Ashford Courses

CRJ 422 Week 1 DQ 1 Final Capstone Project Preparation

Final Capstone Project Preparation. Review the Final Capstone Project in Week Five and select the issue in social and criminal justice that you will address. Identify and develop your thesis statement and your resolution for your chosen issue. This will be your initial version of the thesis statement for the Final Capstone Project, but expect that it will evolve after receiving feedback from your instructor and classmates. At the end of the learning week, reflect back on the feedback your classmates and instructor have provided.

Reference your textbook, Chapter 1.2, or the Writing Center for help with constructing your thesis statement.

CRJ 422 Week 1 DQ 2 Criminal Justice Effectiveness

Criminal Justice Effectiveness. The U.S. criminal justice system is in a constant balancing act between the rights of individuals and the need to protect citizens from harm. Most individual rights are found in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, as listed in Chapter 8.1 of your textbook.

Review these individual rights and provide your opinion on whether or not the effectiveness of the criminal justice system is hindered by individual liberties. Provide at least two specific details or examples to support your opinion. You may choose to draw these examples from your life and work experiences or from the Ashford University Library’s Westlaw database (contains documents and reviews of court cases).

CRJ 422 Week 1 Journal Article Critical Analysis

Journal Article Critical Analysis. Utilizing the information gained from your reading of Chapters 4 and 5 of the text critically analyze one of the five scholarly articles found in Chapter 10 of the text. Choose an article that best relates to your thesis or could potentially be used to support your position in the Final Capstone Project.

In a critical analysis of the article, complete the following:

§ Provide the formal APA citation of the source.

§ Summarize the article’s thesis and main points in one or two paragraphs, at maximum.

§ Critically evaluate the relevance of the data used to support the thesis of the article.

§ Evaluate the significance of the sources, including whether they are primary or secondary sources.

§ Provide examples of either the presence of bias or lack of bias evidenced by the authors.

§ Critique (as defined in Chapter 5) the accuracy, acceptability, strengths and weaknesses, and overall

soundness of the article. In your critique, consider whether or not the authors persuaded you with their viewpoints.

§ Using source “treeing,” as described in Chapter 4.1 of your text, find two related scholarly articles and explain how the articles you found could be used to support or contradict the premise and findings of the article being critiqued.

CRJ 422 Week 2 DQ 1 Final Capstone Project Outline

Final Capstone Project Outline. Looking ahead at your Final Capstone Project in Week Five, provide an outline highlighting the major points of your project for review and discussion among your classmates and instructor. In your outline, include at least five major ideas your Final Capstone Project will address, with brief (one to two sentence) explanations for each. At the end of this week, reflect back on the feedback your classmates and instructor have provided.

Your outline content should be entered directly into the body of the discussion. Do not attach a Word document.

As with all well-researched and organized writing, your topic (first) sentences of your paragraphs contain the major ideas of your paper. Therefore, this outline can be used in the construction of the body of your Final Capstone Project in Week Five.

CRJ 422 Week 2 DQ 2 Social Justice Through Criminal Justice

Social Justice Through Criminal Justice. Examine the laws discussed in Chapter 9, which protect individual freedoms and the implementation of criminal justice policies. Provide at least three examples of how the U.S. criminal justice system simultaneously advances notions of social justice, while also protecting the rights of the accused. Can the criminal justice system be more effective in advancing notions of social justice? How?

CRJ 422 Week 2 Resource Review and Synopsis

Resource Review and Synopsis. In this paper, present a synopsis of five scholarly articles you intend to use in your Final Capstone Project. In your synopsis, provide the formal APA citation for each source, along with a brief (one to two paragraph) critical analysis of the relevance and worth of each article for use in your Final Capstone Project. This list will serve as a start to your resource compilation for the Final Capstone Project.

CRJ 422 Week 3 DQ 1 Criminal Theories

Criminal Theories. Drawing upon course readings, your prior course work, and your personal experiences, which theory of criminal justice from the Criminological Theory Summaries do you believe best reflects how the U.S. criminal justice system functions? Point out the strengths and weakness of this theory and provide recommendations to improve the current system to “fit” the theory in its purest form

CRJ 422 Week 3 DQ 2 Landmark Federal Decisions

Landmark Federal Decisions. Explain which of the landmark federal criminal justice cases below is the most significant for promoting social justice in our present day. You may use historical examples of “wrongs righted” to supplement your positions. Be sure to explain the basis of your position and why you find the opinion or case to be most significant. Reference the Landmark Supreme Court Cases website for summaries of each case.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

c. Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Terry v. Ohio (1968)

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

CRJ 422 Week 3 Recent Federal Acts and Social Justice

Recent Federal Acts and Social Justice. The Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act of the 21st Century form the foundation of the United States’ domestic response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Many legal and political voices have advocated that these acts have resulted in a reduction in the rights of citizens and a loss of civil liberties. Many other legal and political voices argue that in this “new world of terror” we must have more effective ways of preventing terror attacks.

