Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP - Archives

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: March 27, 2008
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 352 Law and Social Change

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 11: Week of March 30, 2008

Topic: Constitutive Criminology/Latinos and Latina Americans

Preparatory Readings

• Arrigo. Social Justice/Criminal Justice. Chapter 8.
• Mann, Zatz & Rodriguez. Images of Color, Images of Crime. Chapter 13 & 18 .
• Documentary/Film: "hablas ingles?" (to be shown in class)
• Constitutive Criminology at Work
  

Lecture related links:



• Participate in the Community Building discussion group .
  
• Curran and Takata. Sociology of Law Handbook:
  -- Introduction
  -- Chapter 1, part 1
  -- Chapter 1, part 2
  -- Chapter 2

• Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.
  
  
• "My Role in Social Change" Poem by LaTricia White (Spring 2004)
  
• "They Ain't Us: Identity as an Anti-Norm"
  
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  

Concepts to be covered:



• postmodern
• politics of difference
• integrative-constitutive theory
• U.S. English Only movement
• "Proposition 187
• Latino gangs
• agency
• structural context
• interdependence





Discussion Questions:

Note: In order to answer these discussion questions, you will need to do all of the assigned readings for this week, and view "hablas ingles?" to be shown in class.

1. Why is it important to understand socially constructed differences when considering social justice in a postmodern society? Provide examples of how these differences build toward inequalities. (from Arrigo, p. 173, Q. 5)

2. What social and criminal justice policy implications follow from an integrative-constitutive theory of crime and social justice? Why does social justice require more than fixing the criminal justice system? (Arrigo, p. 173, Q.6).

3. How does the documentary, "hablas ingles?" relate to constitutive criminology? Why.

4. Do you think English should be the official language of the United States? Why. (from MZR)

5. Based on the images discussed this week, can Latinos/Latinas and other minorities ever receive equal justice? Also, how can you, as a possible future employee within the criminal justice system, help deal with these images? (MZR)

Suggested Visual Projects:




Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "law and social change." 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!



• new Examine the U.S. English Only movement. Should the official language in the United States be English? Why or why not. Critique the arguments on both sides of the issue.
• new Explore one of the following issues: 1) Proposition 187, 2) Latino gangs, 3) bilingual education.
• Relate the current presidential campaign (or other statewide or local campaigns) to some of the issues mentioned in this week's readings.
• Beyond examples discussed in class, examine how the mass media portrays Latinos/Latinas.
• Read one of the recommended books listed below on Latinos/Latinas. Email me a brief book review.
• Examine the stereotypes and the stereotyping of Latinos/Latinas. Select on stereotype and trace how and why this stereotype has changed from the past to present day?
• Trace either prime time television or movie images of Latinos/Latinas from past to present.
• Research one of the following Latinos/Latinas: Reies Tijerina, Cesar Chavez or other prominent Latino/Latina figures.
• Trace the historical and contemporary origins of the Brown Beret.
• Explore some of the political and economic strategies used by Latinos/Latinas (i.e., boycotting, strikes).

Recommended Readings:

• new Sandra Cisneros. House on Mango Street.

• new Sandra Cisneros. Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories.

• Luis Rodriguez. Always Running: La Vida Loco, Gang Days in L.A..

• Rudolfo Acuna. Occupied America: A History of the Chicanos. [has not been released yet]

• Susan Berk-Seligson. Bilingual Courtroom.

• Richard Rodriguez. Hunger of Memory.

• Joan Moore. Going Down to the Barrio: Homeboys and Homegirls in Change.

• Joan Moore. Homeboys: Gangs, Drugs, and Prison in the Barrios of Los Angeles.

• Armando Rendon . The Chicano Manifesto .
  
  

  --- 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.

  
  
  

Self-Assessment Questions for each Visual Project:

1. List the names of the individuals in your group. What did you do exactly for this visual project? (If in a group, explain the division of labor and your individual contribution to this visual project).
2. Briefly explain how your visual project relates to "law and social change" (i.e., the readings, the documentaries). What did you learn?
3. Assess how the 6Cs apply to your visual project, with special attention on competence and creativity. What is your visual project self-assessment (provide a letter grade) ___ ? Why.

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 352 "Law and Social Change"

takata@uwp.edu