Gender & Crime. REQUIRED TEXTS Belknap, Joanne The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime and Justice, Third Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Transcription

1 Gender & Crime SOCI 385 (Sec. 02 & P2) Fall 2006 T/Th 2:00-3:15 DU 176 CONTACT INFO Instructor: Kirk Miller, PhD Office: 914 Zulauf Hall Office Hours: T/Th 12-1pm & by appointment Phone: Course Webpage: I encourage you to use in addition to in-person or phone communication. I will respond to all , but please allow 24 hours for all responses. I will not accept that is used to postpone or otherwise avoid exams or assignment deadlines. Such arrangements will need to be made in person and in advance. I will not accept work to be graded electronically, unless otherwise stated. Please turn off your phone before class begins. If you receive an audible call during class, please leave the class for the day. All communications devices are prohibited from all exam periods, unless I specifically authorize otherwise. REQUIRED TEXTS Belknap, Joanne The Invisible Woman: Gender, Crime and Justice, Third Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 2) Renzetti, Claire M. and Lynne Goodstein Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Original Feminist Readings. Los Angeles: Roxbury. 3) Reserve Readings (in Adobe PDF format) only electronically available at COURSE OBJECTIVES Gender and Crime is an upper level course. Therefore, you should be familiar with many of the basic sociological and criminological concepts we will be using throughout the course, particularly in light of the prerequisites you have taken prior to this semester (SOCI 170, 250, 260 or 270). The primary course objective is to develop an understanding of the centrality of gender, and more broadly social inequality, in the lead up to crime and social control responses in contemporary American society. Perhaps no other factor is as powerful as gender in shaping our experiences and expectations as social actors. It s no wonder then that gender structures 1) the likelihood of criminal involvement, 2) the ways in which the criminal law is broken, 3) the way law itself is constructed, 4) the way laws are enforced and 5) the ways that laws are experienced for persons on different sides of the law. We will examine all of these areas this semester. Historically, virtually all of the information gathered about crime, victimization, and the criminal justice system has been centered on the experiences of men and boys. Therefore, this course is part of process to disrupt this androcrentic tradition. We will start by devoting some time to developing a sociological understanding of gender. This may require questioning taken for granted assumptions about the so-called nature of men, women, and sexuality and employing a perspective that sees gender and other status systems as both social processes and outcomes, rather than given natural facts. It will also require you to acknowledge and deploy a vast amount of social science research and data that shows that gender inequality is real and significant to both men and women. We will use gender as a lens to explore a variety of topics including: 1) the context and meaning of criminal victimization patterns, 2) gender patterns of offending across age, race and social class, 3) theoretical explanations for female offending, and 4) female experiences in the justice system as offenders (including prison). 1

2 COURSE EXPECTATIONS There are several mechanisms that serve as evaluations of a student s 1) comprehension and 2) effort in the course. There are two things you can do to significantly increase your chances of success in this class by increasing your level of comprehension: 1) come to class, and 2) take a look at the assigned readings as scheduled. Class time will be spent introducing material that is often not included in the assigned readings and integrating this information with the readings. Discussion of several of the readings will be intensive. However, preparation for exam questions on the articles will come only through actual reading. It is a good idea to bring your text with you for class each day and at least skim the reading/intro before class. EVALUATION SYSTEM Exams Exams constitute 90% of your course grade, by far the largest portion of your course grade. There will be three exams covering the material from assigned readings, lectures, and class discussion. The final exam will be comprehensive. Test material is drawn about equally from lecture, discussion, and reading. Test dates as scheduled below are approximate (with announcement approximately one week in advance from me) and are subject to change based on course progress. You are responsible for being here on the day of each test. Make-ups will not be given because you did not show up for the test on the right day! Homework & Class Assignments: There will be several (somewhere between 5 and 10) homework and class assignments that take place throughout the semester. Some of these are planned and some will be impromptu. Some will be posted on the course webpage, while several will likely only be announced/distributed in class. The purpose of these assignments is to keep you on your toes and relatively current with the course material as the semester progresses. A majority of these assignments will likely be reading homework. A non-trivial number are likely to be in-class exercises (related to films, lecture points, etc.). Each assignment is weighted equally, and in total, all assignments constitute 15 percent of your course grade. (That means each assignment grade is equal to points on a 100 point system). Weighting of Evaluations Evaluation % of Overall Course Grade Homework & Class Assignments 10% Exam 1 30% Exam 2 30% Exam 3 30% Total 100% Your final grade will be determined based on the weighted average of your performance across all exams and assignments. Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale: A: > 90% B: 89%-80% C: 79%-70% D: 69%-60% F: < 60% If you need a specific grade in this course, today is the day to start doing whatever is necessary in order to earn it. Thus, I do not give students grades you earn them. 2