With these differing perspectives in mind and after watching the required ABC Nightly News video segments, construct a paper that critically evaluates whether or not The Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act unjustly and unreasonably inhibit individual rights, and how they impact notions of social justice in the United States.

CRJ 422 Week 4 DQ 1 Criminal Justice Careers

Criminal Justice Careers. There are many careers available to people with criminal justice degrees. These career options extend beyond the commonly recognized police officer or social worker roles.

After reading the required resources for this week, explain your plans for utilizing your Social and Criminal Justice degree from Ashford University. Consider this discussion board an opportunity for you to network with your classmates and help each other locate opportunities for future employment.

CRJ 422 Week 4 DQ 2 Changing Views

Changing Views. Reflect on your preparations for your Final Capstone Project. Detail at least one area of your research that either made you change a pre-existing position you held on a major criminal or social justice issue, or share something that surprised you in the course of your research. Explain why your viewpoints have changed and how you expect to use this new perspective in your career going forward. To help guide your reflection, consider how your perspective has changed on the following topics: the effectiveness of the criminal justice system, your understanding of criminal theory, landmark federal court decisions, criminal justice issues, anti-terrorism laws, creation of a socially just society, and potential career opportunities.

CRJ 422 Week 5 DQ 1 Assessing Your Program of Study

Provide a detailed assessment of your program of study, correlated to the six learning outcomes in the Social and Criminal Justice program. Explain, in two to three sentences (at minimum) for each outcome, how your course of study developed your skills in accomplishing each of these program learning outcomes:

a. Analyze criminal justice issues within the systems of law enforcement, the judiciary, and corrections.

b. Evaluate the application of the social justice principles of equality, solidarity, and human rights toward building a just society.

c. Apply knowledge of cultural sensitivity and diversity awareness to social and criminal justice.

d. Deconstruct the relationship between law enforcement, the judiciary, and corrections.

e. Interpret the relationship between social justice and criminal justice.

f. Develop critical perspectives in the study of social and criminal justice by drawing on the fields of criminology, law, philosophy, psychology, science, and sociology.

CRJ 422 Week 5 DQ 2 Resources and Recommendations

Resources and Recommendations. Provide your overall assessment of the content and quality of your program of study at Ashford University. How do you plan to apply what you have learned to your future profession? If you have already used information gained from your course of study in your profession, share specific examples of the application of knowledge and skills. What suggestions do you have to improve the Social and Criminal Justice program?

In addition to this reflection, review the current event resources in the Required Resources section of this week. Which of these resources do you plan to use in the future? What are some additional news feeds or current event resources that will help you stay informed on current trends and news in the field?

CRJ 422 Week 5 Final Paper

The focus of the capstone project is to solve a contemporary social and criminal justice issue through the application of information from a variety of related fields, which may include sociology, law, psychology, and ethics. In developing a proposed solution to a modern social and criminal justice issue, you are encouraged to use scholarly and primary sources, multimedia, and interviews with professionals in the field (if possible) to identify and devise a workable plan.

Within the Final Capstone Project, complete the following:

g. Identify a clear thesis statement to address your chosen criminal and social justice issue.

h. Summarize your chosen social and criminal justice issue.

i. Propose the resolution to the social and criminal justice issue.

j. Examine the operations of the criminal justice system as it relates to your chosen issue and resolution. This may include operations related to crime scene investigation techniques and security; the collection, preservation and presentation of evidence; and processes related to correctional institutions, incarceration, and release.

k. Analyze how the criminal and social justice theories (in relation to the United States Constitution) and landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions impact your chosen issue and support your resolution.

l. Explain how social and criminal justice systems promote social equality and fairness for all and how this impacts your issue and resolution. Consider how poverty, racism, and religion apply to contemporary social and criminal justice.

m. Assess how the centralization of criminal justice agencies in the United States, The Patriot Act, the U.S. Homeland Security Act, and international aspects of social and criminal justice impact your issue and resolution.

n. Identify and describe at least two careers in criminal justice (existing or to-be-created) for agencies that may be involved in addressing the issue and resolution you have chosen