Criminal Justice CRJ 475 Syllabus Women in Criminal Justice

Transcription

1 Criminal Justice CRJ 475 Syllabus Women in Criminal Justice Meeting Time: *** Meeting Place: *** Instructor: Pam Keller Contact information: ( is preferred method of contact) Course Description and Objectives: In exploring the roles of women in the criminal justice system, CJ 475 will examine gender issues in regard to the practitioner, the offender, and the victim. The main goal of this course is to further students understanding of issues related to gender and criminal justice. In this, it will examine and analyze the dynamics of a changing society, law, and criminal justice system and the intersection of gender, race, and class. For if it can be argued that gender doesn t matter, some would ask, why study it? In this, many scholars today are concerned about degendering criminal justice, which may effectively return women to the invisibility they have faced historically as professionals, offenders, and victims. In addition, the course will present discussion of special social topics that are relatively unique to women such as sex trafficking, abortion, and prostitution. There are gender differences in nearly every area of criminal justice. We will consider many questions and differing viewpoints. It is important to acknowledge that some students may feel uncomfortable with certain topics. While individuals may have well formed, or well-informed, opinions, respect your fellow students. The justice system was traditionally developed with men in mind, thus ignoring the unique needs of women. Similarly, much early research was conducted by studying men, which led to developments in theory and practice that were geared toward men. Only in recent years have scholars and practitioners begun to recognize and correct this. Students are encouraged to think and self-reflect on their behaviors and that of justice practitioners considering the impact of actions on gender, diversity, and equality. Prerequisites for Capstone courses are junior or senior standing and completion of all General Education courses that build Core Objectives 1-3 and satisfy Core Objectives 4-8. This course will satisfy Core Objectives 10 and 13 of the Silver Core Curriculum: CO10. Diversity and Equity: Students will demonstrate an understanding of diversity through courses that focus on topics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, physical ability, language, and/or social class with an emphasis on the analysis of equity. Students will apply and evaluate approaches or modes of inquiry used to analyze diversity and equity and the social barriers to these goals. CO13. Integration and Synthesis: Students will be able to integrate and synthesize Core knowledge, enabling them to analyze open-ended problems or complex issues 1

2 In addition, this course will assist students in further honing the skills described in Core Objectives 1 and 3 CO1 Effective Composition and Communication. Students will be able to compose written, oral, visual, and other forms of discourse for a variety of scholarly, professional, and creative purposes. CO3 Critical Analysis & Use of Information. Students will be critical consumers of information, able to engage in systematic research processes, frame questions, read critically, and apply observational and experimental approaches to obtain information. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES: The general student-learning outcomes addressed in this course are: * Students will apply the constant self-reflection that is required to be an effective criminal justice philosopher/practitioner amidst American diversity in race, ethnicity, gender and class and display such thought and critical analysis in discussion and a variety of course assignments. (CO 1, CO 3, CO 10). * Students will analyze and apply current research on gender in criminal justice, focusing on the issues particularly important to women when considering the impacts and effects of gender and race in criminal justice (CO 10, CO 13). * Students will demonstrate integration and synthesis of knowledge, ideas, and approaches, reaching beyond traditional or orthodox approaches and perspectives, to issues regarding the roles and experiences of women as practitioners, offenders, and victims in the criminal justice system (CO 10, CO 13). Course Text: Pollock, J. (2014). Criminal Women, Criminology, and Corrections. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, Inc. ISBN-10: ; WEBCAMPUS: WebCampus is a required part of this course and other materials you will be required to read will be posted on this portal. You will receive s from me on your WebCampus account. All the course lectures, class schedule, study guides, assignments, and other materials are posted on WebCampus. Thus it is important that you learn to use WebCampus. It can be accessed online, by logging on to: Course Structure and Requirements: (1) Reading Reflections: Readings will be assigned from the text and research articles posted in WebCampus. Please read all assigned material prior to the class for which it is assigned. Class lecture and activities will be based on the assumption that you have read all of the assigned materials. Lecture will build on and expand upon the text, but lecture and textbook material will not necessarily overlap. The reflections will be 2 pages each. These will be reflecting on and answering discussion questions and is good preparation for class discussion (also exams). The paper is in APA format including a title page, page 2

