Course Syllabus

CJ248 – Women and Crime (Online)

Arcadia University
Criminal Justice
Spring 2011

Dr. Denise Leifker

Office: Off Campus

Phone: (530) 635-2195
E-mail: Leifkerd@arcadia.edu

Welcome!
Welcome to your Arcadia University course, CJ248 – Women and Crime.

This course provides students with a perspective on the role of gender in crime and punishment. There
patterned differences in the roles males and females perform in the criminal justice system, in the crimes m
and women commit, and in the crimes that victimize men and women. This course examines these questi
from an historical and contemporary perspective, analyzing the changing legal status of women and
institutional response to women and victims and criminals.

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

• Assess the differences between male and female roles in the criminal justice system.
• Analyze the gender gap in crime and understand how different theories can be used to explain
• Examine laws that deal with women as offenders, victims, and international participants.
• Develop ways to assist women in their desire to report stalking.
• Examine issues of female victimization and links to other societal issues.
• Assess domestic violence arrest policies overtime, and note their effectiveness.
• Differentiate ideas generated by the feminist movement from historical ideas on crime and
victimization.
• Analyze official responses to female victimization.
• Collect data on female offending patterns and formulate explanations for these patterns.
• Appraise the issues facing women in prison.
• Differentiate the working environment for women in the criminal justice field from that of men
comparable positions.
• Create possible policy suggestions for women in the criminal justice arena based on your acqu
 knowledge throughout the course.

Required Materials
Required Text: Morash, Merry. 2006. Understanding Gender, Crime and Justice. Thousand Oaks, C
Sage.

Required Articles: Attached under Reading Assignment sections in units that require them.

In addition, you will use Arcadia's online databases and other web resources.

Since this course is being delivered online, your computer system will need to meet specific hardware and
software requirements (See the Policies Section on Blackboard). For this course, you will need to have
access to Microsoft Office (or Open Office).

1 – Headset w/ microphone

Evaluation
A 93% to 100%
A- 90% to 92%
B+ 87% to 89%
B 83% to 86%
B- 80% to 82%
C+ 77% to 79%
C 73% to 76%
C- 70% to 72%
D+ 67% to 69%
D 63% to 66%
D- 60% to 62%
F Failure to complete required work

Unit 1 (Assignments 1) 10 points

Unit 2 (Assignments 1-2) 25 points
 Unit 3 (Assignments 1-2) 25 points
Unit 4 (Assignments 1-2) 30 points
Unit 5 (Assignment 1-2) 35 points
Unit 6 (Assignments 1) 25 points
Unit 7 (Assignment 1 and Term Paper) 75 points
Unit 8 (Assignments 1-2) 35 points
Unit 9 (Midterm) 75 points
Unit 10 (Assignments 1-2) 30 points
Unit 11 (Assignments 1-2) 30 points
Unit 12 (Assignments 1-2) 25 points
Unit 13 (Assignments 1-2) 35 points
Unit 14 (Assignments 1-2) 35 points
Unit 15 (Assignment 1 and Final Exam) 110 points
Total Points 600 points

Introduction
This course is being presented in an online fashion; It is important that you login on a regular basis (daily
possible) and work on a consistent basis to complete your requirements. Since we are not meeting face-to-
face, it will be imperative that you participate in the discussion forums. Also, the Cyber Cafe is available
you to develop community outside of the course content.

You will need to be self-motivated and try to stay as organized as possible; developing a schedule would b
good idea. I also suggest that you login in the beginning of the week and copy all assignments to a Word
document. This will allow you to construct a quality answer, spell check, grammar check, and copy and p
into the forum.

You are required to respond to a minimum of two other student postings for forums that require interactio
with your peers. I will be looking at the way you analyze the postings and the extent of the conversation.
Please use this opportunity to share your own experiences and feelings, but remember to support your
assertions with current research findings or factual information.

"Studies report that peer learning promotes greater conceptual and procedural gains for students,
accommodates a broad range of learning styles, results in greater enjoyment of the learning task, and
encourages a stronger persistence in learning" (Johnson & Johnson, 1999).

Your discussion board postings will be evaluated based upon their substantive nature and how efficiently
 addresses the question at hand. Simple responses such as "I agree" are of no value and will not be counted
an acceptable posting. Please try to be brief but concise and to the point.

Discussion Etiquette

In this course, I welcome the creation of a dialogue that is open, thoughtful, and founded in verified
information. At times, some of you will not agree on the positions that are taken in the forum. This diversi
is welcomed. However, each student must exercise respect for the thoughts and comments that are posted
their peers. If any posted comments are inappropriate or of an offensive nature, they will be removed from
the forum and the issue will be addressed with the author of the content. Please adhere to the following
guidelines:

¤ Never post, transmit, promote, or distribute content that is known to be illegal.

