JUVENILE JUSTICE ANDJUVENILE DELINQUENCY SOCIOLOGY 363 TERM 9, 2004 http://www.cornellcollege.edu/~ccarlson/juvenile/index.html |
Chris
Carlson: 205 College Hall
Office Phone:
895 4207 Home phone: 895 8697
Office Hours:
MWF 11-12 and by Appointment
COURSE
TOPICS AND READING LIST
In
the first part of this course, we will examine the patterns of delinquent
behavior in the United States and consider some explanations sociologists have
offered for delinquent behavior. In the
second part of the course, we will consider the historical development of the
juvenile justice system and the current organization and functioning of the
juvenile system. In the third part of
the course, we will examine some issues facing the system today. Although the juvenile justice system shares
some characteristics with the adult system (e.g., the police are responsible
for apprehending juvenile delinquents and adults, many due process rights are
extended to juveniles, juveniles are sometimes prosecuted in adult courts, and
juveniles sometimes serve time in adult institutions), the juvenile justice
system constitutes a separate set of institutions governed by different
principles and procedures.
The
following books are available for purchase at the bookstore:
Barry
Feld, Bad Kids: Race and the
Transformation of the Juvenile Court
Edward
Humes, No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year
in the Life of the Juvenile Court
Mark
Warr, Companions in Crime
Some reading is on reserve (designated by an “R” on the syllabus) and some reading is available online (accessed via links on the course web page and indicated by a “W” on the syllabus). A few readings will be distributed as handouts (designated by “HO” on the syllabus).
ASSIGNMENTS
Exam:
One exam will be given. The exam will be composed of two types of
questions:
1) short answer questions
testing your knowledge of the reading and 2) essay questions on the reading and
class discussions testing your understanding by asking you to summarize,
explain, integrate, and draw conclusions from this material.
Final Paper: A final paper is required.
This paper is an essay based on the issues concerning the contemporary
juvenile justice system and its future that are illustrated in Edward Humes’
book, No Matter How Loud I Shout.
In the essay you will explain, evaluate, and draw conclusions about
these issues based on our readings and on the material presented in class. In addition, two articles are on reserve
that will assist you in writing this essay. This assignment is described on the
course web page.
Article Summaries/Analyses: A summary/analysis of a research article is
required. The articles for these
summaries/analyses are listed on the syllabus and are on reserve in the
library. Guidelines for writing these
summaries/analyses are included on the courses web page.
Data Assignments: Three data analysis assignments are required. These assignments ask you to collect and analyze data on some
aspect of delinquency or juvenile justice relevant to a topic discussed in
class. Thorough completion of the
described tasks will gain all the possible points for these assignments. Incomplete and/or careless work will receive
fewer points. These assignments are
described on the course web page.
Reading Questions: On three days you should
prepare written questions for discussion based on the assigned reading. Your
questions may relate to any material we have read previous to the day the questions
are due but they must include a question incorporating the material for that
day as well. Questions of clarification
are important and necessary (e.g., what does Warr or Kramer mean by...?), and
you should certainly raise these questions in class as we discuss the
material. However, the questions that
you prepare for discussion should be more analytical and critical. Analytical questions focus on the
relationships of the parts or elements of an author's ideas or approach. Critical questions focus on the implications
and evaluation of the ideas or approach of an author. Accordingly, your questions should be in the form of paragraphs
presenting ideas for exploration rather than single sentences. You should bring your type-written
questions to class, and I will collect them at the end of class. I will look for evidence that you have done
the reading carefully and that you have put some thought into your
questions. You should prepare two
carefully composed questions for each day, approximately ¾-typed page,
single-spaced. Careful completion of
this task will gain all the possible points for these assignments. Incomplete and/or careless work will receive
fewer points.
Class Attendance and Participation: Attendance is required except in cases of illness or personal emergency. Please notify me in advance of class if you will be absent. Participation is expected. I will assign participation points on the basis of your contributions to the class in the form comments and questions. You cannot make these contributions if you are not in class. Unexcused absences from class will result in significant reductions in your participation grade, which may lower your grade in the class. However, if you attend class and are reasonably engaged, participation points will not lower your grade—and may improve it.
Class will begin promptly at
the times listed on this syllabus.
Please arrive on time.
We will take two field
trips. For these trips you must ride in
the College vans. Driving your own car
is not an option.
Final Grade: I will determine your final grade by adding the points on the
assignments and participation together.
I will use the following scale: A
92-100%, A- 90-91%, B+ 88-89%, B 82-87%, B- 80-81%,
C+ 78-79%, C 72-77%, C- 70-71%, D+ 68-69%, D
62-67%, D- 60-61%, F below 60%.
