Assessment overview

Being able to think about crime from different perspectives is critical to your success in criminology. This assignment will allow you to apply your knowledge to a real-world case and to critically examine criminological theories.

Assessment details

This essay has two (equally weighted) components:

• Part I: application of criminological theories to a criminal event

• Part II: critical analysis of a criminological theory.

Please use the headings "Part I" and "Part II" when writing your essay-you should not combine both components.

Part I

Locate a newspaper article on an Australian criminal event. In the essay, you will provide a synopsis of the criminal event and explain the causes of the incident using three criminological theories of your choice.

At least one must come from the sociological perspective and one from the biological/psychological perspective (see below).

Within the theory you are welcome to discuss and apply any subtheories that you deem relevant However, you must first discuss the principle tenets of the overarching theoretical approach and you should not use more than one subtheory from each of the major theoretical perspectives (e.g. describe social structure theory first before focusing on social disorganisation in greater detail).

Eligibility criteria for the newspaper article:

1. Published by a reliable news source, such as (but not limited to) The Age or The Australian newspapers.
2. Published this teaching period.
3. Discusses a criminal event that occurred in Australia.

When analysing the criminal event you must:

1. Select at least one theory from the main sociological theoretical perspectives:

a. Social structure theory

b. Social process theory

c. Social conflict theory

2. Select at least one theory from the main biological/psychological theoretical perspectives:

a. Choice theory

b. Trait theory

c. Developmental theory Part I of your essay should:

• accurately summarise the criminal event and relevant facts so that the reader understands what happened
• thoroughly and accurately explain the theories you have chosen

• apply each theory to the criminal event based on the facts presented in the article.

Part II

Critically analyse one criminological theory that was not used in Part I. The focus should be on discussing whether:

a. the science supports the theory, and

b. the evidence suggests limitations of the theory (i.e., rational choice theory may be more relevant to some crimes than others).

Find and present one peer-reviewed journal article that supports this theory and one that does not support the theory. In your own words, describe the theory and summarise and integrate the empirical evidence. Be sure to outline the principle tenets that were supported and those that were not.

After analysing the theory, discuss whether this theory should influence crime control policies and explain the rationale for your answer.

You must use only peer-reviewed articles from journals such as Criminology, Criminology and Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, or Police Quarterly. You are not limited to these journals, but are specifically restricted from using Wikipedia or similar websites.

Part II of your essay should:

• thoroughly and accurately explain the theory you have chosen

• accurately and concisely describe the articles and their findings

• discuss how each article supports or refutes specific tenets of the theory

• provide concluding remarks on whether or not the theory should be considered when creating crime control policies, ensuring your concluding remarks are supported by the arguments you provided throughout your essay.

You will summarise the criminal event and explain the causes of the incident using three criminological theories of your choice. There is one caveat: the theories must span the range of theories discussed throughout the semester (i.e. all three theories cannot be sociological in nature). Be sure to include the principle tenets of each theory as they relate to the criminal event.

Part B: Critically analyse one criminological theory (not used in Part A). Find one journal article that supports your theory and one that does not support your theory - you must use only a peer-reviewed journal article such as Criminology, Criminology and Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, or Police Quarterly. You are not limited to these journals, but are specifically restricted from using Wikipedia or similar websites.