This course includes a thorough analysis of special populations in the American criminal justice system: women, juveniles, racial and ethnic minorities, and mentally ill individuals. You explore these populations with regard to three unique criminal justice roles: professionals, victims, and offenders. This Final Project allows you to synthesize this information to draw conclusions and make recommendations to improve the American criminal justice system.
Select a special population within the criminal justice system included in this course that is of interest to you. Reflect on the information provided throughout this course related to this population.
Assignment Length: 10–12 pages (not including title page and references)
Your Final Project must include the following elements:
Introduction:
Describe the special population you selected.
Explain challenges of this special population related to the roles (professional, victim, and offender) appropriate to that specific population.
Body:
Describe any organizations, policies, procedures, or processes that continue to exploit, discriminate against, and/or neglect the special population.
Explain changes you might make to the current criminal justice system to address challenges faced by this special population in each role you analyzed.
Explain any resources, organizations, policies, procedures, or processes you would use or implement to promote fairer treatment of the special population.
Conclusion:
Explain how the changes you suggested might impact society as a whole.
Explain how the changes you suggested might contribute to social change.
Although the Final Project (10–12 pages) is not to be submitted until Day 7 of Week 11, you should become familiar with the project requirements and have them in mind as you proceed through the course. Many of the Discussions and Application Assignments relate to and can be of use to your Final Project.
Andrew, D. A., & Bonta, J. (2010). Rehabilitating criminal justice policy and practice. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16(1), 39–55.
Beale, S. S. (2006). The news media’s influence on criminal justice policy: How market-driven news promotes punitiveness. William and Mary Law Review, 48(2), 397–481.
Beck, J. A. (2010). Victims’ rights and public safety? Unmasking racial politics in crime discourses surrounding parole revocation for “lifers” in California. Western Criminology Review, 11(1), 20–36.
Black, P. J., & Kari, C. J. (2010). Policing diverse communities: Do gender and minority status make a difference? Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 8(3), 216-229.
Boykins, A. D., Alvanzo, A. A. H., Carson, S., Forte, J., Leisey, M., & Plichta, S. B. (2010). Minority women victims of recent sexual violence: Disparities in incident history. Journal of Women’s Health, 19(3), 453-61.
Brennan, P. K., & Valdenberg, A. L. (2009). Depictions of female offenders in front-page newspaper stories: The importance of race/ethnicity. International Journal of Social Inquiry, 2(2), 141-175.
Chacón, J. M. (2010). Tensions and trade-offs: protecting trafficking victims in the era of immigration enforcement. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 158(6), 1609-1653.
Chan, J. (2011). Racial profiling and police subculture. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 53(1), 75-78.
Chappell, D. (2010). Victimisation and the insanity defence: Coping with confusion, conflict and conciliation. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 17(1), 39-51.
Covington, S. S. (2007). Women and the criminal justice system. Women’s Health Issues, 17(4), 180–182.
Culhane, S., & Taussig, H. N. (2009). The structure of problem behavior in a sample of maltreated youths. Social Work Research, 33(2), 70–78.
De Mesmaecker, V. (2010). Building social support for restorative justice through the media: is taking the victim perspective the most appropriate strategy?. Contemporary Justice Review, 13(3), 239-267.
DeTardo-Bora, K. A. (2009). Criminal justice “Hollywood style”: How women in criminal justice professions are depicted in prime-time crime dramas. Women & Criminal Justice, 19(2), 153–168.
Dickman, M. (2009). Should crime pay?: A critical assessment of the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996. California Law Review, 97(6), 1687-1718.
Dishner, J. (2010). The Arizona uproar. Law Enforcement Technology, 37(10), 70–76.
Dowdell, E. B., & Bradley, P. K. (2010). Risky Internet behaviors: A case study of online and offline stalking. The Journal of School Nursing, 26(6), 436–442.
Doyle, A. (2006). How not to think about crime in the media. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 48(6), 867-885.
Feenan, D. (2008). Women judges: Gendering judging, justifying diversity. Journal of Law and Society, 35(4), 490–519.
Felthous, A. R. (2010). Psychopathic disorders and criminal responsibility in the USA. European Archives of Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, 260,137-141.
Ferguson, K. M. (2009). Exploring family environment characteristics and multiple abuse experiences among homeless youth. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(11), 1875–1891.
Flemke, K. (2009). Triggering rage: Unresolved trauma in women’s lives. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 31(2), 123-139.
Forbes, S. (2011). Sex, cells, and SORNA: Applying sex offender registration laws to sexting cases. William & Mary Law Review, 52(5), 1717-1746.
Frieburger, T., Marcum, C., & Pierce, M. (2010). The impact of race on the pretrial decision. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(1/2), 76–86.
Gostin, L. O. (2007). “Old” and “new” institutions for persons with mental illness: Treatment, punishment or preventative confinement? Public Health, 122(9), 906–913.
Herek, G. M. (2009). Hate crimes and stigma-related experiences among sexual minority adults in the United States: Prevalence estimates from a national probability sample. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(1), 54–74.
Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (2010). And justice for some: Race, crime, and punishment in the US criminal justice system. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 43(2), 457–479.
Jordan, W. T., Fridell, L, Faggiani, D., & Kubu, B. (2009). Attracting females and racial/ethnic minorities to law enforcement. Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(4), 333–341.
