Course credit
3 credit hours
Course description
Introduction to the study of criminal behavior, with emphasis on social science approaches. Overview of types of crime, and theories, methods and data used to study crime.
Delivery
This course is available in a web-based format, utilizing web pages and WebCT, a computer conferencing program. WebCT requires Internet access and a web browser — no additional software is required. Students may need access to someone who can assist with computer set-up.
This course is available in a print-based format. Mail completed assignments to the GIS Office. We will forward them to the instructor for grading.
Prerequisites
UNI students: 980:001
Instructor
Gayle Rhineberger , Assistant Professor
I grew up in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. After receiving my B.A. in Sociology from the College of St. Benedict (and St. John’s University) in St. Joseph, MN, I left for Colorado State University, where I obtained by Master’s degree in sociology. Upon completion, I moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to pursue my Ph.D. in sociology from Western Michigan University, which I received in 2003. My dissertation involved a comprehensive test of systemic social disorganization theory. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, I tested how conditions associated with social disorganization impacted the interaction among neighborhood residents, and how this interaction in turn impacted victimization rates within and between neighborhoods.
While at WMU, I taught courses in sociology and criminology, and worked in the Kercher Center for Social Research, where one of my major tasks involved preparing and writing annual evaluation reports for the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program.
My first academic job was at Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University. After two years at SMSU, I accepted a faculty position at the University of Northern Iowa in 2005. I teach courses on such topics as Criminology, Ethics in Crime, Law, and Justice, and Juvenile Delinquency. My research interests include inequality and crime; communities and crime; ethics in crime, law, and justice; media, popular culture, and crime; and juvenile drug courts. I am an active member of the American Society of Criminology and the Midwest Sociological Society.
I currently live in Fayette, Iowa, where my significant other is the Chief of Police. We share our home with one very needy gold retriever who believes he is part human, and two rather particular cats, who don’t like each other or the dog. Never a dull moment in our household!
Evaluation
14 assignments, 4 exams
Overview
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature and causes of crime. This course provides an overview of the basic facts surrounding patterns of crime in the United States and an in-depth exploration of the key sociological theories of crime as a patterned social behavior in our society. Criminologists focus their attention on describing and explaining the nature, the causes and the consequences of crime within our society. Drawing upon social scientific methods of inquiry, we use systematic research to identify those social forces operating at the individual, the group and the societal level which can increase or decrease the nature, amount and severity of criminal behavior.
This is a course in social science, meaning that we focus our attention on systematically collected and analyzed empirical data. While everyone and their dog has an opinion about crime and crime control, not all opinions are created equal. In criminology, we firstly, and lastly, focus on what our data tell us. Instead of relying upon personal opinion and ad hoc experiences and examples, we emphasize patterns, trends and reliable sources of information to inform our theorizations (and opinions) about what we study. While emotions about this topic run strong, and our public images and discussions are grounded more in ideology than reality, I ask you to set aside those opinions and approaches—what ever they may be—to more fully appreciate and understand the extent to which academic criminology has garnered insight into this topic.
Due to an increasingly professionalization of law enforcement and other elements of the criminal justice system, criminology has gained more and more attention and importance within universities and society as a whole. By talking this course, you will be exposed to the wealth of theory and data about crime, criminals and victims. Hopefully, this course will help you understand the hows and whys behind criminal behavior. Additionally, and in my mind one of the strongest benefits of courses in criminology and the nature of the field itself, is the ability to directly apply research to public policy related to crime reduction and control. Like most social sciences, criminology is eminently useful and able to help make our society a better and safer place.
This course will first introduce you to the nature and variety of criminal behavior. Then, you will explore the multitude of theories about crime. Our discipline is one of the most theoretically active ones in the social sciences. However, not all theories are equal. Some have much stronger evidence to support them than others. As you go through the material, pay attention not only to what a given theory or collection of theories suggests, but also to the nature and amount of support for it. The course closes with a directed examination of how the material covered has been and can be directly applied to criminal justice and crime control policy in our society.
Course organization
I have divided the course into 14 assignments; it is expected that you will work your way through them sequentially. Most assignments have roughly the same format. A chapter from the Conklin textbook is assigned. Please read it thoroughly and carefully. Take good notes for later use in exam preparation. Contact me with any and all questions you have. You must have a strong grasp on this information to succeed in the course.
