CRIME PREVENTION (CRIM 4040) Fall 2016

Transcription

1 CRIME PREVENTION (CRIM 4040) Fall 2016 Professor Brandon C. Welsh, Ph.D. Northeastern University School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Churchill Hall 401B Phone: (617) ; Office hours: Thursday 10:30-11:30 a.m. (or by appointment) Teaching Assistant: Misha McDonald Lecture Room: 325 Richards Hall Lecture Times: Monday and Thursday 11:45 a.m. 1:25 p.m. Course Description: This course examines crime prevention as an alternative to criminal justice responses to crime. It reviews current theories of and leading research on the main approaches to preventing crime, including developmental, situational, and community prevention. A special focus is on assessing effectiveness of prevention programs and policies. Key Objectives: 1. To introduce students to alternative or non-criminal justice responses to crime. 2. To provide students with an understanding of the history, main concepts, main theories, principles, and applications of alternative crime prevention strategies. 3. To further develop students skills in assessing program effectiveness. 4. To introduce students to current developments in crime prevention research and policy. 5. To help students apply crime prevention theory and research on what works to addressing real-life crime problems. 6. To further develop students writing skills. Required Readings: Students are responsible for reading the required works prior to class. There are two books and a number of journal articles. All of the articles are available through the library s e-journals service. The books can be purchased at Northeastern University s bookstore. The books are as follows: 1. Lab, S.P. (2014). Crime Prevention: Approaches, Practices and Evaluations, eighth edition. Waltham, MA: Anderson Publishing. 2. Farrington, D.P., & Welsh, B.C. (2007). Saving Children from a Life of Crime: Early Risk Factors and Effective Interventions. New York: Oxford University Press. 1

2 Grading Policy: This course is writing intensive. There will be three separate writing assignments related to a semester-long research paper. For the first assignment students will prepare a summary overview of their paper, focusing on their selected crime type and crime prevention strategy, along with a preliminary list of effective programs and references. This will count for 10% of the course grade. The second assignment will require students to prepare a detailed literature review, focusing on the effectiveness of and challenges facing their selected crime prevention strategy. This will count for 20% of the course grade. For the third assignment students will prepare a final research paper, which will count for 40% of the course grade. Detailed handouts will be provided for all three writing assignments. There will also be a midterm exam, which will count for 20% of the course grade. The midterm exam will be based on material covered in the class lectures and required readings. Attendance/participation: Students are expected to attend each class. Attendance will be taken at each class. Attendance and participation will count for 10% of the course grade. Grading Scale: A % B % C % D % F 0-59% A % B 83-86% C 73-76% D 63-66% B % C % D % Blackboard: Students are required to regularly check the blackboard page for the course. Lectures and Required Readings: Sept. 8: Course Introduction and Overview Sept. 12 & 15: New Directions in Preventing Crime Lab (2014). Crime prevention (pp ). Farrington & Welsh (2007) (pp and pp ). Welsh, B.C., & Pfeffer, R.D. (2013). Reclaiming crime prevention in an age of punishment: An American history. Punishment and Society, 15, Sept. 19 & 22: Evaluating Crime Prevention Lab (2014). Evaluation and crime prevention (pp ). Farrington & Welsh (2007) (pp and pp ). Welsh, B.C., & Farrington, D.P. (2006). Evidence-based crime prevention. In B.C. Welsh & D.P. Farrington (Eds.), Preventing Crime: What Works for Children, Offenders, Victims and Places (pp. 1-17). New York: Springer. 2

3 Sept. 26 & 29: Evaluating Crime Prevention (continued) Fagan, A.A., & Buchanan, M. (2016). What works in crime prevention? A comparison and critical review of three crime prevention registries. Criminology & Public Policy, 15. Weisburd, D., Lum, C.M., & Petrosino, A. (2001). Does research design affect study outcomes in criminal justice? Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 578, Note: The summary overview assignment is due at the beginning of class on September 29. Oct. 3 & Oct. 6: Developmental Crime Prevention Lab (2014). Developmental crime prevention (pp ). Farrington & Welsh (2007). Individual factors (pp ), and Family factors (pp ). Farrington & Welsh (2007). Individual prevention (pp ), and Family prevention (pp ). Reynolds, A.J., Temple, J.A., Ou, S.-R., Arteaga, I.A., & White, B.A.B. (2011). School-based early childhood education and age-28 well-being: Effects by timing, dosage, and subgroups. Science, 333, Note: There is no class on October 10; it is Columbus Day. Oct. 13: Community Crime Prevention Farrington & Welsh (2007). Socioeconomic, peer, school, and community factors (pp ), and Peer, school, and community prevention (pp ). Gottfredson, D.C., Gerstenblith, S.A., Soulé, D.A., Womer, S.C., & Lu, S. (2004). Do after school programs reduce delinquency? Prevention Science, 5, Taheri, S.A., & Welsh, B.C. (2016). After-school programs for delinquency prevention: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 14, Oct. 17: Midterm exam Oct. 20: Media and Crime Prevention Lab (2014). The mass media and crime prevention (pp ). 3

4 Oct. 24 & 27: Situational Crime Prevention Lab (2014). Situational crime prevention (pp ). Lab (2014). Displacement and diffusion (pp ). Oct. 31 & Nov. 3: Crime Prevention Partnerships Lab (2014). Partnerships for crime prevention (pp ). Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, R.F., Arthur, M.W., Egan, E., Brown, E.C., Abbott, R.D., & Murray, D.M. (2008). Testing Communities That Care: The rationale, design and behavioral baseline equivalence of the Community Youth Development Study. Prevention Science, 9, Note: The literature review assignment is due at the beginning of class on October 31. Nov. 7 & 10: National Crime Prevention Policies Farrington & Welsh (2007). Never too early: A comprehensive national prevention strategy (pp ). Andersson, J. (2005). The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention: A short presentation. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 6, Nov. 14 & 17: School-Based Crime Prevention Lab (2014). The school and crime prevention (pp ). Nov. 21: Critical Views on Crime Prevention Readings will be assigned. Note: There is no class on November 24; it is Thanksgiving Day. Nov. 28 & Dec. 1: Future of Crime Prevention: Part I Aos, S., Miller, M., & Drake, E. (2006). Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates. Olympia, WA: Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Welsh, B.C., & Farrington, D.P. (2012). Science, politics, and crime prevention: Toward a new crime policy. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40,

5 Dec. 5: Future of Crime Prevention: Part II Gajos, J.M., Fagan, A.A., & Beaver, K.M. (2016). Use of genetically-informed evidence-based prevention science to understand and prevent crime and related behavioral disorders. Criminology & Public Policy, 15. Lab (2014). Some closing thoughts on crime prevention and the future (pp ). Note: The final research paper is due at the beginning of class. Other Class Policies: The highest standards of academic integrity are expected in this course. All students should remind themselves of Northeastern University s Academic Honesty and Integrity policy, which can be found in the Student Handbook. Any instances of cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, or other academic dishonesty will be dealt with in accordance with the University s official policies (also described in the Student Handbook). Exams must be taken as scheduled. Exams will only be rescheduled for those who have a valid medical note or who have consulted with me prior to the exam. The use of portable electronic devices of any kind other than computers is not permitted at any time during class. Please turn off all cell phones, etc. prior to the beginning of class. If you need to use a recording device in class and have a legitimate reason please consult with me first. Please bring to my attention as early as possible any special educational needs you may have. The University s Disability Resource Center provides services to students needing special accommodations (see 5