Ryerson UniversityFaculty of ArtsThe Department of CriminologyCRM 102 INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGYWinter 2015Instructor: Christina Hollingshead

EXAMINING CRIME IN OUR COMMUNITIESEssay Assignment

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Due Date:Friday March 20th, at the beginning of classLate penalty:5%, plus 5% per work dayRequired length:5-6 pages (not including title page)Worth:30% of your final mark

This assignment requires you to examine a criminal act/crime that has taken place in our community and apply a criminological theory. For this you will collect a newspaper clipping that discusses a criminal act/crime that interests you, then, you will write a critical/analytic/theoretical paper about the crime, the medias influence, and societys response. The essay will draw links between the article, the criminal act, the theories, and some of the concepts we have studied so far in the course. At a minimum, the essay must draw on at least four (4) course readings focusing on the criminological theories and concepts to provide context for and discussion of crime in society and the study of criminology.

Instructions

1.Look for a newspaper article on an issue pertaining to a criminal act/crime in Canada that interests you: for example gun violence, domestic violence, robbery, mandatory minimums for specific crimes (weapons), gang violence, drug use, child pornography crackdowns etc.

Choose your article from either print or online versions of The Globe and Mail, The National Post or The Toronto Star Print, clip, or copy the article You may look back as far as twelve months (January 2014) The article should be at least 500 words long (one column of 60 lines)

2.In your own words, briefly summarize the issue addressed in the article you have chosen.

3.Examine the theories we have studied thus far in the course: Consensus Theory, Class Conflict Theory (or other early theories of criminality), Feminist theories, Psychological theories, Strain theories, or Conflict theories etc. In your own words, briefly explain the criminological theory. (Do not copy straight from the textbook or lecture.) Which theory do you think best applies to your article and why? Explain.

4.In your own words, define what a crime and criminal law is. What is the crime being addressed in your article? Is it a regulatory offence or a true crime? Identify the basic elements of a crime: actus reus and mens rea for the crime you are looking at.

Is there any excuse for this type of crime? What type of defence might be raised (or is being raised) by the accused? Choose only one defence. For example: not criminally responsibly on account of mental disorder, mistake of fact, intoxication, necessity, duress, provocation, or self-defence. Do you think this crime could have been prevented and how? In your own words, what is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)? Would the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) be a good measure of how much of this type of crime is taking place in our community? Why or why not? In your own words, define the State. Is the State doing enough to stop this type of crime? What role should the State play to prevent this type of crime? What can we do to make our communities safer from this type of crime? Do you agree with the type of legal reform strategies being suggested? Why or why not?

Formatting instructions

Papers must be word-processed and double-spaced, using a standard 12 point font. Margins should be 1 inch and pages must be numbered.

Criteria for essay grading

Your essay will be graded using the following criteria, assessing, the quality of your analysis/argument (this includes your comprehension, interpretation and critical analysis of the course materials); the structure of your essay (how well you develop a clear, coherent line of argument); originality and creativity; integration of course materials (this includes direct references to and citation of course readings); and how well you follow instructions. Problems with organization, logic and clarity, as well as errors in grammar, spelling and syntax will figure significantly in the grading process, so thoroughly review and edit your essay prior to submitting it.

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