Content and Format
This exam covers material from Modules 4-7 and is worth 25% of your final grade. Topics addressed include:
The goals of criminal law
The concept of justice and how our society seeks to achieve justice
The policies of criminal law and criminal punishment
The role of police, courts, and corrections in achieving justice
Examples of policy changes in criminal justice that seek justice
Questions on the exam will be in essay format. These questions will be similar to what you have seen in discussion posts and reflective journals but will require more information and formal writing.
Using your notes, textbook, and peer-reviewed journal articles, answer ONE of the following questions in ESSAY format. Your response is worth 100 points.
You are REQUIRED to use the textbook as your main source for answering all of the questions below, but you are allowed to use additional sources. You should NOT cite Moodle information; you should cite the textbook instead.
Content is worth 70 points
Formatting is worth 10 points
Proper use of internal and end citations is worth 20 points.
To receive full credit, you must:
Have a header at the top left of your paper with your name, the course title, Essay Title (brief description of which question you are answering) and Final Essay
Your paper should be formatted with 1″ margins, 12 point, Times New Roman font, and double spaced.
You should answer all parts of the question fully.
Each essay response should be at least 500 words
You should use multiple paragraphs in your essay to delineate differing topics within your response.
You do not need to repeat the question.
The references should be listed at the end of your response on a separate page titled References.
You should use in-text citations in the body of your essay indicating ANY and ALL information coming from a source (whether it is paraphrasing or a direct quote) and each citation should have an accompanying full citation on your References page at the end of your assessment (which will begin on a new page).
The entirety of your final assessment should be in one Word or PDF document. Turnitin does not accept Word Online, Google docs, or Pages. If you submit your paper in a format that cannot be opened in Turnitin, your paper will not be graded and you will receive a zero for this assignment.
Preparation
To prepare for your exam, review the chapter readings and assignments in modules 4-7. Your essay should reflect the knowledge you have gained in the course through your readings and assignments in these modules. Therefore your essay should be grounded in the course material and not merely reflect your personal opinions and/or beliefs.
In addition, please review the American Sociological Association (ASA) style guide for citations and references. Your essays should contain references to the textbook and any other additional sources used to gather information for your essay responses. Please reference and cite the textbook and any reputable outside sources using ASA format. A failure to cite your responses will result in a “zero” for this essay and you will be reported to SAA for plagiarism. Remember, it must be clear what information was used from each source.
Also, AI is not allowed at any time in academic writing. If your essays are flagged for AI usage, you will be referred to SAA for Academic Misconduct.
Questions (answer ONE):
What should criminal law hope to accomplish? Does the criminal law exist to regulate morality, to protect the public from harm, or are there other goals? Why and how do you believe this to be the case? Explain. (CO1, CO2, CO3)(500 words)
What is justice? How can we, as a society, achieve justice from an idealists’ perspective and from a pragmatists’ perspective? Which do you believe to be the most likely to occur in the US criminal justice system? (CO2, CO3) (500 words)
Which criminal policies in criminal law and criminal punishment need to change in order to achieve justice in the US criminal Justice system? Why do you believe this and how can we implement these changes? Give me an example of police, courts, and corrections systems recent policy changes that have moved the US criminal justice system towards achieving justice. (CO3, CO4, CO6) (500 words)