¤ Never post harassing, threatening, or embarrassing comments.

¤ If you disagree with someone, respond to the subject, not the person.

¤ Never post content that is harmful, abusive, racially, ethnically, or religiously offensive, vulgar or
otherwise potentially offensive.

Academic Integrity

Please see the Policies Section on Blackboard.

Special Needs

Please see the Policies Section on Blackboard.

Weekly Schedule
Objectives for Unit 1

• Familiarize or review key terms related to gender, crime and justice.

• Understand the "place" of women as it relates to crime and justice.
• Identify criminal theories developed specifically to address gender.
• Discuss problematic policies and practices of the past.
• Explain how empirical evidence is used to advance theory on gender and crime.

Required Reading:

Text Chapter 1- Tackling Key Questions about Gender, Crime and Justice

Assignment 1: Please submit a short biography of yourself and include: name, age, student status, major,
interests in criminal justice and interests outside of class.
Objectives for Unit 2

 Understand the gender gap in crime.

 Apply theories of general crime to patterns of female offending.
 Recognize gender specific theories that "fit” female offending.

Required Reading

Read the attached article: (1996) Steffensmeier, D. and E. Allan "Gender and Crime: Toward a Gendered
Theory of Female Offending" Annual Review of Sociology 22: 459-487.

Assignment 1: Summarize what you read in the required reading article in no less than 150 words. As a p
of this summary, be sure to indicate what the authors found and what they conclude for the future.

Assignment 2: Post to the discussion board an example of a woman that has committed a serious (felony)
crime within the past five years. Indicate what she was convicted of and what she was sentenced to. Indic
if you believe she was treated differently than a male would have been that committed the same crime.
Objectives for Unit 3

• Identify laws that define women as victims.

• Identify laws that define women as offenders.
• Discuss international laws that deal with gender, noting the similarities and differences from
American law.
• Recognize the limits of the law as it pertains to gender.

Required Reading

Text Chapter 2- Gender and the Law

Assignment 1: Answer the following question in no less than 150 words: What are the pros and cons of
criminalizing or regulating prostitution? Rely both on your "opinion" and research provided in the book a
by other sources.

Assignment 2: Discussion Board- Align yourself with a position either for or against abortion and suppor
your position with three reasons. Please respond to two of your peers. Remember this can be a very
sensitive subject for some, so be considerate in your responses.

Objectives for Unit 4

 Define Stalking.
 List reasons why college women choose not to report stalking.
 Discuss ways of helping stalking victims and increasing offense reporting.

Required Reading
Read the attached Article: (2007) Jordan, C., P. Wilcox, and A. Pritchard "Stalking Acknowledgment and
Reporting Among College Women Experiencing Intrusive Behaviors: Implications for the Emergence of a
"Classic Stalking Case”, Journal of Criminal Justice, 35: 556-569.

Assignment 1: Summarize what you read in the article in no less than 150 words. As a part of this summ
be sure to indicate what the authors found and what they conclude for the future.

Assignment 2: Discussion Board- Post five recommendations you have for someone that may believe the
are the victim of stalking. When you respond to two of your classmates, I want you to be the devil’s
advocate and respond like a police agency that "does not care or is in doubt" might respond. Then as the
original poster, respond back. Hopefully, this works out with an original post, a response to someone else
post and a response to your feedback. If not, reply to two classmates. Ultimately having the usual three
posts.

Objectives for Unit 5

• Describe patterns of gender related victimization.

• Recognize the connection between poverty and victimization.
• Identify explanations for victimization.
• Discuss international trends in victimization and the implications of this in immigration.
• Recognize the link between victimization and offending.

Required Reading

Text Chapter 3- "Gender-Related Victimization"

Assignment 1: Find out as much information as you can about a local (to where you live) domestic violen
shelter. Although this information can sometimes be difficult to find (for protection of victims), it
is important to know where the resource is located and how it can be accessed. Attempt to find out the na
address, admission policy, if they are ever looking for volunteers to work there and what their stipulations
for employment, how long a victim can stay, how many children they can accommodate, how you could
become a paid employee there, etc. The more information you can find, the better.

Objectives for Unit 6

• Recognize that the ways of police handling domestic violence calls has varied over time.
• Explain the options available to officers in the article in 1984.
• Discuss what was found in the study.
• Compare the findings of this study to what we think works today.

Required Reading:
Read the attached article: (1984) Sherman, L. and R. Berk “The Minneapolis Domestic Violence
Experiment”. Police Foundation Reports.

