Course Syllabus
Juvenile Justice System: CJJ4564-0W61
Fall 2016
Professor Contact
- Instructor: Jennifer H. Peck, Ph.D.
- Office: HPA-1; 329
- Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30am-12:00pm & By Appointment
- Phone: (407) 823-5940
- E-mail: Jennifer.Peck@ucf.edu
Teaching Assistant Contact
- Teaching Assistant: Tiffany Marcil, BA
- E-mail: Tiffany.Marcil@ucf.edu
*Please email or Webcourse message Dr. Peck if you have any questions throughout the semester. Miss Marcil will be "CC-ed" on every conversation to keep transparency with all correspondence.
Course Information
- Course Name: Juvenile Justice System
- Course ID & Section: CJJ4564-0W61
- Credit Hours: 3 Credits
- Semester/Year: Fall 2016
- Location: Completely Online - Webcourses
Course Description
It is very important that students have realistic and straightforward expectations for this course. The focus of this course is an introduction to this historical and present structures, procedures, and philosophies of the juvenile justice system. Explanations for the processing of juvenile offenders will balance between theory, evidence-based findings, law, and practice.
Course Objectives
The main objective of this course is to provide students an introduction to the juvenile justice system. The course objectives include:
- Understand how and why the juvenile justice system was developed
- Explain the juvenile court process from beginning to end
- Identify how the juvenile court has changed (or remained the same) since its creation
- Compare and contrast the different functions and roles of the juvenile justice system and key court actors
- Recognize the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, social class, and juvenile justice
Prerequisite Courses
- CCJ3014 and Criminal Justice Majors; or Victim Advocacy Certificate Declared
Required Materials
- Internet access
- Microsoft Office (i.e., Word, PowerPoint, and Excel)
Required Text
- Bartollas, C. & Miller, S.J. (2014). Juvenile Justice in America (7th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. (ISBN: 978-0-13-297830-9)
- Additional readings posted on Webcourses
Course Policies
To ensure that the course objectives are met, students are expected to abide by the policies listed below:
Check Email & webcourses@UCF Regularly (several times per week) for Course Correspondence. Important information regarding the course schedule and grades will be posted to Webcourses and/or messages through the Webcourses inbox.
Incompletes. No grade of Incomplete (“I”) will be given in this class.
Course Material. All of the course material will be made available on Webcourses, and you are required to take all of your exams and submit assignments online in Webcourses. This course is completely Webcourses based. In addition to the textbook, journal articles, narrated PowerPoint lectures, and video sources are used to convey the course material.
IMPORTANT: PDF’s of the PowerPoint slides, PowerPoint files, and lecture notes will NOT be made available on Webcourses /via email
- It is the student’s responsibility to take notes on the narrated PowerPoint lectures as there will be material discussed in the PowerPoint lecture that is not written on the slides of the lecture.
- THE PASSWORD TO VIEW EACH POWERPOINT LECTURE IS: fall2016
Important Dates. Students are responsible for knowing all academic calendar dates for the semester. Please see the Registrar’s website for the full academic calendar.
Technology Requirements
Students are responsible for maintaining or accessing a computer system capable of participating in all aspects of this course. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing email, webcourses@UCF, Adobe Reader, and web browsing. The below links provide the download instructions for RealPlayer, Adobe Reader, and Google Chrome.
Required Technological Skills.
- Basic skills in computer use: Using copy/paste, opening/saving attachments, taking screen shots
- Internet skills: Accessing websites, conducting research online, downloading and uploading files, downloading and uploading software
- Basic webcourses@UCF skills: Posting a discussion thread, replying to a discussion thread, accessing grades/rubrics, submitting assignments to an assignment link, opening links and files
- Basic skills for Microsoft Office: Creating/editing documents in Word
Preferred Technological Skills.
- Use of track changes in Microsoft Word
Student Success Statement
Advocate. If a student finds him/herself struggling with course material, concerned about his/her grade, or otherwise in need of assistance, s/he is expected to advocate for themselves by communicating with the professor as soon as possible. Helping you earn the grade you want is a top priority to me, but my ability to help you is greatly diminished, if not eliminated entirely, if you choose to procrastinate. If you attend this class regularly, take good notes, and complete assignments in a satisfactory manner, you should succeed in this course. If you are having problems understanding lectures, reading assignments, or having difficulty with assignments or exams, please see me during office hours or contact me via e-mail. It is imperative that you contact me early in the semester if you are having problems with this course. Do not wait until the end of the term to seek assistance.
