

  1. CATALOG ENTRY

CRJU 430. Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
Three hours lecture(3).

Pre-or-Corequisites: CRJU 100 or CRJU 150, and CRJU 365

This course examines the major criminal justice systems of the world, detailing history, culture, policy, and operation of police, corrections, and judiciary.

  1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CONTENT OF THE COURSE

This course assumes an introductory course in criminal justice has been completed by each student and an adequate number of courses in the major to allow comparisons and contrasts with other nations. The initial focus is on a descriptive analysis of several major countries and their criminal justice mechanisms. Gradually, this focus shifts to comparison rather than description, and a classification scheme develops that comprises or provides for all systems.

  1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CONDUCT OF THE COURSE

The course will be conducted as a lecture-discussion type course using a major comparative criminal justice textbook. Additional readings will be selected from other texts, journals and reference materials.

  1. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to:

1. Identify and describe the primary components of the criminal justice systems of several of the major nations of the world.
2. Describe a classification scheme for the comparative analysis of the dominant and significant criminal justice schemes.
3. Identify and analyze in considerable detail the criminal justice of one country, about which the student has conducted considerable independent research under the supervision of the course instructor.

  1. ASSESSMENT MEASURES

Knowledge and understanding of the material covered in this course, as well as the ability to apply it to real life situations, may be measured using an array of assessment tools that can include tests, formal papers, informal writing assignments, and formal oral presentations. Instructors of this course can choose among these assessment tools and may develop others if they deem it appropriate.

  1. OTHER COURSE INFORMATION

Guests may be used depending on availability and the interests of the class.

  1. REVIEW AND APPROVAL

DATE ACTION APPROVED BY
July 2005, Reviewed by Dr. Isaac Van Patten, Department Chair