There is a first time for everything......

Good Evening,

So the Spring Quarter has come and gone and I'm sure we're all better writers for taking this CRIM 301 class. Writing this research paper brought plenty of sleepless nights for me, but it's an experience I will cherish forever. This was the first time ever I've had to write a research paper in my college career, so getting started was extremely difficult. A tip of advice for anyone writing a research paper is to get the adequate help from people that have done this before. For example, taking advantage of the UWC (University Writing Center) which we pay for. The staff they have is amazing and they will lead you in the correct path in terms of success of your paper. Without having anything written yet, they help me develop my research question and even helped me to look for appropriate sources for my paper. I was extremely happy with their services. In terms of my mistakes and things I could have done differently, I should have started working on this project after the 3rd week of class. Getting started early will make your journey writing this research paper alot smoother. TRUST ME, DO IT!! You will not regret it. Doing this project in parts will save you headaches and stress. Also, don't question your writing ability. I did that for this project and I think knowing it was my first time ever writing a research paper didn't help. Trust your writing, you have made this far in your college career and I'm sure it wasn't by mistake. My paper was written on Juvenile Delinquency. I wanted to know "The Effects Family and Parenting have on Behavior Disorders in Children." I broke my research into three parts and looked at three different factors that affect children. Comparing data is the best thing you can do in a research project. Doing research wasn't easy though and again getting the appropriate help from experts will make your journey a lot smoother. I can't emphasize that any greater. Overall though, my experience writing this paper was a great one. I learned a lot not only from this project, but the class as a whole. A lot a new different writing tools I have acquired. Don't procrastinate and get working on this project early. You will be glad you did. A big thanks to Prof. Hicks for all her help and to all my classmates enjoy your one week break.

If only I had a time machine

Ok, right off the bat, this class is not meant for those who want to kick back all quarter. There will be assignments after every blink of an eye. So be PREPARED. The assignments will be easy if you don't put them aside and start working on them until the last night before class (ahem... me).
That in mind, I wrote my research paper the night before it was due. Yes, I'm a huge procrastinator and I have never regretted it so much as I did for this class. I'm probably never going to do it again! Oh how I learned my lesson!
Since I'm sure you all have done it before as well, I suggest to start spreading out your work and taking the steps your professor lays out for you. If I only had a time machine, I would use this advice and worship it.
My research topic was on the reentry process of ex-convicts into society. My question was "Is it a good idea to more widely accept ex-convicts into society?"
One source I found to be very beneficial was the article "The Reentry-Centered Vision of Criminal Justice" by Michael Pinard. He covered a lot points I've been contemplating over.
I found this source on the CSULA library website under "Articles". I used Proquest for half of my articles and Ebscohost for the rest. These two sites will get you on the right track.
Over all, I learned a lot in this class. I also stressed so much from procrastination, and I might need a week to recover from this, that I cannot begin to explain how important it is to just do your work on time. That is, if you don't want to experience madness.
The end :)

The dreadful brutality

My research topic is on police brutality, and how the media's interpretation affect viewers' perception about it. For those who want to research on police brutality, the book "The Politics of Force", written by Lawrence , will be helpful. The reason I'm saying this is because all other related books have already been checked out.
For the poor saps who decide to research on similar topic that involve media, don't waste a huge amount of time researching in criminal justice section. It is a huge trap. Instead, try researching in "Communication studies," "Sociology", and "Psychology", you may have a better luck.
Looks like I am out of time. Last thing is procrastinating if you must, if it helps you creating sentences or your are having a terrible life like I do in this recession. However, you need to have clear understanding in your essay strcuture and the sources you will be using. Othewise you will spending the night crying while writing your essay. Your hair will be white as the result of the immense pressure.

Luckily, I did not procrastinating (much) in this research essay, so I did not cry or I having a shining white hair. Thank you for asking.

Yikes

My topic discussed the causal factors of juvenile recidivism. This paper was extremely difficult. It definitely was not anything I have ever experienced or even attempted before. It was a very humbling and eye-opening experience. I had hoped to have more time to spend on this paper, but personal issues and sickness got in the way of writing to my full potential. With that being said, DO NOT DELAY IN WRITING YOUR PAPER. Due to procrastination, this paper was the bane of my existence. There are instances where I could churn out an A+ paper an hour before the due date, but this paper is not one of them. Thankfully I had made time earlier to finish the meaty portion of the paper so all I had to worry about was the extras.

