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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: April 27, 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 16: Week of April 30, 2006

Special Note:

** Friday, May 5th - Last Day of Class
** Saturday, May 6th, 12 noon -- Deadline for Course Grade Email Follow-Up

Topics: Corrections: Theory, Policy, Practice


Preparatory Readings:



• Haas and Alpert. Dilemmas of Corrections. entirety.
  
• Hassine. Life Without Parole. entirety.
  
• Sachar. Holes. entirety.
  
  -----If you have read Holes already, read one of the following:
  ----------Louis Sachar. Small Steps (the sequel to Holes.)
  ----------Will Hobbs. Downriver. and the sequel, River Thunder.
  ----------Walter Myers. Monster.
  ----------Walter Myers. Shooter.
  ----------Walter Myers. Dream Bearer.
  ----------Carl Hiaasen. Hoot.
  ----------Christopher Curtis. Bud, Not Buddy.
  ----------or another book focusing on juvenile corrections with the instructor's approval.
  
  
• Documentaries: --------------- .
  
  

Deadlines/Dates:



• Friday, May 5th - Last Day of Class
• Saturday, May 6th, 12 noon -- Deadline for Course Grade Email Follow-Up




Lecture related links:



• Juvenile Corrections
  
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. A resource on jails and local detention.

• Make a Globe (Origami Balloon). Decorate and share your decorated globe/balloon in class.

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



• difference between jails and prisons
• difference between probation and parole
• difference between juvenile justice system and adult criminal justice system
• the interrelationship between theory, policy, practice
• the aesthetics of answerability
• illocutionary discourse
• the Other



Discussion Questions:



Special Note: Be sure to incorporate the documentary, "-----------" in your answers.



1. What was the most interesting creative measure that you worked on this semester? Why.
2. What is the most important thing you learned in this course? Why.
3. What advice would you give to students new to this teaching/learning model? Why.
4. What ideas and suggestions do you have to improve on this teaching/learning model ? Why. (Constructive criticism only).



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.



• What is the future direction of American corrections? Why.
• What are the arguments for and against the death penalty? Which side do you take? Why.
• Check out websites on both sides of the capital punishment issue. What are some of the current issues relating to the death penalty?
  
• Related books to read:
  --- Franklin Zimring. The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment.
  --- Vincent Henry. Deathwork. .
  --- Daniel Glaser. Alternatives to Imprisonment.
  
  
  
  
• If you liked Sachar's Holes, you might want to read:
  --- Carl Hiaasen. Flush.
  --- Margaret Peterson Haddix. Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey!
  --- Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl .
  --- Kimberly Holt. When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.
  
  

• 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