Class Syllabus

                                   Legal Studies 104AC: Youth, Justice and Culture

University of California, Berkeley

                                                                    Spring 2014

                                                         Professor Calvin Morrill

GSI Johann Koehler

Lectures: 3 Le Conte Hall                         Sections:  W, 4p-5p, 251 Dwinelle

                 Tu/Th 12:30p-2:00p                                    Th, 11a-12p, B56 Hildebrand

Professor Information                                       GSI Information

Office Hours: M, 10a-12p, 2240 Piedmont        Office Hours: W, 1:30p-3:30p, Caffe Strada

Email: cmorrill@law.berkeley.edu                     Email: johannkoehler@gmail.com

Course Description

This course interrogates dominant adult-centered representations of urban youth, their problems, and the supposed solutions to these problems. We explore how adults define youth in law, mass media, science (psychology, criminology, sociology, and computer science), and education. Throughout the course, we give considerable attention to the histories, tensions, and implications of different ways of thinking about youth. Within different fields of representation, we also explore the possibilities for youth-centered perspectives that diverge from and challenge mainstream understandings. As a socio-legal endeavor, this course studies law as it is lived, shaped, and encountered by urban youth on a daily basis. We bring forward the conceptual perspectives, methodological tools, and substantive findings that allow us to understand how youth make sense of their lives, assert their views of justice and law, and act on one another.

The primary objectives of this course are for students to:

(1)  Understand how urban youth have been represented in and across multiple fields;

(2)  Engage critically central concepts, methods, and findings on urban youth;

(3)  Apply these perspectives, methods, and findings to analyze urban youth in context.

Required Readings (Books at University Bookstore; Reader at Copy Central on Bancroft)

David J. Harding, Living the Drama: Community, Conflict, and Culture among Inner-City Boys. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Aaron Kupchik, Homeroom Security: School Discipline in an Age of Fear. New York: NYU Press, 2010.

Youth, Justice and Culture Reader

Schedule of Topics and Readings

Books = (B); Reader = (R)

Week	Date	Topics	Readings
1 2	Tu, 1/21 Th, 1/23 Tu, 1/28 Th, 1/30	Introduction: Why Offer a Course about Youth? Adult-Centered – Youth-Centered Continuum Legal Representations: Early Cases Legal Representations: Youth Rights Affirmed	None Morrill et al (R) Crouse (R), Commwlth. (R), Gault (R) McKeiver (R), Zimring & Solomon (R)
3 4 5 6	Tu, 2/4 Th, 2/6 Tu, 2/11 Th, 2/13 Tu, 2/18 Th, 2/20 Tu, 2/25 Th, 2/27	Legal Representations: Rights and Moral Authority Mass Mediated Representations: Early Youth Culture Mass Mediated Representations: Myths about Youth Mass Mediated Representations & Review Exam I (in class) Psychological Representations: Inventing Adolescence Psychological Representations: Identity & Aggression Criminological Representations: Groups, Space, Minds	Arum (R), Miller (R), Gallo (R) Savage (R) Males (R) Review readings, cases, & notes Hall (R) Bushman (R), Calvert (R), Downey (R) Thrasher (R), Beckman (R)
7 8 9 Spring Break	Tu, 3/4 Th, 3/6 Tu, 3/11 Th, 3/13 Tu, 3/18 Th, 3/20 Tu, 3/25 Th, 3/27	Criminological & Computer Science Representations: Predicting and Preventing Youth Violence Sociological Representations: Adolescent Society Sociological Representations: Urban Peer Violence Sociological Representations: Urban Culture & Inequality Sociological Representations & Review Exam II (in class) no class no class	Gottfredson (R), Dredze (R), Neill (R) Coleman (R), Morrill (R), Harding (B: ch 1) Harding (B: chs 2-4) Harding (B: chs 5-8) Review readings & notes
Week	Date	Topics	Readings
10 11 12 13 14	Tu, 4/1 Th, 4/3 Tu, 4/8 Th, 4/10 Tu, 4/15 Th, 4/17 Tu, 4/22 Th, 4/24 Tu, 4/29	Educational Representations: Making Model Youth Educational Representations: Ironies of Discipline Educational Representations: Inequality & Discipline School Shootings: Multiple Representations School Shootings: Multiple Representations Youth-Centered Representations: Education Youth-Centered Representations: Digital Media Youth-Centered Representations: Youth Conflict Youth Centered Representations: Social Movements	Bowles and Gintis (R) Kupchik (B: intro + chs 1-3) Kupchik (B: chs 4-5 + conc, epilogue) Newman (R) Review Newman (R) Carter (R) Downing (R) Review Morrill et al. (R) Abrams (R)
	Th, 5/1 F, 5/9 W, 5/14	Course Conclusion and Review Exam III (take-home) available electronically Exam III (take-home) due by 5:00pm	Review readings & notes Procedures will be discussed in class