If you are looking at juvenile crime or deviance, look up "Juvenile Crime and Justice" by William J. Chambliss. ISBN 978-1-4129-7858-3 It's a collection of articles and journals that discuss every possible factor that influences juvenile crime and deviance.

-js

Thank you to Professor Jenny for being so helpful and understanding throughout the quarter!

Trying Juveniles as Adults

my topic was trying juveniles as adults. this paper is difficult if you leave it till the last minute but if you stay on track it shouldn't be as difficult. i recommend you look up different literature reviews and make sure you know what a lit review is. Also make sure you know the differences between primary and secondary sources. The primary source i used was by Myers 2005 boys among men (found at our library). when your done revise . REVISE. REVISE! and REVISE!!!

Wow that sucked...

i decided to try and correlate specific supervisory techniques and psychological techniques used in conjunction with experimental pro-social theories within a specialty drug court. I then tried to link how those practices equaled the success of the participant.  I judged success by how many passed those particular portions of the process, which ultimately led to graduating the program.
 I found plenty of drug court articles in the journal of offender rehabilitation, however i didn't really find that "one awesome study" that would basically write my paper for me ;p. I'M NOT SAYING I WOULD PLAGIARIZE, PATCH WRITE, or any other conniving thing... i just didn't find that one source that "laid it all out there" for me and gave me every hint and lead i would need to track down more sources. (i.e. not having to comb through 100's of lit reviews and studies which is booooring). Anyways, good luck to you and your misery, if you happen to be reading this, this paper genuinely sucked to write ... mostly because I waited until Sunday night and Monday night to write it before it was due Tuesday night. < DON'T DO THAT!!!! Unless you have two jobs like me :) Whatever, with that being said get to know your lit review mini-papers and remember how to decipher what's useful and what isn't ... when you do get on par with filtering the b.s. most of these scholars include in their research, your horribly dreadful lit review will actually almost write itself.

I wrote my paper on whether or not juvenile programs and treatments decrease recidivism. Let me start by saying there is a ton of information on this topic. So much info that you will have a hard time determining which information to use. The best advice i can offer you is that if you plan on writing your paper with a topic similar to mine, run to the library as soon as possible! Books are extremely beneficial because they go into detail about theories and classic studies. Articles are fine, but they provide minimal information that will frustrate you while you attempt to write a literature review. One book that i had that proved to be useful for me was: Theories of Delinquency: An examination of explanation of delinquent behavior. By: Donald J. Shoemaker. Best of luck and don't let the literature review intimidate you!

"Bird by Bird"

My research topic was on stress and law enforcement. One source that I found useful and that you can always count on are the articles available through the the school article database. They're available 24/7!Attend the Library Day in your syllabus if you are not sure how to use it. It won't get much clearer than that. Students, start to think about your research topic ASAP! The common research topics will cause you to have fewer sources available through the school library. If you see that a majority of your classmates are writing about the same thing, dash to the library before they take what you need. Jenny suggested that you share in these cases but it is a lot easier said than done. This is one thing I wish I would have known when choosing my topic...

p.s. Jenny, please read "Bird by Bird" to the students sooner than you did with our class. It motivated me so much. Thanks for sharing this story.

Juvenile Delinquency and Prevention Programs, Analyzing Success and   Failures

Big paper DO NOT DELAY TO THE LAST SECOND! YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT! Ok, I lied your life does not depend on it but your grade does. The research paper process is a little difficult. The articles that you have to read are very time consuming and piecing the information together is the hard part. Once you got this down it's easy flying after that. Knowing what I know now (which I have always known) is to not procrastinate till the last second. You know the saying, "Procrastinators Unite!......Ok maybe tomorrow", well I'm one of those. TRUST ME, you do not want to procrastinate or else your going to end up with 4 empty redbull cans, coffee, and other forms of caffeine and your going to start noticing that you might be seeing noises instead of hearing them. If I didn't procrastinate till the last second I would have probably have written a better paper. Another tip, go to the writing center. I know it might seem like a drag but trust me it'll help! Unfortunately, I only got to go once and that was for a different paper but if I had known how helpful they would have been I wouldn't wait to the last second and try to get an appointment again and get rejected -_-. OR email or contact Professor Jenny she's just as good as the tutors. SHE KNOWS HER STUFF, DON'T BE SCARED TO ASK QUESTIONS (either way you have to have two conferences with her, why not put them to good use, right?).

