Mass incarceration in the US

You are required to write a paper on a current issue (very broad categorical options are below). You will focus on the current event of your choice, explain it within the context of social control theory and also offer some feasible strategy for promoting, or preventing similar occurrences. The paper will require you to research and examine multiple sources and apply your mastery of the APA writing system and proper use of the English language.

Submissions will be scored on the substance and clarity of arguments, presentation of evidence, breadth and depth of research, and feasibility of strategy proposed. The score for the paper is worth 30 % of your course grade.

Paper Project Topics:

• Terrorism as social control
• Mass incarceration in the U.S.
• The status and future of social control in the U.S.
• Ontological security and war.
• Defining and controlling deviant behavior as crime.

This assignment should incorporate AT LEAST 50% primary sources, scholarly journal articles that are not otherwise assigned as part of the required readings for the course. The length of the paper is anticipated to be approximately five (5) pages, however, the submission will be scored on quality, not quantity, so a submission that thoroughly covers the assignment in a few less, or more, pages also will score well.

FORMATTING

The formatting of your paper is very important. Why? Because it is the first impression the professor/reader gets of your work. You do not want your paper to appear sloppy, or as it you waited until the last minute, or as if you did not take the time to pay attention to detail. Before you start typing your paper, please make sure that the following formatting settings are in place:

• Microsoft Word Document
• 1-inch (72 points) Margins all around
• The overall indentation should be set left and right at a 0 pt, while the first line of the paragraph at 18 points, tabs should also be set at 18 points (however, in cases of using extended large direct quotes the tab should be at 36 points)
• Do not justify the paper since that causes spacing issues. Always align the paper to the left
• Times New Roman font
• 12-Point font
• Double-spaced (Sometimes word documents are automatically defaulted to have extra spacing. In order to make sure this is not the case, click on Page layout, and in the spacing section make sure that the before and after are set to 0 point)

Include page numbers. In addition, to the above formatting guidelines, when writing your paper keep the following in mind:

• Avoid using contractions and first person in formal writing (i.e., in all of the papers you will submit for my course)
• A proper paragraph should include at least 3 sentences
• Make sure you do not have run-on paragraphs: a paragraph should never be over a page long
• Make sure to use proper citations. If citing a chapter from an edited, make sure to give credit to the proper author and not the editors. That is, use the APA citation for a chapter in an edited text.
• The paper should also be formatted with proper headings and subheadings – i.e., Introduction, Discussion etc….
• Do not include tables and figures in text as they mess up the formatting of the paper. If you are going to employ a table or figure to illustrate a point, do so in an appendix.

CITATIONS

In academic writing providing proper referencing and citations is very important since you want to demonstrate that you properly researched the topic. There are three very important things to keep in mind when researching and referencing your submission. First, you want to make sure to rely on academic peer-reviewed sources. (General media sources should be used for example only, not the truth of the matter).  Second, you want to make sure you reference and cite properly.  (Do not trust online citation generators; do the work yourself using the APA guide). Third, avoid plagiarism by knowing what it is, how it happens, and the dire consequences of doing it.

In this course, I want you to base your research on:

1. Academic Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
2. Research Reports
3. Government Reports
4. Books – scholarly publications

and utilize these sources for examples:

1. News Outlets (newspapers & magazines)
2. Websites

Required Citation & Referencing Style: In this course, APA citation style is required for all assignments. For guidance on how to cite in this format see the following website: http://www.apastyle.org/ or http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/ (Links to an external site.)

As a general rule of thumb:

1. Never blindly rely on referencing programs that create citations for you. Always, ALWAYS double-check your work. You are responsible if the program that you use has glitches and does not properly format your citations.
2. All of the sources included in the reference page should be cited in the text, and all of the citations in the text should be included in the reference page.
3. Paraphrasing, Quotations, and Plagiarism: Be very aware of the difference between paraphrasing, quoting, and plagiarism. Paraphrasing involves saying the same thing the author (or source) says in your own words, and then properly citing the original in the beginning or end of the thought you have written. Quoting refers to stating, word by word, what someone else has written, and indicating this by putting the text within quotation marks and providing a proper citation, which includes the page number from where the material was taken. Finally, plagiarism involves stating what someone else has without properly citing the author. For guidance on the difference between paraphrasing, quoting, and plagiarism see the Harvard Graduate School of Education tutorial called Principles of Paraphrasing: How to Avoid Inadvertent Plagiarism at http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=paraphrasing.  (Links to an external site.)
4. Do not rely on quotes to make your arguments.  Quotes should be used when there is not another way to say something or the original was so eloquent it deserves repeating.  Ordinary discourse typically does not fall into this realm.  This approach will make your writing stronger because it better demonstrates the depth and breadth of your understandings rather than your ability to locate and regurgitate the work of others.