About your final paper
1. FINAL PAPER, 10-12 pages. APA format for citations, in text and works, cited.
A full explanation of the goals and prescribed format of the paper is included this Module 7’s transcript that follows it.
Take a moment and read this now. It is repeated in Module 6 and 7, but in such a short and intense course, you’d be wise to think about the final paper from the beginning. Your final document is intended to pull together all the thoughts you will have had in the course of this full 7-weeks. You will want to review all your responses to questions involving your professional socialization and the depictions of criminality in the media. You will want to consider your answers to discussion questions and the texts and films presented in this course – both the material you agree with and the content you don’t. That is why it is essential to take notes on the course of your thinking throughout the course.
At the close of the course, when you prepare to write the final paper, you will want to ask yourself the following: Where does traditional CJ theory (social control, social learning, rational choice and so on) fit into your current thinking about criminality today? Where does emerging theory (restorative justice, strain theory, alternatives responses to crime), fit, or not fit, into your current thinking?
In the final paper, I expect you to engage in a critical analysisof all the materials offered in the course, comparing and contrasting different theoretical approaches in the context of your professional life or the depiction of crime in the media. You will be able to select any basis for comparison: effectiveness, practicality, victim consideration, reduction in recidivism, expense, and another contextual account of your choosing.
This paper should take as long to plan as it does to write. Here are some things you will want to consider when it comes time to write. In the first paragraph, be sure to have a clear thesis that is analytical. Indicate the context in which you evaluate the different CJ theoretical approaches, traditional and emerging. Be sure to identify the basis of your comparison.
In the last paragraph (or Conclusion): address how, and if, your views have shifted as a result of the course. Reiterate what your opinions were (and are, if there has been a shift) about the central questions of the course: what is a crime? What causes it? What should we do about it?
In between, take up – and cite — the material presented in the 7 Modules of the course as it pertains to your thesis, in context, and according to the basis you have chosen for comparison. Use paragraphs, revise, and proofread. Consult the rubric I will use in grading to ensure you comply with the assignment.
You are not required to have changed your original views to do well on this paper. Whether you have or have not, be specific as to what is the source of your opinions, and remember you must cite your sources in APA fashion.
