Carnegie Mellon University                                                     Instructor: David Wolcott, Ph.D.
Spring 2001 [A3]                                                                      Office: Baker 240F
Credit: 9.0 Units                                                                       Office phone: 412-268-6871
Meetings: TTh, 3:00 ó 4:20                                                    Email: dw4m@andrew.cmu.edu
Location: Porter Hall A21                                                         Office Hours: Monday 11:00-12:00;
                                                                                                           Tuesday, Thursday 10-11:00
 
 
 
 

Overview

In recent years, the United States has suffered through a seemingly unprecedented
epidemic of crime and violence by adolescents and children. The same thing, however,
could have been said of the 1950s, the 1930s, the 1890s, or the 1820s (and frequently
was!). This course examines the history of juvenile delinquency and societal responses to
it between 1800 and the present. It focuses primarily on three areas: criminal behavior
by children and youth, cultural constructions of this behavior, and juvenile justice
agencies designed to regulate it. In doing so, the course will explore the legal and
intellectual foundations of the juvenile justice system, the problem of female delinquency,
patterns of juvenile crime, gangs and gang violence, and recent changes in juvenile justice.
Readings integrate historical, sociological, and legal texts, as well as primary documents
 
 

Course Objectives:

As a result of taking this course, students should be able to:

Understand the historical development of juvenile crime & juvenile justice.

Develop a working knowledge of basic theories of the causes of delinquency and how
    these theories have been put into practice.

Place historical patterns of juvenile crime and juvenile justice within the context of US
    history, particularly the social histories of adolescence and gender.

Analyze contemporary policy issues related to juvenile crime in historical context.
 
 

Expectations

The course will be taught by a combination of discussion and lecture. This design
requires active learning on your part. The assignments have been designed to help you to
engage with the material and to evaluate your learning on that basis.
 

A. Participation and attendance

Class meets every Tuesday and Thursday between 3:00 and 4:20 in Porter A21.
You are expected to attend class regularly and on time, to read the material assigned before
class, and to participate in discussion in a frequent and substantive manner. You should
involve yourselves in class discussion by asking questions, participating in group
activities, and contributing your thoughts, interpretations, and ideas.

Obviously, you need to attend class in order to participate. Attendance will be
recorded. You will be allowed one absence; subsequent absences will result in the loss of
one-third of a letter grade from the "participation" grade for each day missed.
 

B.  Reaction papers

Reaction papers are intended to help you assimilate and think about what you
have read. They should be short (between 1 and 3 pages) essays in response to the
reading assigned for that day. They should describe key ideas from the reading, comment
on your intellectual reaction to it or on issues raised by the material, and possibly raise
questions for discussion.

Reaction papers will be due at the beginning of class on every Tuesday in the
course (Jan. 23 & 30, Feb 6, 13, 20, and 27). You will be required to turn in five of these
six papers; you have your choice of which five. Also, if you are unhappy with your
grade on one of the reaction papers, you can do all six and I will drop the lowest grade.

Papers will be due in class on the dates assigned.  For late papers, one letter grade
will be deducted for each weekday that they are late. Papers are to be typed, proofread,
and double-spaced in a 12-point font.

These papers constitute a substantial portion of your grade for this course. As
such, I will treat them seriously and so should you. If you do them diligently, you will
do well in this course; if not, you will have problems.
 

C. Exams

This course will have a final exam on March 6. It will be in essay format.
Final Exam Preview
 
 

Course Policies

A. Grading

I do all the grading for this course. Please feel free to come to office and discus any
question concerning grading that you might have. I grade on a point system; even if I
put a "letter" grade on your papers, I will indicate how many points you have earned.
At the end of the term, total point out of 100 will be translated into letter grades as
follows: 90 to 100 = A; 80 to 89 = B; etc.

Grades will be distributed in the following way:

Attendance & participation    10%
Reaction papers                      50%
Final Exam                              40%
                                              100%

B. Classroom Behavior.

This course is designed to encourage students to develop arguments and
interpretations concerning history and juvenile justice. Therefore, it is important
that all members of the class feel that they can come to class and express their
ideas in a free and accepting environment. Any actions that might tend to limit
that freedom of expression is discouraged. Please be considerate of your fellow
classmates.

