Essay Topic 1 Instructions

1. Review the Chapter 4 readings on Rational Choice theories and crime control strategies based on Rational Choice.
2. Locate a news article discussing a violent crime, and the criminal(s) who perpetrated that violent crime. Be sure the article (or articles) that you locate on this crime are detailed enough for you to write a thorough 5-paragraph essay addressing the requirements outlined below.
3. Write a 5-paragraph essay addressing the following elements in the order specified below:
1. A cover page in APA format (note that an abstract is not required for papers in this class)
2. An introduction paragraph in which you provide an overview of Rational Choice theory and its importance to the criminal justice system (such as how many criminal justice policies are based on rational choice).
3. Paragraph 2: A paragraph in which you summarize the crime from your selected news event, discussing the role of the criminal(s) involved in the crime.
4. Paragraph 3: Consider if the criminal(s) in your selected crime were rational. Did the offender(s) make a choice to be criminal or were there other contributing elements to their criminality? Discuss these elements in this paragraph.
5. Paragraph 4: Consider whether the offender(s) in your selected crime could have avoided criminal behaviors, or was the choice out of their control due to other factors? If it was out of their control, discuss what the other factors could have been (family, peers, biological/psychological traits, etc.). If it was in their control, why was it in their control?
6. Paragraph 5: Consider the crime control strategies and public policy implications based on Rational Choice theory that are discussed in your textbook. Choose ONE SPECIFIC crime control strategy or public policy implication related to Rational Choice theory that are discussed in your text and apply it to your selected crime/criminal(s). Was this policy/crime control strategy used in your crime? If so, how? If not, how could it have been applied to address, prevent, deter, and/or control the crime in question?
7. Be sure to include in-text citations and references (in an APA reference page) for your book, your news article, and any other sources used in APA format.
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Essay Topic 2 Instructions
1. Review the Chapter 5 readings on Biological and Psychological Trait theories.
2. Read the following article discussing Antisocial Personality Disorder: http://psychcentral.com/disorders/antisocial-personality-disorder-symptoms/. Note that your textbook discusses how psychopathy and sociopathy are considered antiquated terms that have been replaced in scientific circles with the study of antisocial personality disorder.
3. Locate a news article, movie, or book discussing a famous criminal that was detected, apprehended, and punished by the criminal justice system, and apply what you read in the above article on antisocial personality disorder to that criminal. Be sure that the research you do on your criminal uncovers enough detail about that criminal's life and crimes to write a thorough 5-paragraph essay.
4. Write a 5-paragraph essay addressing the following requirements in the order specified below:
1. A cover page in APA format (note that no abstracts are required for papers in this class)
2. An introduction paragraph in which you provide an overview of psychological trait theory, as well as the replacement of the terms psychopath and sociopath with antisocial personality disorder.
3. Paragraph 2: Provide an overview of the crimes the criminal you identified committed. Cite the sources you use in researching your selected criminal.
4. Paragraphs 3 and 4: Apply the concepts of antisocial personality disorder and the discussion of psychological traits in your textbook to the criminal you identified. Discuss how the antisocial personality disorder concepts discussed in the above article are illustrated in the life and crimes of your selected criminal. Use your textbook and the above article to provide evidence for your discussion.
5. Paragraph 5: Consider the policy implications of psychological trait theory as discussed in Chapter 5 of your textbook, then consider the punishment of the criminal you selected. Was the punishment the criminal received appropriate? What Psychological Trait theory policy implications discussed in your text are relevant to your selected criminal? Identify at least ONE policy and apply it to your criminal case.
6. Be sure to include in-text citations and a reference page in APA format.
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Essay Topic 3 Instructions
1. Review the developmental theories in the Unit 4 readings Chapter 8 & 9 and lessons.
2. Using print sources or the Internet, find a recent (no older than 5 years) article in a local or national newspaper featuring a crime committed by a young offender. Be sure to locate a news article with enough detail for you to work with as you complete the following tasks.
3. Write a 5-paragraph essay that includes the following elements in the order specified below:
1. An APA Cover Page (note that an abstract is not required for papers in this class)
2. An introduction paragraph in which you introduce your crime and provide an overview of the useful of Developmental Theories in explaining criminal behavior.
3. Three paragraphs in which you address the following questions:
1. Consider the crime in your news article. What reasons would a life course theorist give about why this juvenile committed this crime?
2. What might you expect from someone who has started a criminal career so early in life?
3. Given the information in the news article, what would be necessary for this person to age out of offending in the future?
4. A conclusion paragraph in which you consider the crime and juvenile offender from your article. Of all of the theories you have learned about in this course, which do you think applies in this situation? Be specific in stating your reasons for applying your selected theory to this situation, using facts and concepts relevant to that theory as outlined in your textbook. Note that you should NOT choose a broad school of theories (such as Social Structure, Social Process, Critical Criminology, or Developmental) but should clearly identify and apply a SPECIFIC theory within one of these schools (rational choice, social disorganization, strain, social learning, trajectory, neurophysiological (from bio social/biological trait, etc.).
5. A reference page in APA format. Note that you should have corresponding in-text citations in your paper to link your reference page to the information in your paper.
Book used Criminology, Author: Siegel, Larry Copyright 2016 Publisher- Cengage Learning