Assignment 1: Part 1- Briefly summarize the findings of the 1984 experiment you read about. What did
they conclude was the best policy? Part 2- locate the domestic violence policy for the jurisdiction where y
live and summarize that policy. Part 3- tell me if it makes sense with what you advised "your friend" to d
Unit 5. i.e. (if you were aware that there was a mandatory arrest policy, would you still advise your friend
call the police, or if you knew there was a dual arrest policy what might you suggest, or if police must
provide victims a ride to a shelter, etc.). This is your only assignment this week, so take your time and be
thorough in your response. No less than 250 words. Make sure to do all three parts.

Objectives for Unit 7

• Discuss the concept of secondary victimization.

• Describe the history of the feminist movement (s).
• Explain the activities that have come to rise out of the feminist movements to support women.
• Recognize what the feminist movements mean for diverse populations.
• Describe anti-feminist backlash.

Required Reading:

Text Chapter 4- "Social Movements and the Response to Victims of Gender-Related Crime"

Assignment 1 Term Paper: Music is a powerful communicator of emotion and an excellent channel of se
expression. Find the lyrics of a song that relate to violence against women. Listen to the song, watch the
video, then read the lyrics, then re-listen/watch the song/video. After doing this, discuss the following iss
in a formal paper (each worth 8 points):

• What does the song title mean, and how does it relate to the song lyrics?
• If you could come up with an alternate title for this song, what would it be? Why?
• What is the songwriter trying to tell you? What do you think they were feeling when they wrote th
song?
• Do you agree or disagree with what they're saying? Why?
• How did this song make you feel? Did you feel that it was expressing feelings that are similar to y
own?
• Make sure to connect what you discuss with issues you have learned thus far in this course!!

Please provide me the song title, artist, and a copy of the lyrics with your paper. Your paper should be no
less than 3 pages, 12 point font, double spaced. The paper is worth 60 points. 8 points for each question y
answer above and 20 points for grammar/style/length/connection to class/etc. **An example link is provid
below of what I expect you to produce as part term paper.

Assignment 2: Discussion Board- I would like to hear about your views on feminism. Consider what you
 have read in the chapter and tell me what feminism is. Then, align yourself with the position (for, against,
neutral, strongly for, etc.) and comment on the thoughts of two of your peers.

Objectives for Unit 8

• Recall the "waves of feminism" discussed in Chapter 4 of the textbook.

• Discuss what "wave of feminism" we appear to be in today.
• Interpret what you see in film and print according to a wave of feminism.

Required Reading:

Read the attached article: Bromley, S. and P. Hewitt (1992). "Fatal Attraction: The Sinister Side of Women's Con
About Career and Family". Journal of Popular Culture (26): 17-23.

Assignment 1: First read the article for this Unit. Then, watch the movie Fatal Attraction (Michael
Douglass, Glenn Close) produced in 1987 and think about the possible feminist messages it contains, and
write up a review of the movie speaking to these messages. Next, watch the movie Obsessed (Beyonce'
Knowles) produced in 2009 and again think about the possible feminist messages within. The movies are
very similar yet produced in two very different time frames. Are they the same, are they different, do the
match what society seems to reflect about the status of women? Do we see women as victims/offenders,

Assignment 2: Be a critic and post your response to the movies you watched for this week to the discussi
board (making sure to address issues relevant to this course). Comment on two of your classmates, addin
their argument or refuting it.

Objectives for Unit 9

• Recognize the broad social forces that influence responses to gender-related victimization.
• Discuss how restorative justice and peacemaking models offer alternative responses to victims.
• Relate the reasons why some individuals do not believe or underestimate gender-related victimization
• Relate the influence of the courtroom experience and the media to treatment of victims.
• Define "agency" and understand how this helps victims speak out.

Required Reading:

Text Chapter 5- "The Influence of Context and Individual Differences on Responses to Gender-Related
Victimization"

No Assignment this week. Your midterm is due on Thursday before midnight.

 Objectives for Unit 10

• Define: gender divergence, gender convergence and gender stability with regards to crime rates
• Recall sources of crime data
• Discuss pros and cons to these crime data sources
• Explain the authors’ findings with regard to female crime.

Required Reading:

Read the attached article: Rennison, C. (2009). "A New Look at the Gender Gap in Offending". Women and
Criminal Justice (19): 171-190.

Assignment 1: Your first assignment for this unit is to summarize what you read in the article and
then compare and contrast it to the article from Unit 2. What has changed in 13 years? What has stayed th
same? Can some of the implications in theory from the first article be drawn into the conclusions from thi
article? (no less than 200 words).

Assignment 2: Discussion Board- Post to the discussion board a theory that you feel best describes situati
of female criminals today. Think about what you have learned in the articles from this unit and unit 2, as w
as what we have learned about theory. Briefly describe the theory, and then connect it to what we know a
female criminals today. Respond to two of your classmates and offer one piece of praise and one critique
the theory they choose.