My topic was about juvenile delinquency and prevention programs, analyzing success and failures. What kinds of juvenile programs were successful on rehabilitating juveniles and what programs weren't. One very useful source that I found for my research is:
Calabrese, R.L. & Adams, J. (1990). “Alienation: A cause of juvenile delinquency”. Adolescence, 25(98), 435-40. Retrieved from: http://proquest.umi.com.mimas.calstatela.edu/pqdweb?index=1&did=1499450&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1330936159&clientId=17855
You can find this source on the calstatela.edu website by going to library and clicking on articles then Criminal Justice Abstract with full text (EBSCO). Once you have clicked on this all you have to do is write the title of the article (if the link does not bring it up) and press search. Then WALLAH you've got your article. 


Good Luck Future Students ! 
Thanks Professor Jenny for a awesome course! (Only course that I actively participated in).

The Insanity Defense

Knowing what I know now, about this research paper, I would have done these things differently:

·    Thought of a topic as soon as I stepped into our first day class. Just an idea on a topic would have helped me immensely. Maybe even two topics? (In case one fails)

·    NOT have procrastinated.

·    REALLY NOT have procrastinated.

·    Done more research on the topics to find that at least one has a workable research question.

·    Probably, have gone to the UWC a couple more times (I’ve already gone twice). Revising and proofreading is a MUST!

·    Picked up more books at the Library. You can never have enough FREE references! Articles just don’t cut it. You really need to find articles that don’t just talk about your topic, but relate to your research question.

·    Organized a more efficient schedule for myself. I know, I must be dreaming. The fact is this class is NOT easy. The professor really challenges you and I’m grateful for that. However, I wish I had put time aside to look at all the syllabuses from my different classes and attempted to create a list of due dates for all mentioned assignments. Eventually, we create a to-do list for the research paper, BUT, eventually is not soon enough (for me at least). Life could have been, oh, so much easier!

·    Not missed any other assignments from this class. Everything is built on each other and ultimately ties into the research project. There is definitely no time to be making up assignments. Death wish?

My topic revolved around the Insanity Defense, and more specifically, the tests that we use to find an individual Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity or Guilty by Reason of Insanity within the United States. I aimed to place my different findings in chronological order to better understand the reasoning behind each court decision and uncover the history of the insanity defense overall. The most useful sources that I found were:

·         This website: http://lawbrain.com/wiki/Insanity_Defense

o   Sometimes, you just need a quick jumpstart to understand a topic. Wikipedia didn’t work, but this website did. It was in no means part of my final product, but, definitely helped me get the ball rolling. I would highly recommend clicking through this site to better understand any type of legal term or topic.

·         This book from the CSULA Library: Before and After Hinckley: Evaluating Insanity Defense Reform

o   This book, from the beginning, proved itself to be a reliable and useful source. It tells you about its six different authors and how qualified they are to be writing on the topic of insanity. Further, the contents are organized into nine different chapters that make it easy to understand why and how reforms were made. It gives all the different case references at the back of the book and even suggestions for reform (which will be needed in your paper). To top it off, the book was written in 1993 giving a fairly recent portrayal of our views on the insanity defense today.

Male Recidivism:

My experience while writing the paper was challenging. I felt that I did not allowed myself enough time to show my best. I really suggest that you take advantage of every minute you have to complete it. The rest of the time you can you use to proofread, because you are going to need it. I was just thinking of finishing the paper but when I finished it, I did not had enough time to proofread my work. For me books where really helpful just because you dont waste ink, paper, and they have alot of information. They are also more easy to cite. So, good luck on writing your papers. Do Not Procrastinate!!

Media Influence on Criminal Behavior

WARNING: A lot of what I am about to say directly contradicts much of what I have actually done in this course.  Let my countless sleepless nights be a warning to you, dear student.  HEED MY ADVICE!

This class is very challenging, but at the same time very rewarding.  Before you is a wonderful and caring teacher that is very knowledgeable and determined to help you succeed.  The assignments aren't easy but you come out knowing that you learned something new.  Additionally, I feel that I am now equipped to tackle on the more complex courses on my road to graduation.  NOW FOR THE ADVICE!


