This unit analyses and evaluates some of the challenges confronting the main agencies of criminal justice. Students learn about the various tiers in the criminal justice process, analyse its workings and tensions, and explore community crime prevention alternatives. The unit examines state and federal police agencies, private security, criminal courts, sentencing, punishment and corrections, and diversionary and community-based initiatives. It asks, among other things, whether current approaches to the administration of criminal justice address the needs of various communities (regional, rural, urban), victims of crime and the rehabilitation potential of perpetrators of crime. -- Course Website
Instructor: Dr David Baker
