Essay Instructions: Your term paper topic is "Homicide in Puerto Rico." According to a New York Times article, New York City police reported about 600 murders occurred during 2003, while Puerto Rico police reported almost 800 murders occurred during 2003. Assume the following:
you have been hired as a criminal justice expert by the Puerto Rico homicide investigation authority;
this authority wants to know what is causing this type of crime;
this authority wants to know what it can do to prevent this type of crime; and
you have to submit your professional report to this authority.
The term paper must be between 7 and 10 pages in length. The term paper length does not include the title page, table of contents page, or reference page.
The term paper must have a title page. The title page must have the title of the term paper, the student's name, the student's address, and the name of the course.
The term paper must have a table of contents. The table of contents must indicate the pages on which each portion or section of the paper begins. This will look like the table of contents of a book.
The term paper must have an "abstract." An abstract is a short statement of the central ideas in the term paper. The abstract must be between 25 and 50 words in length.
The term paper must have a "statement of the problem." The statement of the problem identifies the topic discussed and the issues pertaining thereto. For purposes of this term paper, it is a one or two paragraph long discussion of the topic and identification of major issues relating to the topic.
The "statement of the problem" section of the term paper might identify many issues relating to the topic. However, after the "statement of the problem" section, discuss only the major issues you identified.
The term paper must have a recommendation section. It should briefly summarize the issues raised in the term paper, discuss your recommendations, and note how your recommendations are or are not supported by the facts and expert opinion to which you refer in your paper.
There must be a reference section of the term paper, using the APA citation format. If you do not know what the APA citation format is, then look at your textbooks and see how these authors cite the works on which they relied to write their documents. Check the External Links area for links about APA style. If you still are confused, visit a library and ask a reference librarian to show you an APA citation style document.
The term paper must rely upon relevant facts and expert opinion. The term paper must cite at least five peer-reviewed journal articles and scholarly books. THIS MEANS - DO NOT CITE NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE ARTICLES!!! The APA citation format must be used.
The only references you may cite are peer-reviewed, professional journal articles (e.g., articles published in Crime and Delinquency, Police Quarterly, Social Problems, American Psychological Review), law review articles, scholarly books, federal and state case law (i.e., appellate court decisions), state or federal statutes (including references to their legislative history), and government publications (e.g., Uniform Crime Reports, National Institute of Justice publications, U.S. Census data).
Of the references cited, there must be: a) at least one from a scholarly book (i.e., an edited volume or full-length book) published between 1900 and 1970 - This provides you another opportunity to read the books of the theorists we discuss in this course - your textbook only briefly summarizes what the theorists say; b) at least one from a scholarly book (i.e., an edited volume or full-length book) published after 2000 - this will show that you are familiar with current research and data in this field; and c) at least one from a criminal justice professional journal published in or after January 2005 - this will show that you know how to find the latest information in this field - if you do the assignments as noted at the end of each lesson they will know how to find this information. If you need help finding reading materials, please go to a library and ask a reference librarian for help.
Each section of the term paper must have a separate heading and same must correspond to the page numbers noted on the Table of Contents. Placing a heading at the beginning of each section of the paper makes the discussion in the paper easier to follow. Headings also improve the paper's visual presentation. Among the headings your paper should have are: a) Abstract; b) Statement of the Problem; c) four to seven word statement of the first issue discussed (including a discussion of theories of crime and delinquency "causing" homicide); d) four to seven word statement of the second issue discussed (including a discussion of theories of crime and delinquency "causing" homicide); and e) Recommendations.
The term paper must use the proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If a direct quotation is more than two lines long, make certain you single space and indent it.
Points will be subtracted for all technical flaws in the term paper.
The term paper may not contain any plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when a person represents someone else?s words, ideas, phrases, sentences or data as one?s own work. When a student submits work that includes such material, the source of that information must be acknowledged through complete and accurate references. All verbatim statements must be acknowledged by means of quotation marks.
Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to the following:
One person quoting another?s words directly without acknowledging the source;
Using another?s ideas, opinions or theories without acknowledging the source, even if they have been completely paraphrased in one?s own words;
Using facts, statistics or other illustrative material taken from a source, without acknowledging the source, unless the information is common knowledge;
Using words or work of others taken from the Internet without acknowledging the source(s).
