SOC 418: Crime, Society and the Media

Fall, 2015
Monday Wednesday Friday 12:00-12:50 pm
Instructor Contact Information
Name
Office Location
Office Hours
Email Address
Classroom Location

Leslie-Dawn Quick
6045
M W, 1:00 2:00 pm and appointment
lquick@odu.edu
ED 0232

Course description
This course offers a critical exploration of media portrayals of crime and criminal justice. In addition to
examining traditional news, entertainment genres are also examined. Throughout the course, students will
examine connections between the mass media and crime, culture, politics, society, and individual behavior.
Upon completing this course students should have an understanding of media construction and the relationship
between crime, society, and the media.

Course Objectives

Understand key vocabulary terms associated with the field.

Develop an understanding of criminological and media theories
Critique images of crime and justice within media
Apply critical thinking and analytical skills throughout the course

Required Textbook
Jewkes, Yvonne (2015). Media and Crime, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Ltd. (ISBN:
978-1446272534)

Additional Materials
Additional materials will be posted to Blackboard for student review throughout the course or will be handed
out during class. You will be responsible for reading and reviewing all material provided within the course.

Contact Policy
It is my goal to be available to you as needed. In order to follow University policy, and to ensure I am able to
respond to you, please always send e-mail from your ODU student account (ending in @odu.edu). E-mail
sent from any other address will not be responded to. My preferred method of correspondence is University email; however, I am available during my office hours (unless unforeseen circumstances prevent this) or by
appointment. When e-mailing me, please include the course number (CRJS 418) in the subject line.
Additionally, course related e-mails are professional documents, therefore I expect you to write accordingly.
When I send e-mails to the class, I will ONLY use your ODU.edu e-mail.

Course Requirements
Exam: There will be one exams in this course. Exams will consist of some combination of multiple choice,
multiple answer, matching, true/false, short answer, and/or essay. Exams will be given on Blackboard and you
will not be required to attend class the day of the exam.

All Writing Assignments: Writing is an essential skill. For all writing assignments you must use APA format
and you must include in-text citations and a reference list. You must cite appropriately; citations must be used
for any material or ideas that are not originally yours. Proper grammar, structure and formatting are expected.
This means no slang, no text language or emoticons.
Final Project: Students will be responsible for a final project within this course. The project will demonstrate
knowledge of media and the ability to write and research. Each paper will be double spaced and 12 pt. Times
New Roman font and follow guidelines as assigned. Each paper will be turned in to me on or prior to the due
date. If you have any problems completing this, or any other assignment, please speak to me immediately. Do
not wait to contact me!
You will have the option of turning in a draft prior to the due date of the paper. If you turn in a draft, I will
review and grade the draft for you to improve upon it prior to the due date of the paper. It is highly advised
that you use this option.
Assignments: There will be at least four additional assignments throughout the course. The specifics of each
assignment will be given during the week in which they are assigned.
The final grade in this course will be calculated using the following calculations:
Exam
25%
Final Project
25%
Assignments
50%
Total
100%

Your grades will be available on Blackboard for you to review

Grading System
Grades are assigned in accordance with ODU's current University Catalogue. Grades indicate superior (A),
good (B), satisfactory (C), passing (D), or failing (F). Grading is based upon your performance on items listed
in the Course Requirements section of this syllabus.
Below is the course grade distribution:
A= 94-100%; A- = 90-93%
B+ = 87-89%; B = 84-86%; B- = 80-83%
C+ = 77-79%; C = 74-76%; C- = 70-73%
D+ = 67-69%; D = 64-66%; D- = 60-63%
A record of your grades will be kept within Blackboard. Please use this record to track your progress within the
course. I am always available by appointment, or during my office hours for you to meet with me to discuss
your grades.

Attendance
Students are expected to attend class. Failure to attend class typically reflects within grades and it has been
shown that students who attend class regularly do better on exams and writing assignments. If student
participation and attendance becomes an issue, pop-quizzes will be added and will be worth up to 5% of your

grade. If you are absent on a day of a pop quiz you will receive a 0 unless you have a legitimate excuse (e.g.
doctors note). Please attend class and come prepared.

