Juvenile Justice Course Descriptions

FOUNDATION COURSES
MCJ 500. Criminological Theory 3 credit hours
Theories of crime causation, participation, and treatment, Intervention, and prevention strategies. Topics covered include: prominent theories in the study of crime, the use of official and unofficial statistics in assessing crime in the US society, the inter-play of theory and social policy/ program implementation. 

MCJ 507. Seminar in Criminal Justice 3 credit hours
Capstone seminar focusing on analysis and evaluation of current practice, with emphasis on ethical and operational issues confronting criminal justice practitioners.

MCJ 530. Criminal Justice Statistics and Methods 3 credit hours

This course is structured to introduce undergraduate and graduate criminal justice majors to the methodology and statistics used to explore and explain the phenomenon relating to the study of crime and criminal justice. The scientific method, hypothesis testing, descriptive and inferential statistics, sampling, experimental and quasi-experimental, and survey designs will be explored. 

SPED 510. Behavior Intervention Techniques 2 credit hours

This course is intended to provide professionals with strategies for intervening with behaviors in school and community settings.  Behavior management techniques including reinforcement theory, scheduling models, observation techniques as well as precision teaching strategies will be explored.  

SPED 514. Curriculum for Special Education 3 credit hours

Students taking this course will develop skills in the design of special education curriculum for mild and moderate special needs children and youth.  Exposure to IEP development as well as curriculum development and design based upon IEP's will encompass the major focus of this course.  

SPED 713. Legal Aspects of Special Education  2 credit hours

This course explores the legislative and litigative reforms of Special Education.  Special Education law including The Individuals with Special Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act will be addressed along with recent court decisions relative to these laws.

CORE COURSES
MCJ 510. Crime Policy Analysis 3 credit hours

Examination of development and implementation of crime policy from a political, institutional, and administrative perspective. Application of political theories and policy analysis research techniques to better understanding and improving crime policy. Overview of crime theories with analysis and evaluation of the consequences for crime policy. 

MCJ 620. Administration of Justice 3 credit hours

Administrative system analysis of the political and organizational dimensions of criminal case process through the agencies of criminal justice. An applied research project is required. 

MCJ 640. Justice Planning and Leadership 3 credit hours
A leadership development seminar focusing on the nature and sources of conflict within and between criminal justice and human service agencies. Organizational problems are identified and addressed through an action- research model. It also examines the systems approach to planned organizational change from the perspective of applied behavioral science. 

COGNATE AREA
MCJ 650 Correctional Counseling 3 credit hours

Theory and practice of counseling with emphasis on reality therapy with youthful offenders in educational, human service, and correctional settings. 

MCJ 670 Seminar in Juvenile Justice 3 credit hours

Graduate level class intended to provide a comprehensive look at juvenile crime as well as intervention and prevention strategies aimed at dealing with the youthful offender. Emphasis will be placed on the research conducted in this area

SPED 530. Introduction to Behavior Disorder 3 credit hours

Focuses of the causes, characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of children with behavioral disorders.  Emphasis is placed on educational, social, and personal interactions of students with mild and moderate behavior disorders.

SPED 561. Intervention Techniques for the Juvenile Offender 3 credit hours

Students will explore the various theories of juvenile delinquency and the problems associated with developing treatment approaches consistent with specific theoretical perspectives.  They will also learn the fundamentals of group and individual counseling, reality therapy, Guided Group Interaction and various other treatment modalities.  Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the ability to begin and terminate group counseling sessions.

SPED 632. Teaching Secondary Students with Behavioral Disorders 3 credit hours

A study of specific teaching methods and instructional material for use with secondary-aged behavior disordered youth.  Topics include classroom organization and management, behavior programming, and transitional models.  

SPED 660.  Career Management and Transitioning for the Disabled 3 credit hours

Emphasis placed on various models used for providing vocational/career education to individuals with special needs.  Students study career assessment, programming and various transition models.

PRACTITIONER OPTION
MCJ 600 Pro-seminar in Criminal Justice 3 credit hours

This course provides a collegial environment wherein the graduate student is able to dialogue with others in the Criminal Justice field in preparation for taking the comprehensive exams necessary to fulfill the requirements associated with the Masters of Criminal Justice Studies at St. Ambrose University.

RESEARCH OPTION
MCJ 701 Research Design 3 credit hours

This course is designed for the student choosing the research option to complete the MCJ degree. It is in this course that the methodology used to examine the topic chosen in seminar in CJ. 

MCJ 550. Applications of Criminal Justice Research 3 credit hours

Applications of the statistical techniques learned in previous course data sets obtained from criminal justice sources. Emphasis will be placed on obtaining and manipulating data, using statistical software and communicating the results of the analysis through presentations and reports suitable for publication.

MCJ 702 Thesis 3 credit hours

Academic presentation and oral defense of student thesis

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