Category: Criminal Justice

Write a 2-page paper (not including the Title page or your References) overview

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Write a 2-page paper (not including the Title page or your References) overview paper (double-spaced, 1” margins, 12 pt. Times New Roman font) on Biosocial Theory. The paper must contain the following sections:
Overview of the selected theory (i.e. main developer(s) of the theory, historical evolution of the theory, main assumptions of the theory, and what criminological school the theory falls under).
Theory relevance in current crime prevention strategies
Strengths and weaknesses of the theory
Policy Implications connected to the theory
Summarize critical insight

Students are required to complete a 15-20 page paper on Anderson’s (1999) book e

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Students are required to complete a 15-20 page paper on Anderson’s (1999) book entitled Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City published by W.W. Norton and Company.
Requirements
Introductory paragraph—every paper needs an introduction. In this paragraph you should introduce the purpose of the paper (i.e., state your topic and theories under consideration) and provide the reader with an overview of the paper (i.e., a roadmap).
Summarize the key issues in the text—students may choose to summarize the text by selecting important issues in each chapter while others may choose to summarize key themes that appear throughout the text. The idea is for me to know that you read the entire book & that you understand the important points. Keep this section of your paper brief (no more than 50% of the paper). This will seem difficult, so I suggest that you begin early and revise often.
Critically discuss two criminological theories & pick the theory you prefer—students should select two criminological theories to explain behaviors discussed in the Code of the Street.
Each theory should be thoroughly summarized (e.g., all concepts, propositions, etc.) and followed by an example(s) from the Anderson’s text.
Do not merely insert an example into your discussion….you must also EXPLAIN why this is a good example for your selected theory.
The occasional use of short quotations to demonstrate a point is fine but do not overuse quotations to fill up your paper.
At the end of the paper, you should critically discuss which of your two selected theories offers the best explanation for the behaviors discussed in the Anderson’s book.
The critical discussion section of the paper should comprise at least 50% of the paper.
Concluding paragraph—do not abruptly end your paper once you complete the minimum number of pages. Your conclusion should quickly review the major points highlighted in the paper and leave the reader with closure.
Appropriate references—you should support your discussion with citations (e.g., course readings, academic journals, books, internet resources, etc.).
Format
APA format is mandatory.
The format of the paper should: (1) be double-spaced; (2) use Times Roman 12 point black font; (3) have page numbers; (4) use proper grammar; (5) have a title page; (6) have an introduction and conclusion; (7) have proper in text citations (i.e., Shelley, 2008); (8) have a reference page; (9) have 1-inch margins; and (10) consist of at least 15-20 pages of text.
A paper that deviates from these format requirements will receive a lower grade.
Generative AI and Large Language Models
AI tools are NOT part of the learning experience in this course and students will NOT use AI tools for class preparation, assignments, exams. Use of AI for course activities will be treated as an act of academic dishonesty. You are graduate students learning to become independent scholars and subject matter experts. Independent scholars/experts learn how to retain, synthesize, and utilize information on their own rather than relying on AI as a crutch. Use of AI will be treated in the same manner as plagiarism (see below) and will result in a failing grade on the assignment and possible failure in the course entirely.

Pointers for Research Proposal: Your proposed research should bear on issues per

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Pointers for Research Proposal:
Your proposed research should bear on issues pertaining to crime and criminal justice, broadly understood. This would include research into the causes of crime, the predictors of attitudes or opinions about crime and criminal Justice held by members of the public, the predictors of outcomes at various stages of the criminal justice process (e.g., arrest vs. no arrest, conviction vs. acquittal, etc.), or the social factors responsible for the development and operation of alternatives to the standard criminal justice system (e.g., drug rehab programs, anger management therapy, etc).
You should choose a topic for your proposal that really interests you..
The project you propose should be practical and realistic. It should be a project that you could actually do with the resources available to you. So, no research that would be expensive to conduct, require very large sample sizes, involve access to people and places off limits to you, call for fluency in a language you do not speak, necessitate long-distance travel, etc.
Every proposed project needs to include at least one dependent variable (something you are trying to explain), one or more independent variables (things you think can help explain the dependent variable), one or more clearly-stated hypotheses, and a method through which data will be gathered. I strongly encourage people to select one research method for their proposed research rather than propose multi-method studies.
The choice of methods includes questionnaires and interviews, but also ethnographic research (where people study groups to which they belong through participant observation), direct observation (where people watch and listen to the behavior of others that is observable to them without any interaction), content analysis (where a sample of items with written, oral, or visual content, like films, news broadcasts, or novels, is studied for patterns and associations with social factors), and cross-cultural research (in which a sample of diverse societies is examined for similarities and differences and principles that can explain them. Please consider all possible research methods before deciding on the one you will propose
This statement only needs to be a paragraph or two in length. It should, however, include the following:
what your dependent variable will be (i.e., what your research will try to explain);
what your independent variable(s) will be (I.e., what social factor or factors you think can explain your dependent variable, and that you will include in your proposed study;
what hypothesis or hypotheses you will be testing in your proposed research; and
how and where you will propose gathering your data.
You should plan to propose using just one method in your study, as opposed to multiple methods, since this will lead to a more manageable plan and will simplify preparing the proposal.
Many of you will propose using anonymous questionnaires in your research, which is great, but you do not have to do that. Other methods to consider include face-to-face interviews; direct observation, where you watch events unfold but do not participate in them; content analysis, where you record information from a sample of films, novels, news broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, or song lyrics; cross-cultural research, where you select a sample of diverse cultures and use written material about them to retrieve information in which you are interested; and participant observation — the “ethnographic method” — in which you observe behavior and interact with people in a group to which you yourself belong.
This is the first part. I will use you as the writer for the research paper as well.