For the writing assignment in this course, you should select and closely examine something
related to gender, delinquency, and/or the juvenile justice system. In this assignment, you
must use appropriate course readings alongside no fewer than 8 (eight) additional scholarly
journal articles from the PV Library website OR Google Scholar (Do not use google.com). You
may use readings from this course as part of your essay, but you must use the eight additional
scholarly sources in addition to whichever course readings you wish to include. Newspapers,
Wikipedia, Tumblr, Facebook, Buzzfeed articles, and all other non-scholarly sources are
strictly prohibited.
Literature reviews are not just recycled summarizations of existing literature presented in a
one-per-paragraph manner. That is an annotated bibliography, and not a skill you need to
practice in graduate school as anything other than a stepping-stone to a literature review.
Instead, you should attempt to find themes or issues that cut across the multiple pieces of
research, find gaps in the existing literature you can fill with your work, or collect literature that
explains or helps us understand a specific aspect of the topic that is not addressed at length in
the course.
All students are expected to answer the questions provided on the examination during the
time allotted and failing to directly answer the question posed will earn a significant score
reduction (up to and including a zero for the question) on the rubric for that question. While I
provide a large amount of leeway in all other course assignments, my expectation is that you
answer the questions I pose to you in an examination. Any deviation will cost you significant
points.
It would be a violation of university policy to share questions from your exam with colleagues
in the course, regardless of the reason why, when, or under what circumstances the exchange
occurred. Cheating reflects poorly on your own ethical standards and morality, and I expect
the highest standards from current AND future law enforcement officers or other actors in the
juvenile or criminal justice system at any level. Any problems with or during the exam must be
taken up immediately with the instructor via an ECourses/Canvas message
Critical Literature
Review
Please note: This is a scaffolded assignment, meaning there are multiple components all
leading toward a final product, and each component will be due in different weeks toward the
middle and end of the semester. Each component of the assignment is worth a smaller
amount equaling the 20-point total for this assignment. The final paper/product you submit will
be worth 10 points and will be due on the date provided in ECourses/Canvas.
For example, if I chose to examine the intersection of racial and gender disparities in the
juvenile justice system, that is an extremely broad topic. Do you mean risk factors for waiver to
adult courts for African American boys and their subsequent sentencing? Do you mean
disproportionate policing of Hispanic girls and its effects of their success in probation and
parole programs? Do you mean how Non-Hispanic White male adolescents are given
preferential treatment in terms of adult court waivers and probation vs. incarceration decisions
by judges? I want you to choose something of interest to you. The key will be finding enough
literature on your specific topic to fulfill this assignment. If you have a question about your
topic, or wish to include additional parameters not covered at length in the course (e.g.
disability and others), please email me at your earliest convenience and we can discuss the
feasibility of your topic for this assignment.
This writing assignment is considered formal writing – this means that I expect you to do all of
the following: Write with purpose. Each sentence should contribute to your overall writing (no
fillers like very very very very interesting). Additionally, you should use the same glossary of terms that the readings’ authors use; do not make up your own descriptors or tell the reader
“Basically…” Your tone should be literal and formal using proper English spelling and
grammar. Do not use clichés, text speak (e.g. ROFL), emoji, non-text characters, or non-
scholarly sources. You should write in paragraphs which are organized to fit together. No
more than one (1) properly cited, short (no more than 20 words) quote is allowed in any
submitted assignments. Instead of quoting the work of others at length, you should instead
paraphrase and synthesize material into your own words. Extraneous quoting (including more
than one quote) will reduce your score significantly for an assignment.
All essays must use APA or ASA formatting for in-text citations and reference list and be free
of spelling and grammatical errors. Your assignment should be typed, double-spaced, 11 or
12-point font. Each essay should be between 1000-1500 words in length (more is always
acceptable, less is not), with one-inch margins on all sides and page numbers. Please do not
vary your font, font size, kerning, spacing, or punctuation to overcome the length requirement,
as this is readily apparent to your instructor.
Paper Topics and Outline (Part of Critical Literature Review Assignment)
In order to facilitate your critical literature review assignment, you will be required to turn in
your essay topic, scholarly sources, and an outline for your paper as outlined in the
ECourses/Canvas course summary and course schedule. You must provide an outline of your
paper at this time, including paragraph-by-paragraph breakdowns of the points you intend to
cover in your assignment.
• Topic: You should type your broad topic (including specific element(s) of the juvenile
justice system you plan to examine) in a word document. Please also provide one or
two sentences specifically identifying what you want to research for your paper. Be
specific here in this section.
• Course Readings: You should also list any course readings you are planning to use in
APA format.
• Additional Sources: You should list your eight (8) additional sources in APA format,
alphabetized by the first author’s last name. The purpose of turning in your topic and
sources early is to provide me with an opportunity to review the sources and ensure
they are accurate and appropriate for the course. A wide variety of scholarly work will
be acceptable, but the key will be finding the proper scholarly and peer reviewed work.
• Outline: You should include a brief outline of the structure of your paper, including
major points you wish to make. Do not address articles in a one-per-paragraph manner
in your outline. That is an annotated bibliography. Topics of your paragraphs should be
the major themes, concepts, or points of comparison between some or all of the
additional sources you use as indicated above in the assignment description. Every
topical paragraph in your paper must be supported by at least two scholarly sources.
Your topic and sources will be worth 5 points of the total 20 points for the critical literature
review assignment. If you turn in a topic without the sources, the maximum number of points
you can earn for your topics and sources is 1 point
Chesney-Lind, M. and R. G. Shelden. (2014). Girls, Delinquency, and Juvenile
Justice (4th ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. 9781118454060.
