401 - Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Justice
This is a multidisciplinary study of historical and philosophical aspects of criminal justice organization and procedure. Historical development beginning with Anglo-Saxon England are traced and reviewed, as are philosophical concepts such as the rationale for punishment and deterrence, as well as for the juvenile justice system.

402 - Theories and Research in Crime and Delinquency
This is a comparative review of dominant contemporary theories and research on the causes of crime and delinquency, including theories based on biological, psychological, and social factors. The course also examines social system theories, social disorganization and strain, and ecological characteristics of population distribution across geographic areas. It emphasizes the competing theories that seek to explain the causes of crime, the current status of research on these theories, and differences in their implications for crime control. Syllabi: Fall 2010 .

404 -Institutional and Organizational Linkages: Politics and Policy in the Criminal Justice System
This course examines the interactional processes within and among the criminal justice system's components and their relationships to other social, political, public and private institutions. Current issues and examples are used to discuss and analyze the public policy making process, the role that politics play in justice policy and practice, and the ultimate impact public policy can have on crime and justice system operations.

407 - Statistics
Students learn the skills and knowledge necessary to be critical consumers of statistical information, which is often present in everyday criminal justice practice.  To guide students in the completion of their major research papers, students learn how to generate and interpret statistical output using SPSS-PC, and how to write statistical information for research papers and news media reports appropriately and accurately.   Students learn the assumptions and appropriate uses for descriptive statistics, univariate inferential statistics, and OLS and logistic regression techniques. Syllabi:  Spring 2011.

409 - Criminal Justice Research and Methodology

This course provides students with the substantive knowledge to be critical consumers of research studies and program evaluations. Students learn how to critique the internal, construct, and external validity of program evaluations and data collection efforts that seek to understand criminal behavior or the operation of the criminal justice system.  The course provides an in-depth discussion of quasi-experimental and experimental designs, types of program evaluations and strategies to address impediments and stakeholders’ concerns in field research and evaluations. Syllabi:  Fall 2010.

412- Ethics in Criminal Justice 
 The course defines the ethical responsibilities and explores the ethical dilemmas faced by police, court, and corrections officials. Moral theories are presented, and students learn how ethical judgments are formed.  Students critically analyze their own and others' beliefs. They learn how to think constructively about ethical dilemmas, and how to articulate the inherent ethical issues in the field of criminal justice.

416 -International Criminal Justice
This course is an introduction to the nature and scope of international and transnational crime, to the emerging legal framework for its prevention and control, and to its impact on the U.S. criminal justice system. Emphasis will be placed on international aspects of the work of different criminal justice agencies, such as formal and informal police cooperation and the use of mutual assistance and extradition agreements, and on the bilateral, regional, and international structures created for crime prevention, punishment and control.

490 - Special Topics
Special topic course titles will vary. The student is allowed to enroll for more than one 490 course if the topics are sufficiently different.

499 - Independent Study
Prerequisite: Permission of the department's graduate director. This is a directed study course for advanced students, supervised by a member of the graduate faculty.

500 - Directed Research

501 - Thesis Research
This course is designed specifically for students with a special interest in research or who intend to work toward a doctorate. A thesis committee, comprised of two or three faculty members, will work with the student in the development and completion of the research project.

502 - Practicum
The field practicum enables the student to apply their knowledge (conceptual, theoretical, methodological) in a practical setting. Placements are typically made with police, prosecution, judicial, probation and corrections agencies in and around Chicago. Students are supervised by the practicum coordinator and an agency administrator. Students are expected to work a minimum of 150 hours and write a log of activities as well as a research paper. Because the research paper is the major scholarly component of the practicum, it must be analytical in content and correct in all technical details.

595 - Thesis Supervision
This is a non-credit course. Students who are working on approved master's thesis research and are not registered for any course are required to register for thesis supervision.

605 - Master's Study
Prerequisite: Completion of the graduate core courses. This course is a non-credit means of permitting students to be formally enrolled at Loyola while preparing for the written comprehensive examination.