Free Online Criminal Justice Courses: Where Can I Find Them?
Lawbreakers stay current on criminal justice issues and so should you if you are pursuing a career in the field. Continuing education is important for a wide range of professions related to criminal justice, including law enforcement, probation, law, crime scene investigation and social work. Strengthen your knowledge of criminal justice with free courses that you can find online.
Where Can I Find Free Online Criminal Justice Courses?
1. Criminology, Law and Society C238: White Collar and Corporate Crimes at the University of California - Irvine
The University of California - Irvine's Criminology, Law and Society: White-Collar and Corporate Crimes is an OpenCourseWare (OCW) course that provides content originally taught through an on-campus class. You won't receive credit for this free course or communicate with instructors, but you can learn more about criminal justice and study at your own pace.
What Will I Learn?
Topics covered include crimes that occur in corporations, organizations and professions. Course materials will help you understand the causes of white collar crime and strategies for controlling the offenses.
How Is the Course Structured?
This course consists of 17 lessons on topics related to white collar crime, such as consumer, corporate and securities fraud. There are seven additional categories of topics, ranging from criminal ethics to organizational factors that impact white collar crime. Reading assignments and a course summary are also included.
2. Reading Seminar in Social Science: Race, Crime and Citizenship in American Law at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reading Seminar in Social Science: Race, Crime and Citizenship in American Law is an OCW version of a course taught to undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There is no cost to access this course.
How Will These Course Materials Help Me?
Completing this course helps you understand the connection between crime and race in America. Course materials introduce you to controversial topics involving discrimination in laws related to the death penalty, illegal drugs and illegal immigration.
What Types of Assignments Will I Complete?
Assignment options include writing a 15- to 20-page paper that examines a topic of your choice and comparing two case studies listed on the readings page. You could also prepare a short, spoken presentation that analyzes a reading assignment.
What Materials Are Available?
This course provides three examples of student papers, along with guidelines for both the paper and oral presentation. There are also readings in sources such as law reviews, books and magazines.
3. Criminology, Law and Society C219: Hate Crimes at the University of California - Irvine
Also a University of California - Irvine OCW course, Criminology, Law and Society C219: Hate Crimes is available for free online. Finishing the course is up to you, because you won't receive feedback from an instructor or receive credit for the class.
What Does the Course Cover?
This course covers the relationship between hate crimes, politics and society. You will explore the causes and impact of crimes that result from racial hatred and assess laws that exist to address the problem.
How Is the Course Structured?
There are ten lessons on topics ranging from the constitutionality of hate crimes to the epidemiology of the offenses. Some lessons include questions for you to consider about hate crimes and related topics. The course also provides six separate classifications of topics.