Online Classroom Etiquette - Be Respectful. It is expected that each student will behave in a professional manner in email and webcourses@UCF exchanges with the professor and other classmates. Students are expected to use respectful language. Do not communicate with others via the internet in a way you would not interact with them in person. Disrespectful language, and/or disrespectful online classroom behavior will not be tolerated. Disregard for this expectation and in instances of serious or repeated infractions, students will be subject to University disciplinary action.
- Professional email and webcourses@UCF exchanges include an opening salutation (e.g., “Hello Dr. Peck”), an introduction (e.g., “My name is Kelley Morris and I am in your Juvenile Justice System course”), content/question, and closing salutation (e.g., “Thank you, Kelly Morris”). Proper grammar and sentence structure is also expected. In addition, I can tell when your iPhone autocorrects your words and you send me a messy email. Please review your email prior to hitting “Send”. Lastly, if your email to me sounds like a text message to your friend, do not expect me to respond. Respect is crucial.
Grading
The course will consist of narrated PowerPoint lectures, the textbook, journal articles, and media examples (e.g. documentaries, YouTube clips, news stories) therefore any questions or comments are encouraged.
Grading Scale
| Letter Grade | Number Grade |
| A | 90-100 |
| B | 80-89 |
| C | 70-79 |
| D | 60-69 |
| F | 59 or less |
* Once final grades are posted for the semester, professors tend to receive emails from students asking them to increase their final grade (e.g. raise an 89.48 to a 90 so a student can receive an A instead of a B). Any requests for increases in grades will be declined by the professor in this course. Please refer back to the “Advocate” section of the course syllabus as I am more than willing to work with students earlier rather than later in the semester to help them earn the grade that they want.
Course Examinations & Policies
Exams. There will be 4 ONLINE EXAMS throughout the semester. Each exam will consist of 50 OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS that include true/false, and multiple-choice. The final exam (Exam #4) is not comprehensive or cumulative. Exam material will draw heavily from the narrated PowerPoint lectures, textbook, journal articles, and media examples (e.g. documentaries, YouTube clips, news stories, etc.). Students may be tested on all information included within each module in the course that corresponds to each exam. A study guide will be provided for each exam. Exam 1 is worth 19% of your final grade. Exam 2, Exam 3, and Exam 4 are each worth 20% of your final grade.
All of the exams are timed. Students will have 60 MINUTES to complete each exam. The questions are presented one at a time and once you answer a question you will be unable to return to or change any of the earlier questions that you have already provided an answer for. Please take your time and make sure you have chosen the best answer. The exams in Blackboard are set to randomly generate the order of question and answer options. Pay careful attention when reading the questions and the answer options as sometimes "True” or “All of the choices” may be listed as the first option and sometimes “False” or “None of the choices” may be listed as the first option and vice versa.
Once the exam period has reached 60 MINUTES, the exam will be submitted for grading. For example, if a student has only completed 45 out of the 50 questions and 60 minutes has passed, the exam will be graded based on the 45 answered questions. If a student does not complete the exam by 11:59pm, the exam will automatically be submitted for grading, regardless if the student has not completed the exam. No makeup tests and no incompletes will be given. However, if the instructor is contacted ahead of time in the event of an emergency on exam day, the reason for missing the exam may be evaluated. This does not mean that a student will automatically be able to makeup an exam. Be aware that one letter grade will be deducted from the exam grade for each day that the instructor is not contacted.
EXAM #1: Friday, September 16th between 12:01am-11:59pm
EXAM #2: Friday, October 14th between 12:01am-11:59pm
EXAM #3: Friday, November 11th between 12:01am-11:59pm
EXAM #4: Friday, December 2nd between12:01am-11:59pm
- Exams will be unavailable except during these designated times.
- Exams must be completed by each corresponding Friday evening at 11:59pm EST
Three reminder announcements will be posted on Webcourses before and during each exam:
- One reminder the Wednesday before the exam becomes available
- One reminder when the exam becomes available
- One reminder 6 hours before the exam becomes unavailable
Mandatory First Day Attendance Quiz. All professors are required to document students’ academic activity at the beginning of each course. In order to document that you began this course, please complete the Mandatory First Day Attendance Quiz by 11:59pm on Friday, May 26th. Failure to do so may result in a delay in the disbursement of your financial aid. This Mandatory Attendance Quiz can be found in the "First Day Attendance" Folder under the Modules tab in Webcourses. The material on the quiz is based on the information provided on the syllabus. The quiz is worth 1% of your final grade and consists of 10 multiple choice and true/false questions.
Writing Assignment & Policies
"Education under Arrest" Writing Assignment.There is one writing assignment for this course. Directions and the grading rubric for the writing assignment are provided in the "Assignments" tab of Webcourses. Late assignments will not be accepted for any reason and automatically graded as a zero. The writing assignment must be submitted online by Friday, November 18th at 11:59pm EST.
