Crime Science

Department of Criminology and Justice Studies
PROFESSOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Office hours: by appointment – in person, phone or other agreed upon method

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Crime science is the application of scientific methods and knowledge from many disciplines to the development of practical and ethical ways to reduce crime and increase security (Wortley, et al, 2018).

This course will interrogate this definition as we examine the social as well as the political dimensions of science as it relates to crime and the pursuit of justice in society. To do so we will examine topics such as predictive policing, data justice, and the use of machine learning technology in criminal justice.

Students will learn about the many practices that make up “crime science” as well as how science, technology and society interact in this area.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completion of this course, the student should:

• Possess a clear understanding of the practices of crime science.
• Address the ethical and political implications of crime science.
• Understand how the police and other criminal justice entities use empirical practices to address crime.
• Know the basic legal issues about technology use in criminal justice, including relevant case law and the regulatory context of civil rights, crime prevention, and security.
• Have gained a working knowledge of the technology tools and applications currently used in crime science.

PLACE IN THE PROGRAM
This is the foundational, and required, course for undergraduate students who select the Crime Science and Analysis degree concentration. Students will take this course at the start of their CSA curriculum. The course will also serve as a program elective for students who select the Justice Studies and Criminal Justice concentrations.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
All reading will be available through Blackboard.

CITATIONS
We will be using APA style in this class. There are many citation guides available online and one of my favorites is OWL from Purdue University: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/genera l_format.html

COURSE FORMAT
Each week new material will be posted by Monday 12pm. I will generally post two weeks at a time so you can work ahead if you’d like.

OVERVIEW OF GRADED ASSIGNMENTS
WEEKLY READING HIGHLIGHTS (80 POINTS TOTAL; UP TO 10 POINTS PER WEEKLY SET):
You will be expected to submit weekly reading highlights via Blackboard about the readings for the week ahead. Your highlights should consist of THREE bullet points, which must be in complete, grammatically correct sentences. Include citations where necessary.

These bullet points may include any combination of the following:

• a key takeaway from the reading;
• an interesting finding or theory that you never considered before and why you found it interesting;
• something from the reading related to a current news event; or
• a thought-provoking discussion question that you would like to share with the class.

Please have fun with this! Because this course is interactive and discussion-based, these bullet points should help us investigate the readings further on our own and as a class. During the term, you may choose not to submit reading highlights for ONE week without it negatively impacting your grade.
WEEKLY DISCUSSION PARTICIPATION (100 POINTS TOTAL, UP TO 10 POINTS EACH WEEK)
Each week I will post a discussion board prompt. The first week will be for introductions. For the rest, draw on at least one of the weekly readings and anything that you feel is relevant from outside the class. Post your initial response to my prompt by Thursday 6:00pm each week. In addition to your post engage with one other person each week. In your original posts always include correct APA citations.

• 10 points = Initial post to discussion forum by Thursday 8am each week. Used correct APA citations. Engaged with at least one other person.
• 5 points = Posted to discussion forum.
• 0 points = Did not post or posted late.
PRESENTATION (100 POINTS TOTAL)
The presentation will be a relatively brief discussion of your research paper.
FINAL PAPER (100 POINTS TOTAL)
The final paper for this class should be a closer investigation of one technology or practice of crime science that we have covered over the course of the class. Your paper should include an overview of the topic, a discussion of the relationship between the practice or technology and the theory that aligns with it, and a critical analysis of its use. I will provide additional details later in the quarter.
GRADING SCALE

A+ = 97-100 A = 93-96 A- = 90-92
B+ = 87-89 B = 83-86 B- = 80-82
C+ = 77-79 C = 73-76 C- = 70-72
D+ = 67-69 D = 60-66 F = 59 and below
CRITERIA FOR GRADING WRITTEN WORK
“A” work is clearly written, well organized, and grammatically correct. It synthesizes the related course materials using a central argument and supports the argument using specific data and examples. An “A” paper compares similar concepts and contrasts divergent concepts.
“B” work provides a thorough review of the course material related to the question/assignment. A central argument is specifically stated but lacks supporting data and examples. A “B” paper is essentially a reiteration of the course materials related to the question/assignment. Similar concepts are not compared, and divergent concepts are not contrasted.
A “C” paper provides a cursory summary of the course material related to the question/assignment and lacks a thorough defense of a central argument.
A paper that receives a grade less than a “C” does not adequately respond to the question/assignment, contains inaccurate information, is poorly organized, and is marred with grammatical errors.

