Guidelines
The “final” for this course is a paper. The paper will be 10-12 double-spaced pages, not counting citations. You are required to use the American Sociological Association (ASA) style of citation. Consult the ASA’s “Quick Tips for ASA Style(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” to be sure sources are properly referenced.
A major theme of the course has been the centrality of decision making discretion in the criminal justice system.
For the paper:
1. Choose two stages of criminal justice discretion (e.g., police and the decision to arrest, prosecutors and charging decisions, plea bargaining and trials, courts and sentencing decisions, managing prison behavior, parole release, community corrections, and reentry, etc.).
2. Explain how at least three theoretical perspectives/concepts covered in the course relate or apply to the chosen stages of discretion.
3. Briefly describe what contemporary research tells us about the two stages of discretion. The goal is to synthesize knowledge from the course and apply it to areas of criminal justice discretion.
No outside literature research is necessary for the paper. You should be able to successfully complete the paper using only the material covered in the syllabus. While you may choose to include outside literature (studies, etc.) in your paper, this is not required, and will not—in and of itself—result in extra points.