APA Formatting. The writing assignment does not need to include a title page or reference page (and they will not count towards the number of pages in your 6-page response). However, all in-text citations throughout your assignment must be in APA format.
- In-text citations in APA: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
- How to cite lecture notes in APA: http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/services/ref/apa/lecture.shtml
TurnItIn. In this course, we will utilize the TurnItIn.com services for plagiarism detection. The service easily compares each student’s assignment with billions of websites and an enormous database of student papers that grows with each submission. You must submit the writing assignment through this method in Webcourses by the assignment due date. The process for turning in a Turnitin-enabled assignment is the same as turning in any other assignment in Webcourses. After the assignment is processed, I will receive a report from TurnItIn.com that states if and how another author’s work was used in the assignment. For a more detailed look at this process, visit http://www.turnitin.com.
Technological Resolution Policy
In the online environment, there is always a possibility of technical issues (e.g., lost connection, hardware or software failure). Many of these can be resolved relatively quickly, but if you wait until the last minute before due dates, the chances of these glitches affecting your success are greatly increased. Please plan appropriately. If a problem occurs, it is essential you take immediate action to document the issue so your instructor can verify and take appropriate action to resolve the problem.
Red Zone Policy
Sometimes students wait until the very last minute before an assignment is due to start working on it. The Red Zone Policy is designed to encourage students to begin their work early, and to avoid any potential “reasons” for why a student cannot complete an assignment (e.g. computer crashes, viruses, death in the family, etc.) Sometimes these examples do occur, and the instructor is willing to work with the student. The instructor is less likely to believe the student’s reasons for not being able to complete an assignment if they receive notice from the student a few hours before the cut-cut off time. Therefore, if you wait until the last 4 hours before a due date, there are absolutely no guarantees that the instructor will respond to requests for assistance. This rule applies to all assignments
Grading Distribution
| First Day Attendance Quiz | 1% |
| Exam #1 | 19% |
| Exam #2 | 20% |
| Exam #3 | 20% |
| Exam #4 | 20% |
| Writing Assignment | 20% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
Classroom Response Time
Email. All emails and Webcourses messages to the professor will be returned within 24-48 hours with the exception of weekends and holidays
Assignments. Feedback on submitted assignments will be provided within one-week from the submission due date. Any adjustments to this timeline will be communicated by the professor.
Request for Information on Grades. Every effort will be made to promptly list the grades on Webcourses. Your most current grade in the course will always be available to view on Webcourses. Due to FERPA regulations, discussions about individual grades between a professor and student will only occur through Webcourses messages.
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism and cheating of any kind on an examination, quiz, or assignment will result at least in an "F" for that assignment (and may, depending on the severity of the case, lead to an "F" for the entire course) and may be subject to appropriate referral to the Office of Student Conduct for further action. Proceedings may also be instituted to have the student dismissed from the major and/or the University. Students are required to conform to the University’s code of student conduct, including provisions regarding honesty and misrepresentation. Students can find the code of conduct in the student handbook, which is available in the student affairs office. For more information about UCF's Rules of Conduct, see http://www.osc.sdes.ucf.edu/. I will assume for this course that you will adhere to the academic creed of this University and will maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. In other words, don't cheat by giving answers to others or taking them from anyone else. I will also adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity, so please do not ask me to change (or expect me to change) your grade illegitimately or to bend or break rules for one person that will not apply to everyone.
It is vital you rely on your own words. Copying sentences verbatim from textbooks, articles, websites, etc. constitutes plagiarism and is not acceptable. Proper citation is always required if information from other sources are incorporated via quotes or otherwise into your own work. Cheating is SO not worth it. Just don’t do it!
UCF faculty members have a responsibility for your education and the value of a UCF degree, and so seek to prevent unethical behavior and when necessary respond to infringements of academic integrity. Penalties can include a failing grade in an assignment or in the course, suspension or expulsion from the university, and/or a "Z Designation" on a student's official transcript indicating academic dishonesty, where the final grade for this course will be preceded by the letter Z. For more information about the Z Designation, see http://z.ucf.edu/.
Communication Policy
Communication for this course will be accomplished on Webcourses, office hours, via email and/or Webcourses messaging.
All students are also responsible for regularly checking their UCF Knights email accounts. E-mail will not be sent to other accounts. Students may have their email forwarded to another email account if they wish, however the establishment of such is solely the responsibility of the student.
