According to the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project of Michigan Law and Northwestern Law, over 1,600 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:
- What do we mean by “wrongfully convicted,” and how common are wrongful convictions?
- Who are wrongfully convicted?
- Where in the criminal justice system do things go wrong to lead to wrongful convictions?
- Why do wrongful convictions occur?
- How can social science contribute to understanding, and preventing wrongful convictions?
For-credit option:
This course will also be offered for Penn State credit. This course option will require a heavier workload and offer instructor feedback and assessment on completed work.
More info here
