CJS 3302: Advanced Criminology

Tuesday/Thursday, 11:00-12:15
Professor: Dr. Danielle Lavin-Loucks
Office: GR 2.116
Phone: 972-883-4769
E-mail: danielle.lavin-loucks@utdallas.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 12:30-1:30, or by appointment

Required Reader: The text for this course is Joseph Jacoby (ed.), 2004, Classics of Criminology,
3rd edition, Waveland Press, Inc. In addition to this text, other required readings will be posted on
WebCT under the heading “readings.” Please note that these are required readings and are listed,
in order, by author’s name as opposed to title.

Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this course is to critically assess and evaluate the state of
criminological theory. We will examine the changing definitions of crime, classical social theory, and
contemporary approaches to crime and criminality. Special emphasis will be placed on explaining
contemporary social problems and crime events using criminological theory. The main questions this
course addresses include: who commits crimes, what types of crimes do they commit, where do they
commit them, when do they commit crimes, why do they commit them, and finally how do they go
about committing crime.

Course Requirements:
(1) You will be expected to attend class, as some of the material presented in lectures and
discussion is not contained in the course readings.

(2) Readings should be completed prior to the class period. In class activities, pop quizzes and/or
assignments will be given throughout the semester. These will contribute to your participation
grade and are dependent upon the information contained in the readings. These in class activities
cannot be made up.

(3) You will be required to complete 1 article critique. You may turn in the critique any time during
the semester. It is due by April 6th. Instructions for the critique will be handed out during the
second week of class and are available on webCT.

(4) There will be 3 exams during the semester. Exams will consist of: short answer, fill in the blank
and short/long essay questions. Make up exams will only be given in the case of a documented
emergency. If you miss an exam and do not have a documented emergency, you will be required to
complete a comprehensive final exam consisting of one question: evaluate the state of theory in
criminology.

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Grading Procedures: Final grades for this course will be based on your attendance/participation,
your article critique, and the 3 exams. The point totals that correspond to each letter grade are
listed here so that during the semester you can calculate your grade. I cannot send grades via e-
mail.

Grading Scale: Points:

A 460-500 Exam #1 125

A- 448-459 Exam #2 125
B+ 433-447 Exam #3 125
B 418-432 Critique 75
B- 398-417 Part/Att. 50
C+ 388-397 500
C 373-387
C- 348-372
D 301-347
F 300 ?

Scholastic Dishonesty: Obviously, cheating and plagiarizing other people’s words and/or ideas will
not be tolerated. Citations should accompany every assignment. If you are unsure of how to cite
your sources or have any questions, please come see me. The University is very clear on what
constitutes scholastic dishonesty. Examples are provided at the University’s website:
http://www.utdallas.edu/judicialaffairs/UTDJudicialAffairs-Basicexamples.html. You can also
consult the University of Texas at Dallas Handbook of Operating Procedures, Title V “Student
Discipline and Conduct,” Chapter 49 and http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/ . All cases of
scholastic dishonesty will be referred to judicial affairs for resolution.

Assignments, Readings, and Dates to Remember:

Tues., Jan 10: Introduction to the Course

No Reading

Thur., Jan 12: Crime vs. Deviance, Crime as a Social Construction

Read: Pfohl’s “The Discovery of Child Abuse”

Tues., Jan 17: Classical Criminology (Cesare Beccaria & Jeremy Bentham)
Read: Jacoby 14, 45, 58, 59

Thur., Jan 19: Neoclassical Criminology

Read: Jacoby 25, 45

Tues., Jan 24: Positivist Criminology: Biology and Crime, Biosociology

Read: Jacoby 19, 20, 21, 23, 24

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Thur., Jan 26: Positivist Criminology: Personality Theories, Psychology and Moral
Development
Read: Jacoby 22 and Fitzpatrick’s “Psychoanalysis and crime: A
critical survey of salient trends in the literature”

Tues., Jan 31: Social Ecology/Disorganization

Read: Markowitz’s "Socioeconomic disadvantage and violence: Recent
research on culture and neighborhood control as explanatory
mechanisms” and Jacoby 4 & 5

Thur., Feb 2: Social Structure: Durkheim and Marx

Read: Jacoby 16, 17, 18, 26

Tues., Feb 7: Strain theory (Merton) and Culture Conflict

Read: Jacoby 27, 28, & 29

Thur., Feb 9: Subcultures

Read: Jacoby 1, 30, 31, 32

Tues., Feb 14: Exam #1

Thur., Feb 16: Labeling Theory

Read: Jacoby readings 40, 41, 42

Tues., Feb 21: Labeling Theory

Read: Rosenhan’s “On Being Sane in Insane Places” and Farrington et al’s
“The Persistence of Labeling Effects”

Thur., Feb 23: Social Learning Theory and Differential Association

Read: Jacoby 2, 34, 35,

Tues., Feb 28: Social Learning Theory and Differential Association

Read: Benoit’s “Code Switching and Inverse Imitation among
Marijuana-Using Crack Sellers”

Thur., Mar 2: Social Learning

Read: Jacoby 36

Tues., Mar 7: No Class: Spring Break

Thur., Mar 9: No Class: Spring Break

Tues., Mar 14: Control theories: Social Bonds

Read: Jacoby 38 and Marcos and Bahr’s “Control Theory and
Adolescent Drug Use”

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Thur., Mar 16: Control theories: Self Control
Read: Jacoby 39 and Baron’s "Self-control, social consequences, and
criminal behavior: Street youth and the general theory of crime"

Tues., Mar 21: Exam #2

Thur., Mar 23: Neutralization theory

Read: Jacoby 33 and Cromwell and Thurman’s “The devil made me do
it: Use of neutralizations by shoplifters”

Tues., Mar 28: Routine Activities, Hot Spots, and Target Hardening
Read: Jacoby 9 and Mannon’s “Domestic and Intimate Violence”

Thur., Mar 30: Broken Windows

Read: Jacoby 56 and Mijanovich and Weitzman’s “Which Broken
Windows Matter?”

Tues., Apr 4: Lifecourse Criminology and Criminal Careers

Read: Jacoby readings 11, 12, and Gadd and Farrall’s “Criminal
Careers, Desistance and Subjectivity”

Thur., Apr 6: Critical Criminology

Read: Hil and Robertson’s “What Sort of Future for Critical Criminology?”
Due: Article Critique

Tues., Apr 11: Feminist Criminology

Read: Jacoby 43 & 44, Britton’s “Feminism in Criminology: Engendering the
Outlaw”

Thur., Apr 13: Integrated Theories of Crime

Read: Hoffman and Edwards’ “An Integrated Theoretical Model of
Sibling Violence and Abuse”

Tues., Apr 18: Catching Up

Thur., Apr 20: Exam #3

ïI reserve the right to make changes to the syllabusð