Late Assignments and Test Attendance

Late assignments will be accepted with the understanding that one letter grade will be deducted for
every day late. If you are one day late, a B letter grade becomes a B- and if you are two days late, a B
will become a C+.
Exam and Make-ups
Arriving after the first person completes their exam will result in a zero on that exam. If you e-mail me, or
speak to me prior to the exam I will allow you to make-up the exam provided that you are able to give
documentation for your absence (doctors note, emergency, accident).

University Policies
College Classroom Conduct
The following standards are intended to define acceptable classroom behavior that preserves academic integrity
and ensures that students have optimum environmental conditions for effective learning.
1. Students must turn off cell phones and pagers during class or have them set to vibrate mode.
2. Classes are expected to begin on time, and students will respect the time boundaries established by the
professor. If classroom doors are locked, students may not knock or seek entrance in other ways.
3. Instructors may require that cell phones and other electronic devices be left on their desks during tests or
examinations.
4. Students must not engage in extraneous conversations during classes. Such acts are considered to be
violations of the Code of Student Conduct.
5. Students will activate their Old Dominion email accounts and check them before each class. If the student
chooses to have his/her messages forwarded to another account, it is the student's responsibility to take the
necessary steps to have them forwarded.
6. Consumption of food and drink during class is prohibited, except when the professor has specifically
approved of such acts.
7. Offensive language, gestures and the like are disrespectful and disruptive to the teaching-learning process.
See: http://studentservices.odu.edu/osja/ccc_pamphlet.pdf.

Academic Integrity
I pledge to support the honor system of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic
dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member if the academic
community, it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the honor system. I will report to Honor
Council hearings if summoned."
The Honor Pledge is taken seriously and will be upheld within this course. Any violations of the honor code or
code of student conduct will be reported immediately.

Plagiarism
Per the university student code of conduct cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and facilitation are
prohibited.
Plagiarism is defined by the code of conduct in section 1530-8 as Using someone elses language, ideas, or
other original material without acknowledging its source in any academic exercise. 4 Examples of plagiarism
include, but are not limited to, the following: submitting a research paper obtained from a commercial research
service, the Internet, or from another student as if it were original work; or making simple changes to borrowed
materials while leaving the organization, content, or phraseology intact. Plagiarism also occurs in a group

project if one or more of the members of the group does none of the groups work and participates in none of
the groups activities, but attempts to take credit for the work of the group.
Violating the code of conduct and committing plagiarism will not be tolerated.
In order to avoid plagiarism, remember to always cite material that is note your own. Also remember that
directly quoting a source requires page numbers and that if you paraphrase you must still cite your source.
Resources for plagiarism help and examples can be found below:
http://al.odu.edu/al/resources/undergrad.shtml
http://al.odu.edu/wts/PlagiarismTutorial/WTSPlagiarismSplash.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html

Students with Special Needs

Old Dominion University is committed to ensuring equal access to all qualified students with disabilities in
accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Office of Educational Accessibility (OEA) is the
campus office that works with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable
accommodations.

If you experience a disability which will impact your ability to access any aspect of my class, please
present me with an accommodation letter from OEA so that we can work together to ensure that
appropriate accommodations are available to you.
If you feel that you will experience barriers to your ability to learn and/or testing in my class but do not
have an accommodation letter, please consider scheduling an appointment with OEA to determine if
academic accommodations are necessary.

The Office of Educational Accessibility is located at 1021 Student Success Center and their phone number is
(757)683-4655. Additional information is available at the OEA website:
http://www.odu.edu/educationalaccessibility/

Withdrawal
Please review the syllabus and course requirements immediately. Participation in this course indicates your
acceptance of the policies, procedures, and objectives outlined within the syllabus. If you are not in agreement
with the syllabus, the amount of work set forth for the course, or feel that this course does not meet your
individuals needs or expectations, please drop the class by the drop/add deadline.
The add/drop deadline for the Fall 2015 semester is September 1st. The last day to withdraw without my
signature is November 3rd.

Course Schedule
This is a tentative schedule for our class lectures and discussions. Be aware that this might be adjusted as the
semester progresses. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss that days reading. If it appears
on the schedule for that day, read it BEFORE attending class.