C. Academic Integrity

I expect all students to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity. Any
violations of university policies regarding cheating or plagiarism, as outlined in the
Student Handbook, will not be tolerated.

D. Alternative Arrangements

The Office of Equal Opportunity Services provides support services for both
physically disabled and learning disabled students. For individualized academic
adjustment based on a documented disability, contact Equal Opportunity Services
at eos@andrew.cmu.edu or (412) 268-2012.

The following books are available for purchase at CMU Bookstore

Thomas J. Bernard, The Cycle of Juvenile Justice. New York: Oxford University Press,
1992.

Ruth M. Alexander, The "Girl Problem": Female Sexual Delinquency in New York,
1900-1930. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.

Eric C. Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings: Youth Gangs in Postwar
New York. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
 

A number of photocopies will be on reserve at Hunt Library Circulation Desk and
on-line.
 
 
 
 

Calendar

Tuesday, January 16 - Introduction -- Why kids? Whatís unique about juvenile crime?
 

Thursday, January 18 - The "idea" of delinquency
Reading:
Bernard, Cycle, 3-57
 

Tuesday, January 23 - House of Refuge & Juvenile Courts
Readings:
Bernard, Cycle, 58-107
Julian W. Mack, "The Juvenile Court," Harvard Law Review 23 (December
1909), 104-122. [RESERVE]
 

Thursday, January 25 - The Judicial Revolution in Juvenile Justice
Reading: Bernard, Cycle, 108-153
 

Tuesday, January 30 - The "Girl Problem"
Reading:
Alexander, Girl Problem, 1-66
 

Thursday, February 1 - Gender and Juvenile Justice
Reading:
Alexander, Girl Problem, 69-153
 

Tuesday, February 6 - New approaches to delinquency: psychological
Readings:
Margo Horn, "Gee, Officer Krupke, What Are We to Do?: The Politics of
Professions and the Prevention of Delinquency, 1909-1940," Research in
Law, Deviance, and Social Control 8 (1986): 57-81. [RESERVE]
Margo Horn, "The Moral Message of Child Guidance 1925-1945," Journal of
Social History 18 (Fall 1984): 25-36. [RESERVE]
 

Thursday, February 8 - New approaches to delinquency: crime prevention
Readings:
Henrietta Additon, "The Crime Prevention Bureau of the New York City
Police Department," in Preventing Crime: A Symposium, ed. Sheldon and
Eleanor Glueck (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936), 215-236. [RESERVE]
Ernest W. Burgess, Joseph D. Lohman, and Clifford R. Shaw, "The Chicago
Area Project," in Coping with Crime: Yearbook of the National Probation
Association, edited by Marjorie Bell (New York: National Probation
Association, 1937), 8-28. [RESERVE]
 

Tuesday, February 13 - Origins of Urban Gangs
Reading:
Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, & Egyptian Kings, 3-77
 

Thursday, February 15 - Life and Culture of the Gang
Reading:
Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, & Egyptian Kings, 78-163
 

Tuesday, February 20 - Intervention and Change in Gangs
Reading:
Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, & Egyptian Kings, 164-262

Thursday, February 22 - Modern juvenile violence
Readings:
Philip J. Cook & John H. Laub, "The Unprecedented Epidemic in Youth
Violence," in Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, vol. 24,
Youth Violence, ed. Michael Tonry and Mark H. Moore (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1998), 27-64. [RESERVE]
Greg Donaldson, The Ville, 78-85, 214-224, 227-240 . [RESERVE]
 

Tuesday, February 27 - Getting tough on juvenile crime
Reading:
Barry C. Feld, "Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systemsí Responses to Youth
Violence," in Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, vol. 24,
Youth Violence, ed. Michael Tonry and Mark H. Moore (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1998), 189-261. [RESERVE]
 

Thursday, March 1 - A more feasible juvenile justice?
Readings:
Bernard, Cycle, 154-189
HANDOUT: Articles on recent youth violence
 

Tuesday, March 6 - Final exam
Final Exam Preview