Course Syllabus

Click here to download a .pdf copy of the syllabus: Syllabus for Criminology E01.pdf

SOCY 3490

Criminology

Dr. Rob Kadel -- rob.kadel@ucdenver.edu 

CU Denver Course Catalog Description

Theories, nature and causes of crime as a social phenomenon. Processes of making laws, breaking laws, and reaction toward the breaking of laws. Prereq: sophomore standing or higher or permission of instructor.

Expanded Description

This course provides a general survey of the nature and causes of crime and efforts of the criminal justice system to predict, prevent, modify, and correct this behavior.  This course involves a critical appraisal of various theories of crime causation, including an examination of biological, psychological, economic, and sociological perspectives that explain crime and deviance. 

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand the nature and extent of crime in the United States
• Learn the concepts and theories, historical and current perspectives which explain criminal behavior
• Explore the nature of research and theory in criminology
• Apply criminological theory to public policy
• Develop an appreciation for the diverse values and viewpoints within criminology

Course Requirements and Grading

1) "Let's Talk" discussion forum participation in Canvas is required. Most of our Modules in Canvas will include a discussion forum where we will discuss the topic(s) of the week. I will start off each discussion with an overall thread, but you are welcome and encouraged to start new threads about the topic. All discussion comments must be posted by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday of each week (except for the final week's discussion -- see the course schedule). You must post your own response to the original question before you will be able to see and respond to others' posts.

Discussion forum posts are graded according to the following rubric:

A word of caution here: Do NOT use the reports and opinions of radio and TV talk/news hosts to support what you write. It doesn’t matter which end of the political spectrum you look at, most of these folks provide their opinions and put their own spin on the facts. A good rule of thumb is, if the show has a person’s name in it, don’t use it. (And don’t use Internet transcripts of their shows either.) For example, don’t cite “evidence” from the O’Reilly Factor or the Rachel Maddow Show.

2) "Check your knowledge” quizzes will be administered through Canvas each Module throughout the semester. The quizzes will be a combination of multiple choice, true/false, and similar types of questions, and of course, they will be open-book. Please bear in mind, though, that the questions may reference information that I provide in my own lecture notes or videocasts, so the book will not provide all the answers. Quiz questions will not include information from the discussion forums. Student collaboration on the quizzes is forbidden. Your answers must be your own. All quiz responses must be posted by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday of each week (except for the final Module's quiz -- see the course schedule for the exact date).

3) Three Essays/Video Presentations Answering Questions of Importance in the Sociology of Education At the end of Modules 5, 10, and 15, you will be required to submit an Essay to Canvas OR to present a video in Canvas (or attach an external video file to the Assignment page).

Note: You can decide which type of assignment you'd like to submit over the course and change as you like. In other words, you could submit an essay for one assignment, a video for the next, and another essay for the third.

• Essay papers must be at least 1,250 words long (that's the equivalent of about 5 pages of double-spaced text in a word processing document). Pick an available topic (from the list provided in each Module) that is of interest to you, and write about 1,250 words to answer it. Full credit will be given for responses that apply scientific and evidence-based proposals for solving problems. (HINT: Use information from our readings, my lecture notes, and external scholarly sources to craft your proposal. Proposals based on idealism, relative morality, or religious ideology will not receive full credit.) The rubric below shows how these will be graded. Each Essay is worth a maximum of 50 points.
• Video presentations can be recorded directly in Canvas, or you can use the software/Webware of your choice (YouTube, iMovie, etc.). Videos should be about six (6) minutes long. Pick an available topic (from the list provided in each Module) that is of interest to you, and create a 6 - 10 minute video to answer it. These should be as polished as any essay you would write, so practice what you want to say before creating your video and edit as necessary. (HINT: Similar to the above use information from our readings, my lecture notes, and even external scholarly sources to craft your video proposal. Proposals based on idealism, relative morality, or religious ideology will not receive full credit.) The rubric below shows how these will be graded. Each Presentation is worth a maximum of 50 points.

