YOU ARE ASKED TO WRITE AN ESSAY PLAN AND BIBLIOGRAFY FOR A RESEARCH ESSAY, THE RESEARCH ESSAY CONSISTS OF FINDING A TYPE OF CRIME(DRUG DEALING) AND THEN USE THE THEORIES (CLASSICISM AND CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY) TO EXPLAIN CAUSATION AND IN RELATION TO THE TWO THEORIES, CRITICALLY COMPARE BOTH AND EXPLAIN WHY ONE EXPLAINS THE CRIME BETTER THAN THE OTHER. *NOTE THAT YOU ONLY HAVE TO WRITE THE ESSAY PLAN AND BIBLIOGRAPHY.*
ESSAY PLAN AND BIBLIOGRAPHY:
A thesis statement outlining Drug dealing and essay argument (100 words)
An overview of ONE theory from ‘column one’ of the research essay brief (theories that we have covered in the first half of the unit). These should be presented in approximately five ‘topic sentences’ which should outline how this theory can be used to explain your chosen offence and its potential limitations (500 words).
An annotated bibliography summarising three academic sources that you have identified related to this chosen theory (500 words).
Step 1: Start by Brainstorm some ideas & conducting some broad research
This involves writing down as many different ideas, theories and examples that relate to your chosen offence as possible. You have already completed some preliminary research into your topic as part of your tutorial activities and preparation, so there should be lots of ideas floating around your head already. Don’t rule anything out at this stage. You are not submitting these ideas—the point here is to get as many different ideas down as possible.
Step 2: Select key points
Select those ideas that best illustrate how you think of and understand your topic. Pick those that seem the most relevant and important in explaining your chosen offence.
Step 3: Write a thesis statement
A thesis statement is a very short (max 100 words) description of what your essay is about. It will summarise in a nutshell what you are arguing in your essay. For example: ‘This essay will argue that the best theory for explaining car theft is strain theory’.
Step 4: Outline argument
Identify the main points that will comprise your argument and start arranging these ideas into a coherent narrative. These should include what your offence is, a bit of context about its prevalence in Australia, which theory you will be discussing, and how it relates to your chosen offence. All of these points should be relevant to the thesis statement.
Step 5: Create topic sentences related to your chosen theory (max 500 words)
Use your main points to write a series of five topic sentences. Topic sentences are statements of the main ideas that you intend to explain in your essay. They are the claims that support your argument, and usually are used as the opening sentence in each paragraph. The purpose of the remainder of the paragraph is to back up and elaborate on the topic sentence.
Here are some example topic sentences:
‘Car theft results in significant costs to the Australian public’.
‘Certain communities are more vulnerable to car theft than others’.
‘Explaining car theft requires an understanding of structural theories of crime’.
‘Unemployment has a strong influence on rates of car theft’.
‘Strain theory is better than other theories for a variety of reasons’.
You should include in-text citations and a reference list at the end of your assignment to evidence your research and where you have sourced your ideas. The in-text citations and reference list are NOT part of your word count.
Step 6: Annotated Bibliography (max 500 words)
An annotated bibliography requires you to conduct independent research and evaluate different academic sources. You are required to find and assess three different academic sources related to your chosen theory. You are required use one book or book chapter and two peer-reviewed journal articles, and then write a short (150 word) summary of each.
For each source you need to provide the (1) full citation of the source, using APA referencing; (2) a description of the source; (3) an outline of how the source contributes to your essay topic; (4) an explanation of why the source is criminological / sociological.
All sources must be proper academic and/or scholarly texts.
