Essay
Assignment #2
Option/Question
1: Chapter 7 of the textbook, “Crime Control
Through Legislation,” contains a discussion of America’s “drug problem” and laws
designed to limit or ban the use of specific psychoactive substances (see
sections titled “Drug Bans,” “The Scope of America’s Drug Problem,” and “Drug
Ban Problems”). The federal report 2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year
Follow-up Period (2005-2014) contains some discussion of the release and
recidivism of persons incarcerated for drug-related offenses.
Write an essay which briefly summarizes (i) the “drug
problem” in the United States, (ii) the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of laws
which criminalize the use of drugs, and (iii) recidivism among drug offenders
released from prison.
Directions:
1.) This assignment provides three (3)
options/questions. Choose one (1)
option/question and write an essay (1,200 – 1,500 words) answering the question. You should be sure to address everything the
question inquires about and to be thorough in your explanation. The essay should be between 1,200 and
1,500 words in length. Please keep
in mind the fact that 1,200 words is the minimum length. The depth and detail of your essay will be
taken into consideration when the essay is graded, so it is in your best
interest to be thorough in your essay.
2.) Please prepare your essay as a Microsoft Word
document and double-space your essay.
3.) Be sure to adequately
address each key issue a question asks about and balance your essay. In other words, roughly equivalent attention
should be afforded to each key issue.
You should NOT, for example, dedicate two thirds of your essay to one of
the issues inquired about and then just briefly touch upon the others.
4.) Regarding personal opinion/ideas/analyses of
the issues: Some of the essay questions may ask you to provide an opinion or
your personal ideas about or analysis of an issue. With respect to personal
opinion/ideas/analyses, there is NOT a right or wrong answer. No points will be deducted because a student
voices a specific opinion or expresses a particular idea. However, when presenting an
opinion/idea/analysis you MUST provide a clear explanation and rationale for
your opinion/analysis/ideas. In other
words, you need to describe and discuss your thoughts on the matter and provide
a supporting argument for your opinion/views/ideas. Do NOT just provide an opinion/view/analysis
without also providing a rationale.
5.) Regarding outside research/reference
materials (i.e., any research/reference materials other than the required text
and/or assigned readings), no outside materials are necessary, expected, or
permitted for this assignment. The
essay you write must be based on the materials assigned in this class.
6.) Regarding the use of quotes and the matter
of plagiarism, you should feel free to use quotes from the textbook
and/or assigned readings, but such quotes should be used sparingly. In other words, you should use no more than a
few quotes in the essay (four or five, at the most) and the quotes should be
short and relevant. There should be no
long quotes (i.e., no quote should be more than a single sentence in length) in
your essay nor should your essay consist primarily of a series of quotes from
the text. You should NOT use any direct
quotes from the online synopses of the assigned readings nor should any of your
essays strongly resemble the online summaries of the assigned readings. In short, all essays must be original. They should be written in your own words and,
in the event that a question requires you to present an opinion, the opinion
you present should be your own.
When using quotes, all
quotes should be in quotation marks and should indicate the author(s) and page
number from the text (see examples below).
Please keep in mind the fact that, as stated on the course syllabi, the
penalty for plagiarism is a failing grade for the class.
Direct Quote Example #1: Worrall suggests that “Liberals often favor
the protection of people’s rights and liberties to a higher degree than their
conservative counterparts do” (p. 34).
Direct Quote Example #2: Research on police-public contacts has shown
that roughly “6.7% of U.S. residents age 16 or older initiated contact with
police on one or more occasions to report a crime, disturbance, or suspicious
activity, while 3.5% initiated contact to report a non-crime emergency” (Davis,
Whyde, and Langton, p. 5).
