You might study a specific piece or kind of legislation or a particular approach to crime control and abatement, such as crime mapping or COMPSTAT. Gun control laws might be assessed in terms of levels of violence and violence threat. Approaches to crime risk analysis might be evaluated. You could examine an individual program designed to prevent or intervene in criminogenic processes, such as substance abuse programs for youth. You could look at efforts to improve the fairness, efficiency, and efficacy of the court system or at sentencing criteria and reduction of discriminatory practices. You might want to focus on procedures intended to incapacitate offenders, such as three strikes laws, or on programs to reduce recidivism, such as treatment. Programs assisting individuals to avoid or to cope with victimization or intended to promote restorative justice would be appropriate for study. Any efforts to improve the effectiveness and public accountability of such policies and programs through research and evaluation may be examined. Many more potential topics are available for practitioner-scholars in this study area, including policies and programs relevant to your own professional activities or future aspirations.

***Define and discuss the project topic you selected briefly but precisely in a 200-word essay. Generally, you want to explore the policy, why it was developed, how it addresses a criminal justice issue, how effective it has been, and the social changes it seeks to bring about. Please include a working title.

***Conclude this assignment with an annotated bibliography of five peer-reviewed journal articles related to your topic. It is not necessary to read beyond the titles and abstracts of articles for this assignment. Summarize each source and suggest how the article might relate to your topic in 50 to 75 words for each annotation.

***Specifically, you must ensure that your concept essay and annotated bibliography:

***Identifies the criminal justice policy or program targeted for societal change within the United States that you selected for your project.
Identifies scholarly materials that inform the discussion of the selected criminal justice policy or program.

In the first component, Concept Paper and Annotated Bibliography, you will write a short paper describing the policy you wish to study for the project. Additionally, you will provide an annotated bibliography of five resources related to the topic.