Should Juveniles who commit violent crimes be granted a pardon after completing their sentence as a matter of right?

3.    Analysis of Criminological/Criminal Justice (CJ) Issue Essay (CRJU 4930): (This essay is worth 50% of the student’s grade in the CRJU 4930 course.) This essay is designed to test students’ ability to critically evaluate an issue in criminology and/or criminal justice.

The paper should be properly identified with either a cover page indicating student name, course number, instructor name and term, or that same information appearing at the top of the first page of an assignment, is required on all submissions. That should be immediately followed by a one paragraph abstract of the paper.

For the paper itself:

First, identify a single issue from the internship experience that involves crime or the criminal justice system and discuss why it is of interest to members of the criminal justice discipline. A central feature of this component of the assignment is the care taken to define and clarify not only the issue, but also to provide background information about the agency and the significance of the issue.

The second component of this assignment tests students’ understanding of theory in the criminal justice/criminology context. You should use a single theory (criminological, sociological, psychological, behavioral, managerial, organizational, or legal) to critically assess both sides of the issue you identified. To do this, you should use original sources from the literature (i.e., empirical journal articles and not textbooks), explain the theory, and state its significance by indicating how it has impacted knowledge of this issue.

The third component of this essay is designed to test the breadth and depth of students’ understanding of the issue selected and its impact on the criminal justice system. You should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of all positions taken, identify criminal justice policy implications, and provide policy recommendations that are both informed and supported by the scholarly literature in this area. [Assignment value: The draft of the issue essay is valued at 20% and the final version of the issue essay is valued at 30% of the student’s grade (total 50%); length: 8-9 pages, excluding title and reference pages]