Crime and Punishment
(Urban Studies 110)

Eric Schneider
eschneid@sas.upenn.edu
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Spring 2001

SYLLABUS

Eric Schneider
Assistant Dean and Associate Director for Academic Affairs
Adjunct Associate Professor of History
University of Pennsylvania
Phone: (215) 898-6341
Fax: (215) 573-2023
Listserv:   urbs110-301-01a@lists

Course Description

How have definitions of crime and forms of punishment changed over time? What have been the uses and legacy of extra-legal violence? How have the forms of crime and punishment reflected the structure of American society? Using both historical and contemporary texts, this seminar will explore these and other questions and in the process analyze the development of juvenile justice, the organization of corrections, the application of the death penalty, and the rise of the drug economy.

Organization

Perhaps the most important thing to know about this course is that it is affiliated with Speaking Across the University (SATU). The basic assignments in the class are designed to develop your speaking and listening skills: class participation, leadership of book discussions, and participation in organized debates. The second important thing to know is that this class is a seminar. That is, the success of the class will depend on your ability and willingness to come to class prepared to discuss the reading. Thirdly, written work is limited to a 5-8 page position paper, based on one of the two debates you have participated in, and a take home final of no more than five pages in length. Finally, the course is interdisciplinary. It resides in a juncture among history, sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice, which is why urban studies is the perfect place to house it.

Readings

(House of Our Own Bookstore, 39th and Spruce, and Van Pelt reserve)

David Courtwright, Violent Land: Single Men and Social Disorder from the Frontier to the Inner City (Harvard University Press, 1996)

Fox Butterfield, All God's Children: The Boskett Family and the American Tradition of Violence (Avon Books, 1996)

Mark Fleisher, Beggars and Thieves: Lives of Urban Street Criminals (University of Wisconsin Press, 1995)

Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Vintage, 1977)

Eric Schneider, In the Web of Class: Delinquents and Reformers in Boston, 1810s-1930s (New York University Press, 1992)

Eric Schneider, Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings: Youth Gangs in Postwar New York (Princeton University Press, 1999)

Philippe Bourgois, In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio (Cambridge University Press, 1999)
Mumia Abu-Jamal, Live from Death Row (Addison Wesley, 1995)
See also the online review of this book by Wendy S. Pogorzelski at http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol4is2/wendyp.html that originally appeared in the Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 4(2) (1996) 42-47.
Anthony Lewis, Gideon's Trumpet (Vintage, 1964)

Assignments

Each student is expected to be part of a team leading discussion at least twice during the semester and to participate in class discussion in all other classes. There are six debate topics listed on the syllabus and each student will participate in two debates. There will be one paper, based on one of the debates, due on the last day of class and there will be a take-home final exam.

Grades

Class participation and leading class discussions are worth 30% of the final grade, the two debates are worth 40%, the position paper is worth 10% and the take home final is worth 20%.

 

Class Schedule

Jan 16:   Introduction

Jan. 18:   Deviance and Definitions of Crime Discussion Orientation

Jan. 23:   Library Session (Goldstein Electronic Classroom, 114 Van Pelt)

Jan. 25:   Discussion: Courtwright, Violent Land, pp. 1-151
                Debate Orientation and sign-up

Jan. 30:   Discussion: Courtwright, Violent Land, pp. 152-280

Feb. 1:   Discussion: Butterfield, All God's Children, prologue-p. 175

Feb. 6:   Discussion: Butterfield, All God's Children, pp. 176-331

Feb. 8:   Discussion: Fleisher, Beggars and Thieves, chaps. 1-3

Feb. 13:   Discussion: Fleisher, Beggars and Thieves, chaps. 4-end

Feb. 15:   Discussion: Foucault, Discipline and Punish, pp. 1-24, 32-65, 82-103, 114-126

Feb. 20:   Discussion: Foucault, Discipline and Punish, pp. 141-156, 162-206, 218-248, 257-282, 293-308

Feb. 22:   Discussion: Schneider, Web of Class, pp. 1-90

Feb. 27:   Discussion: Schneider, Web of Class, pp. 91-191

Mar. 1:   Debate 1 - Prisons should be privatized

Mar. 6:   Tour: Eastern States Penitentiary

Mar. 8:   Debate 2 - Abolish the juvenile court

Mar. 20:   Discussion: Schneider, Vampires, preface-p. 105

Mar. 22:   Discussion: Schneider, Vampires, pp. 106-262

Mar. 27:   Debate 3 - Register all guns

Mar. 29:   Discussion: Bourgois, In Search of Respect, pp. 1-173

Apr. 3:   Discussion: Bourgois, In Search of Respect, pp. 174-337

Apr. 5:   Debate 4 - End mandatory sentencing

Apr. 10:   Discussion: Abu-Jamal, Live from Death Row, preface-49, 62-70, 79-81, 88-96, 100-117, 121-126, 142-188

Apr. 12:   Debate 5 - Drugs should be legalized

Apr. 17:   Discussion: Lewis, Gideon's Trumpet, pp. 1-122

Apr. 19:   Discussion: Lewis, Gideon's Trumpet, pp. 123-250

Apr. 24:   Debate 6 - Abolish the death penalty

Apr. 26:   Wrap-up: final paper due