Course Descriptions

This course is a sociological analysis of the nature and extent of criminal behavior in the United States and around the world. It reviews the past and current theories that attempt to explain the causes of criminal behavior and examines society’s response to crime, the criminal justice system and its various components.

Victimology provides a comprehensive overview of the process of victimization throughout our society. This course will also discuss the history of victimization; theories of victimization; and various categories of victimization, stratification, and victim typologies. Specific topics will include the scope of victimization, restorative justice, victims’ rights, child abuse, elder abuse, international sex trafficking, and domestic violence.

This course presents an analysis of abuse and exploitation and how it relates to children and focuses on the various types of exploitation, abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, and neglect), as well as human trafficking. Additionally, this course will examine the physical and emotional indicators of child abuse, long term effects of victimization, as well as the unique challenges of investigating child abuse, and the criminal justice response.

This course focuses on the application of investigative and analytical skills for the purpose of resolving financial issues in a manner that meets standards required by courts of law. Coursework covers the accounting and legal foundations of forensic accounting, forensic accounting tools and standards, and common applications of forensic accounting including fraud investigation, organized crime, and terrorism.

This course introduces the student to the forensic science profession. Course topics include crime scene investigation, techniques used for the identification and analysis of body fluids, hair, glass, fibers, latent fingerprints, firearms, and narcotics. Laboratory experiments emphasize the collection/preservation of evidence, serology, wet chemical techniques, microscopy, and the use of spectroscopic instrumentation.

This course examines the application of psychological principles, research, and knowledge to legal issues dealing broadly with the interface between psychology and the law. As such, the course will critically investigate the wide range of contemporary applications of psychology to a variety of topics including understanding the origins and treatments of criminally deviant behavior, psychological autopsies, criminal profiling, jury selection, eye witness testimony, repressed memory, persuasive communication in the courtroom, child abuse investigation, competence determination, and the insanity defense.