Assignemnt:
It must be between 1,700 and 2,800 words, typed, doubled spaced, with a 12-point font and one-inch margins. Make sure you have a separate title page with your name on it. You do not need an abstract. The paper should address an issue in the area of law and social control (see suggestions on possible paper topics at the end of the syllabus). The paper is a critical evaluation of a social control issue. You must use outside sources to support your evaluation. If you are unsure whether your topic will work, please discuss it with me. As a minimum, the following points must be discussed in your paper:
• Is the policy nonsensical? How so?
• What might be a better policy or what reasons can be offered to maintain the policy? Why?
• What is the best option to implement a better/new policy or strengthen/improve an existing policy?
• What consequences (e.g. social problems, cost increases/decreases) might come from the new policy or changed policy- intended or unintended? The following is a list of possible topics for the class paper. The list is only suggestive and is not intended to discourage someone from deciding on a topic which may be closer to her/his interest. You may also choose from one of the propositions in the Sense and Nonsense book.
• Death penalty - can be done within a general punishment framework since punishments are a mechanism of social control; does it deter, and control behavior; does it serve other purposes?
• Sanctioning corporate crime - what sanctions may be useful in controlling corporate crime?
• DUI laws - do they control behavior? Are they successful deterrents?
• Megan's Law (and other such laws) - are they effective mechanisms of social control?
• Gambling laws - why does the state allow lotteries, horseracing, and other forms of gambling but not numbers games?
• The exercise of police arrest power - There are numerous studies that examine the decision to arrest (or not) and the decision to use other remedies available to police when they intervene. Many of the studies use offender status characteristics as explanatory variables.
• Courts as policymaking bodies - what impact do court decisions have on the behavior of participants in the court process and society in general?
• How has the media affected our views of crime - both street level crime and white-collar crime?
• What, historically, has the role of the police been in controlling the behavior of the public?
• How have our laws (e.g., drug laws) affected minorities differently from non- minorities?
• What impact has Supreme Court decisions had on our daily lives?
• How has the law controlled the behavior of women? This topic can be approached from either a historical or contemporary position.