Week 15 RJA

 Week 15 RJA

Reflection –

I learned a lot this semester not only about juvenile recidivism but also about the writing process. When I decided that I wanted to research juvenile recidivism rates I wanted to learn that probation was a great alternative to jail time and that recidivism rates were going down. I had almost considered the thought that I was simply naive to believe these things however, I was surprised to find that this was correct.

I think that this will help me in my future too. I want to be a social worker. I want to work with children and I would really love to work with children on probation. I think that it is so important to work with troubled youth so that they may one day become productive adults. I think that if you invest in a young person it will pay off and the research that I did for this class only validated my beliefs. Beyond what I learned about juvenile recidivism I was most impressed by what I found out about prevention. I found that mentoring and adult role models can be very impactful on a young person who doesn't have positive adults in their life. As someone who participates in a mentoring program this really struck me as so important. Just because I'm not a parent doesn't mean that I can't make a difference in a young persons life.

I also learned the value of working ahead. This class had very demanding and is very hard to keep up with if you don't stay on top of the deadlines. This is definitely a lesson that I will be able to use in my professional life. I work at a law firm and it is not good enough to get things done on the day that they are due they have to be done at least two days ahead of time. Learning to get my work done ahead of time will be a lesson that I can use in my professional life for some time to come.

Thank you for a great semester!

Week 14 RJA

Week 14 Research Journal Assignment

Post in your blog (research journal), using "Week 14 RJA" (without the quotation marks) as the title of your post and the headings in bold as the headings within your post:

Application Project Progress Report–Write at least three paragraphs reporting on your progress on your Application Project:  (1) what your project is, (2) what you’ve accomplished so far, and (3) what you still need to do.
Word Cloud–Create a word cloud with your argumentative paper using Wordle.  Copy and paste the text from your paper (excluding the identification information on the title page and the References list) into the top box on the Wordle Create page. Then click on “Go.”  After you create the word cloud and format the font, layout, and color to your liking, be sure you save it to the public gallery.  (The button is at the bottom right of the page.)  Copy and paste the URL (web address) of your word cloud or put the word cloud itself into a post on your blog.
If you need help, watch one or more of the following YouTube videos:  "Wordle tutorial," "Adding a Word Cloud from wordle.net to your Blog," "Web Site of the Week – Wordle," or another video about Wordle on YouTube.

Use the department and course number (ENG 1020) and other appropriate tags ("Labels" on Blogger) for the post.
Copy and paste the web address for your blog in the Week 14 RJA dropbox.

Week 13 RJA

Week 13 RJA  

 

Application Project Example– 

 

For my application project I would like to do new paper article. I found a article from the Chicago Tribune about teen violence. The link to it is: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-us-schoolshooting-in,0,7372495.story.

 

I think what I can learn from this article to apply to my own project is that there should be a balance between facts and opinions and that you should try to stay neutral in your accounts. It is ok, even great, if you can present both sides of the story and even present first hand accounts from each side. As a journalist you should be biased and try to remain subjective. I also learned that it can be powerful to be optimistic at the very end of the piece. 

Week 12 RJA

Week 12 RJA

Field Research Report–

            I thought it appropriate to interview a social worker in the field of child welfare for this assignment. Therefore, for this assignment, I interviewed Ann Rosales, M.S.W. Ms. Rosales is a family friend with whom I have been casually acquainted in the past. As noted by the aforementioned suffix to Ms. Rosales' name, she holds a masters degree in social work. Ms. Rosales has served many roles and has successfully "climbed the corporate ladder." Ms. Rosales' roles have included: case aid, case worker, transitional living services as well as supervision and case management. Ms. Rosales is currently the adolescent and foster care case manager supervisor. 

            I didn't write down all of my questions and answers; we talked about many things including the history of the department, allocation of funds, scope of her work, personal experiences, politics within the agency, what types of clients she sees, income and race related disparities, budget cuts and changes being made within the system.