3 numbers, title, spacing, citations, reference section, etc. (no running head required). There must be at least one source cited. They will be graded on content but in making an analysis consider that organization and writing mechanics are always important. Each reflection will be turned in the day it is due at the beginning of class (CO 10, CO 13). (2) Current Event: This assignment will involve summarizing a news topic that has some recent relevance and is material to the topic of the class. You are free to report from the perspective of social issues, law enforcement, criminal justice system, management, the offenders or the victim. For many classes, unless otherwise instructed, the event may be local, national or international. There should be no problem finding information that falls into this parameter. The summary must not be any longer than one (1) page of narrative. Three points must be addressed, summary of the topic, relevance to class, your opinion, impression or commentary. The paper is in APA format including a title page, page numbers, title, spacing, citations, reference section, etc. There must be at least one source cited. The source must be legitimate; such as local or national media, Google news or press releases from a reputable source. Do not report news from Wikipedia, directly from affiliated biased parties, or incredible sources. DO NOT cut/paste the entire article. You may quote a cited source up to 10% of your entire narrative. All students may be required to informally present the Current Event during the class session. This requires the student to have access to the article during class and a hard copy or notes are recommended, but not required. The failure to knowledgably and intelligently present an article may result in a reduction in grade for the written assignment and/or participation points. (CO 13). (3) Class Time and Participation: Class will be a combination of lecture, class activities, and discussions. A course calendar can be found at the end of this syllabus. You may also receive a maximum possible 85 points for participation. Since you cannot participate if you are not present, roll will be taken so consider attendance mandatory. There will be opportunities for group as well as individual participation. Missing more than three classes will likely impact your grade. (4) Exams and Quizzes: There will be two exams (Midterm and Final Exam) in this course. Each will be worth 50 points. They will be multiple-choice answer and possibly a few short answer formats (essay). The Midterm will cover all material covered up to that point. The final exam will cover all material since the midterm. (5) Criminal Justice Assessment Paper: I will be requiring each student to attend an open session of a trial court of jurisdiction, court assigned rehabilitation and/or criminal justice (law enforcement) agency. For example, this would include any District, Justice, and Municipal Court in the Reno/Sparks area, the detention (adult or juvenile) facility or a social services agency. After completing the site visit, a three-page summary (double spaced) will need to be completed regarding the two hours that were spent in court or observing, and the attendance sheet filled out by staff personnel. A form will be posted on WebCampus that must be signed and included with the paper no APA formatting is required. (CO 1, CO 3, CO 13). 3

4 (6) Research Participation Requirement: As one component of your grade, you are required to participate in research-type activities. The total time required will be approximately 2-3 hours. The purpose of research component is to expose students to research and research methods. For example, if you choose to participate in a research study, you will receive a detailed debriefing form which will tell you what the researchers were studying and how the research was designed. You are required to earn three credits (called SRPCs). To complete the research component requirement, go to: and follow directions. This link should open up automatically (no password needed); if it doesn t, try cut and pasting the link into your browser window address bar. OR go to the UNR criminal justice department webpage, click on research and then click on undergraduate research pool. Further instructions will be provided in class. Grading of the research component requirement: 10 pts. (7) Research Paper: Students will write a research-based recommendations paper (CO 1, CO 3, CO 10, CO 13). The paper will be 6-8 pages double spaced pages (not counting cover page or references), no more than 1 margins, 10 to12 point font Times New Roman. Papers should conform to APA style, as per Criminal Justice department policy. UNR library has a tutorial for APA style, and one on WebCampus. There is a minimum of 4 references (i.e., books or journal articles), published in the last 10 years. Old sources unless addressing an historical perspective on the issue or research, will be outdated and not acceptable. Thus, you need at least 4 recent sources. You can use older references, but they will not count toward your 4. More references are generally better, as they will support your arguments more fully. Make sure your references are accurate (e.g., make sure the article says what you claim it does). You are only allowed to use 4 or fewer Internet sources (e.g., web pages). Sources you find on PsychINFO, Criminal justice abstracts or other databases available through the library do not count as internet sources. See additional information on successful paper writing, posted on WebCampus. Also, the Knowledge Center has information regarding identifying 'scholarly resources.' Although you may be writing on the same topic as other students, each student is to write their own papers. If two papers are turned in that are essentially the same (e.g., say the same things, just reworded) this will be considered academic dishonesty. Please do your own individual work! Please remember that this is a course on women and criminal justice. Thus, the paper should have to do with this topic. This paper is a research-based recommendations paper: The purpose of the research based recommendations paper is to critically examine, integrate, and qualify the research on one topic related to women and criminal justice, and then discuss how this body of research can inform some area of the legal system (e.g., courts, laws, police). Essentially, you should have a purpose statement similar to The CJ system should because research indicates that. You may choose any topic in women and criminal justice. Be sure that the recommendations are yours, and that you are not copying them from any existing literature. Your recommendations should be based on research. The topic can be a comparison of men/women in a specific area of criminal justice, or it can be a topic that is typically associated with women (e.g., prostitution, sex 4

