CRJ 715

This course will concentrate on one of the most controversial subjects in America today, the “war on drugs.” The course will cover the history of drug use and drug legislation, with special focus on the step-up “war” that began in the early 1970s. Special emphasis will be on the impact of the drug war on racial minorities, women and their communities.

Course goals:

After completing this course, you will be better equipped to engage in intelligent thinking and debate about this important problem in American society. You will know, in some detail, the nature of the “drug problem” and its effects, but especially the effects of responding to the problem by using the legal system. The debate over whether or not drugs should be legalized will also be covered.

Content of the Course: Each day that the class meets we will have a general discussion of the assigned readings for that particular day. Bring with you a set of notes and an outline of what you consider to be main “talking points.” You will turn in a copy of the “talking points” after class. Each student will, in turn, give a brief overview of his or her talking points. This will be followed by a general discussion.

Grading:

Your grade will be based upon class participation, commentaries, a book review, research proposal and the final research paper. The relative weights of each of the above are as follows:

Assignment Points

Review of Gray’s Drug Crazy 30

Class Participation (including summaries) 30

Initial “statement of the problem” 10

Research proposal 20

Rough draft of research paper 40

Research paper: 100

Written assignments:

Book Review: You will be required to write a brief (maximum of 1,000 words or 3-4 pages) review of the book by Mike Gray.

Research paper: Yes, there will be a research paper, but no longer than twenty (20) pages, plus the bibliography. This will be done in three stages. First, an initial “statement of the problem” will be written (maximum of one page, plus references). Second, a proposal will be submitted (maximum of five pages plus minimum of five references). The day this is turned in each student will make an oral presentation of his or her proposal, followed by a “Q & A” session. On another date your revision will be due (responding to critiques). Third, a “rough draft” will be submitted. Fourth, the final paper. Note the various due dates for these below. More will be said about this during the course.

Note: Send assignments (prior to due date) via an e-mail attachment (MS Word or Word Perfect) to my home e-mail: profrgs@cox.net.

Course Assignments:

The following schedule should be viewed as an ideal plan, subject to change. If there are any changes, they will be announced in class. Students will be responsible for coming to class and being aware of any changes.

Disability Statement:

If you have a documented disability that may require assistance, you will need to contact the Disability Resource Center for coordination in your academic accommodations. The DRC is located in the Reynolds Student Services Complex in room 137. The DRC phone number is 895-0866 (TDD - 895-0652).

Schedule of Assignments and Exams

Date Topic Assignment

8/28 General overview of course none

9/4 Labor Day

9/11 Drugs in Context Reinarman & Levine (R&L), Ch. 1-

2; Inciardi, Ch. 1-3; "CIA and the Drug War"

Initial Statement of the Problem due on this date

9/18 Drug Use & Abuse R & L, Ch. 3; Inciardi, Ch. 4

9/25 Drug Use & Abuse R & L, Ch. 4, 7; Inciardi, Ch. 5-6

10/2 Drugs & Crime R & L, Ch. 6; Inciardi, Ch. 7

10/9 Oral presentation of research proposal None

Research Proposal due on this date

10/16 Other cultures and drugs R & L, Ch. 9-10

Gender & race issues R & L, Ch. 6

10/23 The “war on drugs” Inciardi, Ch. 9; R & L, Ch. 11-14

10/30 Drug War Crimes Miron, pp. 1-42

Revised Research Proposal due on this date

11/06 Drug War Crimes Miron, rest of book

11/13 Review and discussion of Mike Gray’s book

Review of Gray’s book due this date

11/20 No Class – Thanksgiving break

11/27 Alternatives R & L, Ch. 15-17 + epilogue

Rough draft of research paper due this date

12/4 Alternatives Inciardi, Ch. 10 + epilogue

12/11 Final Papers due, class wrap-up

Research Proposal: Some Guidelines

The “initial statement of the problem” entails presenting to the reader the nature of the problem to be explored; this should be about a page or two.

The “research proposal” is a brief summary of a particular “problem” or one or more “key questions/issues” that will require some research to explore and will involve some literature review. The “problem” could be the relationship between two or more variables (e.g., gender and the drug war, race and the drug war; police corruption and the drug war, the CIA and the drug war, etc.). This will be a more detailed elaboration of the “initial statement of the problem.” A minimum of five pages is required, along with at least five references.

Much later (when you start your thesis/professional paper) would come a brief summary of the methods you will use to conduct this study (e.g., field research, existing/secondary data research, survey research via a questionnaire or interview, etc.) and, finally, what do you expect to find (i.e., what are your major hypotheses) and how will you present these findings.

You can use this as a general guide for the thesis you will eventually write for this graduate program. This exercise might help you at least get a head start on writing your thesis, even if you have already started.

The structure of a research paper:

1. Abstract - a brief summary of the paper (a short paragraph of about 100 words).

2. Introduction - introduces key terms and the research focus (here’s where your initial statement of the problem will come in handy, along with the research proposal.

3. Literature review - detailed examination of existing research relevant to the topic.

4. Methodology - detailed description of how the data were gathered and analyzed. In this class, you will be doing “secondary data analysis” so in this section you will outline your primary sources (e.g., Bureau of Justice Statistics, various Internet sites).

5. Findings/results - the presentation of the information uncovered during the research process.

6. Discussion and/or implications - examination of the findings and consideration of how they may impinge on relevant groups, communities, or agencies or how they fit into previous research/theory.

7. Conclusion – this is where you finally can express some of your own opinions on the problem you have researched.

8. References, notes, and/or appendices.

Format of Research Paper: Fonts, pagination, etc.

There are many different formats used by writers these days. I would prefer you use a font size of 12 using “Times New Roman.” Put page numbers at the bottom, either in the center or on the right (title page should not have a page number, so start pagination on the second page). There is a standard recommended by the UNLV Graduate College, which you can get from the UNLV web site. There are plenty of other examples and formats available by just reviewing some standard academic journals. Examples can also be found on my web site, under the heading “Research Articles.” You may use the style found in many academic journals or in one of the books assigned for this class.

A word on “notes” and “references”

In many research papers/books/articles there is a section at the very end, before you get to the references section, known as “endnotes” since they appear at the end, in contrast to “footnotes,” which are found at the bottom of the page.^{^[1]} References are put at the every end of the paper/report, after the endnotes (except whenever I write a paper the “notes” are literally at the end, after the references), usually following some standard practice (e.g., APA style). Sometimes the endnotes contain all the references in addition to “explanatory notes.”

Notes

[1]. Some have called this an “explanatory note” where you want to make a point or provide some additional information (e.g., a suggested book to read) that does not really need to be in the body of the text.