The distribution of points
on the assignments and exams is:
|
Assignments |
Points |
|
Written Questions |
15 (5
each) |
|
Data Assignments |
60 (20
each) |
|
Article Summary |
25 |
|
Exam |
100
|
|
Participation |
40 |
|
Final Paper |
100 |
|
Total |
340 |
Late Work: The exam will be rescheduled
and late papers without penalty (including arriving late to class on mornings
when papers are due) will be permitted/accepted only in cases of illness or
emergency. To reschedule the exam or turn in late work without penalty, you
must make prior arrangements with me or provide documentation from the Health
Center of a medical or personal emergency that prevented you from making these
prior arrangements. Late papers without
approval or documentation will be assessed a penalty of 10% of the total points
for the assignment if not submitted by the deadline indicated on the syllabus
and an additional 5% for each hour they are late. Time deadlines for papers indicate the latest they may be
submitted without penalty. Reading
questions will not be accepted after the due date and time without approval or
documentation as described above.
In grading your midterm
exam, I am guided by the following general criteria:
A signifies unusual ability
and distinctive achievement, mastery of content and concepts.
B signifies articulate,
above-average performance, good knowledge of content and concepts.
C signifies satisfactory
performance, less complete knowledge of content and concepts.
D signifies passing work but
work that demonstrates only minimal knowledge of content and concepts.
F signifies failure to
demonstrate sufficient knowledge of content and concepts to justify receiving
credit.
In assigning points to your
final paper, I am guided by the following
general criteria:
A
signifies thorough and convincing presentation of ideas and information, clear
and careful organization, smooth and concise writing with very few or no
errors.
B
signifies solid development of ideas and information, good organization,
generally good writing with some, but not many, errors.
C
signifies that presentation of ideas and information is adequate but still
sketchy in some places, organization is not always clear, writing is rough in a
number of places (major and minor writing errors).
D
signifies incomplete development of ideas and information, unproved assertions,
unclear organization, many errors in writing.
F
signifies undeveloped ideas and evidence, poor organization, lack of focus,
many errors in writing (poor grammar, inappropriate choice of words, rough
transitions, misspellings, etc.).
In
assigning points to your data analyses and your article summary, I will expect you to address the assigned
tasks accurately and thoroughly within the specified page limits. I will deduct points for grammatical errors
and lack of clarity in your writing.
In
assigning points to your questions/reactions, I will deduct points for
grammatical errors and lack of clarity in your writing. I will expect to see evidence that you have
done the reading in your questions. I
will not be judging the quality of you questions (there are no wrongs
questions!), so you can expect to receive all 5 points if you meet these
criteria.
COURSE TOPICS AND READING LIST
Part I. Juvenile
Delinquency
MONDAY (5/3): Introduction to the Course (9 AM)
TUESDAY (5/4): How Much Delinquency? (9AM)
§
Feld,
Chapter 1, The
Social Construction of Childhood and Adolescence (pp. 17-33)
§
Binder,
Geis, and Bruce, “Defining Delinquency and Determining its Extent” R (27 pages)
R
§
Begin
reading No Matter How Loud I Shout—to page 154 by next Monday is a good
goal. As you read this book, keep track
of the “cast of characters” and the cases Humes describes, making references to
page numbers in the log. The cases and
characters often illustrate and are relevant to the basic issues facing the
juvenile justice system today.
Therefore, this reading log will be necessary for your final paper.
§
Data
Assignment #1: How Much Delinquency – Due at 9 AM
WEDNESDAY (5/5): Explaining Delinquency: The
Gang Theories (9 AM, 1 PM perhaps)
§
Bursik
and Grasmick, The Effects of Neighborhood Dynamics on Gang Behavior” R (10
pages)
§
Kramer,
“Poverty, Inequality, and Youth Violence” R
(14 pages)
§
Campbell,
Female Participation in Gangs R (7 pages)
§
OJJDP
Bulletin, “Hybrid and Other Modern Gangs” W
§
Warr,
1-29
THURSDAY
(5/6): Explaining
Delinquency: Interpersonal Theories (9AM)
FRIDAY (5/7): Explaining Delinquency:
Putting it All Together (9 AM)
Read and write a summary/analysis of one of the following articles. One copy of each article is on reserve in the library. Due at 9 AM
§
Anderson, “Male and Female Delinquents’ Attachments and
Effects of Attachments on Severity of Self-Report and Delinquency” R
§
Baron
and Hartnagel, “Attributions, Affect, and Crime” R
§
Burton
et al., “The Impact of Parental Controls on Delinquency” R
§
Coughlin
and Vuchinich, “Family Experience in Preadolescence and the Development of Male
Delinquency” R
§
Morash,
“Gender, Peer Group Experiences, and Seriousness of Delinquency” R
WEEK TWO
Part II: The
Juvenile Justice System
MONDAY (5/10): Overview of the Juvenile Justice System (9 AM, 1 PM)
§
Selections
from the Iowa Juvenile Code HO
§
Examine
the Juvenile Justice Flowchart W
§
Binder,
Geis, and Bruce, “The Front Gate of the Juvenile Justice System” R (19 pages)
§
Continue
Reading in Humes (up to page 255 by Thursday is a good goal)
§
Class
Visitor: Marion Police Officer Claude Howard—an opportunity to discuss a police
perspective on juvenile crime and juvenile justice. Officer Howard is a Cornell
College graduate and sociology major.
