Take-Home Examination
This exam is being distributed electronically and in class by September 21, and is due in class on Monday, November 2. Articles to be used in the examination are being distributed electronically with the exam. Please answer all questions, type your essays in no smaller than 10 point font, check spelling and grammar, and write a separate essay for each question. Submit BOTH an electronic copy of your exam (as an email attachment) and a paper copy to me by the beginning of our class time on the date due. Page limits are specified for each question. If you write too little, you probably have not provided enough detail. If you write too much, you may not have carefully analyzed the material. Either condition may result in a loss of points. Be sure to discuss the research in each article as specified in the question. Late submissions will lose 12 points and will not be accepted after our class meeting on Monday, November 9, 2015. Students who do not hand in their examination by that date by the beginning of class time will receive a grade of zero for the exam. If you begin working on the exam on the date it is distributed you will have more than three times as much time as it is estimated the average student would need for it. The extra time allotted is intended to accommodate the academic work needs of all students in the class.
1. (4 pages, 25 points) Explain the study conducted in the article, “Delinquency and Gender Moderation in the Moving To Opportunity Intervention: The Role of Extended Neighborhoods,” by Corina Graif, Criminology, 2015, Vol. 53 (3): 366-398. Referring to our course syllabus and texts, find the areas of theory that are used in the research in the article. Discuss in detail both the research in the article and the way in which the theories are central to it. Are the theories supported by the findings? What are the policy implications of the findings?
2. (4 pages, 25 points) Examine the article, “Historical Contingencies and the Evolving Importance of Race, Violent Crime, and Region in Explaining Mass Incarceration in the United States,” by Michael C. Campbell, Matt Vogel, and Joshua Williams, Criminology, 2015, Vol. 53 (2): 180-203. Explain the findings and the importance of criminological theories in the study. What are the policy implications of the findings?
3. (4 pages, 25 points) discuss the research and the findings in, “The Law of Crime Concentration and the Criminology of Place,” by David Weisburd, Criminology, 2015, Vol. 53 (2): 133-157. Describe in detail the both the points made in the article and the authors’ use of the theories that are on our syllabus in making these points. Clarify the implications of article’s analysis for future research and for public policy.
4. (4 pages, 25 points) Describe the research and findings presented in, “Women’s Gender Performances and Cultural Heterogeneity in the Illegal Drug Economy,” by Heidi Grundetjern,
Criminology, 2015, 53 (2): 253-279. Discuss the implications of this study for the criminological theories that the authors use and for public policy.