CJ 340 Project Three Guidelines and Rubric

Competency

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

Apply theory when analyzing incidences of criminal behavior

Scenario

You are a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) senior special agent assigned to the National Joint Terrorism Task Force (NJTTF) based in Washington, D.C. The State Department recently requested your assistance at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Budapest, Hungary, where the facility is hosting a training course on mitigating violent crimes. The ILEA training director has requested that you provide a lecture on either a notable serial killer or a recent act of terrorism and discuss what types of factors may have influenced the perpetrator’s deviant behavior that manifested in this significant criminal activity. The director advised that the goal is not only to provide a case study, but also to discuss the relevance and impact of various criminological theories when assessing criminal behavior as an ethical criminal justice professional. In support of this assessment, an analysis should focus on the role of cultural views and norms, as well as the correlation between criminological theory and practice. The focus of the lecture should be to mitigate future criminal activity through deterrence and intervention.

Directions

Using the scenario above, create a written draft of your lecture that focuses on the application of theory when analyzing an incident of criminal behavior. Choose one of the following incidences of criminal behavior as the focus of your lecture:

Jeffrey Dahmer profile
Ted Bundy profile
Terrorism in the U.S. (Beltway Snipers)

Resources that support each of these incidences are included in the “Supporting Materials” section below.

The following required elements should be included:

Describe the incident of criminal behavior chosen (100–150 words). Include the following in your description:
1. What crimes took place?
2. Who committed the crimes?
3. Where and when did the crimes take place?
Explain how cultural views and values drive the criminal behavior (150–200 words). Include the following in your explanation:
1. What is the correlation between culture and the criminal behavior?
2. How do certain cultures view the criminal behavior differently?
3. Are there differences in culture and geographic location regarding the legality of the criminal behavior?
4. Do you feel that the criminal behavior is influenced more by nature or one’s environment?
Explain the importance of applying theory versus making broad generalizations to explain the criminal behaviors (150–200 words). Include the following in your explanation:
1. What are the advantages of applying theory to explain the criminal behavior?
2. What are the disadvantages of making broad generalizations?
Explain the role of ethics when applying theory to the criminal behavior (100–150 words). Include the following in your explanation:
1. Why is ethics an important facet of criminology and the criminal justice profession?
2. How does ethics play a pivotal role in the application of criminological theory to the crime chosen?
Explain the correlation between criminal behavior theory and criminal justice practices (150–200 words). Include the following in your explanation:
1. What theory is best applicable to the criminal behavior chosen?
2. How did that theory affect policies related to the criminal behavior?

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

For this assignment, create a 650- to 900-word written draft of your lecture regarding the application of theory when analyzing the incidence of criminal behavior. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman, and one-inch margins. Any sources should be cited according to APA style.

Supporting Materials

The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:

Jeffrey Dahmer profile
Micro Disasters: The Case of Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer – Murders, Victims & Death
Serial Killers, Part 7: Jeffrey Dahmer

Ted Bundy profile
Imagining Ted Bundy
Inside Ted Bundy's Troubled and Disturbing Childhood
Serial Killers, Part 3: Ted Bundy's Campaign of Terror

Terrorism in the U.S. (Beltway Snipers)
John Allen Muhammad
DC Sniper Case Study: Example Question and Quality of Information Check
Beltway Snipers

Project Three Rubric

Criteria	Exceeds Expectations (100%)	Meets Expectations (85%)	Partially Meets Expectations (55%)	Does Not Meet Expectations (0%)	Value
Clear Communication	Exceeds expectations with an intentional use of language that promotes a thorough understanding	Consistently and effectively communicates in an organized way to a specific audience	Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but communication is inconsistent or ineffective in a way that negatively impacts understanding	Shows no evidence of consistent, effective, or organized communication	15
Incident of Criminal Behavior	Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Describes the incidence of criminal behavior chosen	Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include additional details or clarification describing the incidence of criminal behavior chosen	Does not attempt criterion	20
Cultural Views and Values	Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Explains how cultural views and values drive the criminal behavior	Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include additional details or clarification explaining how cultural views and values drive the criminal behavior	Does not attempt criterion	10
Applying Theory versus Broad Generalizations	Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Explains the importance of applying theory versus making broad generalizations to explain the criminal behaviors	Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include additional details or clarification explaining the importance of applying theory versus making broad generalizations to explain the criminal behaviors	Does not attempt criterion	20
Role of Ethics	Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Explains the role of ethics when applying theory to the criminal behavior	Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include additional details or clarification explaining the role of ethics when applying theory to the criminal behavior	Does not attempt criterion	10
Criminal Behavior Theory and Criminal Justice Practice	Exceeds expectations in an exceptionally clear, insightful, sophisticated, or creative manner	Explains the correlation between criminal behavior theory and criminal justice practices	Shows progress toward meeting expectations, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include additional details or clarification explaining the correlation between criminal behavior theory and criminal justice practices	Does not attempt criterion	20
Citations and Attributions	Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with few or no minor errors	Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with consistent minor errors	Uses citations for ideas requiring attribution, with major errors	Does not use citations for ideas requiring attribution	5
Total:					100%