“IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE
UNTIL IT IS DONE.”
“IF YOU WANT TO MAKE
PEACE WITH YOUR ENEMY,
YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH
YOUR ENEMY. THEN HE
BECOMES YOUR PARTNER.”
NELSON MANDELA
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE
ENGAGED SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT
Juvenile Delinquency Class
Sociology 362 - Spring 2014
40 students
SOCIOLOGY 362: JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
 Course catalog description of the course:
 “The nature and extent of delinquency. Consideration of
theories, delinquent subculture, and programs for control
and prevention.”
Course description from my last syllabus
 The Juvenile Delinquency course will investigate the nature
and extent of delinquency. We will consider theories, how
the category of delinquency is constructed, what are
considered delinquent subculture, and the formal and
informal social organizations and how they are used for
control and prevention. We will also investigate juvenile
delinquency from a cross-cultural perspective.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS NEEDS:
 Do The Write Thing Needs:
 Outreach to middle schools in
Boston Public School System
 Research on systemic issues of
violence
 Content analysis of essays
 Recognition ceremony
 Breaking the Cycle of Violence
Initiative Needs:
 Content analysis of essays
 Building essay to practice models
 Peace Circles Needs:
 Monitor and administrate social
media
 Facilitate Peace Circles in
Timility Middle School
 Outreach to other teachers and
schools to introduce Peace
Circles
 Changing Lives Through
Literature Needs:
 Facilitate the reading,
discussing, and reflective write
at Dorchester and Chelsea
Juvenile Probation Department
 Develop curriculum resources
CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
Once you know something, you can no longer
use ignorance as a reason for inaction.
Once you know something, you are civically
obligated to act on that knowledge.
Use your knowledge to start where you are and
grow from there.
LEARNING GOALS
Academic
 Understand social construction of delinquency
 Identify factors/variables that contribute to delinquency
 Politics 101: how to identify a community issue, organize around
the issue, develop action plan, and reach desired outcome
 Theories of delinquency
 Assessed through a policy/program research paper & reflection
exercises
Inter & Intra Personal
 Group work one day a week to discuss community work
experience
 Work on joint project outcomes in weekly group
 Assed through the three reflection exercises
LEARNING GOALS
Diversity
 Identify the race, class, and gender intersection with the social
construction of delinquency
 Identify the disproportionate minority contact with the juvenile
justice system and why
 Assessed through use of personal reflection journals responding
to specific questions and research paper
Social responsibility & Democratic Citizenship
 How to apply the theories to site specific issue
 How to challenge the disproportionate minority contact
 Assessed through the three reflection exercises and research
paper.
THREE REFLECTION EXERCISES
 1. Journals
 Linking course content – using questions such as “what course concepts
from this weeks material can be applied to your work at the community
partner site?”
 Self Awareness – using questions such as “which of your skills, maybe
newly realized skills, have been an asset at the community partner site?”
 Civically engaged person – using questions such as “what does a civically
minded person in your chosen field do?” “ What experience in this course
has impacted your thoughts on what kind of community member you
want to be?”
 Social justice/social change – ask question such as “what conditions of
inequality make the service necessary?” and “what next steps do you
think you could take to better understand these underlying inequities.”
 Tool of journaling will be the double-entry journal: in one column they will
list incidents, observations, and personal thoughts of their community
work. In another column they will list key issues from classroom discussion
and readings. Conclude with a paragraph discuss relationships with course
material and they community experience
THREE REFLECTION EXERCISES
Presentations
 Advocate for the community partner project using
concepts learned in the classroom to further the
agencies goals. Location of presentation to be
determined.
Multimedia & technology
 Webpage design
 Twitter/blog
 Online report of research recommendations posted
to BCVI’s Webpage.