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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: November 8, 2007
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 365 Race, Crime, Law

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.

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Week 12: Week of November 18, 2007

Topic: Race & Corrections

Preparatory Readings:

• Gordon Fellman. Rambo and the Dalai Lama. -- entire book.
• Samuel Walker and others. The Color of Justice. Chapter 9.
• Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic. The Derrick Bell Reader . Chapters 13.
• Documentary: "Requiem for Frank Lee Smith " (to be shown in class)
  
  
  

Lecture related links:




Death Penalty Index

• Race, Ethnicity, and the Criminal Justice System
• Index on Structural Violence
• Metaphor and Theory links to "The Blind Men and the Elephant." Relates to theoretical concepts discussed throughout the course.
• Critical Race Theory Resource Page
  
• Other Gordon Fellman related materials on the Dear Habermas site.
  
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. An excellent resource for juvenile justice related issues.
  
• National Criminal Justice Resource Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  
  
• "Who's Habermas? Why Habermas?"
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
• "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.




Concepts to be covered:



• prison
• jail
• probation
• parole
• community based corrections
• rehabilitation
• recidivism
• revocation
• supermax
• prison gangs



Discussion Questions:





Note: In order to answer these discussion questions, you will need to view "Requiem for Frank Lee Smith" and do the assigned readings for this week.

1. From The Derrick Bell Reader , "... why is society relatively willing to grant small civil rights concessions to blacks and other minorities from time to time, but so reluctant to recognize economic rights (such as the right to food) that would benefit all the poor without regard to color? [D&S, p. 369]
2. How does race/class relate to the documentary, "Requiem for Frank Lee Smith"? Why.
3. What correctional policies can be created from the principles of restorative justice (based on indigenous justice principles)? Are these values more compatible with some offenses than others? More appropriate for some types of offenders than others? What would Fellman say about this issue? Why. [from Walker, p. 369]
4. Do you think prison gang formation is influenced most by external forces and the gang affiliations offenders bring to prison from the streets or by the internal forces of the prison environment, such as racial composition? What arguments can you offer to support your position? [from Walker, p. 369]



Suggested Creative Measures/Visual Projects:




Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "race, crime, law." 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 are expected to turn in a bibliography with each visual project. No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your ideas ASAP.



• Make A Box a Week focusing on the week's topic or issues.

• Make a Globe (Origami Balloon). Try it!
• Compare and contrast minorities in prison to minorities in jail. What are the similarities and differences between these two correctional populations? Why.
  
• Explore:
  -- prisoner rights and race/ethnicity.
  -- race/ethnicity and prison gangs.
  -- rehabilitation and recidivism by race
  -- alternatives to incarceration by race
  -- community supervision in racial/ethnic communities
  



Recommended Readings:

• Paul Wice. Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and the American Justice System.
• Marc Mauer . Americans Behind Bars: A Comparison of International Rates of Incarceration.
• William Wilbanks. The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System.
• Marc Mauer. Race to Incarcerate.
• Marc Mauer. Young Black Men and the Criminal Justice System: A Growing National Problem.
• Michael Tonry. Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America.
• Jerome Miller. Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System.
• Joan Petersilia. Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System.
• Kenneth Culp Davis. Discretionary Justice.
  
  

  --- Milton Gordon. Assimilation in American Life.
  --- Robert Blauner. Still the Big News: Racial Oppression in America.
  --- William Julius Wilson. The Declining Significance of Race.
  --- William Julius Wilson. The Truly Disadvantaged.
  
  

• 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.
  
  
• Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness.
  
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 365 "Race, Crime, Law"

takata@uwp.edu