TCNJ Department of Criminology

01/30/2023

https://www.policingequity.org/newsroom/official-statements/cpe-statement-on-the-police-killing-of-tyre-nichols-in-memphis-tennessee
A very important read!

UPDATE:  Today, Jan. 27, the Memphis Police Department (MPD) released bodycam footage that captures, with utter clarity, the brutal manner in which Tyre Nichols was killed by the former MPD officers now charged with second-degree murder. The footage is shocking to the consciousness, horrif...

05/26/2022

A message from the President of TCNJ

To the Campus Community:

Like so many others, I find myself nearly at a loss for words. Addressing—even simply contemplating—the horrific shooting deaths of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday is close to unbearable.

Schools are supposed to be safe havens, places to learn and grow. We at TCNJ have a particularly strong appreciation for and commitment to this belief, having produced scores of educators —including elementary school teachers — since the college’s founding as the New Jersey State Normal School in 1855. While our dedication remains, we now grieve as an entire community for the Robb Elementary School victims, their families, their school, their community, and our nation.

In this light, I offer a reminder — regrettably, for the second time this week — that students may take advantage of the support and resources offered by Counseling and Prevention Services and that faculty and staff may pursue free counseling via the Employee Assistance Program.

Some of you may seek to channel your emotion into charitable contributions. This NPR article may serve as a helpful starting point to support victims’ families.

These are trying times. Please support and be good to each other as together we mourn another senseless loss.

Kathryn A. Foster
President

03/02/2022

https://news.sky.com/video/ukraine-invasion-russian-police-detain-protesters-at-demonstrations-across-country-12553661

Thought to ponder: How many police in Russia may be breaking up protests while agreeing with the reason for the protests?

A monitoring group says more than 900 people have been detained at anti-war protests across Russia.

11/22/2021

https://www.policingequity.org/newsroom/press-releases/center-for-policing-equity-on-the-acquittal-of-kyle-rittenhouse
The department in conjunction with Department of African American Studies at The College of New Jersey welcomed Doctor Goff via Zoom.
Please read the following remarks.

November 19, 2021 Center for Policing Equity - [email protected]  New Haven, CT - Today, the Center for Policing Equity released the following statement on the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse: Today’s acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse denies even the most basic level of accountabil...

11/15/2021

Here is an interesting story regarding addiction and incarceration. While many argue about the "slippery slope," people continue to lose their lives.

How can prisons do better for their inmates battling addiction?

Lawyers for the families of two deceased inmates have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the Santa Fe County Commission, jail officials and staff members.

11/05/2021

While many argue over what incarceration looks and feels like, here is former FBI Agent, Robert Lustyik discussing his experience of incarceration and the experiences of others.

https://tcnj.zoom.us/rec/share/u2sEd6CEsxITmRriAqlIA05cF9t2wipG18RG9zZu---qrq3ikh8FcqfTCQOFZDtr.957cM3cgQHl-U6b_

Password: mq0^j7zr

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11/01/2021

https://theconversation.com/no-visits-and-barely-any-calls-pandemic-makes-separation-even-scarier-for-people-with-a-family-member-in-prison-158592

Although the story is from a few months ago, this speaks to the experiences of many that have incarcerated family members. The scope of affect is certainly not limited to only the person incarcerated.

For the 6.5 million Americans who have an incarcerated family member, COVID-19 has made an already stressful situation much worse by drastically limiting communication and raising fears of death.

09/27/2021

An interesting article that mentions the criminogenic outcomes that punishment creates.

Influential criminologist on why Scotland’s crime rate is falling despite the country’s prisons creaking at the seams, not because of it.

08/10/2021

Graduate from TCNJ's Department of Criminology? Interested in employment opportunities? Reconnecting with classmates? Would you consider filling out the following survey in order to jump start our Alumni relations?

Create a new survey on your own or with others at the same time. Choose from a variety of survey types and analyze results in Google Forms. Free from Google.

