79-332
Delinquency, Violence, and Juvenile
Justice
Final Exam Preview
The final exam will take place Tuesday,
March 6 in PH A21 from 3:00 to 4:20 PM. The
exam will be based on the readings,
lectures, and discussions from the entire course.
The exam is in two parts. In the
first (and shorter) part, you will be given 6 short answer
questions and asked to answer 4
of them in about 1 to 3 sentences. This part will be
designed to test your understanding
of course material. It should take about 20 minutes
and will be worth 24 points. The
second part of the exam will be in essay format. You
will be given four questions and
asked to answer your choice of two. These questions
will be designed to test your assimilation
of larger elements of course material by making
connections and comparisons across
readings and time periods. Each essay should take
about 30 minutes and will be worth
38 points.
The following suggestions should
give you a sense of what you should study.
1) Be prepared to discuss the evolution
of juvenile justice - both the ideology and
the practice - from the creation
of juvenile courts beginning in 1899 to the present.
How did juvenile court advocates
conceptualize the role of the courts? How did
juvenile courts operate in practice?
How did they differ from criminal courts?
How did they change over time? What
were key turning points?
2) Be prepared to talk about how
the juvenile and criminal justice systems treated
girls between 1900 and 1930. Also,
to the extent possible, be prepared to
compare this with the treatment
of boys.
3) How do the girls in The "Girl
Problem" compare with the boys in Vampires,
Dragons, & Egyptian Kings?
How does their delinquencies compare? How do
the ways that they constructed femininity
and masculinity compare? How do the
social changes that contributed
to these problems compare? How do the
responses of the legal and social
service systems compare?
4) How did the judicial revolution
of the 1960s change juvenile justice? Based on
both our readings in Bernard and
in Feld, what was the judicial revolutionís
enduring legacy for juvenile justice?
5) Key turning points in the history
of juvenile justice, according to Thomas
Bernard, all embody particular conceptions
of juvenile delinquency. Be prepared
to make comparisons between the
ideas of delinquency exemplified by the
creation of Houses of Refuge in
the 1820s, the establishment of juvenile courts in
the 1890s, and the "get tough" movement
in the 1990s.
6) Be prepared to make comparisons
between contemporary youth crime and mid-
century gang activities. Be aware
of youth crime as described in Vampires,
Dragons, & Egyptian Kings,
in The Ville, and in the Cook & Laub article.
7) Be prepared to discuss how juvenile
delinquency intervention programs like the
Chicago Area Project (in the 1930s)
and the New York City Youth Board worked.
You should be able to talk about
what they did and, to the extent possible, what
their intellectual premises were.
1) Between the last day of class
and the exam, take some time, sit down, & write out
"talking points" in response to
each of the suggestions above. Donít write a detailed
essay, but figure out how you would
answer a hypothetical question based on the
suggestions. Write out a short outline
or set of phrases to help address each
suggestion.
2) You might also get together with
other people from the course and talk through how
you would respond to these suggestions.
Collaboration in the studying process is fine
(encouraged, in fact) as long as
you do not collaborate when you take the exam.
3) Be aware that I will write the
exam based on this exam preview. Hopefully, there will
be no surprises.