– 5 pages excluding cover page and bibliography – Paper format needs to be ASA (American Sociological Association)-The objective of the paper is to develop an empirical argument about the effective alternative to incarnation. Focus on a true alternative, not a program that must be completed addition to prison sentence
-An empirical argument is not your own opinion eg. Whether restorative justice is good or bad). An empirical argument should be based on the empirical research published on edible scholarly journals to support claim to one of the alternative to incarnation. In order to support those claims, you should draw from 6 scholarly articles or journals
-Have to be specific when talking about “effectiveness”. Eg. Is it effective because it decreases cost? Or is it supported by more victims? Or better for offenders? etc., have to make sure to define why for yourself and the reader
-After reading the 6 articles, look for patterns/themes that arise from literature. Eg. Author A&B both report that victim offender mediation results higher satisfaction for victims. For instance, multiple studies indicate that victims report greater satisfaction after participating in victim offender mediation-> cite both articles appropriately in the same bracket rather than citing differently than talk a little bit about the studies eg. Author A observed 105 victim-offender mediation section and the survey she conducted reported 74% of victims satisfied with the outcome and author B’s survey reported 70% victims were satisfied. The key thing to do is to introduce main point & going into a little bit of detail of what each sources you’re pulling from, make the point said , and recap the reader for why it matters. Matters as in what you’re trying to say(the main argument)
It is important to organize paragraphs not based on separate individual claims of authors but based on the themes (issues/topics) emerging from the articles /sources
-Body paragraphs of the essay would be organized around the general issues/topics/themes. Typical themes like lower citizen rates, increased victim satisfaction etc
-Need to show critical thinking! Requires a step back after reading articles and reflect on articles critically, how does it relate to one another? If authors are in full conversation with each other, what they are saying differently. Explore why that may be the case ie. Different approaches to methodology or different perspectives etc Look for what each author has to say about each of the themes that emerge, then compile information in logical way, make a claim about a particular issue ( might find it useful to include subheadings for different themes)
-An example considering all these questions can be : Author A&B may say victim-offender mediation results in greater satisfaction for victims. However, results of victim satisfaction is mixed. Author C says that its only the case of property crime offenses and results lower victim satisfaction in other price.
Reference other authors such as authors C,D,E, then go on and talk briefly about what authors found, and explain why the findings inclusion matter and explain how it complicates the picture talked above
– Use Nuance. Nuance are things that are often quite complex. For the essay, it would mean that not every author would agree on every point. It can be things such as limitations to the alternative to effectiveness. What are the limitations? Eg. Is victim-offender mediation only suitable for certain types of crime? Is it suitable for certain types of offenders? Etc. Put answers to these questions into argument, Its okay for the argument to be convictional. Strong argument is something that considers the other side.(some of the limitations, opposing views etc.) Don’t need to refute/counter every limitation. Limitations can be factored into argument Eg. Just because restorative justice doesn’t work for every case does not mean we should not consider it, it means we should consider for only certain types of cases and more research should be done for other types of cases.
-> It is the writer’s job to put pieces together to recognize the complexity of the matter and integrate into the work.
-For Introduction paragraph, introduce the topic to the reader-what type of alternative to confinement(prison) you are writing about, explain how the alteranative improves upon incarceration. There are two parts that needs to be done. The first part is to talk about what’s wrong with incarceration. Doesn’t need to be lengthy page, just answer questions like why is incarceration failing, how is it failing, why should there be consideration of changing the way they are done? etc , support with little evidence. It can be couple of sentences, just show that you understand what the problem is and present a solution to the problem. This is where the second part comes in. Write about what alternative seems to work and why does it work?, how does it improve upon status quo? Who does it work for? The claims will be convictional its not going to work for everyone all the time. And also in the first paragraph or two, talk about how to improve argument, lay out evidences briefly at the beginning of the essay, like what you are going to argue about etc.
-The rest of the paragraphs should clearly outline what you discussed in the opening paragraph or two. There should be 3~4 body paragraphs, it should be based on why the alternative should be effective( the themes, the nuance, consider opposing views, consider limitations etc)
-Conclusion should restate in a different way of what the intro is, the argument is. It should not have any new information
-There needs to be clarity in the paragraphs. There needs to be a flow/ logic to the work. Every paragraph should have distinct purpose, it should not have series of disconnected sentences OR random collection of statement. There should be a clear focus to each paragraph. Each paragraph should answer the question : What are you trying to convey to the reader in that paragraph?, there should be a quick answer and the purpose should be at the beginning of the paragraph and everything else in the paragraph should relate to the main point that supports the point
-Paragraphs should be organized by themes emerging from the six articles. Set up evidence, put into context,explain why it matters. Don’t just use quotes and assume the reader knows what you are talking about, explain everything in your own words, in other words paraphrase it, and explain how it fits to the main point and explain why it is important
