Gender, Crime and Justice
SOC 605
M/W 2:50 to 4:10 pm
Instructor: Michelle Meloy,
Ph.D.
Phone: (856) 225-2724
Office location: Sociology Building @ 405-407 Cooper Steet; Suite 205
Office Hrs: Wednesday 10:00 to 11:00 am and by
appointment
E-mail: mlmeloy@rutgers.edu
The Invisible Woman by Joanne Belknap
Rethinking Gender, Crime and
Justice edited by
Renzetti, Goodstein & Miller
Lucky by Sebold
The bulk of what is known about
crime, victimization, criminal justice processing and criminal justice
occupations are defined by male experiences. Yet,
it is impossible to fully understand criminal behavior and how the
system operates without controlling for the impact of the social
constructs of gender,
race, class, and sexuality. Thus, in an attempt to broaden our
understanding of these issues we incorporate these factors in our
analysis of criminality, victimization risk factors and consequences,
as
well as the historical evolution and contemporary status of women,
people of color, and sexual minorities who work in law enforcement, the
courts, and corrections.
EXAMINATIONS
There will be three examinations in this course. Exams are designed to test your understanding of the discussions, readings, and supplemental material. Exams may consist of multiple choice, true & false, short answers, and/or essay questions. The exams can be either be in-class or take home format. No make up examinations will be permitted unless an emergency situation exists. Situations that qualify as an emergency are dictated by Rutgers University standards and must be accompanied by appropriate documentation. The format of make up exams may vary at the discretion of the instructor. Exam variations include the possibility of an oral or essay format. Grades will be computed as follows: 90-100% = A; 89-85% = B+; 84-80=B; 79-75% = C+; 74-70%= C; 60-69% and below is failing.GRADING AND LITERATURE REVIEW/RESEARCH PAPER
Each exam in this course is worth 20% of your cumulative points for a total of 60% of your final course grade. Given that you are a graduate student in a hybrid course that is comprised primarily of advanced under-graduate students, I expect you to be a leader in classroom discussions and group exercises. Your classmates will learn by what you have to say and how you carry yourself. Be a critical thinker. In addition to examinations, you will be required to conduct an extensive literature review on a topic relevant to the course and write a 15-25 page paper summarizing these data and suggesting what policies might be implemented to better improve official responses to the issue(s) under review. This academic exercise should take place under the close directive of the instructor. All research topics-research questions must be approved in advance. The first draft copy of the paper should occur around the mid-point of the term and the final paper will be due no later than the date of the scheduled final exam. Students who fail to complete an acceptable research paper will not receive credit for this course. You will present your research findings to the class in a "lecture" format. This presentation will count towards your participation grade.
Exam I = 20%ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Under
no circumstances will academic dishonesty be tolerated.
Academic
dishonesty
includes cheating on exams, helping another cheat in any way or taking
someone else's work and representing it as your own original
work. Plagiarism
(stealing someone else's work and representing
it as your own) is a common form of academic dishonesty and comes in
many forms. For instance, purchasing
or using a term paper that someone else wrote and representing it
as your own work or 'clipping and
pasting'
information from another source without using proper citations and/or
quotations constitutes plagiarism. Recently,
plagiarism
from the Internet has become an increasing problem. Every
semester
students are in violation of the academic dishonesty standards set
forth in the Rutgers University handbook, and reiterated on the
sociology
home page http://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu.
All violations of academic dishonesty will immediately be referred to
Rutgers
University officials. Sanctions range from failing the course to
expulsion. Graduate
students should note that allegations of academic dishonesty are
considered much more serious when a student at this level is involved.
Sanctions are adjusted accordingly.
APPROPRIATE
CLASSROOM CONDUCT
This is a general outline and is
subject to change based on the discretion
of the instructor. You are responsible for mastering the material
contained in the assigned readings whether or not they are explicitly
discussed
in class. This is a graduate course and I
expect you to act accordingly. The assigned readings must be
completed prior to each class session.
REACTION
PAPER ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1 : Introduction to Class
Course
Introduction
Belknap, Ch.1
click here for notes
Week 2: Gender & Criminological Theories
Belknap,
Ch.2
R,G & M: Ch.1 & 2
Week 3: Race, Ethnicity & Crime
R,G & M: Chs. 3 & 13Week 4: The criminality of women & girls
Belknap: Ch.3
R,G & M: Ch. 6 & 8
click here for
notes
Week 8: Sexual violence,
gendered victimizations continued
R, G & M: Ch.7 &
Ch.11