TUESDAY (5/11): The Creation of the Juvenile
Court (9 AM)
WEDNESDAY (5/12): Juvenile Court Reform (9
AM)
THURSDAY (5/13): The
Effects of Juvenile Court Reform (9 AM)
§
Feld,
Chapter 4, Procedural Justice in the Juvenile Courts
§
OJJDP
Fact Sheet, “Due Process Advocacy” W
FRIDAY (5/14): Midterm Exam (9 AM)
Part III: Some
Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice
MONDAY (5/17): Decriminalization and
Diversion (9 AM)
§ Feld, Chapter 5, Social Control and Noncriminal Status Offenders: Triage and Privatization
§ Finish Humes this week
TUESDAY (5/18): Getting Tough (9 AM, 1 PM)
§ Feld, Chapter 6, Delinquent or Criminal? Juvenile Courts’ Shrinking Jurisdiction over Serious Young Offenders
§
OJJDP
Fact Sheet, “Delinquency Cases Waived to Adult Court:
1990-1999” W
§ Data Assignment #3 Due at 9 AM
WEDNESDAY (5/19): The Influence of Race and
Gender in the Juvenile Justice System (9 AM, 1 PM-perhaps)
§ Feld, Chapter 7, Punishment, Treatment and the Juvenile Court: Sentencing Delinquents
§
Baines
and Alder, “Are Girls More Difficult to Work With?” R (17 pages)
§
Chesney-Lind,
“Challenging Girls’ Invisibility in Juvenile Court” R (15 pages)
§
OJJDP
Fact Sheet, “Residential Placement, 1986-1997” W
THURSDAY (5/20): Retaining the Vision of the Juvenile Court (9 AM, 1
PM)
OJJDP Fact Sheet,
“Probation: Workhorse of the Juvenile Justice System” W
OJJDP Fact Sheet,
“Teen Courts in the United States’ W
Report,
“Balanced and Restorative Justice” W
Class Visitor: Betty Hopkins, Probation
Officer—Betty Hopkins will discuss the
work of juvenile probations
officers with us and answer questions about balanced and restorative justice
and teen courts. (9 AM)
Field Trip: At 2:00 P.M. we will leave to visit the location of several programs run by Alternative Services, a nonprofit organization, and talk to Kathy Horan (an expert on programming for girls) and perhaps to some kids involved in some of these programs. We will return by 4:30 P.M.
FRIDAY (5/21): Field Trip (Leave Cornell at 9 AM and return by 2 PM)
We will tour and talk to the directors of the Juvenile Detention Center and Youth Shelter operated by Linn County Youth Services before lunch. At lunch we will meet with Ivan Vonk, Director of Youth Services for Linn County to discuss juvenile justice programs in Iowa.
Chapter 8, Abolish the Juvenile Court: Sentencing Policy When the Child is a Criminal and the Criminal is a Child (We will not talk about this chapter in class, but it contains information necessary for your final paper.)
MONDAY (5/24): Writing Day—Work on Final
Papers
I will be available from 8-3:30 to consult with you
about your final papers.
TUESDAY (5/25): Prevention Programs (9 AM)
Report: "School and Community Interventions to
Prevent Serious and Violent
Offending " W
This report describes programs aimed at preventing
delinquency by focusing
on the risk factors associated with juvenile
misbehavior. Read the first
page and then look through the rest of the report to
get an idea of the
range and types of programs described and the risk
factors for serious and
violent delinquency that they address
Read one of the following reports and be prepared to
discuss the pros and cons of these approaches to juvenile delinquency
prevention with our class visitor:
Report, “Child Development-Community Policing: Partnership
in a Climate of Violence” W
Report, “Curfew: An Answer to Juvenile Delinquency
and Victimization?” W
Report, “Mentoring: A Proven Delinquency Prevention
Strategy” W
Class Visitor: Jason Edwards, McKinley School—an opportunity to discuss prevention programs with a practitioner in the field. Mr. Edwards is a Cornell College graduate and sociology major.
WEDNESDAY (5/26): Final Paper Due by 12 P.M.