Fall 2008 Internship Assignment
Criminal Justice 490

Part of the experience of completing an internship is to gain work experience that prepares you for your chosen profession. Likewise, bridging this practical experience with an "educational" component is where your readings and papers come in.

Instructor/Internship Coordinator: Michael P. Infranco, PhD
The Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service
401 Johnson Tower, P.O. Box 644840, Pullman, WA 99164-4840
Tel: (509) 335-4264 Fax: (509) 335-2096
E-mail: michael_infranco@wsu.edu, http://libarts.wsu.edu/foleyinst/

Paper, journal, proper contact information, and registration for credit.

NOTE: At this time Distance Degree Program Students (DDP) are not eligible for political science and criminal justice internships. DDP students cannot take an internship for credit through the Foley Institute (please DO NOT enroll in POL S 497 or CRM J 490, you will be automatically dropped from the class).

Students with Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and may need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please visit the Disability Resource Center (DRC). All accommodations MUST be approved through the DRC (Admin Annex Bldg, Room 205). Please stop by or call 509-335-3417 to make an appointment with a disability specialist. 

Deadlines

Paper, journal, and employer evaluation Due Date: Monday, December 15, 2008, by 4:00 p.m. to the Foley Institute, Johnson Tower 401.

Grading

Option 1: Forty (40) hours per week for at least twelve (12) weeks you will receive twelve (12) credits.  You are required to complete a twenty-five (25)-page paper and a five to ten (5-10)-page journal.

Option 2: Thirty (30) hours per week for at least twelve (12) weeks you will receive nine (9) credits.
You are required to complete a twenty (20)-page paper and a five to ten (5-10)-page journal.

Option 3: Twenty (20) hours per week for at least twelve (12) weeks you will receive six (6) credits.
You are required to complete a fifteen (15)-page paper and five to ten (5-10)-page journal.

Option 4: Ten to Fifteen (10-15) hours per week for at least twelve (12) weeks you will receive three (3) credits.  You are required to complete a ten (10)-page paper and five to ten (5-10)-page journal.

This course is a pass/fail course. The student must successfully complete the practical portion of their internship (i.e., the actual working with an employer), as well as the academic component of the internship (i.e., paper, journal, and evaluation turned in complete and on time) in order to receive a passing grade.

If for some reason a student is unable to complete the practical portion of their internship, or if they are fired or removed from their position as an intern, they will automatically receive a failing grade.

The academic and practical portions of the internship will be weighted equally in the decision to assign a passing or a failing grade. Students must demonstrate satisfactory completion of both the academic and practical components of an internship to receive a passing grade. If the student does not complete or turn in the academic portion of the internship on time and in full, then they will receive a failing grade. If a student is deemed to have completed unsatisfactory work for the agency they interning with, then they may be assigned a failing grade.

Please note: It is the policy of the Foley Institute internship program to NOT give incompletes for internship courses/credits. In taking this class for credit you have the same academic responsibilities as you would if you were taking a class at the university. All papers and information pertaining to your internship must be turned in by the due date listed above or the student will receive a failing grade. 

Please make sure that you are registered for the right number of credits!
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ADD THIS COURSE AFTER THE THIRD WEEK OF CLASSES.

Required textbooks and readings for the course should be purchased on-line as soon as possible. Our office does not order them at WSU Bookstore.

Paper

You should select the topic that most closely matches your internship experience and with which you are familiar. Your paper must be typed, double-spaced and depending for how many credits you are registered from 10 pages (for a 3-credit course) to 25 pages (for a 12-credit course) in length, and have a minimum of 5 sources. Speak to me about the length of your paper. The length of the paper does not include the reference or title page.

Base your paper on the assigned readings and other professional or scholarly journals or newspapers. Proper citations are a must. Use APA format. You should make a copy of your paper and submit the original by mail. You can also submit an additional copy by electronic mail but make sure that it is in a format that is easily downloaded. I suggest rich text format. Documents that are gibberish or unreadable are classified as not submitted.

The paper must have at minimum five sources. Possible sources can include national journals or newspapers such as: Congressional Quarterly, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc. Other journals are also acceptable - Commentary, National Review, New Republic - be careful though, these have an ideological slant. Government publications are also acceptable sources. You may also use Internet sources but care should be taken in citing and determining that they are legitimate and credible. I prefer government websites (Thomas.gov), "think-tank" sources (heritage.org, etc., and media outlets (cnn.com). Make sure you cite them correctly - I should be able to "pull them up" without a problem. Otherwise, do not use them. Unfortunately personal interviews with key representatives, lobbyists, etc. are not acceptable because in many cases they require special permissions and can be tricky and time consuming.

Papers are graded primarily on the content, but style, grammar, and form will count. Carefully proof and edit your paper.

Papers must have:

• A title page;
• An introduction describing the topic and its importance (this should be accomplished in the first two paragraphs);
• A conclusion discussing what lessons your case study teaches about your topic;
• Bibliography;
• Papers should be typed, and it is best to use Times New Roman font (no larger than 12 pt).

You should list all of your sources completely in the bibliography and use in-text citations in parentheses by author, year, and page number(s). For example, if you wanted to cite welfare reform in a textbook written by Larry Sabato you would put it in the following format: (Sabato, 1999, p. 663). A full citing of books should be listed in the bibliography. Consult a style manual for the APA guidelines to ensure you have cited references properly. Do not assume you are doing it correctly.

Major ideas and quotes taken from the sources must be cited. Failure to do so is plagiarism and can result in a failure on the paper, class, and academic expulsion from the University.

