2021 Fall Term (1) Criminal Justice and the Urban Community CRJ 204
ESSAY NO. 4 (FINAL ESSAY)
For this final paper, you will weave together the information from the first three assignments and discuss your understanding of how public policy, crime, and justice interplay in your community. This final paper should be about 6-8 pages. You will take the information that you collected during your research for the previous assignments to inform your final paper. You will not cut and paste the previous 3 essays and form this paper! Rather, you will write this essay based on the information gathered previously. More information will be discussed during the semester.
SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND AS YOU WORK ON THIS PROJECT:
- The reflection paper is meant to make you think about your neighborhood.
- The “history of my neighborhood” paper is meant to make you write the part of your paper where you discuss the background of your neighborhood, including crime data.
- Your “newspaper article” is where you were to discuss the current situation of your neighborhood – and this is where you conduct your interviews (the reason you had to take your CITI certifications).
So, if you complete the above assignments (as they are meant to be completed), you will have basically written about 75% of your final paper – because most of the components of your final research has been completed: 1) the introduction – with the reflection paper; 2) the literature view – 3/5 sources were used for the annotated bibliography; 3) the “body” – the information you collected for the historical essay and newspaper story.
This does not mean, however, that for the final paper you cut and paste the previous assignments into your paper! However, in terms of the content for your final paper, much of it has been already conceived and laid out, with your previous assignments.
RESEARCH NECESSARY FOR YOUR PROJECT
Collecting data about your neighborhood: You will begin by collecting background data about your neighborhood that will consist of information you find by searching online, at a library and/or elsewhere. It will include statistics and/or reports published by government agencies such as the police, health department, or the housing department (“secondary data”). The background data may also include reports and statistics generated by non-governmental agencies (like the ACLU, for example) and any articles that you can find about your neighborhood, including academic papers, magazine articles, newspaper stories and so on, that provide insight into it. You will use secondary source information and your own personal observations to write a description of your neighborhood.
Conducting Systematic Observations and interviews in your neighborhood: This project employs a relatively short window of time to conduct a very simple set of systematic observations in neighborhoods. You will conduct observations and interviews in your neighborhood. To conduct observations, students are asked to adhere to their normal daily routines – pay attention to whether any evidence of crime in their neighborhoods is observed. If yes, students will record where and how often they see it and, if possible, report which crimes are involved – do not seek criminal activity out! Pictures are a good idea, but do not take pictures of anyone unless you have their permission. You will also conduct interviews – you must interview at least 3 ppl. They can be neighbors, family, business owners, police officer, postal workers, anyone who is in your neighborhood on a consistent basis. You will ask them about their connection in the neighborhood (how long have they lived there?) and of their perceptions of crime in the neighborhood: has neighborhood crime gone up or down? Why do they think? Has the neighborhood changed in any other way since they have lived there? These interviews must be anonymous and confidential! You may not use people’s real names or describe them in such a way that anyone who reads your paper will be able to identify them. As you write your paper keep in mind that, the reporting of the data you collect should be with the focus of answering the primary questions of the assignment (first paragraph). And as you answer these questions using the data you collected, you are also incorporating the different 2 perspectives discussed in class (the sociological imagination, navigating space, being present in the space that you’re in, who does the city belong to?, interrogating concepts of disorder, crime, “good neighborhoods” v. “bad neighborhoods”).
GENERAL TIPS FOR WRITING PAPERS
Please refer to the guidelines below on what is expected in a college-level essay:
FORMAT
- All work is typed
- Font is standard (12 pt.)
- 1” margins on all sides
- Double-spaced
- APA citation (please consult with the LIBRARY or WRITING CENTER for help on how to cite using APA format (the Purdue OWL website is also a great resource)
- The introductory paragraph is at least SIX sentences long
- Spellcheck applied to FINAL draft
- The paper does not contain contractions (no “don’t,” “can’t,” “couldn’t”)
- Do not use first person pronouns (we, I, you, us, our, my, mine, me) PAPER
- Focused, clear, uses a point effectively, and supports the thesis you are making; meaning: Does the essay answer the question that is asked? Does the essay critically analyze the subject matter? Is the information clearly, coherently and concisely synthesized and presented?
- Uses appropriate sources to make a sensible argument
- Integrates quoted material effectively
- Does not come entirely from just one source nor does it rely heavily on only one or two sources?
At least 5 sources (NO WIKIPEDIA, NO BLOGS!)
