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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 1, 2007
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 385 Media, Crime, Criminal Justice

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 8: Week of March 4, 2007

Monday, March 5th - Visual Presentations I due. Email me your self assessment. The visual presentation is worth 10% of your course grade. Grades must be resolved before leaving for spring break.

Topic: Visual Presentation I & Midterm Assessment

Preparatory Readings:



• Rafter. Shots in the Mirror. Chapter 1-4.
• Surette. Media, Crime and Criminal Justice . Chapter1-4.
• Potter and Kappeler. Constructing Crime . entirety.
• Documentary: "---" (to be shown in class).
  
  

Lecture related links:



• Ray Surette's website
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
• Metaphor and Theory. The Blind Men and the Elephant fable.
• Join the Yahoo Discussion Group with CSUDH students
  
  




Concepts to be covered:



• theory, policy, practice
• the 6 Cs
• the social construction of reality
• definition of the situation



Discussion Questions:

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

1. What is the most important thing you have learned in this course, so far? Why.

2. In evaluating the readings at midterm, how would you rate the three books? Why.

3. At midterm, what ideas and suggestions do you have to improve this course? (Constructive criticism only).



Suggested Creative Measures:




Note: You should be well into the process of researching your creative measure/visual presentation topic, (i.e., reviewing the scholarly literature).


Your creative measure/visual presentation: 1) must relate to "media, crime, and the criminal justice system." 2) must be approved via email before starting. 3) cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. 4) 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). No term papers! 5) Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class (preferably before the March deadline).



• Make an "explosion box/card" that focuses on this week's topic, " ------."
• Listen to an old-time radio program about police, crime and criminals. (Every week-night on 780 AM from midnight to 1 a.m. or Sunday evenings on 90.7FM, from 9-11 p.m.) Compare and contrast the radio image of police and policing with today's television and/or movie images.



Recommended Readings:



• Steven Levy. The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness.
• Lawrence Lessig. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford University, has made his book free online.
• Internet Movie Database
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ 385 "Media, Crime, Criminal Justice"

Media Sources:

Left/Right Perspectives - Cursor - New York Times
Arts and Letters Daily - The Economist - The Guardian
Wall Street Journal -The Weekly Standard - The Nation
Los Angeles Times - Chicago Tribune - The Washington Post
Cursor's Al Jazeera Archive - Ha'aretz - Palestine Monitor


Indymedia - BBC News - New Profile - Progressive Sociologists Network






takata@uwp.edu