5 traffic). Remember that the goal is to make recommendations for some part of the CRJ system based on research. Begin with a.5 (half) to 1 page introduction. Tell the reader the purpose of the paper and the importance of the issue. Then spend the next 3-4 pages discussing the research that is relevant to your issue. Essentially answering the question what are the major findings of research in this area? It is not simply a summary of the research, but a comprehensive synthesis and summary including a discussion of the bigger picture. For instance, avoid structuring your paper like this Study A found Study B found Study C found.. Such a laundry list will not tell the reader the bigger picture summary. Instead, structure the paper around the main findings, main points, e.g., some research has indicated that however not all studies have found this. The discrepancy may be due to different sample used in the studies or. This type of synthesis is easier to read and doesn t make the reader struggle to figure out how all the studies fit together in a coherent manner. Essentially, the author (you) should tell the reader how the studies fit together. After your summary of the research, your major paper should discuss the so what should the legal system do with this information? question in 3-4 pages. This means you should discuss the implications of the body of research for one or more areas of the law or government (e.g., laws, policies, trials, child protection, etc.). Recommendations should not be based on opinion, but should be based on the research summarized in the first half of the paper. You should conclude with.5 to 1 page conclusion summarizing your main points. (8) Debate Topic During one class you will be asked to explain and defend your current event or reading reflection in class using the course materials or research as reference (CO 1, CO 3, CO 10, CO 13). Grading Components 2 50 points each 100 Research Paper 100 Class Participation 85 Criminal Justice Assessment assignment 45 Reading Reflections Current Event 4 40 Debate Topic 20 Research Participation total points All late assignments will be subjected to.5% per day deduction. No late assignments will be taken after 2 class periods; this does not include Research Paper and Research Participation, as no late assignments will be accepted for these at all. Deductions will also be taken for failure to follow the instructions regarding assignments. A=90%; B=80%; C= 70%; D=60%; F=below 60% 5

6 I use a plus and minus system. I believe that this helps separate high grades from low grades. It allows me to reward a student who gets a high B by giving them a B+. It also prevents me from giving someone a C if they really didn t do enough for a B, since I can give them a B-. Course policies (1) Make up exams: Make up exams are not normally given in this course. The ONLY circumstances which a makeup exam will be given are: 1) an official, University sponsored event requires you to be off campus during the exam time; 2) a medical emergency; 3) a family emergency; 4) jury duty, military service, religious observance, or similar obligation. If you must miss an exam for one of the reasons above, you should contact the instructor PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED EXAM TIME and you must provide written documentation of the event or emergency in order to schedule a make up exam. Please see instructor (or the UNR CJ department web page) for official Criminal Justice department policy on make up exams. (2) Academic dishonesty/misconduct: Academic misconduct is broadly defined as any act that violates the rights of another student in academic work or that involves misrepresentation of your own work. Tests, exams and other assignments test YOUR knowledge, not the knowledge of other people. Thus, you should do your own work. Such misconduct includes (but is not necessarily limited to): cheating on assignments or exams, plagiarizing (misrepresenting as your own work any part of work done by another), providing your work for another student to use and claim as his/her own work, using any part of a paper written by another as your own work (including papers written by other students, journal articles, papers posted on the internet, etc.); submitting the same paper that you submitted for another course, depriving another student of necessary course materials, interfering with another student s work, trying to receive credit for one research participation study/activity in two classes. Examples of cheating on a quiz or test include: storing information on your phone for use during a test, using the internet or text messages to ask others for answers, writing answers on your body, clothing, desk, etc. If you are found to be cheating on exams or to be engaging in scholarly dishonestly, you will receive NO CREDIT for the exam or paper in question. This will most likely result in your failing the entire course. In addition, the academic misconduct will be reported to the appropriate University office. (3) Videotaping of classes: The criminal justice department has a policy barring the videotaping of classes and requiring instructor permission to audiotape a class. (4) Disability accommodation: Any student with a disability needing academic adjustments of accommodations is requested to speak with me or the Disability Resource Center (Thompson building Suite 101) as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations. (5) Academic Success Services: Your student fees cover usage of the Math Center ( or Tutoring Center ( or and University Writing Center ( or These centers support your classroom learning; it is your 6

