Syllabus
SOCY330701 Race in the Criminal Justice System
Spring 2016
Tuesday, Thursday: 9:00-10:15am
Gasson Hall 207
Professor Bates – batesju@bc.edu
Office: McGuinn 410A
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:15-12:15pm, ALSO by appointment
This “Race in the Criminal Justice System” course is designed to introduce students to
sociological and legal analysis of the American justice system as a form of raced social
control. We will examine the history of raced social control in the U.S. and its implications
for the functioning of American democracy. We will also examine how the criminal justice
system intersects with other systems of social control, like the welfare state and foster care.
This course will approach this topic with an intersectional lens, in which race; gender, class
and sexuality are all analyzed as integral parts of the social construction of “criminality.”
Course Expectations
1. This is a reading and participation intensive course. Readings are due on the
date they are listed. Come to class with HARD COPIES of the readings and be
ready to discuss them. THERE WILL BE READING POP QUIZES IF NEEDED.
2. If you miss class, you are responsible for getting notes from a classmate
3. A doctor, school administrator or other certified official must verify an
absence in order for it to be excused. Notes from parents or other legal
guardians will not be accepted
4. DO NOT come to class more than five minutes late unless you have
permission from the professor. After the class has been in session for five
minutes the door will be shut. DO NOT ENTER IF THE DOOR IS CLOSED
NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN CLASS
1. No computers will be allowed out in class. If you have a special reason why
you need to use a computer to take notes, please schedule a meeting with me.
2. No phones are allowed out in class. If you have a phone out in class it will
negatively impact your attendance grade.
Grades
1. 20% Class Participation/Attendance
Class attendance is obligatory and is a part of your participation grade;
however, you do get one automatic excused absence during the semester.
This grade will include discussion questions posted to Canvas, participation
in discussion and IF NEEDED pop-quizzes.
2. 50% Written Exams
Exam 1 will be worth 25% of your grade and will be a take home written
exam. You will be able to choose from two prompts and it will be a five-page
paper due in class on 2/23. Exam 2 will be worth 25% of your grade and will
also be a take home exam. You will be able to chose from two prompts and it
will be a five-page paper due in class on 3/22
3. 30% Final Written Paper – Will be a eight to ten page paper due in class on
the day of the final. It will be a prompt that connects readings throughout the
syllabus
Discussion Questions
You must post discussion question for each reading the night before class at
11:59pm to Canvas. This question should indicate that you have done the full
reading. The first two weeks of class we will practice constructing discussion
questions in class and you do not need to post them to Canvas. Starting the third
week of classes you need to post discussion questions, i.e. on Monday 2-1 by
11:59pm you need to post your discussion question on the “Punishment After
Slavery” reading.
Extra Credit
There will be opportunities for extra credit for each section of the syllabus
after the “Introduction to Race and the Criminal Justice System” Section (i.e. for “A
Brief History of Racialized Social Control” etc.). You may only turn in one extra
credit for each section. The extra credit must be turned in by 11:59pm via email to
me on the last day of classes of the section (i.e. “A Brief History of Racialized Social
Control” extra credit must be turned in by 11:59pm on 2-23)
The extra credit is a four-page paper that thematically connects two of the
readings from the section. For each extra credit given, you will get two points added
to your final grade.
NO EXTRA CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER.
Grade Scaling
94-100=A
90-93=A86-89= B+
82-85=B
78-81=B74-77=C+
Lateness Policy
70-73=C
66-69=C62-65=D+
58-61=D
54-47=D53-00=F
Extensions on assignments will only be given in exceptional circumstances
with documentation from a coach or dean. Otherwise, for every day late, a half letter
grade will be taken from the total grade of the exam.
Absences
You will have one automatic excused absence and discussion question post.
All other absences will only be excused if there is: (1) an EMERGENCY, defined as a
death in the family or a contagious/incapacitating illness, or (2) an out-of-town
sports event for athletes. In such cases, you will need to produce a note from your
dean, coach, or doctor.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a standard of utmost importance in this class.
Guidelines for academic integrity in written work are posted on the Boston College
website at:
bc.edu/bc_org/avp/enmgt/stserv/acd/univ.html#integrity
If you have any questions pertaining to the academic integrity guidelines, please
come and talk with me. If you are caught violating Boston College’s policies on
academic integrity, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment and the
appropriate Dean will be notified.
