This course takes a critical approach to the study of crime and justice in urban settings. Course materials examine contemporary crime-related issues that affect urban communities within a historical and sociological context. The course highlights the intersections of deviant behavior and the criminal justice system within the structures of class, race, gender, and power inequalities. Topics explored may include racial profiling, juvenile delinquency, media representations of crime, policing, the war on drugs, and prisoner re-entry. At BMCC, students must have completed both the CRJ 101: Introduction to Criminal Justice course, as well as CRJ 102: Criminology as pre-requisites to enroll in CRJ 204. No textbooks required. This course uses open educational resources that are freely available online or provided in class – links for readings and where to find readings are found on the syllabus. The Criminal Justice Program (CRJ) at BMCC, in the Department of Social Sciences, Human Services, and Criminal Justice, is committed to providing students with access to high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER). We have developed our College’s first Zero Textbook Cost degree plan, with leadership from Jean Amaral, BMCC’s Open Knowledge Librarian, permitting students to potentially complete the entire degree by enrolling in courses that use OER, and so incur no textbook costs.
What are the objectives for learning in CRJ 204: Criminal Justice and the Urban Community?
All CRJ 204 courses share the same goals for students who take the course. We call these “class objectives,” and all faculty who teach this course are giving students an opportunity to meet these goals over the semester. Class Objectives for CRJ 204 are:
- To give students an understanding of the special characteristics of urban settings that affect crime and justice.
- To develop an overall understanding of the current state of problems and solutions regarding crime in urban settings.
- To learn how current urban methods of criminal justice are supported by empirical evidence.
- To teach students the implications of today’s urban crime and justice as it relates to social policy.
