Assignment Instructions
The Outline & Annotated Bibliography Assignment is the first step towards writing your final paper. It is designed to help you to identify a topic and research question and to help you to gather appropriate resources that will be used in writing your final paper. For this assignment, you will need to locate five academic sources and one non-academic source (case) on your topic. In this assignment, you will outline your case and provide an annotative bibliography of the five academic sources.
Topic
For this assignment, you must first select a topic that interests to you. The topic should relate to one of the broad themes of the class. Below is a list of potential topics, yet feel free to pick something not listed below (provided it is related to one of the course themes). You can look atone of the themes generally, or pick any issue related to social control for your topic.
Possible Topics:
– Organized Crime / Gangs –mafia, motorcycle gangs, Russian mafia, Chinese triad, international organized crime, smuggling/trafficking, prevention issues, etc.
– Drugs –drug laws, addiction, treatment, prevention, impact, stigma, etc.
– White-collar / Corporate Crime –fraud (financial, medical, insurance, etc.), embezzlement, antitrust/insider trading, environmental harm, workplace/product safety
– Gender –workplace, harassment, public/private divide, representation, media, law, etc.
– Sexuality –sex work, LGBTQ identities, criminalization, online, representation, etc.
– Medicalization –construction of illness, mental health, disability, addiction, stigma, etc.
– Bodies –physical appearance, beauty norms, race, eating disorders, etc.
Research Question
The next step it to devise a research question. This is the question that you want to answer with your assignment and will be the main focus of your research paper. You may create your own research question or select one from the list below. Feel free to be creative.
Possible Research Questions
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What are the causes of white-collar/corporate crime?
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How do scholars explain white-collar/corporate crime?
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What can sociological theories tell us about mental health stigma?
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How can white-collar/corporate/organized crime be prevented effectively?
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What is the best way to combat addiction?
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What is the impact of criminalization of sex workers?
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What is the impact of media on conceptions of beauty?
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How has the war on drugs impacted racialized groups?
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How has technology impacted sexuality and relationships?
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How can transnational human trafficking be combated?
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How do approaches to sexual assault prevention vary globally?
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How are conceptions of race and beauty related?
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What is the impact of social media on perceptions of mental health?
Case
Next, you must find a case. This is a specific example of your topic in action. This is a non-academic source, like a news article, media story, blog, or documentary, etc. This does not need to be a legal case. It is a real-world example of your topic will help to provide depth to your analysis and argument in your final paper. You must write a one-paged explanation of why your case is relevant to your topic and research question (see below and the assignment guide for more information). You can find these by doing a Google News search. Do not use a wiki.
#Organized #Crime #Gangs #mafia #motorcycle #gangs #Russian #mafia
