This course is not being
taught during the Fall 2009 semester by Dr Abercrombie in a traditional
Classroom - but on the internet;
but this information was left for students who might be interested in taking the course
in a traditional classroom environment in the future.
Introduction to Criminology
CRJ 125
Spring 2007
COURSE: CRJ 125
TITLE: Criminology
PREREQUISITES:
CRJ 101 (C or more)/ENG 100
CREDIT HOURS:
03
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Wes Abercrombie
TELEPHONE NUMBER: (803) 822-3227
OFFICE:
Robinson BLDG, RM 223
EMAIL:
abercrombiew@midlandstech.com
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is a study of the various theories of criminal causation and
control, the identification of criminal typologies, and the reaction of society
to crime and criminals.
COURSE OBJECTIVE
To introduce the student to the study of crime as a social phenomenon by
identifying the various criminological theories and their relationship to the
identification and treatment of offenders. Upon successful completion of this
course the student should be able to:
1. Discuss the history and development of criminology as a discipline.
2. Define the discipline of criminology and identify six of its sub-areas.
3. Discuss the consensus (functionalist), conflict and interactionist views of
crime.
4. Understand the development and function of criminal law.
5. Describe the scientific methods of gathering crime information and identify
sources of crime statistics.
6. Discuss trends and patterns of crime and victimization.
7. Discuss the concepts of classical and modern criminology, including theories
of crime causation from both.
8. Explain the concept of Positivism and its impact upon criminology.
9. Identify and discuss biological and psychological theories of crime.
10. Discuss social structure theory of crime and identify cultural deviance,
strain, and sub-cultural theories.
11. Explain social process theories and define social learning, control, and
labeling theories.
12. Discuss social conflict theory.
13. Understand the incidence and patterns of violent crime and characteristics
of violent offenders.
14. Describe the incidence and patterns of economic street crime.
15. Identify characteristics of the professional and career criminal.
16. Explain the characteristics and activities of organized crime.
17. Discuss the concept of white-collar crime and identify its general types.
18. Discuss the concept of public order and victimless crimes.
CLASS POLICY*
Materials will be presented primarily in a lecture format. Multi-media
presentations will be used to illustrate and expand upon the important topics
and concepts. Students are required to be attentive listeners, to actively
participate and productively contribute to class discussions.
Each student is required by the department to attend a minimum of 85% of their regularly scheduled classes. The maximum number of allowable absences during the semester is 4 classes for a course that meets twice a week and 6 absences for a course that meets 3 times a week. Absences are counted from the first day of class (even if the student enrolled in the course after that date). The instructor will check attendance for each class meeting and will count all absences. Students who do not sign the role (passed out at the beginning of class) or leave early will be considered absent for the purposes of determining compliance with the attendance requirements. To receive credit for attending class, a student must arrive at class on time, sit through the entire class period and sign the role sheet. It is the students’ responsibility to arrive on time and sign the role sheet. If signatures/names on the role sheet cannot be easily read by the instructor, those students will be counted absent. All students are required to sign/write the name in which they enrolled into the course- any other name will not be counted toward attendance.
When a student exceeds the allowable number of absences, a grade of "W" will be assigned if it is prior to mid-term or if the allowable number of absences is exceeded after midterm and the student has a passing average. If the student is withdrawn after mid-term with a failing average on the last day they attended a "WF" is assigned; this grade is calculated into the GPA as an "F".
It is the responsibility of students to be present for class when tests are reviewed. If a student misses a test review, he or she needs to meet with the instructor during office hours to review the test and discover what grade was received. Class time is at a premium and it is rude to expect the instructor to stop the progression of an entire class to review a test for an individual who elected to be absent on review day. Students are expected to be committed enough to retain handouts, remember test dates, remember their test grades, attend test reviews, and monitor their absences.
Students must present materials in class on the dates they are due: they will not be accepted late. Do not do any of the following with assigned materials: place in the instructor's mail box, email to instructor, give to another instructor for delivery, tape on the hood of the instructor's car, slide underneath the instructor's door or give to an administrative assistant. It is the student's responsibility to hand in work properly.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Academic dishonesty in all its forms, including but not limited to cheating,
plagiarism and collusion will not be tolerated. Students found responsible for
acts of academic dishonesty will be subject to sanctions ranging from grades of
zero on the coursework, failure of the course, probation, suspension or
expulsion form the college. Each student should be aware that plagiarism is the
act of presenting a product as one's own, when it was derived from an existing
source (including the text, journal, articles and handouts). This practice is
unethical and can be avoided by completing written assignments in your own words
as well as by properly noting sources.
STUDENT CONDUCT*
Students who engage in behavior that is disruptive to the learning process will
be asked to leave. This includes but is not limited to talking at inappropriate
times, sleeping, use of tobacco products, eating food or candy, failure to turn
off a cell phone or beeper, text messaging, listing to music devices, playing
games, doing work for other courses, reading books other than the course
textbook, obscene language and/or gestures, any uncooperative and/or aberrant
behavior during class. Students are expected to arrive to class on time and
remain during the scheduled class period. Depending upon the nature of the
offense, or if it occurs during an exam, the instructor will require the student
to see the Director of Campus Life before returning to class. The student will
be counted as absent for any classes missed due to disrupting the learning
process and/or obstruction of academic instruction. Campus security and/or
police will be called for any threatening or violent behavior.
This course format includes viewing videos and listening to audiotapes during the class. Sometimes these presentations or films deal with violence, death, nudity, poverty, crime, religious issues, and contain curse words. Learning materials are selected to reflect the natures of the material we are studying while affording opportunities for students to apply information and ideas presented in class or assigned readings - the materials are not chosen with the intent of making students feel uncomfortable. If a student objects to such materials it is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor at the beginning of the course so that alternative assignments can be developed for him or her.
