Page Description

The following syllabus page is a three column layout with a header that contains a quicklinks jump menu and the search CSUN function. Page sections are identified with headers. The footer contains update, contact and emergency information.

SOC 355 - Criminology, Spring 2014 (Dr. Ellis Godard)

Contact Information

Ellis Godard
egodard@csun.edu
818-688-4050 (24/7)
Office: Santa Suzanna 333
Office Hours: Tues 345-545, Thurs 1-145, online TBA, & by appointment
GoogleTalk/Chat/Etc, Yahoo, AIM/AOL, MSN/WL, Skype, Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, Twitter, LinkedIn, Academia.edu, Chess.com, & other contacts available upon request

Class Meetings & Format

This class meets Tuesday & Thursday, 2-315, in Johnson Auditorium.

This is a lecture course, not a seminar. However, you are invited to (politely, by first raising your hand and then not talking on top of each other, please) ask any questions, identify any ambiguities, raise any objections, or request that I slow down or speak up, etc.

Lectures are meant to supplement readings, and readings are selected to complement to lectures; neither is a substitute for the other. It will not be possible to lecture on every issue addressed in the text, and class lectures may not correspond exactly with the assigned readings for a given week.

A complete and current course schedule is always available on the course website. Exam dates will not change, but anything else is subject to modification at the instructor’s discretion.

Please note that the CSU faculty union is in the midst of contract negotiations and that the CSU is facing two mid-year budget adjustments. As such, there is a possibility of a work interruption and changes in schedule beyond the instructor’s control. Updates on this situation will be provided throughout the term, and the current course schedule is always available via Moodle.

Instructional Materials

Steve E. Barkan’s Criminology: A Sociological Understanding. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 5th Edition (2011).
Additional readings, some required and some recommended, will be available through the Moodle site. Some of the recommended readings will have been recommended by other students in the class, through one of several extra credit opportunities to be addressed in coming weeks.
Selected articles, available via the course website.

Additional Materials

You willl also need:

Access to Moodle – for the schedule, additional readings, and the exams
You will also need a TurningTechnologies ResponseCard clicker, or appropriate alternative. The CSUN standard is the XR model. The RF model is less expensive and will suffice for our needs. Either may be purchased directly from TurningTechnologies online, using a code to be provided via Moodle. You may also use the free ResponseWare app available in the app markets for Blackberry, Droid, Windows Mobile, and Apple mobile devices. You may also browse to rwpoll.com via a 3G or 4G connection, or the CSUN WiFi network; be advised, however, that wireless alternatives may experience interruptions and connection difficulties for which the instructor is not responsible. You may wish to test your connection(s) prior to the first quiz, and might decide to get a clicker; wireless reliability varies by classroom other conditions.

Important Notices

A complete schedule of topics, readings, assignments, meetings, and other materials is available through the course's Moodle site.

Lectures are provided online, following course meetings. I may sometimes post them in advance, but don't expect (or request) it..

All add requests will be addressed after the first week of classes. If you hope to add, you must attend the first week.

Prerequisites

The texts and readings are based not in social-science generally, but in sociology specifically. Understanding of and appreciation for the materials and ideas therefore requires background knowledge in sociology, especially in sociological theory.

Moreover, much of the discussion in the course will move beyond conventional theoretical approaches, utilizing variation in legal behavior to elucidate variation in the emphases (and relative explanatory power) of those approaches.

SOC202 and SOC250 (and possibly 368 and/or 468) are therefore encouraged prior to this course.

Policies

Godard's Course Guidelines

CSUN Student Conduct Code

CSUN Academic Policy

Frequently Asked Questions

Class Accommodations

Complete details on my accomodation policies (and other standard elements that are no specific to this course) are in a separate document of Course Guidelines that apply to all of my courses. As well, you may wish to utilize these and related resources:

Course Description

This course extends beyond SOC 250 (Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice) by applying and exploring theoretical considerations (rather than mechanics and empirical patterns) of the criminal justice system, explanations of delinquency and crime, and the field of criminology itself.

While mechanics and patterns are addressed, in both the readings and lectures, the emphasis will be on conceptual (theoretical and sometimes philosophical) understandings of crime – including its definition, extent, and varieties, and the reactions it attracts. This will of course include attention to conventional strategies of explanation, as well as to both older and newer approaches. Lectures will pay special attention to evaluating these various strategies, to improve your understanding not only of criminology but of choices available in conducting it.

Throughout, care will be taken both to connect crime with other social (and sociological) patterns, as well as (more generally) to help you understand crime as one facet of the complex and multidimensional social world as we understand it, and Criminology as one facet of the complex and multidimensional world of Sociology.

Student Learning Objectives

The student who successfully completes this course should be...

understand crime and criminal justice as part of broader social patterns, both empirically and theoretically;
able to describe, discuss, and compare various categories of criminality, as well as stages and agents involved in reaction to crime, according to one of several conventional perspectives;
able to compare and contrast theoretical perspectives used in Criminology, as well as differences between Sociology and Criminology, and between Criminology and criminalistics
aware of contemporary concerns about and approaches to “fighting” crime, and the opportunities as well as limitations of sociological knowledge in advancing such efforts.

Course Requirements

Attendance, 10%: Daily attendance is both encouraged and required, and will be taken with the “clickers” and a passed roll, as noted below as well as in the general course guidelines (see below).
Quizzes, 30%: There will be a quiz during almost every class meeting – perhaps a dozen, each consisting of 5 questions worth 6 points each. Answers must be submitted via the prescribed “clicker” or an appropriate alternative, and quizzes cannot be “made up”. On any date, you may sign a circulated roll, as an alternative to the clicker; you will be counted as attending, and will earn a 70 (the minimum possible) on the quiz. Quizzes are intended to encourage you to do the readings, will assess whether you have, and will add incentive for you to attend. The same materials for conducting quizzes (my slides and your clickers) will also be used for ongoing course evaluation, and for other aspects of the course design.
Paper, 30%: You will write a research paper (5-8pp) on a topic to be selected later, following guidelines available on a handout distributed during the second week of classes. The final submission of the paper itself will be worth 20% of your course grade. An additional 5% will be earned by meeting with the instructor, during office hours or other approved time and place, prior to October 12th, to propose and discuss your topic. Up to an additional 5% will be earned through submission of an outline or preliminary draft, due prior to November 9th.
Final, 30%: A final exam will take place via Moodle, with 60 multiple-choice questions, graded according to the logic explained in the first meeting and general course guidelines (see below). Test questions will be based on the lectures, lecture notes, and readings. You will have one week to complete the final, at your convenience.
Several extra credit opportunities will allow you to apply course readings to your own lives. Submissions will take place within Moodle, to be explained in coming days.
Generic issues related to all of my courses (attendance and grading policies, conduct, plagiarism, etc.) are dealt with summarily in a separate document, available from the website for this or any of my courses, or directly at http://www.csun.edu/~egodard/sop.html. These “standard operating procedures” apply to every course that I teach. You acknowledge having read and agreeing to abide by them by completing the course intake form (via Moodle) or by emailing me (egodard@csun.edu) to that effect before the 2nd week.