Please note: UCF faculty and instructors have a spam filter on their account, thus electing to send an email from a non-UCF account incurs the risk of non-receipt of email because of the spam filter. If you do not receive an email response from me within 24-48 hours, please resend with a read receipt attachment.
Course Policies Related to Webcourses
All students in this course are required to use Webcourses. All required readings will be posted on the course site. Each student must check Webcourses several times each week to ensure that they are prepared for class This includes downloading PowerPoint PDF’s, getting information on schedule changes, etc.
As you may be new to Webcourses, there are several policies and recommendations that that you need to be aware of and ADHERE to, as well as some additional Webcourses features you may be interested in:
1. A general “how-to” guide for students using Webcourses can be accessed here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/tr-learncanvas/screensteps/pdf-manuals/Canvas+Student+Quickstart+Guide.pdf
2. I strongly encourage you to “sign-up” for ASAP or DAILY notifications for Course Activities, Discussions, Communications, Scheduling, and Groups. The excuse “I did not receive a message about the notification, grades, etc.” is not a justifiable reason for missing an assignment, exam, etc. It is your responsibility to set up the appropriate notifications within Webcourses. A “how-to” guide on how to adjust these notifications can be accessed here: http://guides.instructure.com/s/2204/m/4152/l/73162-how-do-i-set-my-notification-preferences
3. Your instructor can communicate with you and you can communicate with your instructor in two ways:
* Directly through email (Jennifer.Peck@ucf.edu)
* Directly through Webcourses Inbox
* Messages communicated from your professor through the Webcourses Inbox and from you to your professor are also set (by default) to be delivered to your email inbox. I strongly advise against turning off this feature of automatically forwarding Webcourses Inbox-generated messages to your email inbox. However, if you choose to do so, you are still required and it is your responsibility to log into Webcourses for this course and review any and all messages that have been delivered to your Webcourses Inbox every 24 hours. Once again, the excuse "I did not receive a message about the notification, grades, etc." is not a justifiable reason for missing an assignment, exam, etc.
4. Although Webcourses allows you to send messages to your instructor through a variety of ways (as messages next to an Announcement, or messages next to an Assignment, etc.) the BEST method of contacting your professor within Webcourses is to correspond with them directly though the Webcourses Inbox.
5. There are known compatibility issues with Internet Explorer and webcourses@UCF, so you are encouraged to access course content using Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari.
6. A “how-to” guide on the features of webcourses@UCF for select mobile phone devices can be accessed here
7. A “how-to” guide on the features of webcourses@UCF for select mobile tablet devices can be accessed here:
All important class communication WILL occur through the Webcourses system. If you do not have access to the internet, all UCF campus computers allow access to the system. Therefore, there are no excuses for failing to check Webcourses.
- If you have a problem with myUCF, contact the Service Desk at (407) 823-5117
- If you have a problem with your computer, contact the PC Service Center at (407) 823-3444
If you have a problem after you are logged into the course, contact Online@UCF Support at (407) 823-0407.
Student Services
Student Accessibility Services (SAS). The University of Central Florida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course must contact the professor at the beginning of the semester to discuss needed accommodations. No accommodations will be provided until the student has met with the professor to request accommodations. Students who need accommodations must be registered with Student Accessibility Services, Ferrell Commons 185, phone (407) 823-2371, email (sas@ucf.edu) before requesting accommodations from the professor.Any student requiring services to aid them in note-taking, test-taking, or other special testing situations should discuss this with the professor as soon as possible, so that the necessary measures can be taken in an efficient manner.
Sensitive Material. In a recent issue of “The Criminologist” newsletter, Cares, Williams, and Hirschel discuss that course material related to some criminal justice courses may trigger negative emotional responses. Some students may find assistance dealing with these issues through counseling or victim services.
UCF’s Counseling and Psychological Services provides a wealth of information and services. They can also provide referral sources if you are a student living out of the area. Their website is: http://caps.sdes.ucf.edu/
Additionally, another source of very useful information is UCF’s Victims Services office that may be found at: http://victimservices.ucf.edu/
Diversity & Inclusion
The University of Central Florida considers the diversity of its students, faculty, and staff to be a strength and critical to its educational mission. UCF expects every member of the university community to contribute to an inclusive and respectful culture for all in its classrooms, work environments, and at campus events. Dimensions of diversity can include sex, race, age, national origin, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, intellectual and physical ability, sexual orientation, income, faith and non-faith perspectives, socio-economic class, political ideology, education, primary language, family status, military experience, cognitive style, and communication style. The individual intersection of these experiences and characteristics must be valued in our community.
Title IX prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual misconduct, sexual violence, sexual harassment, and retaliation. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you can find resources available to support the victim, including confidential resources and information concerning reporting options at www.shield.ucf.edu and http://cares.sdes.ucf.edu/.