Each essay or presentation will be graded according to the following rubric:

Grading

Your final grade is determined on a scale from 1 to 100 as follows:

Course & College Policies

1) Policy on Late Work: I will accept late work, however 10% will be deducted from your grade for EACH DAY that your work is turned in late. So, keep in mind, for example, that submitting a response to a discussion forum after the 9th late day is pointless. In such cases, you would lose 10 days X 10% per day = 100%. In other words, upon the 10th day that a discussion forum post, quiz, or essay is late, you will receive a zero.

2)Academic Disonesty will not be tolerated. See the College Policies and Grading sections of the syllabus for more information.

Plagiarism of any kind will result in a failing grade and a report of the specific offense to the dean.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas as if they were your own, whether spoken or in writing. Providing a quotation from another author is not plagiarism as long as you provide the correct citation (author’s name, publication information, and page number). However, keep quotes to a minimum and keep them short. Do not quote, for example, an entire 7-sentence paragraph; if your reader wants to read an original quote, he or she can look it up. In such a situation, please summarize the information provided by another author. AND, when you summarize, you still must provide the correct citation of where the information came from.

3) Disability Resources and Services: For the visually impaired, eCollege is designed to interact with most major screen-reader applications.

Students with disabilities who want academic accommodations must register with Disability Resources and Services (DRS), 177 Arts Building, 303-556-3450, TTY 303-556-4766, FAX 303-556-2074. DRS require students to provide current and adequate documentation of their disabilities. Once a student has registered DRS will review the documentation and assess the student’s request for academic accommodations. DRS will then provide the student with a letter indicating which academic accommodations have been approved. Please provide me with a copy of the DRS letter; I will be happy to provide the approved accommodations.

4) Writing Styles and Standards: You have elected to participate in this course online. However, that does NOT mean that this is a typical online environment (like facebook, MySpace, or Twitter). This is an academic course, and academic standards are expected in your writing and course communication. I do NOT want to see any speech-2-txt (speech to text) in any writing here. In other words, U R not alwed to rite as if U were txting ur BFF from ur phone. (You are not allowed to write as if you were texting your best friend forever from your phone.) Write like you would with any academic assignment. That means fully articulated real words, spelled correctly, sentences that start with capital letters and end with correct punctuation.  

If you have problems with your grammar, syntax, organization, or style when writing, please visit the Writing Center in North Classroom 4014 or visit their Web site at http://writingcenter.ucdenver.edu.  

Let me be very clear on this: It is your (the student's) responsibility to be familiar with the dates and policies below, including the CLAS policy on academic honesty. I will tolerate NO PLAGIARISM in this course. And I mean it!

CLAS Academic Policies

For relevant university deadlines and procedures (such as the last day to withdraw from a course) as well as academic support sites, please see this website:

https://clas.ucdenver.edu/faculty-staff/sites/default/files/attached-files/student_services_and_calendar.pdf.

Required Course Readings
There is one required text book for the course, plus some additional readings that will be posted in Canvas. The book is: 

Cullen, F.T., Agnew, R., & Wilcox, P. (2017). Criminological Theory: Past to Present. (Sixth Edition). Oxford University Press. 

ISBN-13: 9780190639341  |   Edition 6

You can find the book for purchase (new/used) at the Auraria Bookstore by searching for our course (SOCY 3490 E01) on this site.

Here are some links to where you can find the book (paperback and digital). 

• Purchase directly from Oxford University Press - https://global.oup.com/academic/product/criminological-theory-past-to-present-9780190639341?q=agnew&lang=en&cc=us 
• Amazon.com (paperback, Kindle, and used) - https://www.amazon.com/Criminological-Theory-Present-Essential-Readings/dp/0190639342/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1514478051&sr=8-2&keywords=Cullen+Agnew+wilcox 
• Barnes & Noble (paperback, Nook, and used) - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/criminological-theory-francis-t-cullen/1100038441;jsessionid=A10AC4CEB1CCAFD950E76E6D8B5304EE.prodny_store01-atgap09?ean=9780190639341 

Course Schedule