CJ6600 Victimless Crime

Spring 2006

Instructor: Mary Dodge, Ph.D.

Office: 1380 Lawrence Street Center Suite 500

Phone: (303)556-5987

Email:

Web Page: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~m1dodge/

Office Hours: Wednesday 1:30-3:30

Thursday 4:00-6:00

or by appointment

Class: Wednesday 4:00-6:45 SO120

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course explores the controversies surrounding the broad category of victimless crime. The class examines six main areas: prostitution, drugs, homosexuality, abortion, pornography, and gambling. In each topic area the law has intervened in situations that are often deeply-rooted in morality and perceived deviance. Whether or not a crime can be truly victimless is explored from historical and current perspectives based on notions of harm.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND GOALS:

  • Provide a comprehensive view of victimless crime.
  • Examine the controversies surrounding attempts to legislate morality.
  • Gain insight into notions of harm.
  • Understand the historical and current framework of prostitution.
  • Explore patterns of drug use and the relationship between crime and drugs.
  • Overview the historical beliefs of homosexuality and current gay rights movement.
  • Survey the topic of abortion before and after it became legal.
  • Study the concerns, laws, and consequences of pornography.
  • Learn the history and legal maneuvers surrounding gambling.
  • Identify possible limitations and spheres that should embrace or eschew the law.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

Required Articles: The articles required for class readings and assignments will be emailed or distributed in class. PDF files also are available through the Auraria Library database system (Ebsco).

PowerPoint Lectures: PowerPoint presentations are available for class lectures. They can be located and downloaded from my website: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~m1dodge/

Attendance: Class attendance and participation is mandatory and is counted as part of your grade. Please note: You will not receive a passing grade unless you attend classes. A large percentage of the materials presented in class will not be available in the readings. Students who miss classes will find themselves at a disadvantage.

Academic honesty: Plagiarism of any kind will result in a failing grade (please see handout on specific policies and procedures for the University of Colorado and the Graduate School of Public Affairs).

REQUIRED TEXT:

Robert F. Meier & Gilbert Geis (2005). Criminal Justice and Moral Issues. Los Angeles: Roxbury.



CJ6600 Victimless Crime

Course Outline

Week 1 January 18th

Topic: Crimes without Victims?

Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 1

Week 2 January 25th

Topic: Morality and Harm

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 1

Week 3 February 1st

Topic: Prostitution

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 2

Week 4 February 8

Topic: Prostitution

Completed Readings:

Surratt et al. (2004) “Sex Work and Drug Use in a Subculture of

Violence”

Brooks-Gordon & Gelsthope (2003) “What Men Say When

Apprehended for Kerb Crawling”

Week 5 February 15th

Topic: Drugs

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 3

Week 6 February 22nd

Topic: Drugs

Completed Readings:

Newcomb et al. (2001) “The Drug-Crime Nexus in a Community

Sample of Adults”

Fullilov et al. (1992) “Crack ‘Hos and Skeezers”

Week 7 March 1st

Topic: Homosexuality

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 4

Week 8 March 8th

Topic: Homosexuality

Completed Readings:

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Herrell (1996) “Sin, Sickness, Crime: Queer Desire and the

American State”

Sailors (2001) “Morality and the Law: bowers and The Right to

Privacy

Week 9 March 15th

Topic: Abortion

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 5

Week 10 March 29th

Topic: Abortion

Completed Readings:

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Donohue & Levitt (2001) “The Impact of Legalized Abortion on

Crime”

Berk, et al. (2003) “The Legalization of Abortion and

Subsequent Youth Homicide”

Week 11 April 5th

Topic: Pornography

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 6

Week 12 April 12th

Topic: Pornography

Completed Readings

Fisher & Grenier (1994) “Violent Pornography, Antiwoman

Thoughts, and Antiwoman Acts”

Attwood (2005) “What Do People Do With Porn?”

Langevin & Curnoe (2004) “The Use of Pornography During

The Commission of Sexual Offenses”

Week 13 April 19th

Topic: Gambling

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 7

Week 14 April 26th

Topic: Gambling

Completed Readings:

Hershberger & Bogaert (2004) “Male and Female Sexual

Orientation Differences in Gambling”

Week 15 May 3rd

Conclusion

Completed Readings: Meier & Geis Chapter 8