POEC/SOC 6313

Graduate Seminar on Corrections

Fall 2005

Professor: Danielle Lavin-Loucks

Course Time/Room: Tuesday, 4:00-6:45 P.M.
Office: GR 2.116
Phone: 972-883-4769
E-mail: danielle.lavin-loucks@utdallas.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:30-3:30, or by appointment

Course Overview:
The purpose of this course is to expose you to the evolution of the correctional system, the
ideology behind the correctional system, and how the correctional system functions as a lived
reality. The first portion of the course will focus on the historical development of punishment and
the emergence of the prison. The second portion of the course will examine life inside the prison
and prison administration. The final section of the course will focus on current issues in
corrections, including rehabilitation and reentry. Throughout the course, we will examine basic
questions about punishment, the logic and functionality of the modern prison, the stated purpose vs.
the actual purpose of the correctional system, and the modern penal crisis.

Course Materials:
This course will utilize several books and a number of journal articles that will be posted on webCT
or handed out in class. The books for the course include: Foucault, M. 1977. Discipline and Punish:
The Birth of the Prison. Pantheon.; Sykes, G. 1958. The Society of Captives. NJ: Princeton
University Press; Jacobs, J.B. Stateville: 1977. The Penitentiary in Mass Society . Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. Petersilia, J. 2003. When Prisoners Come Home. Oxford University
Press. The books are available at the Campus Bookstore and Off Campus Books.

Structure of the Course:

v Participation: Participation in class discussion is expected. More than this, to have any
meaningful discussion I will expect you to be prepared for class. Obviously to participate,
you must attend. Failure to attend will have a negative impact on your participation grade.
v Discussion Leaders: Each week two students will lead the class discussion over that week’s
readings. You may choose your partner and I will assign you a week. For that week, you will
lead a thoughtful and critical discussion of not only the class material assigned, but two
additional academic articles that either critique, build on, support, or pose alternative views
of the assigned readings. One way to do this is by introducing a related topic. For example,
when discussing life inside of prison, a student could discuss prison violence or human
rights/legal issues for prisoners. Please remember that this is NOT a presentation. You
need to involve the class and engage other students in an open discussion of ideas. To this

1
 end, you will be expected to provide a brief overview of the material for that week, as well
as your outside articles.
v Weekly Summaries and Critiques: For each week that reading is assigned you may turn in a
one page (single spaced) summary and critique of one of the assigned articles for that week.
You may select any of the assigned articles for your summary/critique, but you may not turn
in a summary if you are not present in class. You are required to turn in 10 summaries (1 full
page, single spaced) throughout the semester. Each summary is worth 3 points.
v Final Paper: Your final paper will require you to focus on a single topic in corrections and
thoroughly examine the literature in that area, critically assessing the state of research
and proposing an alternative conceptualization of the issue. Final papers should be at least
15 pages, double spaced, with one inch margins, in 12 point Times New Roman font. You will
have various portions of the paper due throughout the semester (annotated bibliography,
outline, etc.). Finally, you will be required to upload an electronic version of your paper to
webCT, as we will not be holding class on the day that the paper is due. Late papers will be
penalized one letter grade for each day they are late.

Expectations for the Course:

I expect that you will have completed the readings each week and have something valuable to
contribute to the course. I have no reservations about asking you to leave class if you show up
unprepared. This is a graduate seminar and the minimum requirement is that you attend, complete
the assignment readings and are prepared to discuss the themes and ideas presented in the
literature. This class will be a discussion based endeavor, and I will not be lecturing on the topics.
As such, I would advise you to come prepared with questions, comments, and critiques of the
articles.

Grading:
Participation 15%
Discussion Leader 15%
Weekly Summaries and Critiques 30%
Final Paper & Components 40%

Academic Misconduct: Each student in this course is expected to exercise independent scholarly
thought, expression and aptitude. All episodes of suspected scholastic dishonesty will be reported
according to University policy. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are
subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal
from the University. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students and the University,
policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced. Penalties that may be assessed for
scholastic dishonesty may be reviewed in Subchapter D. Penalties at
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/chapter49.html . (Quoted from Judicial Affairs, Syllabus
Addendum, 04/05). Please note that in all cases of academic misconduct I will advise failure of the
course. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or academic misconduct, please
ask.

2
Course Timetable:
The following is a list of the readings assigned for the semester. The journal articles are posted in
pdf format on webCT, so that you can download and print them if you wish. In addition, some weeks
I may be handing out other supplemental articles that correspond to the topics for the following
week.

August 23rd Introduction to the Course

August 30th The Birth of the Prison

Read: Foucault Part I & II

September 6th The Birth of the Prison

Read: Foucault Part III

September 13th The Birth of the Prison

Read: Foucault Part IV & Alford’s “What would it matter if everything
Foucault said about prison were wrong? Discipline and Punish after twenty
years”
Due: Paper Topic
Handout: Duguid’s “Can Prisons Work?” Chapter 2

September 20th The Changing Penitentiary System

Read: Gartner and Kruttschnitt’s “A Brief History of Doing Time: The
California Institu tion for Women in the 1960s and the 1990s” & Duguid’s Can
Prisons Work?” Chapter 2 HANDOUT

September 27th Prison Organization & Administration

Read: Jacobs’ “The Penitentiary in Mass Society” Chapters 1-4
Due: Annotated bibliography

October 4th Prison Organization & Administration

Read: Jacobs’ “The Penitentiary in Mass Society” Chapters 5-8

October 11 th Prison Society

Read: Sykes’ “The Society of Captives” Chapters 1-4

October 18th Prison Society

Read: Sykes’ “The Society of Captives” Chapters 5-7
Due: Paper Outline
Handout: Clemmer’s “The Prison Community” chapters

October 25th Prison Society

Read: Simon’s “The ‘Society of Captives’ in the Era of Hyper-
Incarceration,” Thomas’ “Theoretical Perspectives on Prisonization: A
Comparison of the Importation and Deprivation Models” & Clemmer’s “The
Prison Community” HANDOUT

3
November 1 st Parole and Reentry
Read: Petersilia’s “When Prisoners Come Home” Chapters 1-5

November 8th Parole and Reentry

Read: Petersilia’s “When Prisoners Come Home” Chapters 6-10

November 15th Alternatives to Traditional Correctional Systems

Read: Daly’s “Restorative justice: The Real Story,” Styve et al’s “Perceived
Conditions of Confinement: A National Evaluation of Juvenile Boot Camps and
Traditional Facilities” & Lane et al’s “Evaluating an Experimental Intensive
Juvenile Probation Program: Supervision and Official Outcomes”

November 22nd Due: Final Papers

***I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus***