The CCJS Department is offering a number of new, small,
upper level special topics courses. Below are descriptions of the
courses. If you are interested in a course and would like permission,
please submit a course stamp request through www.ccjsstamps.umd.edu. Please
keep in mind students are limited to permission for 3 CCJS courses prior to the
first day of class.
CCJS418A Seminar in Criminology and Criminal Justice:
Deterrence
What can we do prevent people from committing crime? Hire
more police? Put more people in prison? Spend more money and expand
punishments? The popular concept of ‘getting tough’ on crime by increasing the
severity of punishments is often championed by policy makers, elected officials
and the public at large as a way to reduce crime. In some places, the driver of
the getaway car in a robbery that results in a fatality can get the death
penalty even if this individual had nothing to do with the actual killing. In
other cases, 14-year-old kids can receive a sentence of life without parole.
The United States incarcerates more people than anywhere in the world. But is there
compelling support suggesting that any of this actually deters individuals and
reduces crime? For example, 36 states have expanded laws to now penalize
texting while driving with a heavy fine, yet current statistics show an
increase of 150% of texting while driving in the past year.
This course will focus on two key avenues to understanding
how deterrence works. First, it will explore the historical development of the
deterrence doctrine and the current state of evidence supporting it, including
effectiveness of current forms of punishment and policies. Second, there will
be a concentration on individual human behavioral tendencies and capacities to
understand, operationalize sanction threats, respond to them, and ultimately be
deterred by them.
CCJS418B Seminar in Criminology and Criminal Justice:
Cyber Crime
Cybercrime research has grown in visibility and importance
during the last two decades. Nevertheless, despite the growing public interest
in cybercrime and its consequences for businesses and individuals, only scant
attention has been given in the criminological discipline to investigation and
understanding of this new type of crime. The purpose of this course is to
introduce students with the technical, social and legal aspects of cybercrime
as well as expose students to theories and tools that enable scientific
exploration of this phenomenon. In the first few weeks of the semester we will
learn about the computer and the internet, and discuss several definitions and
typologies of cybercrime. Then we will discuss the hacker, the victim and the
IT manger, review various theories of crime causation, and assess the relevance
of these theories in the context of cyber space. We will then describe several
technical tools that allow the collection of data from the Internet. We will
conclude with a discussion on the legal issues affected and created by online
crime.
CCJS418F Seminar in Criminology and Criminal Justice:
Serial Offending
CCJS 418F is a systematic examination of predatory serial
crime. Multiple categories of serial offenses are explored, including arson,
bombings, sexual assault and homicide. The course examines theories of
serial offending, investigation and linkages of serial crimes by law
enforcement, treatment of serial offenders in the courts, and correctional
approaches to serial offenders. Special topics in serial offending,
including female offenders, are also discussed.
