CRMJ 340 Punishment & Corrections
This course is designed to provide students with an in depth look at the current correctional systems in America, the problems faced within these systems, and community alternatives to imprisonment. The course will begin with the utilitarian and retributive theories of why and how we punish: Retribution, Deterrence, Incapacitation and Rehabilitation. It will review the history of prisons. It will focus on America's populist punitive policies of mass incarceration embodied in the persistent felon three strikes laws and mandatory drug sentences. It will analyze current bipartisan efforts to scale back on policies which have caused the overcrowding of prisons and which disproportionately burden African, Latino and disadvantaged families and communities with disenfranchisement and social disorganization. The course will examine probation, community corrections, parole, reentry, the administration of prisons and jails, prison riots and gangs, diversity of personnel and management, prisoner rights, the "New Jim Crow phenomena," and the death penalty controversy. The course is designed to appeal to anyone who desires a greater understanding of the criminal justice system, as well as offering guidance to students who wish to pursue careers in corrections.