Describe social disorganization theory. Be sure to include a discussion of how Park’s Concentric Zone Theory influenced the development of Shaw & McKay’s Social Disorganization Theory?

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CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY

CRIM 601

Assignment #4

This assignment is worth 50 points toward your final grade.  Your responses must be posted to Blackboard no later than October 11 at 11:59 pm.  To receive the full 50 points, your response must be a minimum of three but no more than five pages, double-spaced, typed, numbered, using a 12 point font, and one-inch margins.  Failure to meet any of these requirements will result in a one-letter grade deduction per infraction.  The total page count does not include your name, the reiterating of the question, nor the reference page.  This paper must follow the APA (American Psychological Associations, fifth edition) format, and it must not exceed five pages. You must place you name either on a separate title page or on the top left hand corner of the paper.  In addition you must include a reference page and cite (where appropriate) within the text.  In general, the paper is expected to focus on the core issues contained in the readings assigned for this topic.  Each question is worth 15 points.

  1. Describe social disorganization theory. Be sure to include a discussion of how Park’s Concentric Zone Theory influenced the development of Shaw & McKay’s Social Disorganization Theory?
  2. What does it mean to say that a community is “socially disorganized”? How might Social Disorganizatio Theory help to explain the occurrence of street violence in today’s inner-city communities? Be sure to use the empirical literature to support your argument.
  3. After reading the Chapters 5-8 of Garbarino’s Listening to Killers, choose one of the individuals interviewed. Use social disorganization to explain your subject’s behavior. Be sure to use the literature to support your argument.

Discuss, and describe, the nature of political debate, surrounding the issue of the death penalty

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Objective: Use examples from the movie to explain the politics of Texas’ justice system in application of criminal proceedings and the nature of corrections policy to illustrate meaning of the death penalty/eye for an eye mentality; and create an argument supporting rehabilitation, death penalty or long term incarceration as the best correctional policy approach to dealing with criminals in Texas.

Instructions:

When writing your essay, respond to the prompt completely and thoroughly. Essays must be a minimum of 1.5 – 2 pages in length, double spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font, and written in Times New Roman.

Your response should be your own thoughts and analysis. Citations may be formatted in APA, MLA or Chicago style, remaining consistent throughout. Research and resources should be incorporated with scholarly application. I.e. used as examples or evidence to support your analysis. While outside research is not required it could help support your argument. Remember you do not have to cite anything that is common knowledge.
Make sure to use complete sentences, and proper grammar. Your response to the prompt should focus on analyzing the information you have gathered and used to provide examples that support your analysis.

“A” papers should include a critical analysis of the video’s by applying at least 2 examples to support your position.

A bibliography, references or works cited page, must accompany submission. This page does not count towards the minimum length, of the paper. Students must provide proper in-text (parenthetical) citations. Failure to cite paraphrased work or direct quotes, from the original work, thoughts and/or ideas of someone, other than your own, will result in an automatic 0, with no make-up work being accepted.

PART 1: Video Access and Viewing 

The video you are required to watch will cover the notorious Texas execution case of Todd Willingham. In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for the arson (fire) deaths of his three children. The initial investigation found 20 indicators of arson, pointing to his guilt. When science is included and they reexamine the evidence used to convict Willingham, no sign of arson was found. Did Texas potentially execute a man who was innocent?
The video is publicly accessible through PBS Frontline’s official website.  You can access the video by following the instructions provided below

Click the link below, or copy and paste the link , into a new tab, in your internet browser.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/death-by-fire/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)

PART 2: Video Reflection, Analysis and Submission Instructions
Write a reflective analysis of crime, justice and punishment under application of the Death Penalty, in Texas, based on application of what you learned from the Todd Willingham Case Video.

Write an essay that addresses each of prompt’s 2 components, Issue Position and Explanation and Application, outlined below

Issue Position:

First, identify whether you are for, or against use of the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment (there is NO right or wrong answer). Successful completion of this assignment, and it’s learning objective, require your compliance in identification or your personal position, and perspective, towards the issue of the “death penalty”.  Responses are confidential and will be graded objectively, based on student’s independent, reflective analysis of their own individual personal perspectives,  and application of the information.

Explanation and Application

Then, Discuss, and describe, the nature of political debate, surrounding the issue of the death penalty, and explain how your personal position toward the issue has changed or been reinforced, with regard to application to crime, punishment and justice in Texas, based on what you learned from the movie.