Along with each chapter from the Conklin textbook, an exercise in the Messner workbook is assigned. Read the introduction very carefully and then complete the exercise which follows (see Assignments below). While the workbook is mathematical in nature, you do not need to have a strong background in statistics to complete and understand the exercises. Again, contact me with any and all questions you have concerning the exercises. Also, each assignment builds upon the procedures and statistical ideas of the previous one. Unfortunately, due to this, the topic of each assignment will not always mirror the content of the textbook reading.
Following the reading assignment you will find a set of review terms drawn from the readings. You should know the definition of the concept, understand how it relates to the broader concepts within the assignment and be able to discuss examples of the concept.
Assignments
Typically (except for Assignments 13 and 14), you complete an exercise in the Messner workbook for each Assignment. After reading the introduction and working through the samples, you should complete the exercise as laid out in the workbook. Type your response to each exercise using a word processing program and save as a file. If you are using a word processing program other than Microsoft Word, then please save the file as Rich Text Format.You do not need to type the questions but be sure to clearly number the answers so I know the question which the response is directed to.
Assignments 1-12 with a Messner exercise are each worth 20 points. Read the introduction and work through the samples, then complete the exercise as laid out in the workbook. Complete the exercise in the workbook then go to the Messner Exercises icon to submit your answers. Assignment 13 is also worth 20 points while Assignment 14 is worth 100 points.
Academic Honesty
Please review the university’s policy on Academic Honesty if you are unfamiliar with it (Sec. 3.01 Academic Ethics/Discipline of UNI’s Policies and Procedures available on the university’s web page). In this course, such behavior, intentional or not, will earn you an F for the course and may be cause for my recommendation of your suspension from the university. In short, academics are very touchy about such things. We work hard on our research, our writing and other endeavors. Theft of ideas is as serious, if not more serious, than theft of physical property.
Exams
There will be three proctored examinations in this course. Each will be worth 100 points and will contain a mixture of objective (e.g., multiple choice) and written (e.g., definition and essay) questions. Each exam covers one third of the course materials (i.e., the final is not cumulative). Examination request forms are included in the appropriate places in the Course Content. Follow the procedures discussed in the course packet for requesting and completing the examinations. Please allow yourself at least two hours to complete each examination.
Questions
Asking and answering questions is how science works. It is my job as both a teacher and a researcher to answer questions. Any time you have questions relevant to the course, it is your obligation as a student to ask them. Please make them as specific as possible and make direct reference to exact places within the course materials about which you are confused. I can then direct my response to your specific aspects of confusion.
Grading
At the end of the course I will add up all of the points you have earned and divide that total by the points possible (660). This will produce a percentage which will be used to assign your final grade based on the following scale:
| A | 93 and above | 613 and up |
| A- | 90-92 | 594-612 |
| B+ | 88-89 | 580-611 |
| B | 83-87 | 547-579 |
| B- | 80-82 | 528-546 |
| C+ | 78-79 | 514-527 |
| C | 73-77 | 481-513 |
| C- | 70-72 | 462-480 |
| D+ | 68-69 | 448-461 |
| D | 63-67 | 415-447 |
| D- | 60-62 | 396-414 |
| F | 59 and below | 395 and below |
Textbook(s)
Conklin, J.E. 2004. Criminology 8th edition. Allyn and Bacon.
Messner, S.F. 2004 Criminology: Using MicroCase Explorit. 5th edition. Thomson Wadsworth.
Texts are available from the vendor of your choice or
University Book and Supply
1009 West 23rd Street, Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Phone: 319-266-7581 or 800-728-7581
Fax: 319-277-1266
E-mail: bookstore@panthersupply.com
To enroll
ONLINE
GIS enrollment information
IN PERSON
UNI Continuing Education
2637 Hudson Road (corner of 27th St. and Hudson Rd.)
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0223
Campus map (Look for Building 31)
For more information
Cindy Klodt, Guided Independent Study
UNI Continuing Education
319-273-2123 or 800-772-1746
ContinuingEd@uni.edu