Application Project Plan–

            For my application project I haven't totally decided what I'd like to do yet but I think that the article could be really neat. I would treat it is as a breaking news article for a new plan to reform the juvenile justice program. I think that this way you could introduce a lot of helpful statistics and it would still make some sense. I also think that it would be neat to do it as a take on an issue for an election. You could make it out to be the "hot topic" for this election. I haven't totally decided what I'd like to do but I really do like the idea of an article and will most likely end up doing one of the options I listed above.

Week 11 RJA

Week 11 RJA

APA-Style Annotated Bibliography, Part 2 –

Elikann, Peter T. (1999). Superpredators: the Demonization of Our Children by the Law. New York: Insight.

       This book provides an analysis on how children who are abandoned in single parent homes and surrounded with gun loving media need early intervention to prevent them from falling into a life of crime and that punishment is not necessarily the answer.

Mauer, Marc. (1999). Race to Incarcerate. New York: New York.

       This book focuses on the recent dramatic rise in crime rates as well as the current incarceration rate. It shows that the rise in incarceration has not lead to a reduction in crime.

Anderson, David C.  (1998). Sensible Justice: Alternatives to Prison. New York: New York.

       This book discusses the large cost and effectiveness of our prison system. It further discusses many different alternatives to prison. It discusses the pros and cons for each alternative and provides some compelling statistics.

Friedman, Lawrence Meir. (1993). Crime and Punishment in American History. New York: Basic.

       This book chronicles the evolution and history of the criminal justice system in America. It also explores the impact of geological and technological milestones of our criminal justice system.

Visual Aids–

For my visual aids I would like to use:

1.      Chart of juvenile crime statistics;

2.      Pie chart showing most frequent offenses of juveniles;

3.      Pictures of juveniles in jail;

4.      pictures of juveniles doing fun positive things/activities;

5.      table breaking down juvenile court; and

6.      chart of juvenile probation statistics.  

Week 10 RJA

Week 10 RJA

APA-Style Annotated Bibliography, Part 1–

Lewis, William B. (1989). Helping the Youthful Offender: Individual and Group Therapies That Work. New York: Haworth Pr.

             This book provides a guide to understanding and interacting with juveniles. It also provides insight into the correctional system that is very helpful in looking at adolescent behavior.

Ayers, William, Bernardine Dohrn, and Rick Ayers. (2001).  Zero Tolerance: Resisting the Drive for Punishment in Our Schools : a Handbook for Parents, Students, Educators, and Citizens. New York: New York.

             The focus of this book is that the "zero tolerance" policy that has recently been adopted in many schools is not effective. It also discusses some alternatives that may be more effective. It also provides a lot of statistics that were very eye-opening.

Ruth, Henry S., and Kevin R. Reitz. (2003.) The Challenge of Crime: Rethinking Our Response. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP.

            A look at the crime rates after the 1970's and the related response. This books ultimately calls for reformation and suggests ways that our responses to crimes could be improved. This books also provides a nice history that is very helpful.

Waller, Irvin. (2006.) Less Law, More Order: the Truth about Reducing Crime. Westport, CT: Praeger.

            A focused view of the causes for committing crime. What causes people to commit crimes? It shows that once you know what causes crime you will be better able to prevent crime. It really takes a good look at young adults and the adversities that they face.

Presentation Plan–

I think that the presentation should at first introduce historical information. What is the back ground for the juvenile rights movement? What is probation? What is jail time like for juvenile? Who qualifies as a juvenile? I would then like to get into some of my argument. I would like to present probation statistics and present information supporting the pros of probation vs. the cons of jail time. I would like to present a lot of personal informational and informative pictures.

Week 9 RJA

Week 9 RJA

Argumentative Paper Thesis:

Research Question: Are kids who go to jail more likely to re-offend than those who get probation?

Precise Claim: Kids who go to jail are more likely to re-offend than those who get probation. 

Reasons/Blueprint: 

·        Jail is a punishment but, it doesn't teach any lessons.

·        Probation gives you more "real life" experience with resisting temptations.

·        Probation officers can also serve as counselors.

·        Once juveniles are in the system they may never get out.

·        People who are in jail often get out and don't know how to function in the real world; this could be very detrimental for a child.