Requirements

Lecture Attendance and Participation: Regular attendance of the lectures is important because all of the material covered in lecture will be on the exams. More importantly, the vitality of any course and depth of understanding among students depends in part on student questions, comments, and ideas during class. I welcome you to raise clarifying questions as the need arises. However, I hope you also raise substantive comments and questions throughout the course. Some of our discussions will stretch the materials in ways unanticipated by both lecture and the readings all of which will be covered by the exams. Taking this course is a little like learning a language: If you do not learn the fundamentals early on in the semester and do not consistently keep up with the reading, you will be lost as the term progresses. It is therefore extremely important that you attend every class and section, listen carefully, take detailed notes, and participate as much as you can. You are also welcome to raise concerns and questions with the instructors during office hours or via e-mail. Interaction with the instructors will help you understand the material, but will not be awarded participation points. 

Grading: Your course grade will be determined by two in-class examinations, one take-home exam (at the end of the course), and section performance (which includes written assignments). Out of concern for fairness to all students, make-up exams will not be available except in the case of documented extreme illness or excused university absence. The first in-class exam will take place on Tuesday, February 18, and the second on Thursday, March 20. The third take-home exam will be handed out via b-space on Friday, May 9 and returned by 5:00pm on Wednesday, May 14. All grades determined by the GSI are final. The professor will not re-grade the examinations. If you have a disability that requires accommodations, please speak to the GSI early in the term (i.e., in the first two weeks) to make arrangements. 

Examinations (300 points): Exams I and II are each worth 100 points comprised of four sections: (a) a single, short essay response to a question (20 points); (b) paragraph responses to paired concepts (50 points); (c) sentence responses defining key concepts (20 points); and (d) fill-in-the-blanks questions (10 points). Exam III, the take-home exam, also will be worth 100 points and consist of you critically and creatively applying course materials to a hypothetical scenario. It will be open-note, open-book. More details on the take-home exam will be available closer to the end of the semester. Each of the exams is an individual exercise to be completed by students working independently. The purpose of the exams is not to surprise you but to give you multiple opportunities and ways to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the course material. Study guides will be distributed in a timely manner leading up to each examination. 

Section Performance (100 points): Section performance is determined by attendance and participation in the section, and participation in a course blog, consisting of a Blog Essay and Presentation (50 points) and ten weeks of Blog Comments (5 points per comment for a total of 50 points) on other students’ Blog Essays. Blog Essay due dates are staggered by groups and assigned through a random numbers table.  More details and specific instructions will be provided on b-space and in section. Points will be deducted from your overall allocation for section performance as a result of not attending section. If you cannot attend section meetings and complete the blog entries, you should not take this course.

Grading Criteria: The following criteria will be used in assessing your writing – clarity (using proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, legibility and organization); accuracy and comprehensiveness (defining all relevant terms/concepts, illustrating the terms/concepts, and including all key points); and creativity (demonstrating in your own words or with your own examples that you understand concepts and questions and can reason critically about them). Final course grades will be allocated using the following scale:

380-400     =    A         (95%-100%)

360-379     =    A-       (90%-94%)

348-359     =    B+             (87%-89%)

336-347     =    B         (84%-86%)

320-335     =    B-        (80%-83%)

308-319     =    C+       (77%-79%)

296-307     =    C         (74%-76%)

280-295     =    C-        (70%-73%)

268-279     =    D+       (67%-69%)

256-267     =    D         (64%-66%)

240-255     =    D-        (60%-63%)

            > 240         =    F          ( > 60% )

Academic Misconduct

From the Preamble of the Berkeley Campus Code of Student Conduct: “The Chancellor may impose discipline for the commission or attempted commission (including aiding or abetting in the commission or attempted commission) of…all forms of academic misconduct including but not limited to cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, or facilitating academic dishonesty.” Academic misconduct devalues the learning experience not only for the perpetrators, but for the entire university community. Consult the Code or the Student Guide to Academic Integrity at Cal for definitions of academic misconduct and the penalties that can be imposed for it.