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES, POINTS, AND PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL GRADE
Number of assignments Points per assignment Total possible points Percent of total
Weekly Reading Highlights 8 10 80 20%
Discussion Board 10 10 100 25%
Video presentation 1 100 100 25%
Final paper 1 100 100 25%
Total 380 100%

TOTAL
380 points weighted to 100%

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, PLAGIARISM, DISHONEST, AND CHEATING POLICY
http://www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/academic_dishonesty.asp
http://www.drexel.edu/studentlife/judicial/honesty.html

Any incidence of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty will result in an automatic score of “0” for the assignment in question.

COURSE ADD/DROP POLICY
End of week 1
http://www.drexel.edu/provost/policies/course-add-drop
COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY
http://drexel.edu/provost/policies/course-withdrawal
COURSE CHANGE POLICY
I maintain the prerogative to change course material during the term at my discretion. Any changes will be clearly articulated at least one week prior to the alteration.
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS
http://www.drexel.edu/ods/student_reg.html

Any student with a documented disability who needs accommodations should contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 215-895-2506. You must register with ODS and receive an Accommodation Certification Form prior to receiving accommodations, for every term enrolled. If you had accommodations last term, you need to renew those accommodations for this term, as soon as possible, at the beginning of the term. ODS communication is strictly confidential.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

WEEK 1

Introductions / Grounding the course
Course Introduction
Review syllabus

Clarke, R.V. (2010). Crime science. In The Sage Handbook of Criminological Theory. Sage.
WEEK 2

Theorizing technological artifacts
Brey, P. (2017). Theorizing technology and its role in crime and law enforcement. In McGuire, & Holt, T. J. (Eds.). The Routledge handbook of technology, crime, and justice. pp. 17 – 34 Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315743981

Winner, L. (1980). Do artifacts have politics?
WEEK 3

Environmental criminology – Designing “out” crime
Ekbom, P. (2017). Crime, situational prevention, and technology: The nature of opportunity and how it evolves. In McGuire, M.R. and Holt, T.J. pp. 353-374. The Routledge Handbook of Technology, Crime, and Justice. Routledge
Week 4

Theories underpinning crime science
Akers, R.L. (1990). Rational choice, deterrence, and social learning theory in criminology: The path not taken. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 81(3), 653–676. https://doi.org/10.2307/1143850

Chamard, S. (2010). Routine activities. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446200926

Hipp, J. R. (2016). General theory of spatial crime patterns. Criminology, 54(4), 653-679.

Merton, R. K. (1938). Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5), 672–682. https://doi.org/10.2307/2084686

WEEK 5

GIS and crime science
Guest video lecture from Dr. Rob Kane

Grubesic, T. H., & Murray, A. T. (2001, December). Detecting hot spots using cluster analysis and GIS. In Proceedings from the fifth annual international crime mapping research conference (Vol. 26).
WEEK 6

Social Network analysis
Bright, D., Brewer, R., & Morselli, C. (2021). Using social network analysis to study crime: Navigating the challenges of criminal justice records. Social Networks, 66, 50-64.
WEEK 7

Cybercrime and Digital forensics
Guest video lecture from Dr. Rob D’Ovidio

Arnes, A (2017). Introduction. pp 1-12. in Arnes, A. Digital Forensics. Newark: Wiley and Sons Incorporated

Flaglien, A.O. (2017). The digital forensics process. in Arnes, A. Digital Forensics. pp. 13-50. Newark: Wiley and Sons Incorporated
WEEK 8

Natural born killers? Evolutionary psychology and genetics
Ferguson, C. J., & Beaver, K. M. (2009). Natural born killers: The genetic origins of extreme violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(5), 286-294.
WEEK 9 – Thanksgiving week

Enjoy your break!
WEEK 10

Familial DNA analysis
Berkman, Miller, W. K., & Grady, C. (2018). Is It Ethical to Use Genealogy Data to Solve Crimes? Annals of Internal Medicine, 169(5), 333–334. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-1348