3 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY The students and faculty of NIU maintain a Code of Conduct. Chapter three, section three of this code refers to academic honesty. In short, plagiarism and cheating are expressly forbidden, and it is your responsibility to alert me when it occurs. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated in my class. In order to insure academic integrity, I will require you to sign all exams and papers for this class. Your signature represents your guarantee that you have abided by the elements contained in the Code of Student Conduct. Plagiarism in any form will be punished by use of the most severe options available under the Code of Student Conduct. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT 1) DECORUM Absolutely no cell phones, pagers, or other electronic devices will be permitted in class. Other students find such interruptions disruptive, and I find them disrespectful. In the event that you must have a cell phone turned on during class time, please be sure to discuss this with me prior to the class in question. If a cell phone or other device interrupts class, I will take the call myself. 2) ACCOMMODATION Please notify me as soon as possible if you have any special needs. It is NIU s policy to provide reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities in cooperation with the Center for Access-Abilitiy Resources (CAAR). 3) ELEVATING CLASS DISCUSSION TO SOCIOLOGICAL DISCOURSE The issues covered in this class are often controversial. Most of us hold very strong opinions about the topics we will be discussing this semester. Opinions are good and we all have every right to hold and express our own opinions. However, opinions also tend to lead to misinformation about groups and individuals. What makes a liberal arts social science course worthwhile is that research evidence and reasoning are the gold-standard that form the basis for becoming educated citizens in a democratic society like ours. Thus, social science research and reasoning are not merely opinions, equally as strong or weak as the village idiot s. Arguments that are backed by research and reasoning always trump personal opinion in an academic setting. The reading assignments and my lectures are based on scientific research, not opinion. Likewise, your comments should, whenever possible, be informed by the sociological perspectives discussed in class. 4) Aretha Franklin Style, R-E-S-P-E-C-T To help keep class discussions at an academic level, I've set a few simple ground rules. No speech or behavior will be tolerated that may in any way debases individuals or groups based on their race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. Class discussion is an important part of the learning experience, and I encourage you to participate. It is important that discussion be centered on sociological perspectives. In addition, harassment based on sex, race or sexual orientation is against university policy and in many cases against the law. You deserve respect, and your instructors and peers are legally and morally bound to show you that respect. If harassment occurs, you may write me an anonymous note or contact me personally. Complaints can also be taken to the Affirmative Action Office or the University Resources for Women at NIU. All of these offices have links on the NIU homepage. 5) THE SYLLABUS AS CONTRACT This syllabus represents a contract of understanding and obligation between you and me. By staying enrolled in this class you have provided implied consent to abide by all the expectations and policies described in this document. In the unlikely event that questions about class policy arise, we will refer to this document in order to determine a fair resolution. Course Fee Justification There may be a nominal course fee in this class. The fee is used to support material stored on SOCQRL computer systems. The Sociology lab (DuSable 222) is available for students in to download and print lecture notes, reserve readings, conduct research for projects, etc. In general, the size of the fee represents the amount of lab use anticipated. 3

