Final Paper; Social Issues and Justice
[WLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapters 9 and 10 from the required textbook. Select and then define a significant social issue faced by the justice system, evaluate the scope and consequences of the issue, and analyze society’s responses to the issue (including public policies and other less formal responses). Papers should also present a clearly reasoned alternative, supported by scholarly research.
While the following example can be modified to suit your needs, this outline is likely to result in a high-quality Final Paper:
Identify the problem. Be sure to narrow your problem enough to allow a focused examination.
Describe the individual, social, and criminal justice system implications of this problem. Discussion of implications should be supported by accurate research data.
Summarize what experts say about the problem.
Explain what you, as a society, have done to remedy this problem. Consider public policies and other, less formal responses.
Analyze to what extent public policies and other, less formal responses are effective in addressing this problem.
Propose an alternative solution to the problem.
Analyze why the alternative is, or can be, an effective response to the problem. Remember to consider negative consequences of the alternative response.
Conclude with your thoughts about your chosen social problem. This is a good place to include personal opinions, assuming you wish to share them in a research paper.
In short, define a problem, discuss the response, and provide alternative responses to the problem. For example, your problem could be drug use/abuse, with a focus on prescription drug abuse among teenagers. Your description of the problems should be fact based, relying on expert opinion. Your alternative response can be an adjustment of current policy or a new direction. For example, you may propose longer prison sentences, or legalization of all drugs. Be creative, although suggestions must be supported by scholarly research.
The Final Paper
Must be 8 to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center (Links to an external site.)’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
Must include an abstract. See the Writing an Abstract (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
Must use at least 3 scholarly sources in addition to the course text, at least three of which can be found in the UAGC Online Library, to support your claims and sub-claims.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the UAGC Writing Center for specifications.