If there are aspects of the design, instruction, and/or experiences within this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or accurate assessment of achievement, please notify the instructor as soon as possible and/or contact Student Accessibility Services.
For more information on diversity and inclusion, Title IX, accessibility, or UCF’s complaint processes contact:
- Title IX – EO/AA - http://www.eeo.ucf.edu/ & askanadvocate@ucf.edu
- Disability Accommodation – Student Accessibility Services - http://sas.sdes.ucf.edu/ & sas@ucf.edu
- Diversity and Inclusion Training and Events – www.diversity.ucf.edu
- Student Bias Grievances – Just Knights response team - http://jkrt.sdes.ucf.edu/
- UCF Compliance and Ethics Office - http://compliance.ucf.edu/ & complianceandethics@ucf.edu
- Ombuds Office - http://www.ombuds.ucf.edu
Religious Observances
Students are expected to notify their professor in advance if they will be missing a quiz or exam to observe a holy day of their religious faith.
Deployed Active Duty Military Students
If you are a deployed active duty military student and feel that you may need a special accommodation due to that unique status, please contact your instructor to discuss your circumstances.
Class Notes, Photographs, & Tape/Video Recordings
This course contains copyright protected materials such as audio or video clips, images, text materials, etc. These items are being used with regard to the Fair Use doctrine in order to enhance the learning environment. You may not copy, duplicate, download or distribute these items. The use of these materials is strictly reserved for this classroom environment and your use only. All copyright materials are credited to the copyright holder.
Audio or video recording (yes, this includes recording on your cell phone) or taking screen shots of instructional activities in this course is prohibited without the expressed written consent of the professor. This does not apply to student receiving services from the Student Disability Services. When the professor’s consent is given, the materials are to be used for personal use only and are not for distribution or sale in any fashion.
- No student has permission to distribute or sell any recordings or written notes made in this course. This includes posting information to websites (e.g., www.getstudyroom.com; www.quizlet.com, etc.) Students who engage in such activity are in violation of academic conduct standards and may face penalties.
- No student has permission to take photographs (i.e. cell phone) of the lecture slides.
Subject to Change
While it is the intent to proceed with this course as presented here, the following course outline is subject to change at the discretion of the professor. Students will be notified in class if such changes are made.
Course Schedule
| Due Dates | Module: Topic | Reading Due |
| Friday, August 26th |
Mandatory First Day Attendance Quiz |
|
| Sunday, August 28th | Module 1: An Overview of Juvenile Justice | Chapter 1 |
| Sunday, September 4th | Module 2: Measuring Delinquency & Victimization | Chapter 2 |
| Sunday, September 11th | Module 3: Theoretical Causes of Delinquency | Chapter 3 |
| Thursday, September 15th | Module 4: Correlates of Juvenile Delinquency | Chapter 4 |
| Friday, September 16th |
EXAM 1: Completed by 9/16 at 11:59pm EST |
|
| Sunday, September 25th | Module 5: The Police | Chapter 5 *Tapia (2012) |
| Sunday, October 2nd | Module 6: The Juvenile Court | Chapter 6 *Bishop et al. (2010) |
| Sunday, October 9th | Module 7: Juveniles in Adult Court | Chapter 7 *Kurlychek & Johnson (2010) |
| Thursday, October 13th | Module 8: Juvenile Probation | Chapter 8 *Schwalbe & Maschi (2010) |
| Friday, October 14th |
EXAM 2: Completed by 10/14 at 11:59pm EST |
|
| Sunday, October 23rd | Module 9: Community Based Corrections | Chapter 9 *Stein et al. (2013) |
| Sunday, October 30th |
Module 10: Juvenile Institutionalization |
Chapter 10 +Hockenberry et al. (2015) |
| Sunday, November 6th | Module 11: Juvenile Aftercare |
Chapter 11 |
| Thursday, November 10th |
Module 12: Treatment Technologies |
Chapter 12 |
| Friday, November 11th |
EXAM 3: Completed by 11/11 at 11:59pm EST |
|
| Friday, November 18th |
Writing Assignment: Submitted by 11/18 at 11:59pm EST |
|
| Sunday, November 27th |
Module 13: Juvenile Gangs |
Chapter 13 |
| Thursday, December 1st |
Module 15: Race in the Juvenile Justice System |
*Rodriguez (2013) Chapter 16 |
| Friday, December 2nd |
EXAM 4: Completed by 12/2 at 11:59PM EST |
* Journal articles are located within the respective modules
+ Located at: http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/247207.pdf
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|