CCJ 203: Crime, Justice and Social Diversity
Dr. Christopher Mullins
Fall 2013
Office 4226 Faner Hall
Office Phone: 6184356368
Email: [email protected]
Course Description:
This course examines if, and if so how, social heterogeneity (difference) and inequality influence the
processes involved in the definition and regulation of behavior through law, particularly criminal law.
Factors such as race, ethnicity, gender and class are related to definitions of crime and justice and to the
likelihood of being the victim of a crime. The differential influence of operations and outcomes of the
criminal justice system on diverse groups in U.S. society is emphasized.
Course Objectives:
1) Be intimately familiar with the structure and functioning of social stratification in the U.S.
2) Understand how socio-economic class interacts with law making, breaking and social responses to
crime.
3) Understand how race and ethnicity interact with law making, breaking and social responses to crime.
4) Understand how sex and gender interact with law making, breaking and social responses to crime.
5) Be able to critically consume academic, political and media discourses relating to social stratification
and criminology and criminal justice topics.
Required Text:
Mullins, Christopher W. 2014. Crime and Justice in a Diverse Society. Cognella.
To purchase your textbook, please follow the instructions below:
Step 1: Log on to https://students.universityreaders.com/store/.
Step 2: Create an account (you will need to select your home institution during this step) or log in if you
have an existing account to purchase.
Step 3: Easy-to-follow instructions guide you through the process of reserving your textbook or, if it is
ready for purchase, the rest of the ordering process. Payment can be made by all major credit cards or
with an electronic check.
COURSE/TEXT: CCJ 203
INSTRUCTOR: Christopher Mullins
Course Policies and Procedures
Course Structure: This course is conducted entirely online through SIUC’s Desire 2 Learn application.
You will not be required to come to campus during the course of the term. Even though there are not
scheduled weekly class times, it is very important to make a schedule for yourself so you stay on track
and meet the course’s weekly deadlines.
For each week’s lesson you should:
1) Look at the work listed below under ‘Course Plan.’ It will tell you what to read, what to
view/listen to, as well as indicating exam dates.
2) Go to the appropriate lesson section under course content in D2L. There will be a series of
links to various materials and assignments corresponding to the assignments mentioned on the
Course Plan. Work through them in the order listed on the course plan.
3) Click through the PanOpto link to the recorded lecture and view the power point about the text
readings. This material is intended to supplement, clarify and synthesize the key ideas in the
lesson. It provides you with an introduction to your readings.
4) Read the indicated materials in the book.
5) Complete the questions about the article; the questions are on the dropbox’s page. These
questions will test your comprehension of the reading assigned but will also ask you to think
about the article, synthesize and make connections with other course materials. Each set of
questions is worth 25 points. Be sure to use appropriate methods of citation here when you are
quoting and paraphrasing.
Questions: If you have questions about an assignment please ask me, and please do so sooner rather than
later. Feel free to send me an email at any time, I will return it within 24 hours. Also feel free to post
questions to the discussion board of the course, that way all students in the course see the question and the
answer. As this course requires you to be highly independent, you will find that if you are not pro-active
in asking your questions, you will remain confused and your grade will suffer.
Exercises: This course involves the completion of weekly exercises. For each week you will answer some
questions about the article. The instructions in the dropbox for each assignment contain or indicate the
questions to be answered. Assignments are due on the Saturday of the week at 11:59 pm. They are worth
25 points.
Late Submissions of these weekly exercises are generally not allowed. This is NOT an ILP and we are
tied to the calendar. There will have to be a verified emergency for me to accept materials late. This
should be limited to serious illnesses, accidents and the like as you are aware of what assignments are due
when. Travel, scheduled events, work and the like are NOT acceptable reasons for late work (or exams,
see below). You know of the event and you know when the assignments are due. Plan accordingly.
Verification is proof from a 3rd party that your claim about why the assignment was missed is true. I.e.,
Medical excuses require notes from medical providers. Screenshots of your computer with a date/time are
NOT accepted verification. Those settings are easily changed. Similarly, verification from nonprofessionals is not accepted (i.e., notes from your parents, spouse or peers).
Examinations: There will be three examinations given during the term. Each will be worth 100 points and
will be composed of multiple choice and essay questions. Each will cover only the material in a given
section of the course (those lessons covered since the last exam). Dates are provided on the course outline
below.
