Department of Sociology, Social Work
& Criminal Jusstice

MPM 581 Victimology & Criminal Justice

Instructor: Dr. Fran FullerSemester: Fall, 2002
Class Location: BA Bldg 201B
Office: Rm 205 BA (Tel: 910-521-6473)		Time: M 6:30-9:30 PM
Office Hours: 3-4pm Tuesdays, 4-5pm M-Th & by Appointment
Office: Rm 205 BA (Tel: 910-521-6473)"> Office Hours: 3-4pm Tuesdays, 4-5pm M-Th & by Appointment">

Description
From the UNCP Catalog:

MPM 581. Victimology and Criminal Justice.
 Victimology is the study of personal and public issues associated with victims of crimes. This course will address the extent, nature and theories of victimization. Effects of crime on victims, services available to neutralize effects, experiences of victims in the criminal justice system, the victims rights movement, and alternative ways of defining and responding to victimization also will be examined.

Goals
As a Criminal Justice concentration course for the gradute program in Public Management MPM 581. Victimology and Criminal Justice gives students an opportunity to bring a variety of skills to bear in providing hands on leadership to individuals researching the volatile issues in family violence and other instances of criminal victimization. In leading and directing preparation for formal panel discussions, students enhance their understanding and ability to communicate about a topic of current importance in Criminal Justice with serious ramifications in the social and political world. Skills expanded include: research, statistical interpretation, the organization of notes and documents, formal referencing and citation, informal research team building, rational analysis, and formal presentation techniques.

Objectives
(1) Students demonstrate mastery of basic vocabulary and concepts of Criminal Justice as they apply to the issues of victimology as presented in the text. Measure: They keep readable lecture and presentation notes and eventually pass M-KAT format quizzes and exams on the material.

(2) Students demonstrate growth in their ability to locate and assess controversial theories, statistics, experience, values, opinions and beliefs in regard to victimology and the criminal justice system. Measure: Graduate students supervise the submission of undergraduate reference and works cited documentation and other written issue evaluations in a timely manner, participate in an informal research team to research a specific case, and organize and present cases and issues in formal panel discussions.

(3) Students demonstrate a reliable capacity to bring their own rational thought processes, as well as a sensitivity to their feelings and the feelings of others, to bear throughout a semester long focus on the volatile and emotionally driven issues which underlie any sympathetic and rational understanding of family violence. Measure: They maintain courtesy and good sense in the heat of passionate but rational discussion, oral and written, they can support their beliefs with formal documentation, and they never sacrifice the immediate welfare of a human being in front of them in the name of an abstract value, principle, or point they are trying to make.

Course Materials
Textbook(s)
Wallace, Harvey. 1998. Victimology: Legal, Psychological, and Social Perspectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 0-205-19153-3. Required.

Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts & Tools. Dillon Beach, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking. Required.
Reference
Gosselin, Denise Kindschi. 2000. Heavy Hands, An Introduction to the Crimes of Domestic Violence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-083525-0, Paperback.

Parkinson, Frank. 2000. Post-trauma stress: Reduce long-term effects and hidden emotional damage caused by violence and disaster. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books.

Sattler, Jerome M. 1998. Clinical and forensic interviewing of children and families: Guidelines for the mental health, education, pediatric, and child maltreatment fields. San Diego, CA: Jerome M. Sattler Publishing Inc.

Course Resource Links
Schedule
UNCP support services for students with disabilities

Grading Policy
Daily Quiz grades are recorded, but are for practice only and are not included in final grade calculation.

Grades are calculated on a 100 point scale, (see "Final Grades" below for the "A,B,C values"), where 100 means "100 percent correct." You calculate percentage correct by taking the number of questions you have right on any test and dividing it by the total number of questions on the test, to get a decimal fraction, such as .876777. You multiply the decimal fraction by 100 to convert it to a "percentage [correct] score," in this case, 87 or, rounded "up," 88. The scores convert to letter grades according to the scale below. The formula to calculate percentage is: (n/N)*100, where N = total population and n = sub-group of interest, in your case, the sub-group of interest is the number of questions you answered correctly on a test.

Letter graded ("A,B,C grade") work receives these numerical equivalents when final grades are calculated: A+ = 100; A = 95; A- = 90; B+ = 89; B = 85; B- = 80; C+ = 79; C = 75; C- = 70. No grades lower than C are given for letter graded work. Less than C grade work will have to be revised and resubmitted.

Mid-Term and Final Exams will be graded on percentage correct basis, see formula above.

Leadership/Motivation/Participation grades are asssigned individually, as letter grades (see Grade Components below.)

Family Violence Panel Participation Grades are letter grades, calculated from three parts converted to numerical scores (as above) with the parts weighted: Presentational style 30%; Quality of Undergrad Cases presented 40%; Evaluation from the Audience 30%.

Victimization Panel Participation Grades are also letter grades, calculated from three parts converted to numerical scores and weighted as follows: Presentational content 40%; Presentational style 30%; Evaluation from the faculty and visitors 30%.

Grade Weights. Your final grade will be based on five grades as shown below. Each grade will count equally: 20%.

There are no penalties for late work as long as all work is completed by the day of the final exam. Incomplete work on the day of the final exam will be graded F unless you make arrangements with the instructor for an grade of Incomplete. Incomplete grades interfere with financial aide and are automatically converted to Fs at the end of the following semester.

Bad Weather & Any Other Disasters or Potential Physical Dangers. Do not risk yourself or your automobile to come to class at any time if in your judgment you would be in any way at risk. Please use your own judgment regardless of whether the University is officially "open" or "closed."

Grade Components
 Name 
 Weight 
  Subject
Leadership/Motivation/Participation
20%
 In Assigned Chapter Presentation and Class Discussion
Mid-Term Exam -- SEPT 9
20%
 Wallace, Chapters 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Family Violence Panel Presentation & Discussion
20%
 Undergrad Cases presented; Issues organized and discussed.
Victimization Panal Presentation & Discussion
20%
 Major Controversies and misunderstandings in Victimology presented & discussed. Time reserved for floor discussion & debate from undergrad and faculty guests.
Final Exam -- DUE Dec 9
20%
 Carry out exam. Your conclusions in regard to a major theme in victimology.

Final Grades
 A: 92-100  B+: 87-89  C+: 77-79  D+: 67-69  F: 0-59  
 A-: 90-91  B: 82-86  C: 72-76  D: 62-66      
     B-: 80-81  C-: 70-71  D-: 60-61      

Attendance Policy
Class attendance and participation is expected.

Your attention is drawn to the schedule where guests, formal panel presentations of pertinent material, and supervised research hours are scheduled in connection with your class.

All absences are excused, but you will need to make arrangements, often with the assistance of your informal research teammates, to complete your classnotes and make up any work missed.

Overall time expectation: Fifteen evenings of 3 "fifty-minute class hour" per evening, and a final exam meeting. Some evening class time will be re-arranged in compensation for graduate student participation in supervised research hours on selected Fridays and/or by appointment. And, at least the very minimum of one hour of preparation/study time outside of class for every scheduled class hour.

Student Conduct & Honor Code
Review:
UNCP Academic Honor Code

For additional challenging conditions...
Any students with documented disabilities who need academic adjustment are requested to speak directly to Disability Support Services and the instructor, as early in the semester (preferably within the first week) as possible. All discussions with Disability Support Services will remain confidential. Please contact Mary Helen Walker, Disability Support Services, DF Lowry Building, 910-521-6695.

Updated August 15, 2002 | haga@sassette.uncp.edu | Copyright © 2002 The University of North Carolina at Pembroke