Cor 415 – Individual Emphasis/Issues for Term Papers & Oral Presentations

A major emphasis in this course has been on an understanding on how America has become the leading country in the world by having 7.5 million people under some form of correctional supervision. The composition of this mostly despised group is in general disproportionally comprised of poor people ; people of color; males; females; young people ; older adults; high school drop outs ; violent and non-violent offenders ( Are White-Collar Offenders being incarcerated disproportionally?)! Specifically, however, disproportionally has been historically evident with (A) people of color (See Alexander ) and more recently with, (B) drug offenders (See Alexander & Latessa) , (C) the mentally and physically ill (See Latessa & Simon); and (D) more currently the LGBTQ communities. Your assigned readings of historical and contemporary “Correctional Works” has underscored how these varies sub-groups have gone through a “criminalization process” and subsequently a “prisonization process”, which in combination, makes it difficult for many offenders to (re)adjust to society ! These processes have all been legally defined or supported by all three branches of government at one time and presumptively by the “Public at Large”. Therefore for each topic you have been assigned , i.e. (A) Race/Ethnicity , (B) Drug Offenders, (C) Mentally Ill, or (D) the LGBTQ community you should cross –reference and emphasize a unique aspect within the topic, such as those underlined above. And/or; You can breakdown each of the topics , such as topic (A) to specific races or ethnic groups, i.e. African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics in general or Hispanics specifically or Whites , and Immigrates treatment via ICE ; or topic (B) to specific types of drug offender’s ( Marijuana , Meth, Heroin , Cocaine Powder or/and Crack users) treatment by law enforcements officials ; or (C) to whether they experience their mental stress/disorders prior to coming into prison (i.e. “too incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity, and persons adjudicated mentally disordered sex offenders,” ; and convicted persons who become mentally ill after they have been incarcerated! (p.258-Latessa); and lastly the LGBTQ community can be assessed in at least five separate ways as Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, TransGender, or Questionning! In any case YOU must chose an emphasis that is different from those in your assigned group! Please dialogue with those in your assigned group to avoid duplication! All papers need to cite legal cases ( Estelle v. Gamble, for example) and legislative acts (PLRA, for example ) that have impacted their assigned topic and specific emphasis, the several amendments, i.e. 1st, 5th, 6th, 8th, 13th and the 14th, should be underscored where they apply , your assigned texts (Alexander, Latessa, and/or Simon) should be cited whichever is appropriate along with other sources; and , of course, your papers should reflect your understanding of the Criminal Justice System in general and the “Correctional Continuum” ( See Handout) specifically: i.e. Detention, Convictions Sentencing to Probation and/or Confinement in a Minimum, Medium, Maximum, or Super-Maximum facility, and eventually ReEntry-of Offenders to Parole or those at the expiration of their sentence. In according with the content of our class discussions and your group assignment listed below as “A”, “B”, “C” or “D”, your paper should reflect on how this specific population has disparately and disproportionally contributes to the Massive Correctional Supervision growth ( Community Correction & Institutional Correction ) and , of course , their eventual “ReEntry” problems . You should, of course, build off your previously submitted essays and utilize vocabulary befitting of Senior/Jurior majors in Criminal Justice ! Term Paper Criteria should reflect Clarity & Comprehension about the issue of “Mass Supervision and/or Incarceration”; sufficient Content Analysis to explain the populations inclusion in “Mass Supervision/Incarceration” and strong Writing Ability ( i.e. few grammatical errors) that should be evident at this senior/junior college level junction! This paper should be no less than Six (6) to no more than Seven (7) pages in length, not including title or reference pages. Citation/Documentation : All papers are to adhere to APA 6th Guidelines. For a description of APA 6th guidelines refer to the colleges library website, research tools link. Papers not written in APA 6th Edition style will not be accepted. In addition all papers are to be written in 12 point font and in Times New Roman. Papers written in other fonts or sizes will not be accepted. Papers are to have one (1) inch margins, and are to be double spaced. Spell, Grammar Checked, &Proofread !