Texas State University-San Marcos Department of Criminal Justice CJ 7312: Criminal Justice Ethics, Administration, and Public Policy Spring 2015
Instructor Information: Joycelyn M. Pollock, Ph.D., J.D., 245-7706;
[email protected] Texas State University’s TRACS Platform: Syllabi and other material will be placed on TXST’s TRACS home page. Course Description & Objectives This course addresses the role of ethics in criminal justice organizations and policymaking. Topics include the moral philosophy of criminal justice, the role of natural and constitutional law, codes of ethics and ethical review systems, and ethical decision-making by criminal justice professionals with attention to training issues. The first portion of the course exposes the student to works by Aristotle, Kant, Bentham, Mills, Rawls and other well known philosophers. The second portion of the course examines ethical issues in the criminal justice system; specifically, current research questions and issues, including selection, training and prevention of corruption in criminal justice agencies. Students will: 1. Become familiar with ethics systems, such as utilitarianism, ethical formalism, the ethics of virtue, and egoism. 2. Become familiar with the writings of well known philosophers and their views on the ethical question: what is good? 3. Become familiar with the various issues and debates in criminal justice ethics. 4. Be able to utilize the above information to develop an undergraduate ethics course (or training course) and/or to develop a research project in the field of ethics. Required Texts Pollock, J. 2012. Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice, 8th Ed. Cengage. Balko, R. 2013. Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces. Public Affairs. ISBN: 1610392116 Various articles and videos will also be required as indicated. Class Format, Attendance and Participation The class is designed as a hybrid course, meaning some of the course content will be delivered via the internet. Each student must be an active participant in every class – either through the discussion board when we do not meet face-to-face, or in person during those class times we do
meet. Each student is responsible for each reading/video assigned for that week; any student who is unprepared will be counted as absent. Academic-Scholastic Dishonesty and Disabilities Statement The School of Criminal Justice follows the university dishonesty policies. Please be aware of them. A hyperlink is provided here: http://www.txstate.edu/effective/upps/upps-07-10-01.html. Students with disabilities are asked to contact the Office of Disabilities Services who will then coordinate any necessary accommodations: http://www.txstate.edu/effective/upps/upps-07-1101.html. Grading Participation: Preparation each week (50 pts) Reflection essays as assigned (3 @ 50 pts each) …………………………………… 200 Essays will be assigned asking you to cover specific topics from the podcasts you will be listening to or readings and turning them in via dropbox on TRACS. These are to make sure that you understand the material so make sure you cover it. No additional research other than assigned readings/videos is expected or desired. No more than 5-7 pages each! They will be graded on writing and content. Seminar Paper: …………………………………………………………………………… 100 (Choice of below or other as approved by instructor): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Police militarization and how it affects ethical behavior of police officers. The moral justification of torture as used by the United States after 9/11. Prosecutorial misconduct and its role in wrongful convictions. Procedural justice research and its implications for public trust of police. The evidence for and against the discriminatory treatment of minorities by police. The prevalence and causes of correctional officer brutality toward inmates. Defense attorney competency and its relationship to wrongful convictions. ALL LATE PAPERS WILL BE PENALIZED 10 POINTS PER DAY.
Each paper must use a combination of general criminal justice journals AND ethics/philosophy journals as sources. Please browse articles in Criminal Justice Ethics Journal and consider articles in this journal as a model for you to follow when writing your paper. In fact, it would be best if you would choose a paper topic and write the paper as a potentially publishable piece. More information about the use of sources will be covered in class. Each paper should be about 15 pages with at least 10 academic sources. APA format as described on the OWL website must be strictly followed (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/.)
Mid term exam …………………………………………………………………………….. 100 Comprehensive written final……………………………………………………………… 100 Mid term and final are short answer/essay. Grading Scale Grades will be assigned according to the following percentages: A 100%-90 (500-450) B 89%-80% (450-400) C 79%-70% (400-350) Tentative Schedule (Wednesdays). See Readings for weekly assignments. Week 1. Jan 21 – Review syllabus & directions for online weeks, discussion, lecture introducing ethical systems Week 2. Jan 28(online/discussion board) – Ethical Systems: Natural Law, Religion, Ethical Formalism, Utilitarianism. Readings in Pollock Chapters 1, 2, 3; several hours of videos Week 3. Feb 4 – Ethical systems: Virtue, Ethics of Care, Haidt (emotion v. rationality in moral decisionmaking) Videos and several articles Week 4. Feb 11 - Becoming an Ethical Professional. Also, review of ethical systems, relativism, universalism, how to make an ethical decision. Be prepared to analyze ethical dilemmas. Readings in Pollock, Ch. 4; videos ESSAY 1, due midnight Feb 14th. Use the ethical dilemma identified in class and analyze using ethical formalism, utilitarianism, ethics of care, and virtue ethics. Make sure your description of these are complete. Week 5. Feb18. Law Enforcement Ethics Readings in Pollock, Ch 5,6,7; videos; articles Week 6. Feb. 25 - MID TERM. WILL COVER UP TO CH. 5 & EVERYTHING BEFORE. WILL TAKE ONLY ONE HOUR (TIMED). WE WILL HAVE CLASS FOR REMAINING TIME ON CHAPTER 6&7. Week 7. Mar 4. (Online/discussion board) Balko, Militarization
Read entire book of Balko, Rise of the Warrior Cop. Week 8. Mar 11 – Current issues in police ethics (race, procedural justice, prosecution) Articles, videos. ESSAY 2. Due midnight Mar 14 . Write an essay integrating course content with policecitizen relations. Is it an ethics problem? A training problem? What would resolve the issues? Make sure you give enough weight to the issues as ethical issues and make sure you cover course material!!! Week 9. Mar 18 - SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!! Week 10. Mar 25 – Legal Ethics Reading in Pollock, Ch. 8,9,10; articles, videos. Week 11. April 1 (online/discussion board) – Legal Ethics con’t Articles, videos. Week 12. April 8 – Correctional Ethics Pollock, Ch. 11, 12, 13; articles, videos Week 13. April 15 (online/discussion board) – Correct’l Ethics con’t No reading. ESSAY 3 DUE: April 18. Present a summary discussion of the most important ethical issues in law and corrections. Identify major issues, explanations, and prevention policies (use this as a study guide for the final). Week 14. April 22 – Means-ends ethics; Torture Pollock, Ch. 14, articles, videos Week 15. April 29 – Wrap up, discussion of final. PAPERS DUE MAY 6. I will be happy to grade papers turned in earlier than April 22 (you may then revise and resubmit).