CJS 339-01CJS 339-02
Turner Hall 207Williams Hall 307
MWF 11:00 – 11:50amMWF 1:00 – 1:50pm
Dawn BeichnerOffice Hours
Department of Criminal Justice SciencesMWF 9:00a.m. – 10:30a.m.
Turner Hall 156EMW 2:30p.m. – 3:30p.m.
438-8278email:
Catalog Description – Historical and theoretical perspectives and contemporary trends concerning women and crime, the processing of women by the criminal justice system, and women as criminal justice professionals. PREREQUISITE: CJS 101.
Course Description – This course will explore historical and contemporary perspectives of women, crime, and justice in the United States. As such, we will examine such victimization topics as domestic violence, sexual assault, and violence against lesbians. Our second topic area of offending will focus on females as perpetrators of crime and their respective processing and punishment in the criminal justice system. The third topic area will address women’s employment in various criminal justice professions. During the course of the semester, we will explore and debate a number of controversial issues and the implications each holds for women: mandatory arrest policies in domestic violence cases; fetal protection laws; and affirmative action.
Instructor’s Expectations – It is my intent to help you develop and strengthen your critical thinking and writing skills. Thus, it is necessary that all students read the assigned material for each class period and participate in the discussions. Pay particular attention to readings that you should be doing early in the semester that will be covered fairly quickly later in the semester (especially those needed for reaction papers). Late work will not be accepted without PRIOR agreement with the instructor.
IDEA Learning Objectives:
- Gaining factual knowledge (terminology, classifications, methods, trends)
- Learning to apply course material (to improve thinking, problem solving, and decisions)
- Developing skill in expressing myself orally or in writing
Required Reading
Books
Belknap, Joanne. (2001). The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime, and Justice (2nd Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Muraskin, Roslyn (Editor). (2003). It’s a Crime: Women and Justice (3rd Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Required Reading Continued
Articles ***On Electronic Reserve***
Angela Browne (1995). Fear and the perception of alternatives: Asking ‘why battered women don’t leave’ is the wrong question. In B. Raffel Price and N. J. Sokoloff (Eds.). The Criminal Justice System and Women: Offenders, Victims, and Workers (2nd Edition). Pp. 228-245. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.
Joan C. Chrisler (2000) Whose body is it anyway? Psychological effects of fetal-protection policies. In R. Muraskin (Ed.). It’s a Crime: Women and Justice (2nd Edition). Pp. 377-380. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kathleen Daly (1995). Looking back, looking forward: The promise of feminist transformation. In B. Raffel Price and N. J. Sokoloff (Eds.). The Criminal Justice System and Women: Offenders, Victims, and Workers (2nd Edition). Pp. 443-457. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.
Alida Merlo, Kate Bagley, and Michele Bafuma (2000). In defense of affirmative action for women in the criminal justice professions. In R. Muraskin (Ed.). It’s a Crime: Women and Justice (2nd Edition). Pp. 69-90. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ruthann Robson (1995). Violence against Lesbians. In B. Raffel Price and N. J. Sokoloff (Eds.). The Criminal Justice System and Women: Offenders, Victims, and Workers (2nd Edition). Pp. 312-320. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.
Diana Scully (1995). Rape is the problem. In B. Raffel Price and N. J. Sokoloff (Eds.). The Criminal Justice System and Women: Offenders, Victims, and Workers (2nd Edition). Pp. 197-215. New York: McGraw Hill, Inc.
Course Requirements and Grading (Five Components)
- Quizzes – There will be 11 quizzes over the assigned reading material. I will drop the quiz with the lowest grade. The remaining 10 quizzes will be worth 10 points each (100 points total). NOTE: Most of the quizzes will be given at the beginning of class. Quizzes may be true/false, multiple choice, or brief written reactions to the readings or lecture. There will be no make-up quizzes. If you miss one of the quizzes, you will receive a 0 for that quiz.
- Exams – There will be two exams: a mid-term and a final. Both will be short answer essay exams. The exams will center on the assigned readings and/or class discussions. Each will be worth 100 points.
Midterm exam (Friday) October 3, 2003
Final exam (Wednesday) December 10, 2003 from 1:00 – 3:00pm
NOTE: Make-up exams will be given only if there are extenuating circumstances (severe illness, a death in the family, etc.) and only if you notify me (in person, by phone, or by e-mail) in advance of the exam.
- Reaction/Position Papers – each student will write three short reaction/position papers (2-4 pages, typed, double-spaced). Each paper will be worth 100 points. The first paper will focus on mandatory arrest policies in domestic violence incidents. The second will address the issue of fetal protection law. The third will examine affirmative action. The due dates for the papers are as follows:
Paper #1September 26
Paper #2October 15
Paper #3November 7
- Class Participation/Homework Assignments – One of the important objectives of this course is to encourage critical thinking about women, crime, and justice. Therefore, student participation in class discussions and in-class activities is essential. Timely completion of occasional homework assignments (gathering data on crime and/or victimization rates, developing arguments for in-class debates, summarizing key points of an assigned reading) also is critical. There will be 50 points for in-class participation and 50 points for homework assignments.