7 responsibility to take advantage of their services. Keep in mind that seeking help outside of class is the sign of a responsible and successful student. (6) I am here to help you learn and succeed! This means that if you seek out my help, I will be glad to do what I can to assist you. I will provide feedback and discuss exam performance with you, and I will review drafts of research assignments. Caveat: This class involves a rapidly changing criminal justice environment. As such, rules can change, literally overnight, and often there is not a bright line between two positions. For example, an issue that is considered legal today may be interpreted differently tomorrow. The topics addressed in class are designed to be timely, practical and useful; however, still theoretical. Nothing said, presented or discussed in class should be considered as legal advice or a certification of forensic competence. I will not be able to address certain non-procedural issues about current local cases, or cases I may be involved with. In the spirit of academia, I present positions that may be against conventional beliefs, controversial and may even be offensive to some. These may or may not be my true attitudes, but in a classroom environment, it is important to be exposed to alternative views. Regardless, please do not confuse information presented in class as any type of official position. Tentative course calendar- maybe subject to change posted on WebCampus! As a course on women and criminal justice, most topics will include the intersection of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Date Reading Assignment/ activity What s due Jan 20 Syllabus Quiz Introduction course review and syllabus Jan 22 Course pre-test Ch. 1- Criminology, Sex stereotypes and sex differences Jan 27 Purchase materials- print and bring syllabus to class Reading Reflection 1 Due Jan 29 Feb 3 Ch. 2 Women s Crimes Ethnicity, class, and gender Video Girl Trouble Speaker Sgt. Brown Feb 5 Feb 10 Ch. 3 Traditional Crime Theories Current Event 1 Due Feb 12 Feb 17 Ch. 4 Current Theories and women Reading Reflection 2 Due Feb 19 Feb 24 Feb 26 Ch. 6 Female Juvenile Offenders Ch. 7/8 Sentencing and Women s Prison Ch. 9/10 Gender responsive programming, release and recidivism Speaker- Deputy Genio Current Event 2 Due 7

8 Mar 3 Victims Domestic Violence Research Articles Posted in Webcampus Mar 5 Interpersonal Partner Abuse Speaker Victim Advocate and Violence Mar 10 Victims - Chapter 6 Invisible Woman Joanne Belknap Posted in Webcampus Mar 12 Rape Myth - Research Articles- Webcampus Reading Reflection 3 Due March 17 No Class SPRING BREAK March 19 No Class SPRING BREAK Mar 24 Mid Term Exam Mar 26 No Class Finalize Research Topic and receive approval Mar 31 Women Working in Corrections Research Articles- Webcampus Current Event 3 Due Apr 2 Women in Corrections Research Articles- Webcampus Apr 7 Women in Corrections Speakers Research Articles- Webcampus Apr 9 Women in Policing Research Reading Reflection 4 Due Articles- Webcampus Apr 14 Women in Policing Research Speakers Articles- Webcampus Apr 16 Women in Law Chapter 11 Invisible Woman Joanne Belknap Apr 21 Women in Law Speakers Current Event 4 Due Apr 23 Women in Law Assessment Papers Due Research Participation Due 4-25 Apr 28 Final Review Research Papers Due Apr 30 May 5 Criminology and Feminist Theory review Last class May 6 During this week TBD Finals Week Final exam will be set during the finals week of May 6th. Tentative course calendar- maybe subject to change posted on WebCampus! 8

9 Date Reading Assignment/ activity What s due Jan 20 Syllabus Introduction course review and syllabus Purchase materials- print and bring syllabus to class Jan 22 Ch. 1 Jan 27 Reading Reflection 1 Due Jan 29 Ch. 2 Video Girl Trouble Feb 3 Speaker Sgt. Brown Feb 5 Ch. 3 Current Event 1 Due Feb 10 Feb 12 Ch. 4 Feb 17 Reading Reflection 2 Due Feb 19 Ch. 6 Speaker- Deputy Genio Feb 24 Ch. 7/8 Current Event 2 Due Feb 26 Ch. 9/10 Mar 3 Victims - Research Articles Domestic Mar 5 Abuse IPA Speaker Victim Advocate Violence Mar 10 Victims Research Articles Webcampus Mar 12 Rape Myth Webcampus March 17 No Class SPRING BREAK Reading Reflection 3 Due March 19 No Class SPRING BREAK Mar 24 Mid Term Exam Mar 26 No Class Finalize Research Topic and receive approval Mar 31 Women in Research Articles Current Event 3 Due Corrections Apr 2 Women in Corrections Apr 7 Women in Speakers Corrections Apr 9 Women in Research Articles Reading Reflection 4 Due Policing Apr 14 Women in Speakers Policing Apr 16 Women in Law Research Articles Apr 21 Women in Law Speakers Current Event 4 Due 9

10 Apr 23 Women in Law Assessment Papers Due Research Participation Due 4-25 Apr 28 Final Review Research Papers Due Apr 30 May 5 May 6 Criminology and Feminist Theory review Last class During this week TBD Finals Week 10