Disability Policy
Boston College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations and
integrated access for students with disabilities to all available academic, social and
recreational programs and activities. Appropriate support and referral services are
provided by the Disability Services Office, which serves students with hearing,
visual, mobility, medical and psychiatric concerns.
If you are a student with a documented learning disability or ADHD and want
accommodations in this course, please contact Kathy Duggan (617) 552-8093,
dugganka@bc.edu , at the Connor Family Learning Center. If you are seeking
accommodations for any other disability, including temporary disabilities please
contact Paulette Durrett, (617) 552-2470, paulette.durrett@bc.edu . Advance notice
and appropriate documentation are required for accommodations.
The Classroom as a Safe Space/Ally
“Race in the Criminal Justice System” is a welcoming, supportive and safe
environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, and
questioning (LGBTQ) students. When expressing your sentiments you should use “I
think…” statements, and be sure to not cut off or belittle other students sentiments.
Books To Buy
 Alexander, Michelle. 2010. The New Jim Crow: In the Age of Colorblindness.
New York: The New Press.
 Roberts, Dorothy. 1998. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the
Meaning of Liberty. New York: Vintage.
Readings marked with an (*) indicates that it is from one of these books
Books on Reserve in the Library
 Alexander, Michelle. 2010. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness. New York: The New Press.
 Patillo, Mary E. 2000. Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril Among the Black
Middle Class. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
 Roberts, Dorothy. 1998. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the
Meaning of Liberty. New York: Vintage.
ALL OTHER READINGS ON ERESERVE
Reading Schedule
Note: The instructor reserves the right to modify the syllabus at any point
during the course
I.
II.
Introduction to Race and the Criminal Justice System
 Tuesday 1/19 - A Review of the Syllabus and Canvas Course Site
 Thursday 1/21 – The Broader Implications of Imprisonment
Reading:
1.) The New Jim Crow – “Introduction” (pp. 1-19)*
2.) “Color Blind Racism” in Race, Class and Gender in the United
States, 7th ed. pp. 131-138. (EMAILED TO CLASS)
A Brief History of Racialized Social Control in the U.S.
 Tuesday 1/26 – History of Racialized Social Control
Reading
1.) The New Jim Crow – “The Rebirth of Caste (pp.20-59)*
 Thursday 1/28 – Slavery and Social Control
Reading
1.) Killing the Black Body -“Reproduction in Bondage”(pp. 2255)*
2.) Dark Matters – “Notes on Surveillance Studies” (ONLY
“Racializing Surveillance” pp. 50-55)
 Tuesday 2/2 – Post Emancipation and Social Control
Reading
1.) Adamson, Christopher R. 1983. “Punishment After Slavery:
Southern Penal State Systems, 1865-1890”, Social Problems
30 (5): 276-291.
 Thursday 2/4 – Post Emancipation and Social Control Continued
1.) Blackmon, Douglas. 2009. “An Industrial Slavery” pp. 39-58
in Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black
Americans from the Civil War to World War II. New York:
Anchor.
 Tuesday 2/9 – Early Twentieth Century Eugenics and Social Control
Reading
1.) “The Dark Side of Birth Control”, Killing the Black Body, pp.
56-75*
 Thursday 2/11 - The Civil Rights Era and Social Control
Reading
1.) “The Dark Side of Birth Control”, Killing the Black Body, pp.
75-103*
 Tuesday 2/16 – The Civil Rights Era and Social Control
Reading
1.) Jones, Charles. 1988. “The Political Oppression of the Black
Panther Party 1966-1971: The Case of the Oakland Bay
Area”, Journal of Black Studies 18 (4): 415-434.
 Thursday 2/18 – The Situation Today
Reading
1.) Lipsitz, George. 1995. “The Possessive Investment in
Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the ‘White’
Problem in American Studies”, American Quarterly 47 (3):
369-187.
 Tuesday 2/23 – First Exam Due.
III.
1) Film Viewing of “White Like Me: Race, Racism and White
Privilege in America”
Criminal Justice: Interlocking Systems
 Thursday 2/25 – The Role of Surveillance
Reading
1.) Fiske, John. 1998. “Surveilling the City: Whiteness, the Black
Man and Democratic Totalitarianism”, Theory Culture and
Society 15 (2): 67-88.
 Tuesday 3/1 – The School to Prison Pipeline
1.) Wald, Johanna & Daniel Losen. “Out of Sight: The Journey
through the School to Prison Pipeline” pp. 23- 35 in
Invisible Children in Society and its Schools, 3rd ed. Brooks,
Sue ed. New York: Routledge.