07/06/2021

Looking for a course this summer? Why not learn about a movement from Professor Mitchell, a dedicated educator that brings students to the material; Zoom or not!

06/03/2021

Summer 2021 Online/Remote Course Offerings


Summer Session II (June 14th-July 15th)

CRI 170: Drugs and Crime (1 unit)
Dr. Streisel
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the foundational history that has brought us to where we are today in regards to the response to drugs and crime and then discuss our current atmosphere. Therefore, we will begin with how we define crime, as well as how drug use became defined as criminal. To do this we will trace the United States’ criminalization of drug use up until the defining point of the War on Drugs. Here, we will study how the drug war came to be and how this impacted law enforcements’ response to those who used drugs and committed drug-related crime. Following this, we will compare the approach of the War on Drugs to the more current and rehabilitation-oriented approach of the opioid epidemic. Students will learn about criminal justice deflection in this section. Finally, we will round out the course learning about what factors are shown to be most influential when deciding to leave crime and drug use behind.

Counts as a CRI option for majors & in the CRI minor

CRI 205: Criminology
Dr. Mazeika
This course provides a general introduction to the study of criminal behavior from an interdisciplinary perspective. The history of criminology as a discipline will be examined. Criminological theories of crime and criminality from classical theories to modern developmental theories will be carefully examined. Students will learn to review and interpret various data sources from the Uniform Crime Reports, the National Crime Victimization Survey, and self-reports.
Required for CRI majors and counts in the minor; fulfills Behavioral, Social, or Cultural Perspectives
Summer Session III (July 19th-August 19th)

AAS 362/CRI 370: History of Black Lives Matters: Intersectional Anti-Racism & Violence Studies
Prof. Mitchell
In this course, students use intersectionality theories to critically analyze scholarly and activist writings that expose and interrogate the spectrum of anti-black ideologies, and legal and extralegal individual, collective, and institutional anti-black violence in the United States from slavery to the present. Students intensively investigate dominant narratives on blackness, whiteness, and white terrorist violence in print media, such as post-Civil War era lynching photographs and lynching advertisements, and eyewitness video footage and television news reports on police violence targeting blacks from the 1960s to present. The discourses of marginalized and traditionally unheard voices critique and challenge the implicitly and explicitly gendered, classed, and sexualized racist discourses that animate, perpetuate, and justify anti-black violence in particular, and intersectional structural racism in general. Students leave the course with an understanding that racist violence is historical (or deeply rooted in the past), ongoing, ideologically-premised, institutionalized, and fundamentally enmeshed with multiple oppressions, including sexism, classism, heterosexism, and cissexism; therefore, effective antiracist activist responses to anti-black violence must be intersectional and inclusive.
Counts as a CRI elective (option or advanced) for majors and in the CRI minor; fulfills Gender and Race & Ethnicity

04/21/2021

**A message from College President, Dr. Kathryn Foster
Dear All,

We know from history, as corroborated by an analysis from the April 19, 2021 New York Times, that cases involving police and Black and Brown people often end without a conviction at trial. Many watching the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with the death of George Floyd, believed that this case would have a different outcome. It had to: the visual evidence was incontrovertible, the brutality unconscionable.

We know now the outcome of this case—a guilty verdict—and that sentencing will come in several weeks. In the meantime, we understand that there remains deep emotion about such cases and the justifiable anger, trauma, and distrust they provoke. Systemic racism in any institution and form, as has occurred in the justice system brings immeasurable harm to our community and nation.

Our campus—so many of you—have worked tirelessly this year to listen and learn, confront bias, reform policies and structures, tell your stories, and “be the change you want to see” in our community. These efforts will continue.

George Floyd’s story is our story. We commit to ensuring that his name and memory live on in our anti-racism work and journey. Thank you for joining us on this perpetual journey. We know that we have a long way to go.

Kathryn A. Foster, President and
James A. Felton III, Vice President for Inclusive Excellence