4 SCHEDULE (Subject to Change) Belknap = Belknap s Invisible Woman R&G = Women, Crime, & Criminal Justice socqrl.niu.edu/miller/courses/soci385/readings.html Date Topic Reading Assignment Aug. 29 Aug. 31 Sep. 5 Sep. 7 Sep. 12 Sep. 14 Sep. 19 Sep. 21 Sep. 26 Sep. 28 Oct. 3 Oct. 10 Oct. 12 Oct. 17 Oct. 19 Oct. 24 Oct. 26 Oct. 31 Introduction: Conceptualizing Gender Feminism & Crime: The Law, Behavior and Other Considerations Victimization Sexual Victimization Other Forms of Violent Victimization Patterns of Offending: Race, Class, & Gender Explaining Crime: Feminist Approaches -Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender (Lorber) Reserve1 -Speaking of Gender: The Darkened Eye Restored (Tavris) Reserve2 -The Emergence of Gender in Criminology Balknap1 -The Criminal Law and Women (Sokoloff, Price, & Flavin) Reserve3 -Gender and Law (Bernat) R&G14 -Women, Danger, and Criminology (Stanko) R&G2 -The Image of the Female Victim Belknap6 -Understanding Violence Against Women: Universal Human Rights and International Law Bessant & Cook) R&G12 -Sexual Victimization Belknap7 -Sexual Assault (Allison & Kollenbroich-Shea) -Acquaintance Rape: Revolution and Reaction (Kamen) Reserve4 -Our Guys: The Basement, Accusation, and Denial (Lefkowitz) Reserve5 -Intimate Partner Abuse & Stalking Belknap8 -Woman Battering: More than a Family Problem (Ferraro) R&G9 -Corporate Violence Against Women (Rynbrandt & Kramer) R&G11 EXAM 1 Oct. 5 -The Frequency and Nature of Female Offending Belknap3 -Female Crime Trends, (Steffensmeier) R&G13 -Female Criminality: Ten Years Later (Davis, Merlo, & Pollock) Reserve6 -Critiquing Criminological Theories Belknap2 -Feminist Theories of Women s Crime: Robbery as a Case Study. Miller) Reserve7 -A Reserve Army: Women and the Drug Market. (Maher) Reserve8 -Gender and Violence (Kruttschnitt) R&G6 -Explaining Female Offending (Steffensmeier & Broidy) R&G8 4

5 Nov. 2 Nov. 7 Nov. 14 Nov. 16 Nov. 21 Nov. 28 Nov. 30 Dec. 5 Dec. 7 Special Topics: Drugs, Gangs, Sex Work, & Violence Criminal Processing: Gender & the Criminal Justice System Gender & Punishment Working in the Criminal Justice System -Crime and Punishment in the Lives of Women Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Users (Mancuso & Miller) R&G7 -The Girls in the Gang. (Brunson & Miller) R&G4 -Gender Troubles: The Entanglement of Agency, Violence, and Law in the Lives of Women in Prostitution (Sanchez) R&G5 -Murder as Self-Help: Women and Intimate Partner Homicide (Peterson) Reserve9 EXAM 2 Nov. 9 -Processing Women and Girls in the System Belknap4 - Out of Sight, Out of Mind : Girls in the Juvenile Justice System (Chesney-Lind) R&G3 -Women, Race, and Criminal Justice Processing (Gilbert) R&G15 -The War on Drugs as a War against Black Women (Bush-Baskette) Reserve10 -When Victims Become Defendants: Battered Women Charged with Crimes (Osthoff) R&G16 -Incarcerating, Punishing, and Treating Offending Women and Girls Belknap5 -Perspectives on Women in Prison (Owen) R&G17 -Women Working in Prisons and Jails Belknap9 -Femininities, Masculinities, and Organizational Conflict: Women in Criminal Justice Occupations (Jurik & Martin) R&G19 -Women Working in Policing and Law Enforcement Belknap10 -Gender and Policing (Miller) R&G18 EXAM 3 Dec. 12 (2-3:50pm) Belknap = Belknap s Invisible Woman R&G = Women, Crime, & Criminal Justice socqrl.niu.edu/miller/courses/soci385/readings.html 5