CJ 360 Victims of Crime Term Paper Guidelines
Title Page: The title should tell the reader what the study is about, not just identify the type of victimization.
Introduction (suggested 1 pg.)
1. Briefly introduce your topic. What type of victimization does your paper focus on?
2. Why is this topic important to study? Who benefits from what you learned through
this study?
3. What are some social scientific facts/findings, such as rates and percentages of
this victimization?
4. What is your research question/s?
5. In this section, you may present non-scholarly sources, such as media accounts,
social science encyclopedias, and professional organization or government literature and websites.
6. All sources must be cited where used in your paper and in your References section.
7. Secondarysourcesmaybeused.
8. Mustbewithin10years.
9. Noquotes.
Literature Review (suggested 2 pgs.)
1. Four social science peer reviewed (scholarly) journal articles minimum.
2. Conduct an in-depth analysis of the research pertaining to the
problem/issue. Identify what is driving the problem/issue or its root cause(s).
3. Discuss the sources in essay format. Write by concept NOT by author/work.
4. All sources must be cited where used in your paper and in your References
section. Only social science peer reviewed (scholarly) sources are allowed in this
section.
5. Primary research studies from academic journals only. Here you must focus on
the researcher’s findings and conclusions.
6. Mustbewithin10years.
7. Noquotes.
Theory (suggested 1-2 pg.)
1. Identify and define a theory that explains why this problem/issue exists.
2. Apply the theory to your specific focus.
3. Only social science peer reviewed (scholarly) sources are allowed in this section.
4. 2 peer reviewed social science sources minimum. Secondary sources are
acceptable.
5. All sources must be cited where used in your paper and in your References
section.
6. Noquotes.
Method (1-2 pgs.)
1. Describeindetailwhyandhowyouselectedtheadvocatetointerview.
2. Whatorganizationdoesthepersonworkfor?Whatisthegoaloftheorganization?
3. Describe the advocate’s job and the types of victims s/he works with.
4. Describe the setting of the interview as well as the advocate.
5. Describe the areas you focused on for the interview and why.
Findings (suggested 1-2 pgs.)
1. Detail your findings. Be sure to discuss the facts that address your research
question and that relate to your theory.
2. When writing about your findings, quotes from the victim advocate or others
involved are always good, but you must cite the source using a fictitious name.
3. Describe the details you learned from the source in essay, or story, format.
Conclusion (suggested 1 pg.)
1. Here you will briefly describe your findings, i.e., did you answer your research question? In what way? Did the theory effectively explain the victimization? In what way? What were the shortcomings of the theory?
2. Did your case and findings match with the social science research you reviewed in this paper? How?
3. You must describe what these findings mean. What do they mean for criminal justice, for society, for individuals?
4. Based on your findings and theory, propose a policy or program that can help improve the situation.
5. Discussthelimitationsofyourstudy(inyourRQ,methods/datacollection,theory).
6. All sources must be cited where used in your paper and in your References
section.
7. Noquotes.
References
1. AllsourcesusedmustbeincludedinAPAformat.
2. Seven (7) scholarly peer reviewed journal articles minimum. You may use your
text book as one source.
Guidelines & Format:
1. Noquotingisallowed,unlessprovidingalistforyourtheory,abriefdefinitionfor your crime type, or a quote by the victim advocate. Quoting outside of these allowances will result in point deductions.