1. Your choice of choosing ONE book to write from the following:
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(Courts) Clair, Matthew. 2020. Privilege and Punishment: How Race and Class Matter in Criminal Court. Princeton University Press.
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(Prision) McCorkel, Jill A. 2014. Breaking Women: Gender, Race, and the New Politics of Imprisonment. NYU Press.
- (Re-entry) Miller, Reuben Jonathan. 2021. Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration. Back Bay Books.
- (Jail) Walker, Michael L. 2022. Indefinite Time: Doing Time in Jail. Oxford University Press.
2. Citation style:
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A brief description of the book
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Your Thesis statement (i.e., a sentence that clearly states your paper’s central argument)
Summary
In 4~6 paragraphs
- Theory: What theories does the author draw on to make their claim?
- Evidence: Describe the data and the data collection methods (i.e., interviews, ethnography/participation observations, surveys, etc.) that the author uses to build their argument
- Findings: Describe an interesting book finding.
- Argument: What is the author’s central argument?
Argument Evaluation using course concepts and social theories
In 4~6 paragraphs
- Drawing on course concepts, use at least 2 peer-reviewed academic sociological sources to evaluate the book’s argument on how the criminal justice institution examined by the book:
1. shapes social inequality and 2. is shaped by social inequality.
- Use at least 2 sociological theories of crime discussed in class to evaluate how the criminal justice institution:
1. tries to address criminal deviance and 2. promotes criminal deviance.
Your Personal Evaluation
In 2~3 paragraphs
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What is your personal opinion of the book?
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Do you buy (i.e., agree with) the author’s argument? Why or why not?
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Would you recommend this book to someone? Why or why not?
Conclusion
In one paragraph
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Summarize the paper’s argument and findings