Week 8: New Developments in Crime Theory
For your opening post, answer ONE of the following questions. Your first post is due by WEDNESDAY. Include any lingering questions you have about the readings or lecture on new developments in crime theory, or include a question for your peers to help them think through the material more deeply. Cite your sources.
1. Read the manual presented by the Sentencing Project on how to reduce racial disparity in the criminal justice system: REDUCING Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: A Manual for Practitioners and Policymakers Using information from the text and lectures for this week, provide an overview and critique of their recommendations. Which do you think are most feasible and why Make an argument, provide evidence, cite your sources.
2. Read the following article on effect of housing vouchers on crime: The Impact of Housing Vouchers on Crime in US Cities and Suburbs How has the voucher program affected crime? Does this program reflect the propositions in the readings for this week? In what ways could the voucher program be improved, according to the readings for this week? Make an argument, provide evidence, cite your sources.
3. Read the following 2007 Bureau of Justice Statistics report on African American victimization: Black Victims of Violent Crime. How would the theories discussed this week explain the findings? Which theory do you think best explains the findings and why? Based on these findings and the theories discussed this week, what kind of policy/policies should be implemented to reduce black victimization? Make an argument, provide evidence, cite your sources.
4. Design a community justice strategy using Clear’s argument. Thoroughly describe the elements of the strategy, and explain why your proposed strategy is consistent with Clear’s ideas in Imprisoning Communities. Make an argument, provide evidence, cite your sources.
5. Research the information on prison populations: Prison Count 2010 Based this data, describe trends in incarceration. How does this information coincide with the arguments provided by Clear? Using Clear, make a policy recommendation to reduce incarceration. Make an argument, provide evidence, cite your sources.
6. Design a study to test Unnever and Gabbidon’s theory of African American offending. What design would you pick (existing data analysis, interview, experiment, ethnography, etc. – here’s a brief overview Links to an external site. And here’s more detail Links to an external site.) and why? What city would you pick and why? What questions would you seek to understand and how would you obtain that information? Make sure you include a discussion of Unnever and Gabbidon’s thesis as part of your discussion.