The main thing that one should remember about this class (and any class for that matter) is that YOU SHOULD NEVER PROCRASTINATE!  Procrastination will break you in this course.  I have always been a serial procrastinator and I thought that this might be the class to break the habit, unfortunately it was not.  The fact that I am posting this at 12:30 AM the night before the researched paper is due is a testament to my procrastinating ways!  Procrastination will be biggest enemy especially since there are probably other things going on in your lives, but understand that our University operates under the quarter system and time is a luxury most of us cannot take for granted.

My topic focused on the media and how it can influence violent/criminal behavior.  My research question sought to answer whether or not the media alone (without any other factors) can compel an individual to act in a criminal manner.  I found a TON of information of the subject and the challenge for me was to try and determine which articles were useful and which were expendable.  Actually writing the paper and typing out the words was the easiest part of the assignment, more of it had to do with research and organization of your thoughts, which cannot be done overnight.  Information is the key to success when it comes to writing papers.  You can't write a paper if you don't know what it is you are writing about.  When approaching a researched assignment, one can never be too prepared.  It is always good to have an abundance of sources/articles for your paper because as I have learned through the article critique assignments, a source isn't necessarily useful just because it is peer reviewed.

The last piece of advice I have to give is that should make use of the resources available to you when writing this paper and to ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS.  You are not alone in your academic career and the University gives you all the tools necessary to succeed (University Writing Center, library, etc.)


As for useful sources I can pass down to a future CRIM 301 student... I was fortunate enough to choose a topic that I was very fond of that had many articles written about it.  However, when skimming the internet for articles, I happened to come across a textbook with a chapter completely dedicated to my topic.  The book is entitled "Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice" by Jacqueline B. Helfgott.  The book offers a comprehensive guide to criminal behavior from a theoretical standpoint.  I would recommend this book to someone looking to probe the minds of criminals.

All in all, this course was a wonderful experience.  What I gained the most out of it was a sense of confidence that I didn't have before.  I never thought that I would be able to write a true college level paper until taking this course.  So remember, don't procrastinate, know your information, and always know what is available to you.  Happy writing!

Hate Crimes

I wrote my research paper on hate crimes. The purpose of my research was to determine the way police officers respond to hate crimes. I had a good time writing this paper becasue this topic is very intriguing to me. I discovered some interesting programs that law enforecement agencys utilize and some facts about the lesigislation that has been enacted in oder to target hate crimes.Two sources that i would highly recommend is Walter Bouman (2003) and Levin, and McDevitt (2002). There is alot of information surrounding these two authors.The only issue that I came upon was finding theorys that related to my topic. For future referene i suggest to discover if there is any theorys interrelated with hate crimes and law enforcement training. Other than that this is a topic i would highly suggest :)

White-collar crimes

Dear Future Students:

If you would like to know about white-collar crimes, read on.

1. You probably want to know why it is significant to study and research white-collar crimes. Well, let me just tell you that white-collar crimes are costing the American economy $250-600 billion a year. A YEAR!! Do not be discouraged by the process of looking for articles and whatever sources you would look for. You may not find the EXACT answer you are looking for, but there are so much information about white-collar crimes out there that if you have passion for it, you will be able to form your own opinions about them, or infer something from various sources. Just read everything you can as time permits and gain knowledge about the topic before you even start thinking what's relevant to your research. This inevitably helped me write smoothly in the end. I wish that I had taken the White-Collar Crimes course at CSULA before I began this course. It was not easy for me to teach myself everything from the very basic.

2. I had so many questions in regards to white-collar crimes. I wanted to know the circumstances around the damages the white-collar criminals caused in the American society. I wanted to know how they were prosecuted. I wanted to know what was effective to stop this whole situation. Yes, I am greedy when it comes to learning. I really liked Ronald J. Berger's book, "White-Collar Crime - The Abuse of Corporate and Government Power." You can borrow this in the library. This book was very comprehensive, and gave broad insights to the field of white-collar crimes. Although this book contains some interesting examples, if you can supplement the analysis beyond what's in this book (e.g. peer-reviewed articles), I think that would make your paper more sophisticated.

Good luck!!!

M. Suzuki

Surveillance & privacy rights

I wrote my research paper on privacy rights surrounding surveillance in America. At first, getting information was very hard. I was overwhelmed with what I found and frustrated when I couldn't narrow it down to what I wanted. Eventually I did narrow it down enough for a paper.

