Fall 2004
Dane Smith Hall Room 226
Office: Social Sciences Building 1076
Phone: 277-5937
Email: timw@unm.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday 12:00-1:00, Thursday 3:30-4:30, and by appt.
This course is designed to provide you with an opportunity to think, talk, read and write about criminal behavior. Our efforts will focus on four overarching questions.
There are three required texts for the class. They are:
Criminological Theory (Second Edition), edited by Francis T. Cullen and Robert Agnew, is an anthology of edited journal articles and book excerpts in the field of criminology.
On The Take, by William Chambliss, is a study of corruption and organized crime.
And one of the following two:
Getting Paid, by Mercer Sullivan, is an ethnographic study of employment and crime among three groups of young men in New York City neighborhoods.
Islands in the Street, by Martin Sanchez Jankowski, is an ethnographic study of 37 gangs in four cities.
Please note that in the course calendar I list the sections of the Sullivan and Jankowski books that should be read before each exam. Please plan ahead. These sections would be too much reading for the night before the exam.
There is a copy of each of the books on reserve at Zimmerman Library.
In addition to the required texts there are some readings that can be downloaded from the library’s electronic reserve website: http://ereserves.unm.edu/. The password you will need to access the readings is “criminal”.
The web page for the course can be found at www.unm.edu/~timw. We will try to post handouts, assignments, announcements, etc., on the web page. However, if something is announced or distributed in class but not on the web, you are still responsible for its content. Also on the web site will be weekly discussion questions, interesting web links, and other material.
Reading: Completion of the reading is absolutely critical to your success in the class and your final grade will depend greatly upon you having read, thought about, taken tests on, and written about the readings. The readings should be done before the class for which they are listed in the course calendar.
Movies: There will be a few movies assigned during the quarter. They should be available at any video rental establishment or may be available through the library.
Exams: There will be 3 in-class exams (worth 200 pts each).
Papers: There will be 2 (4-5 pages) paper assignments. They are each worth 200 pts. The dates that the assignment will be handed out and must be turned in are listed in the course calendar. Aside from documented medical emergencies, papers will be docked 15 pts for each day that they are late.
In-Class Writing: I will regularly ask students to
write short papers in class or as part of your homework. The intention of these
assignments is to give you an opportunity to quickly express your thoughts or
questions on a specific topic. Regular or frequent failure to turn in these
very short statements will negatively affect your grade for this class by
detracting up to 50 points from your final score. Completing all or almost all
of them will add up to 50 points to your final grade.
Your final letter grade will be based on the total number of points you earned throughout the semester according to the following scale:
Points Grade
1000-980 A+
979-930 A
929-900 A-
899-880 B+
879-830 B
829-800 B-
799-780 C+
779-730 C
729-700 C-
699-600 D
Below 600 F
Attendance: Attendance is strongly encouraged. I do not teach this class out of a textbook. The readings serve to supplement the lectures and facilitate class discussion. They are not an adequate substitution for coming to class. You are responsible for what goes on in class (information covered, scheduling announcements, in-class writing, etc.) whether you choose to attend or not.
Make Up Exams: In the event that a student must miss one of the in-class exams, they should: (1) Get permission from me PRIOR to the exam and (2) take the comprehensive essay make-up exam that will be administered on Dec 14 at 2:30 (immediately after the final exam).
Academic Dishonesty: Cheating and plagiarism are both violations of the student code and will be treated with utmost seriousness. Evidence of either of these behaviors will result in an automatic failure in the course and the matter will be turned over to university officials. To be clear, plagiarism refers to using the work, ideas, or knowledge of other people as your own. It includes all forms of exam cheating, using other people’s work, copying all or sections of papers from the web, and “borrowing” (without citing) from published sources. Please do not give me ANY reason to suspect this type of behavior.
Special Needs: Any student who, because of disability, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make necessary accommodations. It is the responsibility of the student to request accommodation for individual learning needs. UNM will make every attempt to accommodate all qualified students with disabilities. For further information, contact Student Support Services at 277-3506.
(This is a tentative calendar. As with all else in life, it is subject to change. Any significant changes will be announced in class. Students are responsible for these announcements whether they are in class or not.)
|
Date |
Topic |
Readings and Assignments |
|
Aug 24 |
Introduction |
|
|
Aug 26 |
Defining Crime |
Hagan 1 (e-reserve) |
|
Aug 31 |
Defining Crime |
Chambliss 1-11 |
|
Sept 2 |
Measuring Crime |
O’Brien (e-reserve) |
|
Sept 7 |
Measuring Crime |
Chambliss 13-31 |
|
Sept 9 |
The Distribution of Crime |
Chambliss 32-113 |
|
Sept 14 |
Macro vs. Micro Theory |
View Bowling for Columbine |
|
Sept 16 |
Criminological Theory |
C+A 1-13 |
|
Sept 21 |
Exam #1 |
Jankowski and Sullivan through Chapter 5 |
|
Sept 23 |
Social Disorganization |
C+A 95-110 |
|
Sept 28 |
Social Disorganization |
C+A 111-124 Paper Assignment #1 Distributed |
|
Sept 30 |
Anomie/Strain Theory |
C+A 171-207 |
|
Oct 5 |
Anomie/Strain Theory |
C+A 208-217 View Roger and Me |
|
Oct 7 |
Conflict Theory |
C+A 333-356 |
|
Oct 12 |
Conflict Theory |
C+A 367-378 Paper Assignment #1 Due |
|
Oct 14 |
Fall Break—No Class |
|
|
Oct 19 |
Bio and Psych Theories |
C+A 23-47 |
|
Oct 21 |
Bio and Psych Theories |
C+A 64-93 |
|
Oct 26 |
Exam #2 |
Jankowski and Sullivan books should be completed |
|
Oct 28 |
Learning Theories |
C+A 125-141 |
|
Nov 2 |
Differential Association Theory |
C+A 155-169 |
|
Nov 4 |
Rational Choice Theories |
C+A 263-293 |
|
Nov 9 |
Control Theories |
C+A 240-261 Paper Assignment #2 Distributed |
|
Nov 11 |
Control Theories |
C+A 219-239 |
|
Nov 16 |
Illustrations of Theory |
C+A 295-307 |
|
Nov 18 |
Prison Experiment |
C+A 316-324 |
|
Nov 23 |
Labeling Theory |
View One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest Paper Assignment #2 Due |
|
Nov 25 |
Thanksgiving –No Class |
|
|
Nov 30 |
White Collar Crime |
Hagan 3 (e-reserve) View Class Action |
|
Dec 2 |
White Collar Crime |
White Collar Crime Reading (e-reserve) |
|
Dec 7 |
White Collar Crime |
Chambliss 114-218 |
|
Dec 9 |
Conclusions and Final Comments |
|
|
Dec 14 |
Final Exam 12:30 Make Up Exam 2:30 |
|