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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: March 20, 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 10: Week of March 22, 2009

Email me your second visual project topic for approval before starting to research your topic.

Topic: Anarchist Criminology/African Americans

Preparatory Readings

• Arrigo. Social Justice/Criminal Justice. Chapter 5 .
• Mann, Zatz & Rodriguez. Images of Color, Images of Crime. Chapters 12 & 17.
• Documentary: "When the Levees Broke" continued (to be shown in class)
  
  
• Curran and Takata. Sociology of Law Handbook
  -- Introduction
  -- Chapter 1, part 1
  -- Chapter 1, part 2
  -- Chapter 2

Lecture related links:



• new National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  
• Metaphor and Theory links to "The Blind Men and the Elephant" which applies to several concepts discussed in both classes. Eric K. mentioned this metaphor during one of our class discussions in "Law and Society."
• "My Role in Social Change" Poem by LaTricia White (Spring 2004)
  
• "They Ain't Us: Identity as an Anti-Norm"
  
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
• "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.
  
  

Concepts to be covered:



• anarchy
• ambiguity, uncertainty, and change
• tolerance for difference
• Willie Horton
• "welfare queen"
• white supremacy



Discussion Questions:

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

1. Compare and contrast how prophetic criticism and anarchist criminology would make sense of the documentary, "When the Levees Broke." Which theoretical perspective do you agree with the most? Why.

2. How is ambiguity redefined in a positive light within a model of anarchist justice? Do you agree that ambiguity and uncertainty can have positive effects? (Arrigo, p. 106, Q.1)

3. Anarchist justice incorporates the notion that we should protect and promote diversity and difference among people - that "anything goes". Within the model of anarchist justice, though, where are the limits to his notion that "anything goes?" Where would you set the limits? Why. (Arrigo, p. 106, Q. 4)

4. Why does anarchism stand so firmly against authority? From an anarchist viewpoint, what is wrong with certainty and authority? Why. (Arrigo, p. 106-107, Q.5)

5. Identify and discuss five code words most commonly used to associate race with criminality in campaign discourse (e.g., "welfare," "abuse," "special interest," "underclass"). (MZR, p.150, Q.3).

6. Identify and explain at least two police practices that are directed specifically at the African American community. (MZR, p. 211, Q.3)

7. Discuss at least three ways that whites benefit from the demonization of black men and women. (MZR, p. 211, Q.5)




Self-Assessment Questions for Visual Projects:




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). What small item did you create to "give away" to those visiting your visual project?
2. Explain in depth, how your visual project specifically relates to the course (i.e., the readings, the documentaries, class discussions, major concepts). Demonstrate how your visual project relates to "theory, policy, practice". 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) ___ ? Explain why this particular grade.
   
   
   

   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 African Americans. Email me a brief book review.
   • Examine how stereotypes and the stereotyping of the African American. How and why have such stereotypes changed from the past to present day?
   • Trace either prime time television or movie images of African Americans from past to present.
   • Examine the legal case of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. or other African American leaders.
   • Trace the historical and contemporary origins of "DWB" (driving while black).
   • Explore some of the strategies used by African Americans (i.e., integrationism, separatism).
   
   

   Recommended Readings:
   
   

   • Dennis Rome. Black Demons. [if not required reading for another course]

   • Milovanovic & Russel. Petit Apartheid in the U.S. Criminal Justice System.

   • Derrick Bell. Faces at the Bottom of the Well.

   • Derrick Bell. Race, Racism and American Law.

   • Randall Kennedy. Race, Crime and the Law . (If you have not read it for my "Race, Crime, Law" class)

   • Marc Mauer. Race to Incarcerate

   • David Cole. No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Justice System.
     

   • Jerome Miller. Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System.
     

   • The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
     

   • Walter Dean Myers. The Dream Bearer.

   • Robert Blauner. Still the Big New: Racial Oppression in America.
     
     

     --- 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