- Group Presentation – Students will form groups, select a topic related to women, crime and justice (e.g., sexual/gender harassment, women in the military, females and the juvenile justice system, battered woman syndrome, international perspectives, etc.) and present their topics to the class during the last two weeks of the course. Each group will have two to five members and will use a class period for the presentation. The presentation will be worth 100 points, with a peer evaluation component. Students are required to attend all of the presentations. During those class sessions, students will lose participation points for each presentation missed.
Grading ScalePoint Calculator
Quizzes100 points720-800A
Mid-term Exam100 points640-719B
Final Exam100 points560-639C
Three Papers300 points480-559D
Participation 50 pointsBelow 480F
Homework 50 points
Group Presentation100 points
Total800 points
It is your responsibility to obtain any missed class notes and assignments from your fellow classmates.
Names and Telephone #s of classmates:
CLASS SCHEDULE - NOTE: Subject to Change
8/18MIntroduction to the course
8/20WIntroduction to the topics of women, crime, and justice
Belknap, Preface (xv – xviii) & CH. 1
8/22FIntroduction to the topics of women, crime, and justice continued
Muraskin CH. 1
8/25MWOMEN AS VICTIMS: The Image of the Victim
Belknap, CH. 6
8/27WGROUP DECISIONS: TOPIC DISCUSSIONS AND WORK IN CLASS
8/29FUnderstanding Sexual Victimization
Belknap, CH. 7
9/1MLABOR DAY HOLIDAY—NO CLASS
9/3WSexual Assault: Victim’s Perspectives
Scully, “Rape is the Problem”
9/5FWRITING/RESEARCH WORKSHOP
9/8MSexual Assault: Understanding Offender Motivation
Muraskin, CH. 22
9/10WSexual Assault: Prosecution of Cases
9/12FSexual Assault Prosecution Continued
9/15MGROUP WORK IN CLASS
9/17WWomen Battering and Stalking
Belknap, CH. 8
9/19FWomen Battering and Stalking Continued
9/22MDomestic Violence: Victim’s Perspectives
Browne, “Fear and the perception of alternatives: asking ‘why battered women don’t leave’ is the wrong question”
9/24WDomestic Violence Victim’s Perspectives Continued: Focus on Vietnamese Women Muraskin, CH. 24
9/26FDomestic Violence: Mandatory Arrest Policies
Muraskin, CH. 19
***PAPER #1 DUE *** IN-CLASS DISCUSSION***
CLASS SCHEDULE PAGE 2
9/29MHate Crimes
Robson, “Violence Against Lesbians”
10/1WMIDTERM REVIEW SESSION
10/3F***MIDTERM EXAM***
10/6MWOMEN AS OFFENDERS: The Frequency and Nature of Offending
Belknap, CH. 3
10/8WHistorical Perspectives
Muraskin, CH. 2
10/10FFemale Delinquency in Film
Muraskin, CH. 34
10/13MGROUP WORK IN CLASS
10/15WFetal Protection Laws
Muraskin, CH. 9 & Chrisler, “Whose Body Is It Anyway?”
***PAPER #2 DUE***IN-CLASS DISCUSSION***
10/17FMothers Who Kill
Muraskin, CH. 31
10/20MProcessing Women and Girls in the System
Belknap, CH. 4
10/22WIncarceration and Punishment Issues
Belknap, CH. 5
10/24FIncarceration and Punishment
10/27MIncarceration and Punishment
Muraskin, CH. 11
10/29WWOMEN AS PRACTITIONERS: Historical Perspectives
Belknap, CH. 9
10/31FHistorical Perspectives Continued
11/3MContemporary Perspectives
Belknap, CH. 10
11/5WContemporary Perspectives Continued
11/7FAffirmative Action
Merlo, et al., “In Defense of Affirmative Action”
Daly, “Looking back, looking forward: The promise of feminist transformation”
***PAPER #3 DUE***IN-CLASS DISCUSSION***
CLASS SCHEDULE PAGE 3
11/10MGROUP WORK IN CLASS
11/12WGroup 1 Presentation
11/14FGroup 2 Presentation
11/17MGroup 3 Presentation
11/19WASC CONFERENCE—NO CLASS
11/21FASC CONFERENCE—NO CLASS
11/24MTHANKSGIVING BREAK—NO CLASS
11/26WTHANKSGIVING BREAK—NO CLASS
11/28FTHANKSGIVING BREAK—NO CLASS
12/1MGroup 4 Presentation
12/3WGroup 5 Presentation
12/5FFINAL EXAM REVIEW SESSION
***FINAL EXAM—SECTION 1—Monday, December 8th7:50 – 9:50am***
***FINAL EXAM—SECTION 2—Wednesday, December 10th1:00 – 3:00pm***
GROUP RECORDS:PRESENTATION DATE:
Member Name:Telephone Number: