October 24th - December 18th,
2011
GOALS:
What I'd like you to come away from the course with is a better understanding of victims and their plight, how they fit into our current criminal justice system, and what more can or should be done to integrate victims into our society and make it, too, whole again.
I am assuming that most -- if not all -- of you are looking at degrees in Criminal Justice or some related degree program, i.e. your interest is in criminology or law. We have to ask ourselves what the ultimate aim of the criminal justice system is. We prosecute and imprison and fine and even execute -- to what end? If you read my other syllabi for various CJ courses, you'll see that I pose the over-arching question: "what rules do we want to live by?" because the focus should not be on the criminal, but on us. We are rather more important than criminals.
I happen to believe that crime and criminals are an integral part of any society. Society creates crime, and with that in mind, the war against crime will never be won -- crime is not going to go away until society itself ends, which is not an objective anyone of us wants (I hope). The best we can hope for is that we control it and win the occasional battle. I hope to be able to convince you that this view is not an unduly pessimistic one, nor an unreasonable one. My point is that, because criminals will always be with us, perhaps we worry to much about them. Instead we ought to concentrate on ourselves -- what do we want, and how do we want to live? It is a change of viewpoint that is needed by legislators.
We hear politicians decrying the rights that criminals have, demanding that we ought not to coddle prisoners, insisting that this one or that one should be executed. It is easy to be a knee-jerk, tough-on-criminals, negative blow-hard. It is much more difficult to refocus on the victims of crime and on society and ask what it is that should constructively be done to make the victim or society whole again.
That is the object of the class, and my objective is to refocus your attention away from the criminal and back onto the larger picture of the criminal justice system.
But besides that.........
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
* Justify the nature of and need for the field of
victimology to the criminal justice community and community stakeholders
* Identify and apply appropriate preventive measures
and responses to victimization
*Demonstrate mastery of the main aspects of the
field of victimology, including its history, theories, models, data analysis,
concepts and consructs in order to
respond effectively to the needs
of victims.
We will look at patterns of crime, crime rates, and the methodology of crime statistics collection and analysis. We'll look at how victims interact with offenders, and with the criminal justice system, from a legal as well as social and psychological viewpoints. And we will consider both the criminal and civil law systems in terms of tort compensation for victims and at various victim compensation and support systems that exist internationally.
The course objectives are that by the end of the course, students will be able to explain the extent of crime victimization, describe the historical and current role of the victim in the criminal justice system, distinguish between the various forms of victimization, discuss theories of victimization, discuss past and current legislative attempts to promote victim rights, argue for or against further rights for victims, and expand upon various specific topics raised during the course concerning victimology.
How many victimizations occur each year? What are the victimization trends? Who are the typical victims of crime? Do victim characteristics vary by crime type? What is the nature of the relationship between victims and their offenders? What are the perceptions and fears of crime? How do law enforcement bodies react to victims?
What role do and should victims of crime play in the criminal justice system?
EVENT DATE Course starts on Monday, October 24th Mid Term On-line Saturday/Sunday November 19/20 Term papers are Due Monday, December 5th Last Day for Withdrawals Friday, December 9th Final Exam December 12 - 18 Tern Ends Sunday December 18th
| Week of | Readings & Assignments |
| 1 October 24th | Chapters 1 - 3. Introduction. Definitions. History. Crime Stats. Digging up the Facts |
| 2 October 31st | Applications of Victimology Theories & Concepts. Risk Factors. Chapters Four and Five Term paper ideas. |
| 3 November 7th | The criminal justice system as it was, and is. Cooperation & Conflict Chapter Six and Seven. |
| 4 November 14th | Vulnerable Populations: Kids. Chapter Eight, and pages 276-283 Mid Term Weekend of November 19/20 |
| 5 November 21st | Vulnerable populations: Women. Trafficking. Abuse. Rape. Chapters Nine and Ten: |
| 6 November 28th | Other Types of Victimization: Minorities and Hate Crimes. Chapter Eleven |
| 7 December 5th | Special Topics: Restitution vs. Restoration. Chapter 12. Term Papers Due Monday 5th |
| 8 December 12th | Wrapping Up -- Constitutional Issues. Chapter 13. PROCTORED EXAM WEEK |
The broad outline of the course is here. I reserve the right to slip a few days in either direction, depending on class dynamics, but this is generally what we're going to cover.