Journal

In addition to your paper you must also write a short (5-10 page) journal about your internship experience. The journal should be type, double-spaced and use the Times New Roman font (no larger than 12 pt.).

The journal should include:

• A description of the daily tasks you performed and highlight significant learning experiences.  Please do not recount a daily log of what you did - make it a narrative;
• Include your thoughts, perceptions, what you liked and did not like, and why you feel the way you do.  In general terms describe what you learned, and whether you believe the internship was a worthwhile experience;
• Include some thoughts on the setting you worked in and how you perceive it now that you have worked in the institution;
• Finally, what are you plans for the future? Do you believe the internship has helped you professionally toward your goal (if you have one), or somehow clarified your thinking on a profession?

Contact information

You must provide me with your address, telephone numbers (i.e., home and work), and preferable your e-mail address before you start your internship. Periodic "checking in" will be done. You are responsible for submitting other required forms as well. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION FORM to me as soon as possible.

If you have any problems at your work place please notify me AND your supervisor (at the place of your internship) as soon as possible. Please act professionally and be respectful to your colleagues and supervisors.

Registering for Credit

It is the responsibility of each student to register for credit (POL SC 497/498). Failure to do so precludes one from gaining credit. This office will neither register students nor retroactively assign credits. If you have questions regarding this department policy, please speak to the internship coordinator.

Topic One: Policy Analysis

1. The books you are responsible for reading are:

Kingdon, John.  (2003).  Agendas, Alternatives, and Policies, 2nd edition (Longman Classics Edition).  New York: Longman.

Radin, Beryl A.  (2000).  Beyond Machiavelli: Policy Analysis Comes of Age.  Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.

Stone, Deborah.  (2002).  Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making, Revised Edition.  New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

(Supplement with at least 2 recent journal or newspaper articles)

2. Select a national public policy topic that is of personal interest to you, preferably one you worked on this legislative session and is being (or was) considered by the Congress and President.  Some examples include (but are not limited to): Social Security reform; handgun purchase restrictions; patient's bill of rights; and tax reform. The topic you choose is your decision (with my approval) but it must have been seriously considered in Congress and either adopted or not adopted. The paper should trace how the issue proceeded through the policy process and should include the following stages outlined below:

3. In your paper, consider the different stages of the policy process, and attempt to answer each of the following questions:

1. Policy Agenda: How did this problem become part of the government agenda? What role did linkage institutions such as public opinion, the media, political parties, elections, or interest groups play in putting this issue on the agenda?
2. Policy Formation: How did the proposed policy address the public problem? In other words, what would this policy do or what was it supposed to do? How was it formulated and by whom?  For example, was the policy formulated by the Governor, Legislature, the bureaucracy, interest groups, etc.
3. Policy Adoption: Describe the politics surrounding the consideration of this policy. Who were the key actors (legislators, interest groups, agency officials, the Governor, etc.) involved in determining whether the policy was adopted or was not adopted? What role did other factors such as public opinion and the political environment play in the outcome?
4. Policy Implementation and Impact: If the policy was adopted, how was it carried out, and what is its likely effect on society? If the policy was not adopted, what are some of the potential consequences of its failure on society?

4. You are encouraged to express your own opinions in the conclusion, but the assignment - your assessment of a policy -- is to be as objective as possible. Do not write an editorial or diatribe slamming the President, Congress, the Republicans, or Democrats.  I know this can be tempting and fun but resist it, if you must, do it in your journal.  Write the paper as a neutral social scientist trying to explain and analyze why a certain policy was/was not adopted and why politics and institutions shaped that particular solution to a problem.

Topic Two: Courts (for students in law firms, district attorney offices, etc.)

Plea-bargaining has become a routine facet of the American legal system. Some argue that its practice allows criminals to get away with more serious infractions of the law while others argue that it is unfair to the prosecuted because they are often coerced into accepting a plea. Write a paper on why plea-bargaining is so pervasive in American society. Begin by reading the following books:

Baum, Lawrence.  (2001).  American Courts: Process and Policy, 5th Edition.  New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Maynard, Douglas W.  (1984).  Inside Plea Bargaining: The Language of Negotiation.  New York: Plenum Press.

McCoy, Candace.  (1993).  Politics of Plea Bargaining: Victim's Rights in California.  Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Nasheri, Hedieh.  (1998).  Betrayal of Due Process: A  Comparative Assessment of Plea Bargaining in the United States and Canada.  Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

(Supplement with at least two recent journal or newspaper articles)

Your paper should include an examination of the following questions:

1. Is plea-bargaining unfair and/or irrational? Why is it so pervasive in our society? Why have efforts at elimination of plea-bargaining been unsuccessful?

2. In writing this paper you must select a high-profile case in order to focus your attention on the arguments.    

Topic Three: Policing (for students in juvenile justice, policing or corrections)

Within the last few decades there have been numerous incidents involving clashes between police and society. It is your responsibility to identify what issues are currently creating conflict. Begin your writing by reviewing the following books with journal articles as supplements:

Dunham, Roger G. and Geoffrey P. Alpert.  (2004).  Critical Issues in Policing, 5th Edition.   Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland Press. 

Roberg, Roy, John Crank and Jack Kuykendall.  (2000).  Police and Society, 2nd Edition.  Cary, NC: Roxbury Publishing Company.

(Supplement with at least 3 recent journal or newspaper articles)

Consider the following questions in your paper:

1. Why is there the appearance of a divide with respect to policing? Find and analyze two issues currently facing the organization for which you are working. What is the nature of each issue?

2. Describe the problems, groups, and the different values at play. Why is there tension among some police departments and some communities? What is responsible for this phenomenon? What are the remedies? What approaches are being tried and what have failed?