Assignment overview:
Term Paper CRIJ/SOCI 4335
Thissemester,wehavediscussedawidevarietyofcriminologicaltheories. Yourtaskinthistermpaperisto explore one of those theories in depth. In order to complete the assignment, you will choose one of the films from the list below:
Blood In Blood Out
Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia Four Brothers
You will need to choose one or more characters from the movie and apply one of the theories from the list below to explaintheircriminality. Donotincludeanyadditionaltheoriesinyourpaper. Forexample,youwouldnotapply both Differential Association and Social Disorganization Theory for the assignment.
Routine Activities Theory (must reference Cohen & Felson)
Deterrence Theory (must discuss elements of effective punishment and general vs. specific deterrence) Strain Theory (either Merton’s Anomie Theory or Agnew’s General StrainTheory)
Behavior Theory (must include either operant conditioningor classical conditioning)
Self-Control Theory/General Theory of Crime (must reference Gottfredson & Hirschi and Grasmick) Social Learning Theory/Differential Association Theory (must discuss and apply Sutherland’s principles) Labeling Theory (must include explanation of primary vs. secondary deviance)
Thisassignmentwillrequireadditionalreadingandresearchoutsideofclass. Youmaynotciteyourtextbookin thepaper,althoughyoumaycitesourcesthatarereferencedinyourtext. Istronglyrecommendthatyoulocate originalorinfluentialpiecesrelatedtoyourchosentheory. Iamhappytohelpyoulocateappropriatesources.
Recommended structure:
1) Overview of the film and character(s) you are observing for the paper (no more than 1 page).
2) Overview of theory/family of theories you are using.
3) Application of theory/theories to your character/characters.
Assignment parameters:
1) Approximately five pages in length, excluding the title page and reference list
2) Double-spaced
3) Must use a minimum of 3 academic sources (peer-reviewed journal articles or scholarly books)
4) Sources cited both in text and reference list using APA format (see handout)
5) 12 point standard font (e.g., Times New Roman, Calibri, Cambria, Arial)
6) Grammatically correct and free from proofreading errors
7) Paragraph,narrativeformat;3rdpersonspeech(nouseof“I,”“me,”my”)
8) No title page is necessary. You may include the title on the first page and include your name in a header.
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