ASSIGNMENTS AND TESTS*
There will be three (3) tests given during the semester and a final exam. These
tests will consist of 45 multiple-choice questions and one essay question. Note:
a proper and complete essay question answer addresses all parts of the question,
is in the student’s own words, all terms are defined, all points are illustrated
with a detailed example, an application of course information is present, and
illustrates the student’s unbiased understanding of the subject matter within an
application of a researcher expected within the field of criminology. An answer
derived from a grasp of course materials is expected, not a short answer or a
personal opinion. Students are required to be present for all scheduled tests
and the final exam. The average of the test scores will constitute 65% of the
students' final average. The final exam will constitute 20% of the students'
final grades. The final exam is mandatory and cannot be dropped. It is the
students' responsibility to take tests and exams on the posted dates in class.
The course research paper will account for 10% of the students’ final grade its
presentation 5%. The testing schedule and grade scale is listed in this
syllabus.
Study Guide One
Study Guide Two
Study Guide Three
Guidelines for constructing essay questions
Practice Test One
Practice Test Two
Practice Test Three
COURSE SCHEDULE*
(Testing and Exam dates*)
CRJ 125 A01 CRJ
125 A02
TEST 1
Feb 9th
Feb 8th
TEST 2 Mar 9th
Mar 8th
TEST 3 Apr 20th
Apr 19th
FINAL May 7th
May 3rd
8AM-10AM
10:30AM-12:30AM
PAPER REQUIREMENTS*
Students are also required to produce a paper for this course. The final paper
and associated assignments are to be typed and presented in APA style. The final
paper will constitute 10% of the students' final grades and the presentation
will account for 5%. There are several steps students are required to come to
finish in order to meet paper requirements for this course. There are deadlines
for each phase of the course's paper requirements and are listed in the course
schedule section of this syllabus. Outlines, proposals, drafts and final papers
will not be accepted late. These steps or phases have been designed to allow the
instructor to aid the students in the construction of their final papers.
Deadline dates for associated work and the final papers are listed under "COURSE
SCHEDULE." The phases or steps for the course papers are listed below:
1. Students will select a criminal for the subject of their paper and a
criminological theory to use as a template to research the subject.
2. After the subject and theory is approved by the instructor students will
create a finished paper.
3. Students will construct a class presentation based upon their paper to
present to the class.
Again, you must first come to an understanding with your instructor about
what topic you will research in this paper. Your instructor has to approve your
topic. Do not start researching your paper until this understanding has been
reached. All main section titles are to be centered. Sub-titles within each
section are to be flush left. Your paper should be typed or computer generated.
If you do not have access to a typewriter or computer then you need to talk to
your instructor. Your paper should be between 6 to 8 pages of text and should be
double-spaced. All important information or factual statements must be
referenced. A minimum of five references is required; this reference requirement
does not include encyclopedias, your course text, lecture materials or internet
sources. The paper's sections are listed below:
Title page:
This page consists of your name and the title of your paper, centered on a
single sheet.
Introduction:
The introduction of this paper tells the reader what topic you will be
discussing and why you chose this subject (personal experience, a major topic,
realistically being able to research it, etc.). This section introduces your
specific interests within the subject matter and how you intended to explore it.
You should also explain why this subject matter is considered to be a
correctional system topic and its importance in the field. This section should
be no more than one (1) page.
Review of literature:
In the review of literature you should be accomplishing two things. First, you
will describe the criminal you have selected to do your report on: his/her early
life, education, adult social experiences, crimes, social responses to crimes,
and any thing else you find is pertinent. Second, you will clearly and in a
detailed manner define and describe a social theory or scientific theory of
human behavior. This theory will be taken from your course readings. You will
then in detail, apply that theory to explain the criminal’s behavior you’ve
selected.
You will accomplish those two tasks through a review and discuss your sources
(newspapers, interviews, texts, journal articles, magazine articles, government
documents, etc.). You should explain any statistical data you used and review
any specific theories you applied within the subject you chose. Explain in
sufficient detail how these sources related to the topics examined and what the
authors of the cited works did and what they found. The works cited should
support your interests identified in the introduction. This section should not
be more than six (6) pages.
Conclusion:
In this section of the paper you will present your conclusions about the topic
based on the information you presented in the paper's literature review. You
will present what aspects of this information supported and contradicted your
original perspective. You should also suggest any changes in your perspective
that you feel could make it more insightful. This section should be no more than
one (1) page long and is the only section your own opinion to appear.
References:
The reference section of this paper will be your last page and will have the
title centered and at the top of the page. You will cite every reference you
used in your paper under MLA, ASA, or APA format. The text of your paper should
be no longer than eight pages. Your outline, draft, and paper are required to be
typed and double-spaced. You must have at least four references other than
magazines, encyclopedias, or internet sources.
Additional Requirements: The paper should illustrate your understandings of the information reviewed during the course and apply them as they relate to the subject matter of your report. This is the key aspect of your paper.
PAPER DUE DATES*
CRJ 125A01 CRJ 125 A02
Topic Due Date
Jan 19th
Jan 18th
Final Paper Due Date Mar 30th
Mar 29th
Paper Presentations
Apr 2nd
Apr 3rd
GRADING SCALE*
A=90-100
B=80-89
C=70-79
D=60-69
F= Below 60
COURSE CALENDAR*
Week One through Four - Basic concepts in studying crime
Week Five through Eight - Types of crime
Week Nine through twelve Explaining crime
Week Thirteen through fifteen - Managing and controlling crime
Week Sixteen - Review
NOTE: Criminal Justices Majors must achieve a grade of "C" or better.
* Schedules, calendars, office hours, student conduct,
test formats and exam formats can be changed at the discretion of the instructor
based upon his perceptions of the cumulative needs
of the class.