The Ph.D. in Criminal Justice requires students to complete, at minimum, 53 credit hours. Below is a complete list of courses offered in the program. Not all courses are offered every semester. For a list of required courses and advising checklist please follow this link: Ph.D. Required Courses

CJ 7101 Instructional Assistant Supervision

This course prepares doctoral students employed as research or teaching assistants to perform effectively in diverse instructional settings.  The course provides for regular and planned opportunities for continuing evaluation of students.  This course does not earn graduate degree credit and will be repeated up to 3 credits.

CJ 7210 Proseminar

A course designed to introduce students to the department and ongoing research activities of its faculty.  Emphasis is placed on identifying and coordinating opportunities for joint research and scholarship among faculty and students.  Prerequisite: first-year criminal justice doctoral students only.

Doctoral Criminal Justice Core 

CJ 7310 Philosophy of Law, Justice, and Social Control

A current, thorough, and comprehensive review of the criminal justice system focused on how the system functions, and its current needs and future trends.  Students submit extensive critiques and participate in panel discussions.

CJ 7311 Advanced Criminological Theory

An overview of the major criminological paradigms is presented focusing on the causes of crime and deviant behavior.  The course includes a discussion of criminological theories from a philosophy of science perspective focusing on such issues as theory construction, theoretical integration, and the formal evaluation of theory and policy.

CJ 7312 Criminal Justice Ethics, Administration, and Public Policy

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.

CJ 7313 Race and Ethnicity in Crime and Criminal Justice

An exploration of how issues related to racial and ethnic minorities and criminal behaviors impact criminal justice reactions.  Topics include racial disparities related to law enforcement and sentencing, and policy implications related to policing, probation, pre-sentencing and post-release issues.

Research Tools 

CJ 7320 Quantitative Research Methods

A course that demonstrates the practical aspects of conducting criminal justice research that uses quantitative methodologies and design.  Topics include the philosophy of science; research ethics; methodological designs in establishing causation; non-experimental/descriptive research; sampling techniques; secondary data sources and data gathering techniques.

CJ 7321 Linear Regression for Criminal Justice Research

Instruction on the use of advanced linear modeling techniques in criminal justice research is addressed.  After completing this course, students should be able to evaluate quantitative research articles in the major criminal justice journals and be prepared to complete a major quantitative research project of their own.

CJ 7322 Advanced Research for Planning and Evaluation

An introduction to evaluation and research design methodologies, assessment techniques including modeling and case studies, agency management issues, and on-going policy implications.  Course gives students an understanding of the principles and techniques commonly used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice interventions.

Qualifying Electives

CJ 7330 Qualitative Research Methods

A discussion of the methods and techniques used for achieving interpretable qualitative results in social research.  Topics covered include ethnography, focus groups, in-depth interviewing and case studies.  Students will be trained in inductive reasoning and coordinating qualitative with quantitative methods.

CJ 7331 Law and Behavioral Science

A review of the issues addressed in the application of the behavioral sciences to the criminal law system.  Topics include criminal sanctions and diminished responsibility, civil commitment, victimology, psychology in the courtroom, the role of media, drugs, and alcohol to violence, and how the justice system reacts to violent offenders.

CJ 7332 Law and Public Policy

An examination of the intersections between law and public policy, its effect on criminal justice administration, its role in a free society and the function of law as a tool of social change.  Topics include affirmative action, race, gender, privacy rights, and the process of criminalization.

CJ 7333 Legal and Legislative Research

This course presents the methods of research used in the legal system.  Students learn to locate and interpret constitutional, statutory and case law, use secondary sources such as scholarly legal treatises, and apply research techniques using both print and electronic sources.

CJ 7334 Organizational Theory

A critical examination of organizational theories with applications to criminal justice where students analyze the developmental state of organizational theory, including historical derivations and the implications of various theoretical paradigms for understanding the functional quality of criminal justice organizations.

CJ 7335 Criminal Justice Leadership and Management

A course focused on identifying problems and solutions in criminal justice management.  The case study method and current literature provide a mixture of practical and educational experiences on how leadership styles, human resources, and the organizational environment impact management decisions.

CJ 7336 Survey Research Methods for Criminal Justice

This course addresses the procedures and techniques used to create social surveys including question formulation, metrics, and question scaling.  Students learn how to prepare face-to-face, telephone, and mail surveys, and are trained in sampling procedures related to survey administration.

CJ 7337 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems, Philosophies, and Public Policy

A comprehensive study of law, including common, Roman, socialist, and religion-based, including a critical assessment of the major organizational, administrative, and philosophical principles governing the operation of criminal justice systems worldwide, with special attention to international criminal law and human rights.

Doctoral Development Electives

CJ 7350 Special Topics in Advanced Scholarship and Integrated Methods

An in-depth study of specialized topics in criminal justice including forecasting, trend analysis and data interpretation, applied theory and solutions to social problems, academic scholarship and communication, qualitative data collection, coding, and analysis, and ethnography and coding.

CJ 7350A Forecasting, Trend Analysis, and Data Interpretation

A review of quantitative approaches to public policy analysis, the diverse conceptions of the goals and objectives that should be served by policy, and the appropriate role of the policy analyst.  Policy consequences are traced to indirect and subtle incentives and disincentives.

CJ 7350B Academic Scholarship and Communication

A course on conducting academic research, interpreting results and how to prepare manuscripts for publication in refereed journals.  Included is a survey of the audiences, topical focus, and submission requirements of the major criminal justice, criminology, and law publications, along with specialized knowledge on achieving success in the scholarship environment.

CJ 7350C Qualitative Data Collection, Coding, and Analysis

This course takes a structured approach to understanding and implementing the various information collection methods used in qualitative research, including formatting the information for coding, coding schemes, and information interpretation.

CJ 7350D Ethnography of Criminal Justice

A course on the procedures and techniques required to conduct ethnography, fieldwork, in Criminal Justice.  Students examine the culture, subculture, and groups within specific components of the criminal justice system in order to develop a deep ethnographic description. Prerequisite: CJ 7330

CJ 7351 Special Topics in Technology and Applied Systems 

An in-depth study of specialized topics in criminal justice including advanced data management and analysis, technology for management and decision making, security and social control, justice and global information technology, and transnational public policy and security.

CJ 7351A Technology for Management and Decision Making

Supervised training in the acquisition, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of data used by criminal justice.  The use of fundamental statistical analysis techniques for solving public policy and management problems are addressed through a series of assignments, examinations, and online discussions and demonstrations.

CJ 7351B Justice and Global Information Technology

The use of specialized topics in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), including Avenue (Arcview’s scripting language), raster modeling, network analysis and internet mapping, in criminal justice.  Students identify a problem, develop GIS applications to analyze the problem, and present solutions and recommendations.

CJ 7351C Transnational Public Policy and Security

Course focused on meeting the changing demands of security in a global environment.  Discussion emphasizes the understanding of how to design, implement, and integrate the security function in an ever-changing world and the impact of economic, demographic, and technological trends on developing strategies for security innovation and growth.

Dissertation

CJ 7199 Dissertation

Original research and writing in criminal justice to be accomplished under direct supervision of the dissertation advisor.  While conducting dissertation research and writing, students must be continuously enrolled each long semester for at least three dissertation hours.  Graded on credit (CR), progress (PR), no-credit, (F) basis.

CJ 7399 Dissertation

Original research and writing in criminal justice to be accomplished under direct supervision of the dissertation advisor.  While conducting dissertation research and writing, students must be continuously enrolled each long semester for at least three dissertation hours.  Graded on credit (CR), progress (PR), no-credit, (F) basis.