Neutralization Theory

Reading your source material: Read and reread the introduction and conclusion to familiarize yourself with the topic, thesis (central argument), and main points. If you know these things before reading the rest of the material, you can understand the supporting material and evidence more fully. As you read the body of the material, sketch a simple outline that shows the development of the author’s thesis. You should be becoming well-informed on the topic you;ve chosen. As you read the material, try to analyze it in the framework of ideas and developments you have learned concerning criminological theory and American justice as a whole.

You must formulate a thesis and support that thesis with evidence. How you choose to do this is up to you. Make sure your thesis is something that you can make an argument over – that is, take a position and support it with facts and persuasive reasoning. Review resources on thesis development.

Research paper guidelines for success:

Review research topics and potential sources of information.
Decide on a research topic and locate outside source material.
Review course textbook and make notes on chosen topic to familiarize yourself with the basic dates, facts, historical figures, places, and primary interpretation of your topic. Then, read the outside source material and compare its thesis to the other material you have read. How is it the same or different?
Begin the writing process, prepare outline of paper, prepare “References” page. If having difficulty, meet individually with instructor or seek help at the Tutorial Center if you are having difficulty structuring your thesis or paper outline.
Draft research papers will be accepted before the due date if you want to receive some feedback. Schedule a meeting with me to go over your draft paper.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

You may use your textbook for this assignment, but you must have at least two other sources, none of which can be an internet site. If you have four or more sources, you may use one internet source, but the internet can only be 25% of total sources (e.g. with eight sources, only two can be from the internet, etc.).

Your paper should be four pages long (no shorter than three pages and no longer than five), plus your “References” page, which does not count toward your total page count.

Your research paper shall be typed, double-spaced, on standard-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) in the American Psychological Association (APA) formatting and citations style with no greater than a size 12 Times New Roman font and one inch margins all around.

Properly cite all sources in your narrative using the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style (6th edition) and include an APA formatted “References” page at the end of the paper. This is the part of the research paper project that students consistently fail to complete correctly.

NOTE: APA format is used only for the in-text citations and the references page. No title page is necessary, do not use one. No running head is necessary, do not use one. No abstract is necessary for short APA papers, do not write one.

If you do not properly cite all sources in your narrative using the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style and fail to include an APA formatted references page you may receive a failing grade for the assignment.

RESEARCH PAPER SUBMISSION: