CJ 618-01 Crime in America Assignment

Instructions:

Students are to answer six of the following six essay questions in full. Each answer should be between two and three pages in length, but individual answers should NOT exceed five pages. Students MUST answer ALL of the questions (1-3) in Section I, and THREE of the four questions from Section II.

Many of the questions require students to offer their own insights and opinions on the matter at hand. When relevant, it is asked that students offer a clear thesis statement regarding their opinion, and subsequently provide some support for their position (i.e., use empirical evidence to offer verification for your claim). Even if your position is somewhat multifaceted, be sure that the evidence that you provide to substantiate your position reflects that ambivalence.

Section I

1. Based on the attached PowerPoint presentations on correlates of crime and crime trends, discuss in detail the relationship between demographic variables and crime. Do different data sources (i.e., police data, victimization data, self-report data) reveal different trends regarding the relationship between demographic characteristics and crime? If so, why? In conclusion, what can we ultimately conclude, regarding the demographic correlates of crime – i.e., what does the best data on the matter “say” about these relationships?
2. Based on Chapters One and Two in Blumstein and Wallman’s book, -- and the PowerPoint presentations uploaded to Canvas -- describe in detail the overarching trends in serious crime (both violent and property) over the past twenty-five years. Are these trends exclusively limited to a specific type or category (i.e., violent) crime, or is it a more general, broad trend?
3. The final seven chapters (3-9) of the Blumstein and Wallman book primarily focus on potential explanations for our most recent trends (i.e., since the early 90’s) in crime rates. While you do not have ample space to go into a lengthy discussion of all of these explanations, provide a detailed explanation of the ones (2-3) that you find to be the most compelling and why you think they do a credible job of explaining recent crime trends.

Section II

1. Based on the Sacco book, crime waves are based on drastic shifts in our counts of crime. Describe how the social process of counting crime – and changes in the way in which we count crime – influence what we find regarding the prevalence of crime, regardless of actual shifts in the amount of crime. How are our counts of crime social constructions, in your opinion?
2. Discuss the concept of fear of crime. What are the central correlates, as identified by Sacco, and what relevance does fear of crime have? What is the relationship between shifting crime levels – or perhaps more importantly, perceptions regarding shifting levels of crime – and shifting levels of fear? Lastly, in your opinion, is fear of crime rational?
3. In article 4 of Agger and Luke’s Gun Violence and Public Life, Schidkraut and Muschert give us three “usual suspects” as to the causes of school/mass shootings. Describe each of these, and authors’ take on the contribution that each “cause” makes to the school shooting epidemic. What do the authors ultimately conclude as to the possibility (and difficulty) on identifying the real causes of school massacres (they provide two)? Lastly, what are your thoughts on this complex issue?
4. In Crime and the American Dream Messner and Rosenfeld introduce us to their version of anomie theory: institutional anomie theory. What are the central assumptions of institutional anomie theory, and how does this represent an extension of the classical anomie/strain perspective in criminology? What is the solution to the problems posed by institutional anomie theory? Do you buy this perspective? Why or why not?

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