Course Description and Course Learning Outcomes

With a plethora of both paywalled and OER Criminal Justice textbooks to choose from, we wanted to create something that was wholly Louisiana. The challenge was finding the right mix of content and adapting it to the culturally unique landscape that is our state. Our primary goal was to keep to the basic foundational structures of Criminology intact, but to also give it some Lagniappe – that something extra. We also had to be mindful that the learning outcomes designated by our respective institutions and the state of Louisiana were being met for those students who were taking this course as well as meet the requirements for major curriculum of higher education institutions in the state.

Dillard University describes its CJ 405 – Criminology course as “a study of the major theoretical approaches to crime, the empirical works on crime and the various policies for the containment and prevention of crime.” ULL’s CJ 305 – Criminal Behavior course is listed as “the study of criminal behavior with special attention to implications for criminal justice professionals. Emphasis on theories, criminal typologies and treatment methods.” NSU CJ 3040 – Criminology, Foundations, and Punishment “a scientific approach to the study of criminal behavior: the etiology (origin), extent, and nature of crime in society, foundations, and punishment.” And finally, SUNO’s course in Crime and Social Causation, CRMJ 415, is described as “an examination of theories of deviance and crime as they relate to social policies and specific response of the criminal justice system, including crime prevention.”

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to :

• Comprehend root causes of crime.
• Differentiate between the various theoretical applications of crime causation.
• Improve their professional writing skills.
• Develop a theoretical policy analysis using their knowledge of crime causation.

There are additional interactive materials added within the text to give the students some visual and audio association to the reading. This can help students engage with the material and keep it from becoming “stale.” Associating content that features Louisiana encourages students to take an active interest in their environment especially when it comes to the criminal justice system, and hopefully it will encourage them to be more attentive to their surroundings in the future. The content in this adaptation was targeted towards upper level students attending Colleges and Universities in the State of Louisiana as an alternative to cost prohibitive textbooks in the course study of Criminology.