The course gives the student tools to analyze and take part in public debates on crime and crime control. Throughout the course, we will address controversies related to public policy on crime control. In contrast to the sensationalism often characterizing popular treatments of these topics, we will rely upon more scholarly reflections by criminologists and legal experts. We hope that the course will be helpful in coming to grips with one?s own positions on these difficult issues.

The course is designed to help you achieve the following specific objectives:

1. To make the student familiar with the criminological theorizing and studies on crime

2. To provide research based knowledge on different parts of the criminal justice system, their history, their current functions, and their interrelationships with each other.

3. To develop analytical skills in assessing information about criminality and the criminal justice system as societal phenomena and institutions.

4. To become informed about major policy debates regarding crime control and criminal justice.

The course is organized as 10 lectures followed by a two days? seminar (10 credit hours) in which the students will present papers on the topics of their own selection. The papers will be commented by the teachers of the course as well as other students.

The goal of the course Introduction to Criminal Justice is to provide students with means to understand the phenomenon of crime and its control in Finland; we will not delve deeply into any single topic, rather there will be a broad overview of many topics. This will be accomplished through thought-provoking lectures and discussion of the controversies and challenges of crime, some potential solutions and the machinations of justice.

The objective of the course is to provide the student with an understanding of the processes and institutions of criminal justice in the society as well as means to critically to evaluate their roles and functioning. Hence, the course aims to offer a broad foundation of knowledge to pursue more comprehensive and rigorous analysis in advanced courses.