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Sociology
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FINALIZED 5/29/08
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Instructor:
Craig T. Robertson, Ph.D. Office Hours: M-T: 9:30-11:00am. or by appointment E-mail:
Always
use the Blackboard (Bb) e-mail system for this class. Under
"Browse for Recipients..." select me as "All Section
Instructors". This symbol Dept. of Sociology Website: http://www2.una.edu/sociology Check out the website to learn more about the department, the major, the faculty, our courses, careers, etc. This sociology course explores juvenile offenders, the role of theory in developing our understanding of them and their offenses, and our societal efforts to better manage the social problem that is delinquency. We have long proceeded under the assumption that juvenile offenders and offenses differ and so it should not be surprising that our theoretical understanding of delinquency involves competing conceptual frameworks that subsequently affect—for good and bad—the creation and acceptance of law, the management of the juvenile justice system, and those committed to changing the behavior of at-risk youth. Improving understanding of delinquent offending and of the many conceptual frameworks should ideally lead to improved lines of scientific questioning of our subject matter (e.g., Do a set of characteristics exist that are central to all delinquents?). Because of the questions asked and the approach taken in this course it should interest not only sociology students interested in criminology but future psychologists, counselors, social workers, criminal justice professionals, and public policy specialists whose career paths may merge in a combined effort to better understand and manage delinquency in a more humane, efficient, and productive manner. We will focus on specifically on the:
Consistent with the general goals of science we will seek to understand, explain, predict, and control (through public policy guided by theoretically driven research) our topics of interest which, in this case, are youth, their delinquency and their treatment within the juvenile justice system. The bolded terms represent the four goals of science and is your first test question. Regoli,
R. M. & Hewitt, J. D. 2006. Delinquency in
Society. Boston: McGraw Hill. Course Preparation: I expect students to be active learners so read your assigned chapters and attend class prepared for group discussions. My attendance policy is as follows: Attendance is taken and graded for a total of 50 pts. Each time you miss the first or second hour of class, I deduct 5 points from your 50 pts. total. Assignments: Written assignments must be formatted using the APA style. Please view the APA PowerPoint presentation provided for you within Bb. Work that is inconsistent with the APA format and other expectations concerning content, basic instructions and professionalism of presentation will be returned to be resubmitted as late work before the next class meeting begins at 80% maximum credit. Please understand that not every assignment requires you to prepare internal citations or reference page/s. I will inform you in my assignment instructions when this is necessary. Failure to submit assignments on time will result in a maximum 80% grade before grading begins. Late assignments must be submitted before the next class meeting begins. Late work will not be accepted after that point. Three assignments will be posted to the Bb "Assignments" icon (also accessible on the course home page). Each counts 50 points and is due on the prescribed date before I begin class as a paper copy. Do not e-mail me your work. Unless otherwise stated, assignments must be typed (use either an 11 or 12 point font, always use a top, left, right, and bottom margin of 1" and double-space the work), grammatically sound and paginated. Your work will be graded on the basis of content, grammar, adherence to the APA format, and conformance to standard expectations related to ethical writing. You must internally cite all your sources, avoid lengthy quotes, avoid plagiarism, and work independently of other students enrolled in this course. Your work will be returned immediately if the above expectations are not met. Exams: Examination dates are noted on the tentative course itinerary (see below). My examinations for this course are based on multiple-choice and essay questions. Examinations 1 and 2 will count 100 points each and Examination 3, the comprehensive final, will count 150 points. It will be administered on June 27th at 7:30am. To help in your exam preparation, study guides will be posted to Bb. Make-up Policy: Make-up quizzes and exams are given at the discretion of the instructor under extenuating circumstances, and requests for make-up quizzes and exams must be made by the student within three days of the scheduled quiz or exam date. Illnesses and death of an immediate family member are the only non-university approved reasons that will justify make-up quizzes or exams. All make-up requests must be accompanied by official written notice and make-up work must be completed on the date defined by the instructor. Instructors are not responsible for informing students of missed work. Learning Disabilities Policy: In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the University offers reasonable accommodations to students with eligible documented learning, physical and/or psychological disabilities. Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities as compared to an average person in the population. It is the responsibility of the student to contact Developmental Services prior to the beginning of the semester to initiate the accommodation process and to notify instructors within the first three class meetings to develop an accommodation plan. Appropriate, reasonable accommodations will be made to allow each student to meet course requirements, but no fundamental or substantial alteration of academic standards will be made. Students needing assistance should contact Developmental Services (RM. 111 in the GUC or 765-4214). Any information drawn from works published by others must be appropriately cited within the written work and on the reference page/s (prepared in the APA format). Direct quotes, longer than three lines of typed text in your paper, are to be indented an additional inch on the left and right margins and single-spaced. You must never string together one direct quote after another and you must never begin a quote and finish it one/two paragraph(s) or pages later. It is also unethical to block and move large volumes of text from websites to your own work without the proper citation. Students engaging in these activities are merely engaged in a typing exercise and this type of work will result in a zero. The standard 10-point
grading scale (A=90-100%, B=80-89%, C=70-79%, D=60-69%, and below 60%=F) is employed in this course. Course averages may be calculated at any point in the
semester by adding together the total number of points you accumulate
from all graded work and then dividing that sum by the total number of
points that could possibly have been earned.
For example, if a student made 8 out of 10 on a quiz and 85 out
of 100 on an exam, the student's grade would be 93 out of 110 or 84.5%.
You can check your grades using Bb's "My Grades" feature. Where do my course points come from? Attendance
= 50 pts. Date and Event/Subject 6/3
- First day of class It is my goal to make this course worth your time and effort. Therefore, I will do all within my power to ensure that you learn and succeed. If you are concerned with any aspect of this course please contact me. You owe it to yourself to talk with me since I can only help you if I know there is a problem. |
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