 

Draft a list of five (5) Dos and Don’ts for your expert witness testimony at deposition or trial.

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Imagine you are being called as an expert witness in deposition at a trial. Your role is law enforcement with a specialization in handwriting analysis.
Draft a list of five (5) Dos and Don’ts for your expert witness testimony at deposition or trial. Indicate your reasoning, and support your list with outside research geared toward preparation of expert witnesses in fraud trials.

Do you believe additional priorities could be included in international risk reduction strategies?

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Write a 2-page essay on the following: The textbook section on The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction lists four Priorities for action. After reading the material and watching the videos in this lesson, do you believe these are comprehensive, or do you believe additional priorities could be included in international risk reduction strategies? Please be descriptive, explain, and fully justify your perspectives. (From page 339 to 340)

Use at least five articles from scholarly sources in a paper that discusses undercover operations, drug enforcement and sex trafficking.

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This is the topic I’m choosing:

2. Use at least five articles from scholarly sources in a paper that discusses undercover operations, drug enforcement and sex trafficking.

Which of the arguments above do you consider largest contributing factor to the dark figure of crime?

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In her article, “The Dark Figure of British Crime”, Claire Berlinski (2009) writes the following:

The problem [with the accuracy of crime statistics] was first described in the 1830s by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian mathematician and sociologist and the founder of modern scientific statistics. The real crime rate, which he called the “dark figure of crime,” could not be revealed by official statistics, he argued: “Our observations can only refer to a certain number of known and tried offenders out of the unknown sum total of crimes committed. Since this sum total of crimes committed will probably ever continue unknown, all the reasoning of which it is the basis will be more or less defective.”

Berlinski further outlined what she finds to be the reasons for why some crime is left unaccounted for. The following are a few of her key points:

People may be unaware that a crime has been committed because they view it as normal or trivial behavior.
Victims are unaware that they have been victimized – either because of the nature of the crime, such as fraud, or because the victims are drunk, mentally ill, or otherwise incapable of understanding what has happened.
Victims recognize that a crime has been committed and do not report it.
Victims might not speak the language well enough to explain what happened to them.
Victims might fear reprisals.
Victims might feel no confidence in the police and see reporting a crime as pointless.
The police conclude that there is insufficient evidence to believe the crime report.
Poorly performing police departments have an incentive to stop recording crimes: It makes them look more successful than they are.

Using the library, Internet, and other resources, research applicable trend analysis reports and examples to support your response to the following question:

Which of the arguments above do you consider largest contributing factor to the dark figure of crime? In other words, which one do you believe to be of most concern for crime analysts and the degree of accuracy to which their statistical crime analyses concludes?

Who depends on this information the analyst maps?

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Assignment Details:
When a crime analyst works with mapping in the police department, he or she has several responsibilities. Write a 1–2 page paper that details the responsibilities of the crime analyst.

What can the analyst learn? Consider trends, patterns, and strategic crime analysis in your response.
Who depends on this information the analyst maps?
What does the information infer?
How can it be put to use?

Write an analytic summary for selections of Capital by Marx.

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write an analytic summary for selections of Capital by Marx. This is not an opportunity to state your opinion. It is a place to demonstrate your reading comprehension by summarizing the author’s argument and laying out the support they offer for it. Begin with a sentence or two that states the author’s main point. What is the central claim that the other is making? After you restate the author’s main point, identify the type of evidence the author uses support the claim. From here, you should summarize the progression of their argument as concisely as possible. You summary should be 500 words. If you write more, try to pare it down.

What impact has feminism had in the study of women and crime?

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What impact has feminism had in the study of women and crime?

Contrast how we dealt with the “crack epidemic” as opposed to how we are dealing with the “heroin epidemic”.

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This week you will examine the impact of the war on drugs on minority communities by comparing and contrasting black versus white usage, arrest, conviction, and incarceration rates for drugs.
In addition, contrast how we dealt with the “crack epidemic” as opposed to how we are dealing with the “heroin epidemic”.
Paper Guidelines
Use a minimum of three sources, and cite these using APA format.
For your demographics, use data that has been collected within the past three years.
Your paper should be a minimum of 2-3 pages, but more importantly, should answer each question completely.
You may wish to summarize your data in a table.