Crime and Punishment in America

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to crime and punishment in America from colonial times to the present with an overview of the law and basic institutions of the criminal legal system. Students explore how different groups of people experienced these institutions, how crime patterns and punishment have changed, the differences between crime and violence, different types of crimes (e.g., violent, property, and white-collar), and why America has the criminal legal system it does. This course makes extensive use of evidence from inside and outside the criminal legal system including police reports, court records, crime data, program evaluations, newspapers, and popular culture. Offered Alternate Years.