VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY

JUSTICE AND RISK ADMINISTRATION

VICTIMS, OFFENDERS AND PERSONNEL IN JUSTICE

AJP 491/WST 391                   Mary J. Clement, Ph.D.,JD/MSW
Fall 1994                         816 W. Franklin, Second Floor
                                  Phone:  (804) 828-1050

DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE

Survey course that reviews and analyzes women in the legal system as offenders, victims/survivors and as professionals. Law and public policy issues are stressed. Juvenile and adult programs will be visited as field trips.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The goal of this course is to help you develop a more thorough understanding and awareness in the following areas:

1. Gain understanding and knowledge about what kinds of criminal acts women do and how to treat them as law officers and/or administrators of agencies.
2. Gain understanding and knowledge about women who are victimized which, in turn, produces an offender or a cycle of future victimizations.
3. Gain understanding and knowledge about agencies and institutions that deal with female victim/survivors, offenders and their children.
4. Knowledge about women as professionals in law enforcement, courts and corrections.
5. Permit one to analyze and problem solve some of the issues so as to direct public policy.
6. See techniques and programs to implement treatment and prevention and create better integrated models.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. The basic texts are The Changing Roles of Women in the Criminal Justice System, second edition, by Imogene L. Moyer (Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc., c. 1992); The Courage to Heal by Bass and Davis (New York: Harper & Row, c. 1988). Other books that I will be using and are not required to be purchased are The Battered Women by Lenore E. Walker (New York: Harper & Row, c. 1979), and Girls Delinquency and Juvenile Justice by Chesney-Lind and Shelden (Belmount, Calif.: Wadsworth, c. 1992)
2. Class participation is important. Each student is expected to contribute in a positive way through questions, observations and discussion to the classroom learning experience on a continuing basis. I do not expect people to agree with all the research or laws that will be shown. I do expect your cooperation so that an environment can be created that promotes a willingness to learn. In addition, because of the nature of our discussions and the field trips that we will see, it is important for us to practice the professional skill of confidentiality. That means, what goes on in our learning stays with the class and we do not tell others by names and addresses what we learn about others.
3. I encourage students to talk to each other, study together, talk to professionals, but when it comes to the actual writing of the materials whether in class as exams or outside of class as papers, I adhere and support the University's honesty, integrity and plagiarism policy. Please see the Attachment A.
4. This course includes several types of learning experiences:
   1. Five page position paper based on the field trips in the first week. See assignment N. 1. 100pts.
   2. Five written abstracts in any area of choose deals with this material. See Attachment B. This is a written assignment. 50pts

      You may elect to give an oral report over your abstracts and thereby reduce the number of questions you have to answer on the final exam.

   3. Two written abstracts from recent journals or two law briefs from recent decisions. This is a written assignment. See Attachment C. The two abstracts may be on the 5 articles discussed in #2. One of the articles or brief must included cross-cultural and deal with an ethnic or minority group that is not the same as the group you yourself represent. 25pts
   4. Class attendance and participation. 25pts
   5. Final exam. 100pts
   6. Experiental Learning Assignment 50pts

      ---

      TOTAL 350pts

There will be no written research paper because I would prefer you present the materials to the class as an oral presentation for all to be informed instead of just me in reading your paper. That means that after you determine your 5 abstracts and 2 law briefs, we will establish a schedule as to when you are to report to the class as part of the lecture on that topic.

If you qualify under the ADA of 1990 and need an academic adjustment, please talk with me as soon as possible.

ATTACHMENT B

HOW TO PREPARE AN ABSTRACT

What is an abstract:

An abstract is a written condensation of an article from a scholarly journal where the purpose of the writer is to extract from the original publication the essence of the work. This includes consideration of the original's author's purpose, major contentions, major support for the author's argument or hypotheses, and finally the conclusions the author draws from the foregoing treatment of the subject.

The purpose of preparing an abstract of a publication is to communicate the purpose and content of the original publication in a more sufficient form so that later the materials can be cited in papers without rereading the entire article.

Elements of an abstract:

1. Citation (See the attached illustration.)
   1. Author first with last name first, i.e., Austin, Thomas L.
   2. The year of the published research.
   3. Title of the article in quotes like "The influence of court location on type of criminal sentences."
   4. Journal name underlined: Journal of Criminal Justice.
   5. Volume number and date, if not following author's name,

      followed by the numbers of the pages.

