Crime in the City – Assignment 2
Assignment Overview
Our second assignment within Crime in the City provides us with two key opportunities. First, we will
have an opportunity to test out and strengthen our writing skills by preparing a short, two or three page
paper. A second goal of this paper is to showcase your understanding about one of the Environmental
Criminology theories that we have presented in class so far, and to explain how any two of our class
activities have helped you to understand this theory.
Theories of Choice
In this short paper, I encourage you to select the theory that you have found most interesting so far.
This could be Routine Activities Theory, Rational Choice Theory, Geometry of Crime or Pattern Theory.
Has one of these approaches stuck out to you as being interesting, new, or relevant? Do you feel like
you can clearly explain the essence of one of these? If so, I encourage you to make that your selection,
as the first thing you’re going to do in your paper is explain the theory itself. Give yourself one to two
paragraphs, and about a page in length (double-spaced, size 12 font) to fully explore your chosen
theory. Remember to include who introduced the theory, and what influenced the theory itself (if this
applies to your choice). Be sure to provide clear definitions of any important concepts necessary to
understand the theory. What keywords are important? What do they mean? Lastly, make sure to cite
our textbook when you are sharing concepts and ideas that you have gained from this source. When you
write this section, pretend you’re writing for someone who isn’t in this class. Explain this theory as best
as you can to someone who hasn’t heard anything about it before. What do they need to know in
order to understand it?
In-Class Applications
After you have fully explained your theory of choice, your next task is to discuss how any two of our inclass activities have helped you to better understand concepts from this theory. You can pick any
activities, assignments, discussion topics, in-class applications, or videos that we have viewed as your inclass activities. Most people use our Travel Log as one of the activities, as an example, and you’re
welcome to do so, but you may choose any two.
When you’re identifying an activity, start by explaining what we did. Pretend you’re writing for someone
who isn’t in our class. With this in mind, it doesn’t make sense to say, “In the first assignment”, because
this person wouldn’t know what that means. Instead, describe the task. You might say, “For a period of
two weeks, I kept a log of every stop I made. This log helped me to understand several elements of
Routine Activities Theory.” This helps the reader to understand what you did; next, you need to be
explicit in how this activity helped you out. What specific element applies to the theory you have
chosen? Did it help you to better understand a specific definition, or a specific element of the theory? Be
as clear and as direct as you can. There are many, many options to choose from, and I look forward to
hearing your own interpretations.
Paper Structure
When writing an academic paper, we want to begin with a formal introduction and close with a formal
conclusion. This is a bit tricky in a paper such as this, so be sure to spend some time thinking about how
you can approach these sections. Typically, academic papers begin with a broad statement that grabs
the reader’s attention, then continues to focus the direction by providing a clear overview of the
content to follow within the paper. Your introduction should be a clear roadmap of what you’ll be
writing about.
I encourage you to begin with an introduction that highlights the direction your paper will take, then
move into a description of your theory. Follow this with two paragraphs, each linking the theory to one
of our specific in-class activities. End with a strong conclusion. In this space, you’ll reiterate what you’ve
learned about your key theory, and how your two chosen class activities have helped you to arrive at
this conclusion.
Sourcing and Citing
This paper is an opportunity to practice our academic writing, and as such, we need to be mindful about
how we properly cite information. In this paper, you are not expected to add outside sources, but you
are required to cite our textbook any time you are using concepts that you’ve gained from this source. If
you are including a direct quote, be sure to place the text in quotations, and follow with an in-text
citation. It should look something like this (Andresen, 2019, 35). In this citation, Andresen refers to our
textbook author, 2019 refers to the year of publication, and 35 refers to the page on which your direct
quote comes from.
Even if you’re not using direct quotations, if you are sharing ideas that you learned within the text, it is
still important to cite. I ask that you use page numbers for each citation in this class, in order to maintain
consistency. This helps us to be mindful of where we’re getting our ideas, and helps us to ensure that
we’re doing a good job rephrasing the text content. This will come in handy as we move towards our
final course project.
Please ensure you have a reference page at the end of your paper, using complete APA formatting for
your reference list. As an example, our course textbook would be listed as follows:
Andresen, M. A. (2019). Environmental criminology: Evolution, theory, and practice. Routledge.
Evaluation
Your paper will be evaluated on two key components – overall structure and technical writing details,
and overall content.
Structure and Technical Details (out of 8 points):
• Was your paper submitted on time, in correct file format (word .docx or .pdf), and in the correct
location?
• Is it the appropriate length (2 -3 pages double spaced), with appropriate font size (11 or 12 pt)
and margins (1 inch)?
• Does it include a strong introduction, including opening and thesis statement (or a general
statement that tells the reader what your paper will discuss)?
• Does your paper contain an appropriate body that follows the path laid out in your
introduction?
• Does it include a strong conclusion, representing and wrapping up arguments?
• Do you include a structured reference page, and appropriate in-text citations throughout?
• Is the paper clear and focused? Does it flow well between sections?
• Is there evidence of sound editing and proofreading – appropriate spelling, punctuation,
paragraph structure?
Content Details (out of 7 points):
• Did you choose an appropriate theory (one of the four listed above)?
• Do you clearly and completely describe your theory of choice?
• Does your description demonstrate a clear comprehension of how to apply the theory to the
real world?
• Have you demonstrated clear links between the theory and two specific in-class activities?
• Does your writing demonstrate insight and critical thinking skills, highlighting connections
between the theory and class activities?
• Do you include personal extensions/added depth, demonstrating your understanding of this
topic?
Questions?
Please contact me at wuschke@pdx.edu.
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