PURPOSE OF COURSE

•          To gain  knowledge of  race, class, and gender issues in criminal justice   
•          To develop understanding of how these issues affect the criminal justice system
•          To demonstrate skills in identifying strategies for dealing with these issues


REQUIREMENTS OF COURSE

1. All students are expected to do readings as assigned and participate in class discussions.

2. Two papers. All papers must be in the style of the Academy for Criminal Justice           Sciences (ACJS) in its publications, such as, Justice Quarterly (see course website).
a. Personal narrative of an event that you experienced or heard about through personal contact in which race, class, or gender created a difficulty for the criminal justice system, either creating injustice or preventing the administration of justice. You must describe the event, how issues of race, class or gender, were involved, and how they created difficulty for achieving justice. In addition, you must indicate how you feel the issues should have been dealt with to reduce the difficulty and increase the likelihood that justice could be achieved (or decrease the likelihood of injustice). If the narrative is based on an event that appeared in the news media, bibliographic citations are required.  This paper should be 3-5 pages long. It should express your personal opinions. It may not be hand written. You will have to discuss the topic of your personal narrative in class. For those getting a grade in the course, this is worth 20% of your grade.
b. A term paper of a public, contemporary situation in the criminal justice system in which issues of race, class, or gender create difficulty for administering or achieving justice. This situation must be documented by reference to research literature and news media citations. You must describe the issues involved from the different perspectives in conflict and proposals that have been made to resolve this situation. You must evaluate the pros and cons of the proposals and indicate what solution you favor (either one of the existing proposals or you may introduce a new proposal of your own) and say why you favor that solution. The paper should be 8-10 pages. It may not be hand written. You will have to discuss the topic of your paper in class. If the paper is being used to achieve a Writing III competency, you are responsible for assuring that it also meets the requirements of that competency and for enrolling in the additional writing competency and instructional activity. For those getting a grade in the course, this is worth 30% of your grade.

3. One take home written exercise, given out in class, in which you define key concepts listed and describe two examples from the text. For those getting a grade for the course, this is worth 30% of your grade.

4. A media clipping about something in the criminal justice system that involves issues of race, class, or gender. You will be asked in class to provide comments that summarize the charge of prejudice or discrimination, the defense against the charge, and give your opinion on how it should be resolved. For those getting a grade for the course, this is worth 10% of your grade.

5. A copy of a web page that illustrates a concept from the course. You must attach a narrative that describes how the concept is illustrated. For those getting a grade for the course, this is worth 10% of your grade.

Session Topics and Assignments

1 Overview: Conflict in Race, Class, and Gender
Reading: WSD, Preface, chap. 1, pps. 1-13

2 Theoretical Perspectives
Reading:WSD, chap. 1, pps. 13-21

3 Ideology and Facts of Victimization
Reading: WSD, chap. 2, pps. 24-34

4 Ideology and Facts of Offenses
Reading WSD, chap. 2, pps. 34-49
Personal Narrative Due

5 Class and Gender
Reading: WSD, chap. 3
Media clipping Due. Take Home Assignment Given Out.

6 Hate Crimes
Reading: WSD, chap. 2, pps. 49-50, and handouts

7 Intimate Violence
Reading: handouts
Take Home Assignment Due.

8 Law Enforcement
Reading: WSD, chap. 4
Draft of Problem Statement for Term Paper Due

9 Prosecution
Reading: WSD, chap 5
Web page assignment due

10 Adjudication
Reading: WSD, chap. 6

11 Sentencing
Reading: WSD, chap. 7
Draft of Term Paper Due

12 Capital Punishment
Reading: WSD, chap. 8

13 Corrections
Reading: WSD, chap. 9

14 Future of Criminal Justice
Reading, WSD, chap. 10
Term Paper Due. Discussion of Term Paper Topics.

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