Foundations of Crime and Justice

This unit provides foundational knowledge of what constitutes crime, how it is measured, the major categories of criminal activity, and the immediate structure and roles within the criminal justice system. It prepares students to analyze crime data, understand victim impacts and criminological theories, and apply basic procedures used by police, prosecutors, and courts in later units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and differentiate official and victimization-based measures of crime (e.g., UCR/NIBRS, NCVS), interpret basic crime statistics, and explain common limitations in crime data reporting.
• Classify major categories and specific types of criminal activity—including violent, property, white-collar, organized crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism—and assess typical victim impacts and societal costs.
• Evaluate core criminological theories (classical, social disorganization, biological positivism, labeling) and summarize individual and situational characteristics commonly associated with offending.
• Apply knowledge of the criminal justice system by identifying the roles and responsibilities of local and federal agencies, outlining initial crime-scene response and prosecutorial/court processes, and describing historical and contemporary approaches to juvenile and adult sanctions.