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SOCIOLOGY 140 - SPRING SEMESTER 1999

YOUTH AND CRIME: GUIDELINES

COURSE DESCRIPTION:	A sociological Study of the youthful offender in American society. Special emphasis is placed on theories of youthful crime, societal response that has impacts on definitions of youthful crime and subsequent public policy, research methodologies employed in the understanding of the quality and quantity of youthful crime, predicting youthful crime, and social control associated with youthful behavior defined as being negative. Prereq: One sociology course or instructor's consent.
INSTRUCTOR:	R. Dean Wright 124 Howard Hall Phone: 515/271-3618 E-mail: dean.wright@drake.edu
OFFICE HOURS:	8:00 - 9:00 TR., 11:00 - 12:00 TR., and 2:00 - 3:00 T. Other times by appointment
TEXTS:	Paul M. Sharp and Barry W. Hancock, Juvenile Delinquency: Historical, Theoretical, and Societal Reactions to Youth (2nd Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1998. Julie Landsman, Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed, 1993.
EXAMINATION:	There will be three examinations during the semester. Each exam will be worth one-hundred points and will contain a series of short-answer essay questions.
PROJECTS:	There will be three projects / research endeavors / papers that each student or a team of students will be expected to complete during the semester. These projects will range in scope and will focus on aspects of youth and crime. Each project will be worth fifty points.
MAKE-UP POLICY:	Students will be allowed to take make-up examinations but only under extraordinary circumstances .. such as a medical excuse from a physician. Please provide the instructor with the written excuse when you arrange the make-up examination.
GRADING POLICY:	Grades will be based upon total points received during the semester. The scale is as follows:  A = 405 -450 points  D = 270 - 314 points  B = 360 - 404 points   F = 269 points and below  C = 315 - 359 points
Course Objectives:	This course serves as one of the electives within the Department of Sociology. As such, the course serves a more general or liberal audience. The objectives are more broadly defined than are those of required or core courses. The objectives of this course are, using the concept of youth and crime as a major guide, to: introduce major sociological themes, ensure that the student is exposed to importance of reliable and valid methodologies used in understanding society, provide a setting in which the major theories associated with human society can be analyzed, provide an arena in which linkages can be made about both theory and research pertaining to society, examine the relationship among theory, knowledge of society, social response, and public policy relating to social issues, and provide students with alternative models that might be used by students to better understand public concerns and responses to sociological questions and issues. These goals will be addressed through lecture, discussion, and the application provided through required student projects.
Departmental Goals:	The Department of Sociology has voted to support the following list of goals serve as "benchmarks" for students who complete degrees in Sociology at Drake University. develop critical reasoning and verbal and written communication skills, and an ability to integrate these; gain an understanding of basic research methods used in the discipline; learn to think theoretically; gain familiarity with the major 19th and 20th century social theorists who typically are perceived as articulating the questions that define the scope of the discipline; understand the historical context for contemporary social events and sociological questions; develop a critical self-awareness and an understanding of the relationship among social thought, ideology, and common sense. Each instructor in the Department of Sociology is to note the benchmark(s) that his or her course is designed to meet. This course, Sociology 016, has three primary goals. First, it is designed to assist the student in better understanding the historical context for contemporary social events and sociological questions that guide our understanding of society using the concept of civil society as a guideline. This course has a second major goal of providing the student with the opportunity to develop critical reasoning skills relative to the theory application of knowledge about society. A third goal is to develop a critical self-awareness and understanding of the relationship among social thought, ideology, and common sense pertaining to sociological questions and issues. Secondary goals are associated with providing students with an understanding of the reality of social issues as they enter a real world that is driven by social/political/ideological reaction rather than knowledge.

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SOCIOLOGY 140 - YOUTH AND CRIME - Daily Meeting Outline

THE BACKGROUND, HISTORY, AND THEORIES OF JUVENILE CRIME

Tuesday, January 19, 1999	The History of the Legal and Social Definitions of J.D.
Thursday, January 21, 1999	Platt (1) and Mennel (2)
Tuesday, January 26, 1999	Schlossman (3) and Ferdinand (4)
Thursday, January 28, 1999	Other Historical Considerations in Defining Juveniles
Tuesday, February 2, 1999	Theories of Juvenile Delinquency - Merton (5) and Korn (6)
Thursday, February 4, 1999	Hirschi (7) and Skyes (8)
Tuesday, February 9, 1999	Cohen (9) and Patterson (10)
Thursday, February 11, 1999	Thornberry (11) and Chesney - Lind (12)
Tuesday, February 16, 1999	Agnew (13) and Synthesis
Thursday, February 18, 1999	Examination Number One

THE CURRENT CONTEXT OF YOUTHFUL CRIME

Tuesday, February 23, 1999	The Social Context of Juvenile Delinquency Palermo (14) and Greenberg (15) Paper Number One Due
Thursday, February 25,1999	Cernkovich (16) and Calhoun (17)
Tuesday, March 2, 1999	Calhoun (17) and Howell (18)
Thursday, March 4, 1999	Williams (19) and Chambliss (20)
Tuesday, March 9, 1999	Other Arenas of Social Locations
Thursday, March 11, 1999	Institutional Response to Juvenile Delinquency Neigher (21) and Field (22)
Tuesday, March 16, 1999	Polk (23) and Ashford (24)
Thursday, March 18, 1999	Armstrong (25) and Schneider (26)
Tuesday, March 23, 1999 Thursday, March 25, 1999	Spring Break - No classes
Tuesday, March 30, 1999	Structural Responses Other Institutional Responses Paper Number Two Due
Thursday, April 1, 1999	Examination Number Two

REALITY AND PUBLIC POLICY

Tuesday, April 6, 1999	Juvenile Delinquency and Public Policy Hirschi (27)
Thursday, April 8, 1999	Hurst (28) and Wright (29)
Tuesday, April 13, 1999	Howell (30) and Aloisi (31)
Thursday, April 15, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School
Tuesday, April 20, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School
Thursday, April 22, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School
Tuesday, April 27, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School
Thursday, April 29, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School
Tuesday, May 4, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School Paper Number Three Due
Thursday, May 6, 1999	Basic Needs: A Year with Street Kids in a City School
Friday, May 14, 7:30 - 9:20 am	Examination Number Three