Sociology 49S.02 Crime and Society Seminar

Spring 2000 Dr. Williams

DATE	TOPIC	READINGS
Jan. 13	Introduction
18 20	Crime Problems, Crime Policy	WA 1-4
25 27	Dealing With Crime - The Conservative View	WA 5-7
Feb. 1 *3	Dealing With Crime - The Liberal View	WA 11-14
8 10	Thinking About Crime - An Alternative View	RE 1-2
15	Thinking About Crime - An Alternative View	RE 3-4, Conclusion
17	EXAMINATION I
22 24	Criminals On Crime	CR 1-3, 5, 13-14
29	Criminals On Crime	CR 15-17, 8-9
Mar. *2	Growing Up In The ‘Hood	CA 1-25
7 9	When Work Disappears	WI 1-4
SPRING RECESS
21 23	The Social Policy Challenge	WI 5-8
28	The “Cool Pose” Adaptation	MA 1-9
*30	EXAMINATION II
Apr. 4 6	Crime and Lethal Violence	ZI 1-6
^#11 ^#13	Preventing Lethal Violence	ZI 7-11
^#18 20	Crime And Punishment	CU 1-3
25	Crime Reduction Alternatives	CU 4-5

Texts: CA = Canada. fist stick knife gun. 1995. ¨ CR = Cromwell. In Their Own Words: Criminals on Crime. 1999.

¨ CU = Currie. Crime and Punishment in America. 1998. ¨ MA = Majors and Billson. Cool Pose. 1992.

¨ RE = Reiman. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison. Fifth edition. 1998. ¨ WA = Walker. Sense

and Nonsense About Crime and Drugs. Fourth edition. 1998. ¨ WI = Wilson. When Work Disappears. 1996.

¨ ZI = Zimring and Hawkins. Crime Is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America. 1997.

On Reserve: Inciardi. Criminal Justice. Sixth edition. 1999.

Office: 259 Soc-Psych Building. Office hours: TTh 2-3:30 pm and by appointment.

E-mail: jwms@soc.duke.edu Office phone and voice mail: 660-5650.

Grade weights for course: Class participation - 13%; Papers (3) - 36%; Take-home exams (2) - 26%;

Presentation - 4%; Final paper - 21%

* Paper due ^# Class presentations

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Class participation: This class is a seminar. I will do some lecturing but most of each class session will be devoted to a discussion of the assigned reading material. Everyone is expected to contribute to these discussions and 15% of your final grade will be based on your contributions during class.

Do not consider these discussions a competitive event but rather an cooperative learning effort. A good question is as valuable as a good answer or an insightful comment. Your group effort to deal with the issues we are examining in the seminar typically will provide a higher yield for understanding than an individual effort. Be supportive of one another, be tolerant of diverse viewpoints, and use constructive criticism. Above all, be intellectually curious.

Papers: Three 4-5 page papers will be submitted during the course. Due dates for these papers are marked by an asterisk (*) on your syllabus. The topic for each paper will be announced two weeks prior to the due date. The 4-5 page limitation refers to the text of the paper - endnotes and references are additional.

Take-home exams: There will be two take-home examinations. The first will be distributed at the end of class on February 17. The exam is due at the next class on February 22. The second examination will be given to you on March 30. It is due at the next class on April 4. You may use your class notes, readings, and other resources for the exam, but your answers on the exam are to be entirely your own.

Class presentation: In preparation for your final paper in the course, you will make a presentation of ten minutes to the class describing your final paper in detail. The class will ask questions and make comments for the purpose of helping you improve your final paper. Five class members will present per class. Three class periods are reserved for this activity. These class dates are indicated on your syllabus by a pound sign (#). You may volunteer for a date to present and if you don’t volunteer, a date will be assigned.

Final paper: You will write a 10-12 page final paper which addresses crime in general, a specific crime problem, and/or the criminal justice system’s (police, courts, corrections, and/or juvenile justice) role in crime. You will discuss the nature of the crime(s), the probable cause(s) of the crime(s) [if known], and past attempts to control the crime(s). For the criminal justice system, you will discuss how it may contribute to crime, fail to combat crime, or more effectively control crime. You will then describe what you believe to be, based on the relevant literature, a fresh and appropriate proposal for addressing your chosen crime(s)/criminal justice system issue. You will also discuss the policy implications for the implementation of your proposal.

In the January 1998 issue of Crime and Delinquency, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman said:

We can reduce crime. We can punish smarter. We can

rehabilitate better and more efficiently. We can bring

balance to criminal justice.

Assume that you are the Director of the New Jersey Crime Commission and Governor Whitman has asked you to advise her on a strategy to make her words ring true. Your final paper will be that product.