My advice is the same as others: do NOT procrastinate. You will definitely regret putting it off until the last minute (I know I do!). Split the paper up into parts. Maybe one day work on the literature review, then the next day on the background. Its not difficult once you break it all down. Make sure you pay attention when Jenny is explaining things that deal with the paper. If you have any questions, ask her! Jenny is very helpful; do not let her advice go in one ear and out the other. 

The most helpful source I found was a book from the library titled "You Decide! Current Debates in Criminal Justice" by Bruce N. Waller. This book not only has multiple articles (which work as a source each!) but also help with getting the research started.

research paper

hello fellow classmates,

It has been a long quater period within the course crim 301.  This research paper has been one of the toughest paper I wrote since I was in community college. The biggest advice I could give is go to the writing center and make appoinments ahead to check your paper. Also have write many drafts and reread the drafts outloud to find the gaps or missing words of the paper. I would breakdown the research paper in many different steps and start with the literature review first than anything else. Please use the basement in the campus to look up for journal articles and books in the top levels of the library. Books might be boring it does save time of reading a lot information not need to be read. Finally visit Professor Jenny officer hours to have contact and help with the any problem the person might have for previous lectures or paper work. I had hard time through out the course I understood more why and how does law enforcement tries to avoid profiling and more into community policing.

The research question I wrote about was in profiling in law enforcement. Has law enforcement profiling damage the community? I started to focus on community policing but I end up focusing on racial profiling in communities and also during traffic stops. As Professor Jenny told me get a book to get deep defining broken windows theory I use this book called Pockets of Crime: Broken Windows, Collective Efficacy, And The Criminal Point Of View by Peter K.B. ST. Jean. This book could found in the campus library third floor under HV section if I could remember. This is useful book because it goes deep with the theories broken window and the collective efficacy. Also it gives pros and cons of the broken windows theory and why collective efficacy is better approach. There are many books with other information related to work on the broken windows but this book in particular has more information than articles online in the database. thank you and I hope this might help future researchers interests of this topic. Thank you again Armando Tovar

Juvenile Drug Treatments

1. This project has been very stressful but yet very fulfilling to know that I am capable of doing this paper even though it sounds very hard. When doing this paper you should not procrastinate because doing it all in one day is nearly impossible. Before writing it give yourself plenty of time to get it all put together so that it flows correctly. Break up the essay into parts and doing maybe one a day until you are done and you are able to get it proofread. Go see the tutors in the writing center or your teacher because they really know what they are talking about and they know how to make your paper a great one. Make sure you use the library because without the books that I found I don't think I could have built a good paper with just articles.
If I could go back and do it differently I would have had it proofread a few more times so that I make sure that my that all of my grammar and that my APA is done correctly. There is only so much you can learn from the examples on the OWL Purdue. I would have liked to have chosen a different topic with more research or maybe re-thought my topic. Although my project has a lot of research done on it it was a bit hard to get info on my particular topic.
2. The topic that I chose to do my research paper on was juvenile drug treatments. My research question was "What does the effect of drug treatments have on drug-addicted juveniles?". It was tricky getting the right information to get started but once I got all of the information that I needed it was easy to get it done. My most useful source was this book called "Criminality and addiction: Selected issues for future policies, practice, & research" it was really useful and had a lot of the information that I needed all in one book. I found this book on the CSULA library website when I searched for books, it was really easy.


-Agustin Arredondo

Research Project

My topic was on rehabilitation methods for juvenile offenders to decrease recidivism. This paper has been the most difficult piece of work I had to do all quarter. Although it was a lot of work and a huge headache, I did learn a lot from it. It was a great learning experience. My advice to other students is to break down your information in sections, work on piece by piece of your paper, do not procrastinate, and do not be afraid to ask for help. The University Writing Center helped me fix all the grammar errors in my paper and I always asked Jenny for help. Do not ever hesitate to ask her for help. Also, attend and pay attention to the Library Workshops because they come in handy and are helpful. I was a bit hesitant when I found out I had to use books as sources, but I'm glad I had to because books were more helpful then journals. Books have a lot more information and go more into detail. One of the books I used, "Juvenile Justice: Theory, Systems, and Organization" by James Houston and Shannon M. Barton, was extremely helpful. The CSULA Library has a lot of good books on Criminal Justice.

-Bianca Robles