Bachelor of Arts in Social and Criminal Justice

As a new student at the University of Arizona Global Campus, there are many things to look forward to on one’s academic journey. Beginning with this first course, students can look forward to acquiring tools and strategies for academic success. Students will apply personal strengths, skills, and lifelong learning strategies to career competencies, making a meaningful connection between their learning and their future professional work. The goal of this course is to enlighten and empower students personally, academically, and professionally. This course is not available for non-degree seeking students and is not available as an elective.

This course offers an overview of digital literacy as it applies to personal, academic, financial, and professional success. Students will analyze the impact of digital technology on personal and social communication to develop digital literacy skills that will assist in achieving academic and career goals. An overview of financial literacy in the digital age is introduced with practical strategies for application in personal and professional life.

Learn and use key, practical skills that are applicable at home, at work, and in all UAGC courses! As UAGC students progress in their academic journey, strategies for personal, professional, and academic success continue to develop. This introductory course takes a two-pronged approach to setting students on a path to success. It merges fundamental informational literacy concepts with essential resources and skills that prepare students for college and career. Students learn how to identify, locate, evaluate, apply, and acknowledge information obtained through UAGC Library databases and internet search engines. By applying the research process, students sharpen critical thinking skills and learn to use information ethically. The final project is a practical and relevant opportunity for students to apply their learning in personally, professionally, and academically meaningful ways.

This course is designed to enable students to develop competence in analyzing, organizing, and developing ideas. Additionally, students will locate and use library resources to support ideas, and to adapt their writing to various audiences. The course focuses on instruction and practice in writing and critical reading.

This course is designed to expand students’ appreciation of film and knowledge of how films are made. Through analysis of storytelling in a visual medium, students will examine the ways in which movies are shot, develop characters, evoke emotion, depict physical reality, reflect society, and have the power to influence it. Though the focus of the course is film itself, students will gain deeper intercultural fluency while growing their skills in critical thinking, written communication, and visual analysis.

This course is a study of correct and incorrect reasoning involved in everyday activities. The fundamentals of language and argument, deductive and inductive reasoning and other aspects of practical reasoning are examined. 

This course examines and evaluates theories and arguments concerning ethics and moral reasoning from a philosophical perspective. By engaging with historical and contemporary sources, students will analyze theories about the meaning, nature, and justification of ethical concepts; determine and assess how different forms of moral reasoning apply to contemporary moral issues; become more reflective and informed about their own moral beliefs; and develop their capacity for critical practical reasoning.

In this course, students will develop and hone academic and professional writing skills by employing those skills to communicate with range of audiences across a range of situations and contexts. To do that, students will receive instruction and practice in writing well-structured, logical, and effective academic essays while developing critical thinking skills and effective work habits. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 121 or equivalent with a grade of “C-” or better.

This course is designed to aid students in understanding the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Verbal and nonverbal communication patterns between people in personal, social, academic, and professional settings will be examined, and the nature of those interactions will be evaluated using contemporary communication theory. The course will enable students to identify their interpersonal communication behaviors and to more critically evaluate their own oral communication and that of others. A primary goal of the course is to improve the quality of students’ communication in their personal and professional relationships.

A survey of government at the national level. Emphasis is placed on the constitutional basis of American government, federalism, the sources and forms of political behavior, the operation of the three branches of government, and the making of national policy.

Students explore culture in its role of guiding human behavior and providing social order, structure, and stability for individuals and groups of people. Culture is presented as a system of adaptation involving beliefs, behavior, language, customs, socio/political strategies, traditions, and technology that evolve over time. Recommended prerequisite: ENG 122.

This course focuses on sustainable development from a cross-disciplinary approach, including, economics, management, education, policy, and science. Students discuss sustainability conflicts at the national and international levels, and use online simulations to understand and evaluate sustainability practices.   Topics include zero waste, water management, smart growth, green technology, global change, renewable energy, agriculture, and land management.  