Thesis: Juveniles who do jail time are more likely to not re-offend than those who are given the alternative sentence of probation because once juveniles are in the system they may never get out and after being in jail people often get out and don't know how to function in the real world; this could be very detrimental for a child. 

Argument:

Research Question: Are kids who receive probation more likely to re-offend than those who go to jail?

Thesis: Juveniles who receive probation are more likely to re-offend than those who are given the alternative sentence of jail time because 

4 Reasons:

·        Probation isn't really a punishment; jail is,

·        Many kids offend because of  a lack of structure in their lives; jail teaches structure.

·        Jail is often the punishment for a second or third time offender for whom probation was not successful.

·       If jail were the standard punishment it may scare some kids aware from offending at all.

3 Objections/Counterarguments:

·        Probation also teaches structure. It requires very intensive monitoring and surveillance which can teach responsibility and accountability. 

·        Some kids make once in a life time mistake that they will never make again. These types of offenders will not benefit from jail therefore, it should not be the "standard" punishment. 

·        Historically the juvenile justice program in the United States was meant to serve as a rehabilitation program rather than a program geared towards incarceration. We shouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken.

Week 8 RJA

Week 8 RJA

Field Research Plan

For my field research I will be conducting an interview with a juvenile probation officer. I have placed a call to the Arapahoe County Probation Department to see if they will allow such an interview and to see who is available for an interview. I think that this person will have at least a bachelors degree in social work or a masters in social work. I am hopeful that they will allow this. I would like to conduct this interview in the next month or so. Following are some questions that I would like to ask the probation officer:

What education do you have?

Where did you go to school?

What are the requirements for this job?

What types of clients do you have?

What types of cases do you see?

What is the most predominate infraction that your clients deal with?

What are your job duties?

What is a typical day like?

Do you testify in court often?

What are the requirements of probation?

What do you think the challenges of probation are?

How do you fulfill the requirements of probation?

On average, how many people do you think are successful with probation?

What do you consider a success?

What constitutes a probation violation?

How many violations are allowed before being thrown out of the program?

How does a client receive probation over jail?

What happens if you violate probation?

Do you have many repeat clients?

Is there a part of probation that teaches against re-offense?

Do you enjoy your work?

MLA-Style Annotated Bibliography

1.      The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. "Court System in the United States — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0813817.html#ixzz1Fz3qr2qS>

The writers of the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia and Infoplease.com are focused on education and providing information for educational purposes. The authors provide comprehensive and relatable guidelines to the U.S. Court systems. This source is especially useful to me when providing an detailed accounting of our court systems. It will help to understand the reasons why and how people  end up in the system and how the system works; this information is essential for a background essay.

2.      Hult, John. "Minor Crimes Landing Kids in Jail; Study First Step in Finding Alternatives to Juvenile Detention" Argusleader.com. Published 02/18/11. 

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110219/NEWS/102190312/Minor-crimes-landing-kids-jail?odyssey=nav|head

The author of this article is an accredited journalist. This article focuses on the alternatives to juvenile detention. I think that this information is important because at the heart of my paper is the alternatives to juvenile detention. In a background essay it is important to also identify alternatives.

3.       "Archives." The Crime Report - Your Complete Criminal Justice Source. 28 July 2010. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.thecrimereport.org/archive/juvenile-justice-budget-shortfalls>.

The Crime Report website states that it's mission is to "serve as a resource and a marketplace of ideas for journalists, practitioners, researchers, and the general public." Therefore it would seem as though they are a professional organization with a lot of expertise on the topic of Criminal Justice. This particular article focuses on the shortfalls that may occur within the juvenile justice program. This information is important to understand what the oppositions may be in the juvenile justice program.

4.      Cox, Steven M. Juvenile Justice: a Guide to Theory, Policy, and Practice. 6th ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2008. Print.

The author of this book focuses on the policies, practices and theories of the field of juvenile justice. This text includes information on the history of juvenile justice and the current practices. This text is more informational than those that may offer opinions. I think that it is important to find unbiased information for a background essay; opinions will be more appropriate for the actual paper.