The course consists of fve modules that correspond to the course schedule above.
Module 1. Applications of Theories &
Concepts in Victimology, which we cover in the first three weeks of
the course.
Module 2. Violence Against The Family
(a) kids and (b) women
Module 3. Under-served Populations
-- the disabled, elderly, the homeless, and various minorities - racial,
ethnic, religious or sexual.
Module 4. Other Types of Victimization,
which range from consumer fraud to ID theft, where a victim may need financial
restitution, to drunk driving or school bullying, or
workplace violence in which the victim may be better served by restorative
practices & programs.
Module 5. Other Topics in Victimology,
which includes a discussion of attempts over the past two decades to enact
a federal Crime Victims' Rights Amendment
25% of the total mark will be determined by your participation in class discussion and participation. Basically 3% per week, with the 4% assigned to Week One. If you look at your Assignment Folder, you can see that marks will be assigned every two weeks. I will be assigning conferences that require you to respond.
30% Mid-term exam -- on-line, Saturday/Sunday November 19/20. All material within the webtycho classroom -- conference material, and course content files -- is just as much examinable material as the textbook is. You will be expected to have read it, understood it, and demonstrate a grasp of the content.
15% on a term paper that reports your findings on a particular, approved topic concerning the current status of law relevant to your topic, and the social and political forces that have brought about and that are acting upon the topic. The point of the term paper is to (a) permit you the opportunity to earn credit from any personal topic that you may interested in pursuing, and (b) to provide you with the opportunity to marshal arguments and organize material into a clear, concise, documented, formal report on a topic of your choice. Due December 5th.
30% of your mark will be determined
by a final exam -- PROCTORED EXAM (Week 8 -- December 12 - 18th).
You need to make arrangements with your Ed Center to test during Exam Week.
In the week of December 5th you should try to arrange a time with
your local Education Center for that week of December 12th.
See the information concerning proctored exams ay the main UMUC website:
Distance
Education Proctored Exam Procedures. Note that the University
places this sentence in BOLD type: Students
must be prepared to take the exam during the scheduled testing times.
For students who cannot comply with standard procedures, that site includes
a link to the Alternate Procedures application form.
If you are going TDY or into the field and will be absent for a "substantial" length of time, you may be required to withdraw: in a 14-week class, absence for more than two weeks may require withdrawal. I will consider absences cumulatively - a series of week-long absences is as detrimental as one continuous absence.
Also, be forewarned: keeping up with participation is more work than you might think, and especially as the semester wears on and your other in- and out-of-course responsibilities add up, the work involved in participating may seem overwhelming. However, keep the 20% of your grade in mind. (Simply listening to the conversations does not count as participation. You must write to get credit.) If you pass all the problems but never contribute to discussion, you should expect nothing better than a C- for the participation component of your final grade. If you don't make discussion and fail problems (and I do give failing grades), you can expect less.
For a more detailed explanation of what I expect in the way of participation, CLICK HERE
A NOTE: Academic dishonesty
and plagiarism are not acceptable and will mean a grade of F(Failure).
Academic dishonesty means (but is not limited to) getting someone else
to prepare work for you, or helping another person with their assigned
and examinable work. Plagiarism means passing off
someone else's work as your own. You can avoid this by giving credit
where credit is due - record the sources of your work, learn how to quote
properly, and cite the books, articles or web pages you have used for your
information. It may sound like simple manners, but failure to live by the
rules has serious academic consequences.
In line with UMUC Policy 150.25, Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism, if I suspect plagiarism, I may use Turnitin.com. TurnItIn.com is a Web-based plagiarism detection service available to UMUC faculty and staff worldwide. A student cannot be compelled to have his or her paper submitted to TurnItIn.com if the student does not wish to. Student papers are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. If I intend to submit a paper on behalf of a student for evaluation by TurnItIn.com, I shall ask permission. The presumption shall be that permission for submission shall be granted -- if you object, I trust that you will have a legitimate reason. Click here for more detail.