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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: February 5, 2009
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 4: Week of February 8, 2009

Email me your visual project topic ASAP. Before researching your topic, you must email to obtain approval.

No office hours on Monday mornings. I am available on Tuesday mornings.

Topic: Marxist Criminology/Socialist Feminism

Preparatory Readings

• Arrigo. Social Justice/Criminal Justice. Chapters 1 & 2 .
• Mann, Zatz & Rodriguez. Images of Color, Images of Crime. Chapters --- .
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• Video: "-----------" (to be shown in class)
• Curran and Takata. Sociology of Law Handbook Chapter 2:
  -- Introduction
  -- Chapter 1, part 1
  -- Chapter 1, part 2
  -- Chapter 2

Lecture related links:



• "My Role in Social Change" Poem by LaTricia White (Spring 2004)
  
• "They Ain't Us: Identity as an Anti-Norm"
  
• "Who's Habermas? Why Habermas?"
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
• "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.
• Cooperative Learning
• Preface
  
  

Concepts to be covered:



• Karl Marx
• means of production
• modes of production
• infrastructure
• superstructure
• alienation
• exploitation
• marginalization
• gender inequality
• patriarchy



Discussion Questions:

Note: In order to answer these discussion questions, you will need to view "-----" to be shown in class.

1. What is social justice, according to Marxist criminologists? What is the connection between criminal justice and social justice? (from Arrigo, p. 27, Q.1).

2. Imagine some of the things you have witnessed in your life that violate your sense of social justice. Discuss these with your classmates in an open forum. (from Arrigo, p. 28, Q.9).

3. How do socialist feminists explain the criminality of women? (from Arrigo, p. 47, Q.4).

4. What insights about social justice does a socialist feminist perspective offer? (Arrigo, p. 47, Q.6)

5. What is your midterm visual project topic? Have you emailed the instructor for approval of this topic? Explain what research you have done on this topic. Or, in more detail how do you plan to research this topic.




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!



• Read one of the recommended books listed below on Marxist criminology and/or Socialist Feminism.
• Examine how a particular setting (i.e., school, work, shopping mall, church) is socially stratified. Who's on top? Who's on the bottom? Why.
• Trace the changing status and role of women. Did the laws relating to women cause social change or did social change cause the laws to change the status of women? Why.
  
  



Recommended Readings:



• Jeffrey Reiman. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison.
• Anthony Platt. The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.
• M.J. Lynch & W.B. Groves. Primer in Radical Criminology.
• R. Michalowski. Order, Law and Crime.
• Freda Adler. Sisters in Crime.
• A. Davis. Women, Race and Class.
• Catherine MacKinnon. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State.
• J. Messerschmidt. Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Crime.
• Nicole Rafter and E. Stanko. Judge Lawyer Victim Thief: Women, Gender Roles and Criminal Justice.
• I. Young. Justice and the Politics of Difference.
  

  --- 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/SOCA 352 "Law and Social Change"

takata@uwp.edu