ClassInfo

The goal of this course is to develop a sociological understanding of patterns of crime and punishment in the United States. This course will be split into two units: 1) crime and 2) punishment and social control. Unit 1 will largely focus on explanations for crime and crime patterns including the social construction of crime, concentrated disadvantage and neighborhood contexts, social sources of crime patterns and the crime drop, white-collar and state crime, queer criminology, and exposure to violence and other forms of crime victimization. In Unit 2, we will focus on the social, political, cultural, economic, and institutional conditions that shape punishment and social practices. Topics will include the role of media and politics in shaping criminal justice policies, the social and cultural conditions that shape courtroom practices and criminal sentencing, and the operations and effects of incarceration. Age, race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status matter tremendously for crime and criminal justice contact. The intersection of crime and punishment with race, gender, class, and sexual identity will be a major focus of this course.

This course provides you with the tools to evaluate central questions about crime and punishment in the U.S. context, including: How is crime and punishment measured and empirically examined -- what may be missing from our current statistical and analytic tools in understanding these patterns? Who and what is criminalized, and how does this relate to status and identity? Is crime and criminal justice contact socially stratified and if so, in what ways? Is the U.S. system of punishment a fair and just system?

These questions are not just factual, but also ethical - and they should provoke strong feelings and controversy. As we spend the next semester working through these controversies, this course will help you to learn how to move beyond your individual "gut reactions" to issues and consider the broader research evidence from criminology and sociology in evaluating crime and criminal justice patterns. Not only will you be learning the central criminological and sociological literature on crime and the criminal justice system through readings and lectures, but you will grapple with these issues yourself through class discussion and assignments. In the process, this course will train you in how to think critically, digest and reformulate research findings, and use the research literature to come to your own informed opinions and build your own sociological arguments.

• to describe basic features of crime and the criminal justice system in the United States

• to explore and interpret different criminological and sociological perspectives on crime and punishment

• to critically evaluate criminal justice policies and their consequences

• to critically evaluate news reports, political rhetoric, and public discussion about crime, punishment, and the law

10% Class Participation

20% Quizzes (3 total)

30% Media Reports/Reflection Papers (3 total)

40% Final Paper or Project