You will take each exam in D2L during the indicated time period. You will be required to use Respondus
browser lock; this is downloadable from your “My Home” page in D2L. Each exam will be timed
(limited to 50 minutes). Budget it appropriately. This portion of the exam will contain multiple choice
questions and a bonus short essay question.
Each exam also has longer essay questions associated with them that you will complete and turn into the
appropriate drop box before you complete the timed portion of the exam. Except on the final exam, you
will have a choice of questions to answer. These should be real essays. Each should have: a short
introduction that restates the question and gives your intended take on it, a series of paragraphs in which
you answer the question with direct reference to course concepts and materials and a short conclusion that
restates the question and summarizes your response. Any and all source you use, including course
materials, should be properly cited with both in-text citations and a works cited page. You are free to use
non-course materials in these essays, but it is not required.
Make-up Examinations: As the exams are open from the first day of class until the close date indicated on
the syllabus, make up examinations except for emergencies should not be an issue. Contact me if trouble
arises. The reason will need to be verified as discussed under Exercises above.
Student responsibility
You are responsible for gaining access to D2L and ensuring that it is functional with your system. It is
your responsibility to get the materials assigned submitted on time. Do not wait to the last minute as
‘computer problems’ are NOT an excuse for missed work. You are responsible for making sure you
have access to the course and course materials all semester. Have back up plans for access if something
goes wrong with your preferred machine or connection (i.e., a friend’s or family member’s computer,
computer labs, public libraries).
If you are having problems with D2L, contact the help desk immediately. Do not contact me for
help; I do not know enough to be of benefit to you (feel free to contact me with a heads-up on the
issue if possible). Do not wait, contact the help desk ASAP; fix your access problems immediately.
Course Grade: At the end of the term I will add up all of the points you have earned and divide that total
by the points possible (e.g. 575). This will produce a percentage which will be used to assign your final
grade based on the following scale:
A
B
90 and above
80-89
C
D
F
70-79
60-69
59 and below
Academic Honesty: Please review the university’s policy if you are unfamiliar with it (see Sec II, A 1-6
for definitions, III A-J for sanctions). In this course, such behavior may earn you an F for the course
and may be cause for my recommendation of your suspension from the university.
Course Plan
What follows is a day by day listing of topics, assignments and readings. “Read” refers to
materials in the book; “View” refers to Panoptio lectures.
Week 1 8/19-24: Introduction to the course
View: “Welcome”
Familiarize yourself with D2L.
Week 2 8/25-31 Background
Read: Introduction, One Hundred Years of Race and Crime
View: Introduction, The Criminal Justice System
Week 3 9/1-7 Social Stratification
Read: Social Stratification, Empirical Research on Class and Crime
View: Socio-economic class
Week 4 9/8-14: Social Stratification continued
Read: Ethnic, racial and gender stratification, Expressing Race, Social Class and Masculinity
through Intimate Partner Violence.
View: Race, Gender
Week 5 9/15-21: Exam 1
Week 6 9/22-26: Intersectionality
Read: Messerschmidt. PDF in the Lesson under content.
View: Intersectionality
Week 7 9/29-10/5: Offending
Read: Understanding Criminal Offending, Up it Up: Gender and the Accomplishment of Street
Robbery
Week 8 10/6-12: Victimization
Read: Understanding victimization, College Women’s Perceived Risk to Experience Sexual
Victimization
Week 9 10/13-19: Law
Read: Law, Immigration Policy, Criminalization and the Growth of the Immigration Complex
View: Law Making
Week 10 10/20-26: Exam 2
Week 11 10/27-11/2: Policing
View: Policing
Week 12 11/3-9: Case Processing
Read: Case Processing, Discrediting Victims Allegation of Sexual Assault
View: Case Processing, Frohman Article Introduction
Week 13 11/10-16: Sentencing
Read: Testimony to the US Sentencing Commission
View: Sentencing
Week 14 11/17-23: Corrections
Read: Rush to Judgment: Prisoner’s Views of Juvenile Justice
View: Corrections
Week 15 11/24-30: No Lesson. Thanksgiving Recess
Week 16 12/1-7: Collateral Consequences
Read: The Mark of a Criminal Record
View: Collateral Consequences
The Final Exam (exam 3) must be completed by Wednesday, December 11th, noon.