Objectives for Unit 11

• Discuss the differences between male and female offending patterns.

• Explain some of the theories used to explain female offending.
• Describe policies used to deal with female crime and life circumstances.
• Identify some of the precursors to female criminality.

Required Reading:

Text Chapter 6- "Explanations of Illegal Behavior"

Assignment 1: Choose one of the theories described in this chapter and apply it to a real life situation. Ta
a bit about the theory and then set up an example of someone that it describes. Talk about how the theory
describes their life situation and what the best way to help them would be to keep them out of future
criminality. I asked you to do something similar in the last unit, so please be sure to pick a different theory
and also focus more on how to help them in the future. Submit this assignment in no less than 200 words.
 Assignment 2: Look up the case of Susan Leigh Vaughn Smith on the Internet and indicate why you thi
she did what she did. What theory might explain her actions? Remember to respond "considerately" to th
thoughts of two of your peers. Indicate if you agree or disagree with them and why.

Objectives for Unit 12

• Identify the issues that face incarcerated women: to include offense characteristics, personal
characteristics, family characteristics, drug and alcohol use, and care while in custody
• Discuss the trend of the number of women in prison over time
• Describe the methodology used in this official report
• Apply what you read to what we know about women in prison today

Required Reading:

Read the attached article: Snell, T and D. Morton. (1994). "Survey of Prison Inmates, 1991: Women in
Prison". Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington D.C.

Assignment 1: Find some current statistics on women in prison and compare them to what is reported in this arti
Do they seem to be the same or different? Provide at least three comparisons. No less than 150 words.

Assignment 2: Discussion Board- Look at the following website and comment about it on Blackboard. I find it
interesting and think you will too. I DO NOT recommend responding to any of these people, just take a look at t
sight and discuss your thoughts with two of your other classmates.

http://www.meet-an-inmate.com/

Objectives for Unit 13

• Discuss prisonization of women.

• Identify some of the most common responses to female law breakers.
• Explain the ways that women are treated differently by the police, courts, and corrections.
• Define "agency" of women in offending.

Required Reading:

Text Chapter 7- "Gender and Response to Lawbreakers"

Assignment 1: Search the Internet and find a program that is instituted in a women's prison. Describe the
program, including how long it has been in existence, how you become eligible, what it entails, etc. Then
indicate whether you think this is a program that is beneficial to women and why. Discuss whether you th
 this program could also be offered in male prisons or if it was solely devised for females. No less than 200
words.

Assignment 2: Discussion Board- Post to the discussion board your response to the following question.
"Would it be just to treat females and males in exactly the same way within the criminal justice system and
why?" Remember to reply meaningfully to two of your peers.

Objectives for Unit 14

• Recall everything we have learned thus far with regard to female victims and offenders.
• Apply that recalled knowledge to your thoughts on women working in the field of criminal justice.
• Define issues that females face working in the field of criminal justice.
• Explain what issues this article concludes are problematic for women in the field.
• Compare and contrast these findings to what other researchers have concluded about women in the
criminal justice field.

Required Reading:

Read the attached article: Lambert, E., E. Paoline, N. Hogan, and D. Baker (2007) "Gender Similarities and
Differences in Correctional Staff Work Attitudes and Perceptions of the Work Environment" Western Criminolog
Review 8: 16-31.

Assignment 1: Summarize what you read in the article in no less than 200 words. Describe the reason for
research, what the data collection was comprised of, how they analyzed the data, and what they found. Th
give me your opinion on the article (don't forget to consider the limitations). Do you think the findings are
real, generalizable, limited, etc.
Assignment 2: Discussion Board- Find another piece on women working within the criminal justice syste
Post a link to the discussion board and comment on what was found in that piece. When you respond to y
classmates- click on their link, scroll their piece and indicate whether you agree or disagree with their
thoughts.

Objectives for Unit 15

• Summarize the current state of knowledge on women and crime.

• Recognize the global perspectives on female crime.
• Discuss reactions to female crime.
• Recall the intersections of gender with race, ethnicity, and other status markers with regard to crime.
• Define agency with regard to females in the criminal justice system
• Employ theories from other related fields in understanding female crime and delinquency.
• Discuss research approaches used in studying women and crime.
 • Discuss current and future policies for women in the criminal justice system.

Required Reading:

Text Chapter 8 "Advances and Challenges in Understanding Gender, Crime and Justice"

Assignment 1: Discussion Board- Post to Blackboard the best thing about the course, the worst thing, and
thing that could be done to improve the course. Be thoughtful and do not post- "It is bad that I cannot see
other students." :-) Be sure to comment on two of your peers' responses by agreeing, disagreeing, not
understanding, etc.

*Your final exam will be available on 5/2/11 and must be submitted by midnight on 5/6/11.