Citations for Readings in the Youth, Culture and Justice Reader

1. Morrill, Calvin, Christine Yalda, Madelaine Adelman, Michael Musheno, and Cindy Bejarano. 2000. “Telling Tales in School: Youth Culture and Conflict Narratives.” Law & Society Review 34: 521-565.

2. Case Summaries and Legal Terminology:

Ex Parte Crouse, 4 Whart. 9 (1839)

Commonwealth v. Fisher, 213 Pa. 48 (1905)

In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967)

McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528 1976

Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012)

People ex rel Gallo v. Acuna, 929 P.2d 597 (1997)

3. Zimring, Franklin E., Rayman L. Solomon. 1996. “Goss v. Lopez: The Principle of the Thing – Bringing the Issue to Court”.  Pp. 459-490 in In the Interest of Children: Advocacy, Law Reform, and Public Policy, edited by Robert H. Mnookin.  NY: Freeman.

4. Arum, Richard. 2003. “From the Bench to the Paddle” (with Richard Pitt and Jennifer Thompson).  Pp. 127-158 in Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

5. Savage, John. 2007. “Hooligans and Apaches: Juvenile Delinquency and the Mass Media.” Pp. 33-48 in Teenage: The Prehistory of Youth Culture: 1875-1945.  NY: Penguin Books.

6. Males, Mike. 1999. “Myth: The Media Tell the Truth about Youth.” Pp. 260-298 and 366-378 in Framing Youth: Ten Myths about the Next Generation.  Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.

7. Hall, G. Stanley. 1904. Pp. v-ix and 325-360 in Adolescence: Its Psychology and Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education. NY: D. Appleton and Co.

8. Bushman, Brad J. 2013. “Media Violence and Youth Violence.” Pp. 12-13 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

9. Calvert, Sandra L. 2013. “Youth Violence: Influences of Exposure to Violent Media Content.” Pp. 14-15 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

10. Downey, Geraldine. 2013. “Rejection and Lethal Violence”. Pp. 16-17 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

11. Thrasher, Fredric. 1927. Pp. 9-19 in The Gang: A Study of 1,313 Gangs in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

12. Beckman, Albert. 1932. “Juvenile Crime.” The Journal of Juvenile Research 16: 66-76.

13. Gottfredson, Michael. 2013. “Some Key Facts about Criminal Violence Pertinent to the Relation of Self-Control to Violence.”  Pp. 23 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

14. Dredze, Mark. 2013. “Understanding Factors of Youth Violence through the Study of Cyberbullying.” Pp. 27-28 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

15. Neill, Daniel B. 2013. “Data Mining for Prediction of Youth Violence: Methods, Challenges, Open Questions.” Pp. 29-30 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

16. Coleman, James S. 1961. “The Emergence of an Adolescent Subculture in Industrial Society.” Pp. 1-10 in The Adolescent Society. NY: Free Press.

17. Morrill, Calvin. 2013. “A Brief Look at Sociological Perspectives on Peer Hierarchies, Organizational Conditions in Schools, and Youth Violence and Conflict.” Pp. 20-22 in Youth Violence: What We Need to Know – Report of the Subcommittee on Youth Violence of the Advisory Committee to the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation.  Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

18. Bowles, Samuel, and Herbert Gintis. 1976. “Corporate Capital and Progressive Education.” Pp. 180-200 in Schooling in Capitalist America. Chicago: Haymarket Books.

19. Newman, Katherine. 2004. Pp. 3-73 and 335-347 in Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. NY: Basic Books.

20. Carter, Prudence. 2012. “Cultural Flexibility: The (Un)Making of Multicultural Navigators.” Pp. 88-118 in Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools.  NY: Oxford University Press.

21. Downing, Gary. 2013. “Virtual Youth: Non-Heterosexual Young People’s Use of the Internet to Negotiate their Identities and Socio-Sexual Relations.” Children’s Geographies 11: 44-58.

22. Abrams, Kathy. 2012. “Feeling Work in the Undocumented Students’ Movement.” Working Paper, Center for the Study of Law and Society, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.