Criminal Theories Research

Overview Theories are not very helpful if you do not feel comfortable using them to analyze criminal behavior. The research essay provides you the opportunity to select a criminal that interests you and look at their actions through a criminological lens.

Instructions

The research paper requires students to select a famous criminal and explain their offending using one (or more) criminological theories.  Criminals can be real or fictional. For example, the essay could explain the offending of Al Capone (a real mobster) or Tony Soprano (a fictional mobster).

A summary of the criminological theory or theories being applied as well as a description of how the theory explains the offending is essential. When writing your paper, you should provide a brief background to the criminal you are discussing.

The majority of your paper should apply the criminological theory(ies) to the criminal offending. You should provide your own critical analysis of how this particular theory explains the individual’s conduct. This may mean discussing any justifications that the criminal gave for their offending, something from their background (perhaps childhood experiences or the like), or from their actual conduct when committing their crime(s). These are just examples.

Students must write between 1800-2200 words. Submissions below 1800 words will not meet the minimum requirement to pass the essay. Penalties for exceeding 2200 words will be calculated at 5% deducted from the final grade for every 10% or part thereof of the word count that is exceeded.

This means that a penalty is deducted as soon as the word count is exceeded. Word counts include in-text references but not bibliographies or cover pages.

Late submissions will be penalized at 5% for every 24 hour period after the deadline that work is late. This means that the first 5% is lost in the first 24 hours a submission is late.

Papers should be written in 12 point, Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing.

A cover page with the student’s details and the total word count (excluding bibliography) is required. Include a cover page with your name, the class, and the total word count.

The paper will also require a reference list/ bibliography of the works cited in the paper.

References should be in the Chicago (author-date) Style. This is a research essay, and independent research (beyond the textbook) is necessary.

There must be a minimum of 10 academic sources. These are peer-reviewed, scholarly sources. Sources such as news websites, Wikipedia, and similar do not count towards the 10 required sources.

Sources that discuss the criminal you discuss will probably not be scholarly but should be included. In other words, you will have non-academic sources (though credible: news articles, investigative reporting)  in addition to the 10 academic sources. Your academic sources will address the particular criminological theory you are applying