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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: Febuary 5, 2009
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ 490 Special Topics: Careers in Criminal Justice
(aka The Criminal Justice Profession)

You will be held accountable for the readings and discussion questions listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

* * * * *

Week 4: Week of February 8, 2009

No office hours on Mondays. I will be available on Tuesday mornings.

Bring crayons or markers to class on Friday, February 14th.

NOW, start working on your career portfolio, (i.e., resume, biographical essay).

Topic: Modern-Day Professionalization of Criminal Justice

Preparatory Readings

• Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go -- [Thank you, Jeni for suggesting this Seuss book for this class. Unfortunately, there is no video or DVD on this book yet!]
• Mark Jones. Criminal Justice Pioneers in U.S. History. Parts 3, 4 & 5 .
• Susan Takata and Jeanne Curran. Theory, Policy, Practice of a Career. [online] --- Chapters 4 & 5.
  
• J. Scott Harrs & Karen Hess. Careers in Criminal Justice and Other Related Fields bundled with free access to the Cengage Learning's Career in Criminal Justice website.
• Spencer Johnson. Who Moved My Cheese? --- entire book.
  
  
• Randy Pausch. The Last Lecture. (optional)
• Richard Bolles. What Color is Your Parachute 2009? (optional)

Lecture related links:



• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
  
  

Concepts to be covered:



• social problems
• dead-end career paths
• technical skills v. general skills
• exchange theory
• achievement motivation theory
• utility theory
• the formal structure
• line and staff
• informal structure
• rites of passage



Discussion Questions:

Note: You need to complete the readings in order to answer these questions.

1. In Parts 3 through 5 of Criminal Justice Pioneers..., which individual had to overcome the most obstacles? Why.

2. In the Criminal Justice Pioneers... readings, which individual do you find the most admirable? Why.

3. In TPP of a Career , how does theory help us to understand and avoid dead-end career paths?

4. Compare and contrast the importance between the formal structure and the informal organization in the workplace?

5. Have you submitted at least the first draft of your resume? If so, what do you find to be the most difficult aspect of resume writing? If not, why not?



Suggestions for your Career Portfolio:




Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "the criminal justice profession." Must be approved before starting your creative measure. Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). You will need to submit a bibliography with each project. No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your ideas ASAP!



• At your current workplace, examine the formal organization and informal structure. What is going on in this workplace? Why.
• Evaluate and explore dead-end career paths. Why did they emerge?
• Go to the latest edition of The Occupational Outlook Handbook, and look up your career goal. What does it say about your future career? Based on the OOH, what didn't you know about your career goal? Why.
• Read a biography or autobiography about a prominent CRMJ professional.
• What is your career goal? Why did you select this profession? What do you know about this profession?
• Juggling: How does one juggle career, family and other demands?



Recommended Readings:

• Carl T. Rowan. Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall.
• Clarence Darrow. The Story of My Life.
• Robert C. Cotrell. Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union.
• Jack Pollack . Earl Warren: The Judge Who Changed America.
• William Moses Kunstler and Sheila Isenberg. My LIfe as a Radical Lawyer .
• F. Lee Bailey. The Defense Never Rests.
• Samuel L. Knapp. The Life of Thomas Eddy.
• Samuel Walker. Popular Justice: A History of American Criminal Justice.
• Thomas J. Brown. Dorothea Dix: New England Reformer.
• Ari Hoogeboom. Rutheford B. Hayes: Warrior and President.
• Zebulon Brockway. Fifty Years of Prison Service: An Autobiography.
• Rudolph Chamberlain. There is No Truce: A Life of Thomas Mott Osborne, Prison Reformer.
• Estelle Freedman. Maternal Justice: Miriam Van Waters and the Female Reform Tradition.
• Gladys A. Erickson. Warden Ragen of Joliet.
• Gladys Carpenter Duffy. Warden's Wife.
• Jane Addams. Twenty Years at Hull House.
• Jean Ehshtain. Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy.
  
• Richard Bolles. What Color is Your Parachute?
• Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers: The Story of Success.
• Dennis W. Bakke. Joy at Work.
• Megan Hustad. How to be Useful.
  

• Jurgen Habermas. Between Facts and Norms.
  
• Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.
  
  
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ 490 "Special Topics: Careers in Criminal Justice" (aka The Criminal Justice Profession)

takata@uwp.edu