Jordan, K. L., & Myers, D. L. (2011). Juvenile transfer and deterrence: Reexamining the effectiveness of a “get-tough” policy. Crime & Delinquency, 57(2), 247–270.
Kamalu, N. C., Coulson-Clark, M., & Kamalu, N. M. (2010). Racial disparities in sentencing: Implications for the criminal justice system and the African American community. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, 4(1), 1–30.
Kinscherff, R. (2010). Proposition: A personality disorder may nullify responsibility for a criminal act. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38(4), 745–759.
Lieberman, M. (2010). Hate crime laws: Punishment to fit the crime. Dissent (00123846), 57(3), 81-84.
Lipsey, M. W. (2009). The primary factors that characterize effective interventions with juvenile offenders: A meta-analytic overview. Victims and Offenders, 4(2), 124–147.
Lonsway, K. A. (2006). Are we there yet? The progress of women in one large law enforcement agency. Women & Criminal Justice, 18(1/2), 1–48.
McDowell, M. G., & Wonders, N. A. (2010). Keeping migrants in their place: Technologies of control and racialized public space in Arizona. Social Justice, 36(2), 54–72.
McMillion, R. (2011). Tacking a new course. ABA Journal, 97(4), 59.
Meredith, J. P. (2010). Combating cyberbullying: Emphasizing education over criminalization. Federal Communications Law Journal, 63(1), 311–340.
Nicol, A., & Fleming, M. J. (2010). “i h8 u”: The influence of normative beliefs and hostile response selection in predicting adolescents’ mobile phone aggression—A pilot study. Journal of School Violence, 9(2), 212–231.
O’Meara, G. J. (2009). He speaks not, yet he says everything: What of that? Text, context, and pretext in state v. Jeffrey Dahmer. Denver University Law Review, 87(1), 97-137.
O’Neill, M., & Holdaway, S. (2007). Examining ‘window dressing’: the views of black police associations on recruitment and training. Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, 33(3), 483-500.
Opgloff, J. R. P., Davis, M. R., Rivers, G., & Ross, S. (2007). The identification of mental disorders in the criminal justice system. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, (334), 1–6.
Payne-Pikus, M. R., Hagan, J., & Nelson, R. L. (2010). Experiencing discrimination: Race and retention in America’s largest law firms. Law & Society Review, 44(3/4), 553–584.
Pearl, N., Ashcraft, R. P., & Geis, K. A. (2009). Predicting juvenile recidivism using the San Diego regional resiliency check-up. Federal Probation, 73(3), 46-49.
Pickerill, J. M., Mosher, C., & Pratt, T. (2009). Search and seizure, racial profiling, and traffic stops: A disparate impact framework. Law & Policy, 31(1), 1–30.
Piquero, A. R., Cullen, F. T., Unnever, J. D., Piquero, N. L., & Gordon, J. A. (2010). Never too late: Public optimism about juvenile rehabilitation. Punishment & Society, 12(2), 187–207.
Samuels, A., O’Driscoll, C., & Allnutt, S. (2007). When killing isn’t murder: Psychiatric and psychological defences to murder when the insanity defence is not applicable. Australasian Psychiatry, 15(6), 474-479.
Slobogin, C. (2009). What purposes does the insanity defense serve, and are those purposes commensurate with current scientific knowledge regarding insanity?: A defense of the integrationist test as a replacement for the special defense of insanity. Texas Tech Law Review, 42.
Spjeldenes, S., & Goodkind, S. (2009). Gender differences and offender reentry: A review of the literature. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 48(4), 314–335.
Stacey, M., Carbone-Lopez, K., & Rosenfeld, R. (2011). Demographic change and ethnically motivated crime: The impact of immigration on anti-Hispanic hate crime in the United States. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 27(3), 278–298.
Thompson, R. A. (2006). Black skin—Brass shields: Assessing the presumed marginalization of black law enforcement executives. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 30(2), 163–177.
Voeltz, W. O. (2011). Clearing the air over Arizona. Sheriff, 63(2), 6–10.
Ward, G., Farrell, A., & Rousseau, D. (2009). Does racial balance in workforce representation yield equal justice? Race relations of sentencing in federal court organizations. Law & Society Review, 43(4), 757–805.
Ward, C. L., Martin, E. E., & Distiller, G. B. (2007). Factors affecting resilience in children exposed to violence. South African Journal of Psychology, 37(1), 165-187.
Wells, M., & Mitchell, K. J. (2008). How do high-risk youth use the Internet? Characteristics and implications for prevention. Child Maltreatment, 13(3), 227–234.
Wethal, T. (2008). Digital kids in danger. Law Enforcement Technology, 35(4), 10–15.
White, M. D. (2008). Identifying good cops early. Police Quarterly, 11(1), 27-49.
White, M. D., Cooper, J. A., Saunders, J., & Raganella, A. J. (2010). Motivations for becoming a police officer: Re-assessing officer attitudes and job satisfaction after six years on the street. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(4), 520–530.
Wolfson, J. K. (2009). A psychiatrist’s commentary on Sell v. U.S., et al.: How did we get here, and where are we going? Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 37(4), 431–449.
Wyckoff, R., & Simpson, S. (2008). The effects of self-protective behaviors on injury for African American women in domestic violence situations. Crime, Law and Social Change, 49(4), 271–288.
