Application paper (5-7 pages)
Instructions
1) Choose a type of crime (e.g., drug related, public order, white collar, homicide, property crime, robbery, rape, intimate partner violence, etc.).
2) Describe this type of crime—first define it.
3) Then use recent data to describe trends over time (at least over a 5 year period) in the U.S. or another country of your choice—similar to some of our discussion board assignments.
USE CURRENT DATA. You can use older data for longitudinal analysis, but current data must
be included. Any paper received using only data that is more than 5 years old will receive a
score of zero. Believe it or not, I have received papers using data from the 1990s.
4) Explain the relationship between social forces and the type of crime you chose to analyze,
specifically within the context of the country you chose. What are some
environmental/contextual factors that may impact the occurrence of this type of crime?
(examples might include political instability, war and conflict, social stratification/economic
inequality, low income country, lack of job opportunities, heightened presence of drug cartels,
gender inequality, etc.).
5) Explain the societal responses to this type of crime and their impact. This includes things like
legal responses (arrest, incarceration/sentencing, rehabilitation/ social services, policy, etc.
Be sure to use research findings to support your statements. Be sure to “show” me through data rather than “telling me” without data.
You will need to access research articles through the library or use reputable websites. Permissible website data is limited, as there are many disreputable sites that permeate the internet in the modern day. Most sites ending in .edu or .gov are probably good sources. Anything else coming straight off the internet will need approval from me, or it will not be counted in your paper as a source or “count” for related content. Thus, you risk the potential of losing points from both your content score and sources score for using data or information from a non-reputable source.