 Thursday 3/3 The School to Prison Pipeline
Reading
1.) Skiba, Russell et. al. 2002. “The Color of School Discipline:
Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionately in School
Punishment”, Urban Review 34 (4): 317-342
 Tuesday 3/8 Spring Break
 Thursday 3/10 Spring Break
 Tuesday 3/15 Connection between the Criminal Justice and Medical
Systems
Reading
1.) Killing the Black Body, “Making Reproduction a Crime” (pp.
150-202)*
 Thursday 3/17 – Connection Between the Criminal Justice and
Foster Care Systems
Reading
1.) Roberts, Dorothy. 2012. “Prison, Foster Care, and the
Systematic Punishment of Black Mothers”, UCLA Law
Review 59: 1476-1499.
 Tuesday 3/22 – Second Exam Due
1.) Film Viewing of “Big Mama”
 Thursday 3/24 Easter Break – No Class
IV.
The Effects of a Raced Criminal Justice System
 Tuesday 3/29 Effects on Neighborhoods
Reading
1.) Websdalve, Neil. 2001. “Crack and the Cracks in Neoliberal
Democracies”, pp. 150-175 in Policing the Poor: From Slave
Plantation to Public Housing. Boston, MA: Northeastern
University.
 Thursday 3/31 Effects on Neighborhoods
Reading
1.) Websdalve, Neil. 2001. “Crack and the Cracks in Neoliberal
Democracies”, pp. 175-191 in Policing the Poor: From Slave
Plantation to Public Housing. Boston, MA: Northeastern
University.
 Tuesday 4/5 Effects on Neighborhoods
Reading
1) 1.) Wacquant, Loic. “Deadly Symbiosis: When Ghetto and
Prison Meet and Mesh”, Punishment and Society 3(1): 95-134.
 Thursday 4/7 Effects on Neighborhoods
Reading
1.) Patillo, Mary. 2013. “Neighborhood Networks and Crime”
pp. 68-91 in Black Pickets Fences: Privilege and Peril Among the
Black Middle Class. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
 Tuesday 4/12 Effects on Labor
Reading
1.) Davis, Angela. 1998. “Race and Criminalization: Black
Americans and the Punishment Industry” pp. 264-279 in
The House That Race Built, edited by Wahneema Lubiano.
New York: Vintage.
 Thursday 4/14 Effects on Labor
Reading
1.) Chang, Tracy and Douglas Thompkins. 2002. “Corporations
Go to Prisons: The Expansion of Corporate Power in the
Correctional Industry” in Labor Studies Journal 27(1): 45-64.
 Tuesday 4/19 Effects on Labor
Reading
1.) Haney, Lynne A. 2010. “Working Through Mass
Incarceration: Gender and Politics of Prison Labor from
East to West” in Signs 36(1): 73-97.
 Thursday 4/21 Effects on Civic Engagement
Reading
1.) The New Jim Crow, “The Cruel Hand” pp. 140-178*
 Tuesday 4/26 Effects on Civic Engagement
Reading
1.) Behrens, Angela, Christopher Uggen and Jeff Manza. 2003.
“Ballot Manipulation and the ‘Menace of Negro
Domination’: Racial Threat and Felon Disenfranchisement
in the United States, 1850-2002”, American Journal of
Sociology 109(3): 559-605.
 Thursday 4/28 Race and Police Practice
Reading
1) Durr, Marlese. 2015. “What is the Difference Between
Slave Patrols and Modern Day Policing? Institutional
Violence in a Community of Color in Critical Sociology
(41): 873-879.
2) Oggletree, Charles J. Jr. 2010. “Introduction: The Cop
and the Professor” and “’Keep the Cars Coming:’ What
Really Happened?” pp. 9-40 in The Presumption of Guilt:
The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Race, Class and
Crime in America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Tuesday 5/3 Race and Police Practice
Reading
1) Bloom, Lisa. 2014. “Introduction: The Sixth Juror” pp. 534 in Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon
Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat it.
Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.
 Thursday 5/5 LAST DAY OF CLASSES –FILM VIEWING OF
“FRUITVALE STATION”
Reading
1) Russell, Katheryn K. 1998. “Racial Discrimination or
Disproportionate Offending” pp. 26-47 in The Color of
Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism,
Police Harassment and Other Macroaggressions. New
York: New York University Press.