开始时间: 04/22/2022 持续时间: 7 weeks
所在平台: CourseraArchive 课程类别: 社会科学 大学或机构: Pennsylvania State University(宾夕法尼亚州立大学) 授课老师: Tim R Robicheaux |
课程主页: https://www.coursera.org/course/wrongfulconviction
课程评论:没有评论
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project of Michigan Law and Northwestern Law, over 1,300 individuals in the United States have been exonerated after being convicted for crimes they did not commit. These are the known cases of wrongful conviction—the actual number is much higher. Some of these individuals have served years, even decades, in prison for these crimes. Often, real offenders have escaped justice as a result of the wrong person being accused and convicted.
As noted, we will approach this topic from a social scientific perspective. Social science is a broad field that seeks to understand social interactions between individuals, groups, and institutions. The field includes academic disciplines such as sociology, criminology, psychology, economics, anthropology, political science, and other related disciplines.
In this course we will explore wrongful convictions answering several key questions:
Each week we
will cover two lessons in the course. Each lesson, while related, will be
considered independently.
Week One:
Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
Social Science and Public Policy: Due Process
and Crime Control
Week Two:
Wrongful Conviction Defined
Wrongful Conviction Demographics and Statistics
Week Three:
Wrongful Conviction and the Criminal Justice
Process—Where do things go wrong?
Causes of Wrongful Conviction: Government
Misconduct and Poor Defense
Week Four:
Causes of Wrongful Conviction: Eyewitness
Misidentification—An Introduction
Causes of Wrongful Conviction: Eyewitness
Misidentification—System Variables
Week Five:
Causes of Wrongful Conviction: Eyewitness
Misidentification—Estimator Variables
Causes of Wrongful Conviction: False
Confessions
Week Six:
Causes of Wrongful Conviction: Jailhouse
Snitches, Informants, and Poor Forensics
Myths and Misconceptions of Decision-Makers:
Judges, Juries, and the Public
Week Seven:
Using Social Science to Prevent Wrongful
Convictions
What can you do?
The United States criminal justice system is typically an accurate and efficient system. Although, as a human creation, it is not perfect. This course will employ a social scientific perspective to understand why innocent people are sometimes convicted of crimes they did not commit. In this course we will discuss wrongful convictions, their causes, and their solutions.