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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: March 9, 2006
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ 363: Corrections

You will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises 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 8: Week of March 5, 2006

Make A Box due Wednesday, March 8th (triple pop quiz grade!) .

Spring Break -March 12th through March 19th .

Topics: Jail and Short-Term Detention


Preparatory Readings:



• Haas and Alpert. Dilemmas of Corrections. Chapter ---.
• Documentaries: Presumed Innocent and Second City (to be shown in class)
• Hassine. Life Without Parole. entirety.
  
  
  

Lecture related links:



• Make A Box due Wednesday, March 8th (triple pop quiz grade) .
  

  new National Institute of Corrections A resource on jails and local detention.
  

• Corrections: On Investing Love
• JOIN the Yahoo Discussion Group with CSUDH students.
  
• Convicts and Cops A resource on prison tatoos, prison slang terminology, and more!
  
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  
• Maricopa County Sheriff's Office - Jail Link. Link found by Mary Frances Chachula.
  
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections




Concepts to be covered:



• jails
• prisons
• pretrial detention
• misdemeanor
• bail



Discussion Questions:



Be sure incorporate the documentary, "Presumed Innocent" and "Second City" into your answers.



1. Why did we make boxes? Did you follow the instructions precisely, marking the letters from the pattern on your work? How long did it take you to make your box, not counting the decorations? What does this process have to do with visual criminology/visual sociology? Why.
2. What are the similarities and differences between jails and prisons? Why do some people use these terms interchangeably?
3. Why are county jails considered the "bottom of the correctional barrel?"
4. What are some problems you would expect to encounter if you were in charge of providing rehabilitation in a county jail? Why.
5. What are some alternative to pretrial detention? What do these alternatives tell us about the interrelationship between "theory, policy, and practice"? Why.



Suggested Creative Measures:




Note: All creative measures must be approved by the instructor before you begin. Email the instructor with your idea. Creative measures cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. No term papers. Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "corrections." 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). Email me your ideas. Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measures.



• Research "what works?" inside the county jail? In other words, what are today's most successful rehabilitation programs in the county jail? Why. How is success measured? Why.
  
• Other books related to jails:
  --- J.F. Fishman. Crucibles of Crime: The Shocking Story of the American Jail.
  --- D. Danto. Jail House Blues.
  --- John Irwin. The Jails: The Managing the Underclass in American Society.
  
  

• Make A Box a Week reflecting on the week's correctional issues.
  
• If you enjoyed reading Hassine's Life Without Parole , you might be interested in other prison autobiographies/biographies: a) Jack Henry Abbott. In the Belly of the Beast. b) Leonard Peltier. Prison Writings. c) Eldridge Cleaver. Soul on Ice. d) Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Thirteenth Round. e) Jarvis Jay Masters. Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row, e) Mumia Abu-Jamal. Live from Death Row., f) The Autobiography of Malcolm X.



Recommended Readings:



• John Irwin. The Warehouse Prison.
  
• John Irwin. The Imprisonment Binge.
  
  
• Alfie Kohn. Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community.
• Alfie Kohn. Unconditional Parenting.
  
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 363 (Corrections)

takata@uwp.edu