2. Emphasis--a general statement of the concepts used.
3. Major contentions or arguments.
   1. Delineated
   2. Supported. This is where the research findings go!
4. Methodology
   1. If the article is theoretical, specify the theoretical perspective it is using.
   2. If the work is empirical, how was the data gathered; who? what? where? when? In short, a brief descriptive statement on the nature and amount of the data on which the work is based.
5. Conclusion--do they offer any solutions, explanations for the

   problem, additional research on which variables.

ATTACHMENT C

HOW TO BRIEF A LAW CASE

1. Citation: Title of the law case underlined followed by the volume of the book and the page number and the date of the decision.
2. Facts: pertinent facts that create the question the court wished to decide.
3. Character of the action is also known as procedural history. That means which court heard the case first and what was that decision followed by the second court and their decision.
4. The issue is the question the court is trying to answer. The question is always very specific to the facts of the case and can only be answered as a "yes" or "no" and not anything else.
5. The decision is usually affirm, or reverse, or reverse and remand. It forms the holding.
6. Opinions or rationale as to why they decided the way that they did.
7. The rule of law is what a lawyer might want to know about a case. What is the result of this case so if a similar case comes forward, I can predict what its outcome will be. This is called precedent.

                    TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
                         AJP 491/WST 391
                            Fall 1994

DATE           TOPICS                             READING
                                                  ASSIGNMENT
Aug. 30        Introduction and Welcome!          Moyer, Ch. 1-8

Sept. 1        Field Trip to a Women's            Attachment on
               Halfway House 932 W. Franklin;     "Women's Prisons
               Ms. Peters, Director               Overcrowded and 
               Be there at 2:00 p.m.*              Overused".

Sept. 6        Library for orientation.  
               Select topic and begin abstracts
               and legal briefing.**

Sept. 8           Incarcerated Parents and their
                              Children--Guest Speaker
                              Mrs. Johanna Schuchert, VCAP

Sept. 13-15    Female Offenders (slide show)      Moyer, Ch. 2 &5
               Discussion of adult and juvenile
               offenders

Sept. 20-27    Women in prisons and jails         Moyer, Ch. 6-8
               (slide show) and young women in
               juvenile corrections

Sept. 29       Oral arguments for paper

Oct 4-6        Rape (videotape) and child         Moyer, Ch. 9-11
               sexual assault                     Bass and Davis

FIRST WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT DUE OCT. 4TH

Oct. 11-13     Bass and Davis's Book
               Role Playing

Oct. 18-20     Domestic Violence (videotape)
               Battered pregnant women

Oct. 25-27     Prostitution, pornography
               Guest Speaker

Nov. 1-3       Ritual abuse (videotape)
               Guest speaker

Nov. 8-10      Health issues:  Drugs, Aids

Nov. 15-17     Women in Law Enforcement           Moyer, Ch.13,14
               (slide show);  Guest speaker

Nov. 22        Women in Law and Corrections       Moyer, Ch. 15,16
Nov. 29                  Student Reports

Dec. 1         Student Reports

Dec. 6         Experiential Learning***

Dec. 8         Last of Student Reports
               Last class day, class evaluation

*I want you to combine your readings in your text with the field trips to either defend or refute the attached materials written by Immarigeon and Chesney-Lind on "Women's Prisons Overcrowded and Overused". This assignment is called writing a position paper. You must take side and present facts to support your claims. The paper should be typed, double spaced, about five pages in length due Oct. 4. This is a written assignment. It will constitute 28% of your grade.

**For the library assignment on Sept. 6th, I want you to begin to identify your topic area and your five articles for abstracting and your two law cases for briefing. This is an written assignment followed by an oral presentation. Your oral presentation should be from abstracts of the articles or annotated bibliography. There will be no written paper on this part of the assignment.

***This assignment is based on the idea that people can learn from structured activities or experiences. I will assist you in selecting an experience from which you can learn. The guest speaker on Sept. 8, will talk about visitations of children to their mothers at the state (felony convicted) prison in Goochland. The actual visit will be on a Saturday in September or December depending upon which date you chose.

GROUND RULES FOR THIS CLASS
1. We acknowledge that some people do some very inhuman things to others. If any of this material upsets you, please talk with me after class.

2. We acknowledge that there are social inequalities.

3. We acknowledge that we have been taught misinformation. We cannot be blamed for the misinformation we have learned but we will be held responsible for repeating it. The past is gone but we can do something about the present and future.

4. We will not blame victims and we will assume that people do the best they can do until the time s/he realizes s/he can make higher choices.

5. We will not demean nor in any way "put down" people for their experiences, questions or comments.