Written submission of approximately 2,000 words each.
Goal – demonstrate understanding of ALL course key-terms/concepts and how they apply to the discussions/examples/illustrations from the live guest presentations from crime victims and/or agency representatives.
When writing about the key-terms/concepts you will underline and bold the first use of each to assist in organising your submission.
Key-terms/concepts are listed at the top of each weeks’ course content.
NOT TRADITIONAL ESSAYS – read details below carefully.
NO REFERENCE SECTION – nor references to outside material required nor permitted.
Students will organise submission according to headings set by the instructor.
Assessment 2 – Course content (including mini-lecture videos, guest presentations and assigned readings) Weeks 1-5.
Assessment 3 – Course content (including mini-lecture videos, guest presentations and assigned readings) Weeks 6-12. Examples from weeks 1-5 may be included where applicable.
Submitted via TurnItIn on the course website – double space, follow instructions carefully. Do not include title pages, cover sheets, or anything else not requested.
High marks (e.g., D, HD) are awarded only to students who demonstrate an understanding of ALL key-terms/concepts and how they apply to guest presentations (where applicable – there may be some key-terms/concepts that do not have adequate examples). Do not expect high marks unless you demonstrate an understanding of the required readings, mini-lecture videos and other course material regarding how they address the key-terms/concepts as well as how the key-terms/concepts apply to the examples/illustrations provided in the guest presentations.
Do not expect high marks if you select only one or two guest presentations to discuss, do not include all key-terms/concepts, or do not include relevant information about these key-terms/concepts from all applicable mini-lectures and other applicable course content.
Note that 50% of the mark relates to critically thinking about the key-terms/concepts and how they apply to the examples/illustrations/discussions provided in the guest presentations. If you do not incorporate information from these presentations, you will not receive a higher mark.
ASSESSMENT 2 & 3 DETAILS
OVERVIEW
The second and third assessments for this course are written assignments in which you demonstrate your understanding of the key terms & concepts in the course content and how they apply to the real-world discussions/examples/illustrations from the live presentations and/or recorded victim experiences posted on the course website. Assessment 2 covers weeks 1-5 and Assessment 3 covers weeks 6-12. To receive high marks (e.g., D or HD) it is critical to discuss all key-terms/concepts in ways that demonstrate that you have engaged with ALL course content (i.e., guest presentations/discussions, mini-lectures, assigned readings and the recorded victim experiences posted on the website as well as any other content provided on the website).
These written assignments will not be traditional essays. Instead of finding your own material to write about and putting together a reference section to show where you found that material (as you may have done in other courses), you will rely only upon material found within the course content on the class website. The first time you mention key-terms/concepts you will underline and bold them. This will help you to organise your writing and check for completeness and it will also help ensure that nothing is missed while marking. The key-terms/concepts are listed at the top of each week’s course content.
You can demonstrate your understanding of some key-terms/concepts simply by using them correctly in a sentence. Others will require a greater amount of space. Some key-terms/concepts may be synonyms or have very close to the same meaning (especially in assessment 3). In this case, you should demonstrate that you understand this (e.g., mentioning that “different people use different terms for XXXX such as YYYY and ZZZZ” and then explaining).
You will not earn marks for including superfluous information or for discussing concepts not directly related to this course. Feedback will be given on assessment 2 (35%) to assist you in writing assessment 3 (45%) . It is critical for you to address assessment 2’s feedback before submitting assessment 3. It is also critical for you to follow all detailed instructions and the format below.
ASSESSMENT 2 HEADINGS/SECTIONS/QUESTIONS
You must use the four (4) italicized headings listed below and organise your writing under the appropriate heading. See the formatting example at the end of the instructions. Again, make sure your responses relate to the material from the course content.
Victimisation in past history and the early criminal justice system
Responses should include the historical information from course content.
Early academic study of crime victims
Responses should include descriptions of the ways that early criminologists classified and studied crime victims. Responses should also include the potential negative (or positive) effects that have resulted and the pros and cons of this study/classification.
The emotional and practical problems common among crime victims and the fear of crime
Responses should include information about how different offense types and victim characteristics affect these problems and also affect the fear of crime. Responses can also include information about how others’ reactions to people who are victimised impact the victim.
Victim-blaming and self-blame
Responses should include material from the course content into the nature of victim-blaming, what makes this more and less likely to occur (especially the role of different cognitive biases) and when and how victims blame themselves. Responses should include a discussion of the cognitive biases discussed in the content.