In this course students will explore a wider range of Algebra topics beyond the introductory level. Topics will include polynomials, functions, rational expressions, systems of equations and inequalities, operations with radicals, and quadratic equations. Emphasis will be placed on developing an awareness of the use of mathematics as it exists in the world today.

This course provides students with a cumulative and integrative learning experience grounded in their general education experience. Through the study of selected interdisciplinary topics and course-embedded assessments students will demonstrate mastery of essential competencies and application of different ways of knowing. Students will apply the general education principles informed by ethical and critical sensibility and provide evidence of growth in acquiring the habits of active citizenship. A minimum grade of “C – “ is required to meet course requirements. Prerequisite: 75 completed credits or permission of the student’s college or dean.

This course examines and evaluates theories and arguments concerning ethics and moral reasoning from a philosophical perspective. By engaging with historical and contemporary sources, students will analyze theories about the meaning, nature, and justification of ethical concepts; determine and assess how different forms of moral reasoning apply to contemporary moral issues; become more reflective and informed about their own moral beliefs; and develop their capacity for critical practical reasoning.

This course will introduce students to constitutional rights and issues as they apply to the work of police departments and other law enforcement organizations at the federal, state, and local level. The course will focus on the Bill of Rights, particularly the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment. The course examines the application of these rights in the enforcement, investigation, and adjudication of crime.

This course considers processes for law enforcement, the judiciary, corrections and juvenile justice. In addition, this course considers criminal justice issues, applications for criminology, and critical perspectives in the study of criminal justice.

The purpose and procedures pertaining to probation and parole are analyzed in this course. Topics include pre-sentence investigation, supervision of probationers, parole administration and services, treatment theory, juvenile services, and parole officers. Students are introduced to such new concepts as community-based corrections, the justice model, and determinate sentencing and their impact on traditional policy and practice.

This course examines quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods and associated data interpretation within the context of research, policy and practice within the social sciences. This course also examines the relationship between research, policy and/or theory. Students will examine types of data, measurement scales, hypotheses, sampling, probability, and varied research designs for research in the social sciences and related disciplines.

Introduction to the Psychology of Criminal Behavior provides an overview of the intersection of psychology and the criminal justice system. The biopsychosocial factors that may influence criminal behavior are examined such as aggression, psychopathy, mental health disorders, and brain dysfunction. Finally, appropriate psychological interventions are evaluated to determine the best course of action for predicting and treating criminal behavior in both juveniles and adults.

This course explores strategies of crime prevention including programs designed to reduce opportunities to commit crime, programs to alleviate demoralizing community social and economic conditions that foster criminal behavior, programs to improve police/community cooperation, and programs to educate young people as to likely consequences of criminal behavior.

This course describes prevalent patterns of juvenile delinquency, relates these patterns to theories of child and adolescent development, and examines various theories pertaining to the causes of criminal behavior among juveniles. In addition, the course surveys the roles of police, courts, and delinquency intervention programs in the administration of juvenile justice. Emphasis will be given to strategies of prevention and early intervention.

A survey of constitutional rights, police compliance to constitutional rights, and constitutional amendments that specifically apply to the individual. The course examines the application of these rights in the enforcement, investigation, and adjudication of specific crimes.

Forensic science applies scientific methodology to crime scene investigation and crime solving. This course analyzes techniques of crime scene investigation and the lawful gathering of evidence. Emphasis is placed upon the Federal Rules of Evidence, including the admissibility of physical evidence at trial, as well as the role of forensic science in the criminal justice system and the identification, collection, and preservation of physical evidence (chain of custody issues).

An analysis of correctional procedures and institutions, especially jails, prisons, parole, and probation is the focus of this course. Other topics include inmate subcultures, rehabilitation, and prisonization.

Students will review all learning objectives achieved throughout previous coursework and develop a comprehensive, focused study of a modern criminal justice issue while applying solutions and predictions for future trends in criminal and social justice. Successful students will focus on the pragmatic application of principles and theories that guide criminal justice practice in the United States. Prerequisite: Successful completion of the General Education Capstone course.