TOPICS: Start me up. Introduction to the course requirements and policies. What you should know if you are thinking about staying. What is a competencies acquisition course? What does this mean for in-class activities? Technology in the classroom and WMDs. Why is "The WIre" used? How should you approach "The Wire"? Resources available to you. Developing class norms for speaking and listening. Big themes.

SECTION: KEY IDEAS AND INDICATORS, THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT, AND IMPLICATIONS

TOPICS: The international context of crime in the United States. Making connections across levels. McNulty's floater as an example. Drugs and more. Human trafficking into the US. The idea of economic well being at the national level and the situations it creates.

READ:(1) Hughes, D. M., & Denisova, T. (2003). "Trafficking in women from Ukraine." Final grant report: 2000-IJ-CX-2007. National Institute of Justice. Only executive summary included.

IN CLASS EXERCISE: Gapminder

TOPICS: More on the international context. (1) Can you counter the human trafficking? The challenges. (2) Caribbean violence and economic well being and the World Bank. (3) Quantifying these structural differences. Violence and economic differences across the entire world. (4) Understanding how this plays out locally. The case of Hazleton City, PA. Immigration into US cities: tensions and neighborhood safety?

READ:
(1) Finnegan, W. (May 5, 2008). "The countertraffickers." The New Yorker 44-59.
(2) Sampson, R. J. "Open doors don't invite criminals." New York Times, March 11, 2006. P. A15. Op-ed.

HOMEWORK 1 DUE 9/19

Further discussions of immigration, foreign born, and crime; introduction to the metropolitan community

SECTION: THE METROPOLITAN AREA PART I: HISTORICAL DYNAMICS AND CHANGES PRIOR TO 1970

TOPICS: The Metropolitan Area part I: What is it? What does it mean? How was it changing in the early part of the 20th Century? Roger Lane's industrialization thesis: assimilating immigrants and urban migrants in the 19th and 20th centuries.

READ: Rod McKenzie (1933). The Metropolitan Community. 3-7, 54-58, AND 173-190

IN CLASS MAP EXERCISES: Census regions of the US. Census maps of metro areas, and census data for metro areas. Two MSAs: Philadelphia and Baltimore

TOPICS: 1970 TO TODAY PART II: implications of economic deconcentration for local behaviors and attitudes. What is culture? WILSON'S THESIS PART 2: CULTURAL CHANGES

READ: (1) Wilson: Chapter 3 pp. 51-86

TOPICS: Reviewing WIlson's model and cross-referencing it to the cases of Sabotka, Nick, and Ziggy

READ: Alvarez (2009) The Wire: Truth be Told. New York: HBO: Season 2 overview, episodes 14-25 (pp 122-195).

DRAFT PAPER DUE 10/24

SECTION: OR IS IT JUST CITY SIZE AND THE WHOLE URBAN THING?

TOPICS: City size and crime. The pattern. The connections. The interpretation? The (crazy?) urban personality?
IN CLASS EXERCISE: Using the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics to look up crime differences by city size

READ:
(1) Wirth, L. (1938). Urbanism as a way of life. American Journal of Sociology, 44(1), 1-23.
(2) The Economist (June 23rd, 2011). "A New York state of mind: Urban brains behave differently."

TOPICS:Iimplications for urban, suburban, and rural structural differences. Indicators: classifying counties. What are the key differences in structure? How does this play out in crime rates? ;
IN CLASS EXERCISE: PA County crime rates and urban vs. suburban vs. rural location

READ:
(1) USDA Economic Research Service: Measuring Rurality: Rural-Urban Continuum Codes
ONLINE AT: http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/rurality/ruralurbcon/
(2) USDA Economic Research Service: Measuring Rurality: What is Rural?
ONLINE AT: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Rurality/WhatisRural/

SECTION: REGIONAL DIFFERENCES

TOPICS: Regional violent crime differences in the United States. Evaluating the "culture of honor and economics" thesis

READ: Nisbett, R. E. (1993). Violence and U.S. Regional culture. American Psychologist, 48, pp. 441-449.

SECTION: BRINGING IT HOME

TOPICS: Robbery differences in Philadelphia neighborhoods - place and temperature

READ: Sorg, E., and Taylor, R. B. (in press) Community level impacts of temperature on robbery. Journal of Criminal Justice. READ ONLY: INTRODUCTION, DISCUSSION, AND MAP 1

IN-CLASS EXERCISE: Linking mapped structure to maps of Philadelphia violent crime

FINAL PAPER DUE 11/23

SECTION: LOOKING BEYOND

TOPICS: Thinking about crime as a community CAUSE of something happening, rather than as an outcome

READ: Taylor, R. B. (1995). Impact of crime on communities. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 539, 28-45.

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