REFLECTION REPORT
QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS
Theory reflection report #1
Left Realism
1) What does it mean to say that a significant portion of crime is intraclass and intracultural, and what does left realism tell us about this. Do you feel that this is romanticizing or idealizing disadvantaged communities? Explain. Focus on Canada not the US.
2) i) Where do you see evidence of left realism in the policies on crime of the political parties of this last federal election. ii) What parties would disagree substantially with Left Realism and its foundations of crime (relative deprivation, subculture theory and marginalization), and their solutions to problems of crime and why? Explain. For both i) & ii) choose 2 parties to focus on, but your 2 choices do not only have to be chosen from the 4 large parties, you can consider others that were discussed in class – go to Political party crime policies NOTE: Not all the facts of each political parties’ policy on crime may be explicit or in detail. You will need to use some critical thinking skills to hypothetically deduce where they stand. In your answer, be sure to explain how you arrived at your deductions.
Theory reflection report #2
Feminist Criminology
1) What does Naffine argue and what are your thoughts about this idea that criminology is still gender blind? You must include in your discussion amongst other points, the ideas of deconstructing the concepts of man/woman, masculinity/femininity from the perspective of postmodern feminist criminology from the text. What purpose does it serve to identify the gender blindness in terms of having a better understanding of gender issues and of issues of crime and gender?
2) What do you think of this idea that is discussed in the text, that stemming from standpoint feminist criminology, where the women’s ‘view from below’ more accurately reflects reality? Explain what this type of feminist criminology theory is referring to - whose woman’s view from below? How does this contrast with orthodox criminology – is this an improvement or not, or yes and no, in terms of theories about crime, why/why not?
Part 1 answers needed to incorporate in terms of gender blindness - some historical commentary, issues of research conducted by men on men and then assumed to be applicable/representative of all people regardless of gender, idea the male researcher didn't/doesn't consider how their gender may impact their research - their gender is irrelevant; answers in terms of deconstruction of language as per postmodern theory issue of power and knowledge needed to include in the deconstruction what meanings the deconstruction of terms shows - the hierarchy of knowledge and thus dominance of men over women, e.g. what are the representation of femininity and masculinity
Part 2 answers needed to incorporate the view from below being about arriving at one type of woman, that of privileged woman - white middleclass heterosexual woman, not recognizing the variety of types of women - those of visible minorities (lower social class, people of colour, non-heterosexual); women's view from below encompassing the oppressed and oppressors' views and what these two ideas mean; ideas of orthodox criminology being gender blind, neutral/objective, seeking one truth for all using scientific methods
11 points - Q1
9 points - Q2
1.5 points for having a bibliography
1.5 points for having source citations within the body of your report
2 points for organization of arguments
Theory reflection report #3
Critical Race Theory
1. Explain at least 4 ways that Canada’s criminal justice system is colour blind currently. Initially you will need to define the colour blind concept.
2. As it is now accepted by Canada’s justice system that women suffer discrimation, (sexism), and that it is valid to raise this issue in a legal context, e.g. battered women’s syndrome, what are the differences or similarities between a woman who suffers repeated acts of discrimination in the form of either psychological and/or physical abuse, and a person of colour who suffers repeated acts of discrimination (racism) in the form of either psychological and/or physical abuse. Explain why you do or do not see any differences. Consider in your answer whether discrimination is a form of psychological and/or physical abuse. Consider this question in terms of issues of crime and the criminal justice system, for example ideas of contextualization of CRT, possible impact on CJS, motives/understandings of crime, etc...
Theory reflection report #4
Peacemaking criminology
1. Outline 3 ways the Canadian criminal justice system encourages and perpetuates a warmaking justice system? Explain first what is meant by a warmaking justice system according to peacemaking criminology theory.
2. "Empathy works, obedience doesn’t" and related concepts of peacemaking and warmaking are central themes discussed in Pepinsky's reading. Drawing upon the discussion in the readings and other material, initially consider these themes in terms of yourself and your life, growing up and currently, in all aspects of your life as a student, daughter/son, worker, friend, etc…. Include consideration of this in terms of your study/career choice of criminology as well. Then reflect on these themes as they relate to common systems of authority found in various institutions in society, e.g. the family, the economy, the criminal justice system, etc...
Suggestions on writing reflection reports
- Do refer to the readings, class discussions, debate
- Do cite where you are getting your ideas from using some academic sources
- Don’t worry about length of the report, you most likely will have plenty to comment about
- Make sure you do not contradict yourself
- Make sure your arguments are logical
- Make sure you have answered the questions and not gone off on a tangent
- Avoid absolute statements, e.g. it is human nature to, or people always … …
- Make sure you distinguish between statements of opinion and statements of fact
- Do not write the report in one sitting, it is best to do a draft and then go back to it once more a few days more
- Assessment is largely in terms of how in depth you explore the questions and your thoughts on the topic – think detail detail
- There is no one right answer, but several correct points which can be made about each question and aspects of each question, you need to back up your comments, providing substantive arguments
 | |
| Return to MAIN PAGE |