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ACR101 – Introducing Crime and Criminology
AT3: Research and Writing Exercise
BRIEFING PAPER / INSTRUCTIONS
KEY INFORMATION

DUE DATE: WORD COUNT: WEIGHTING:

Monday 4 May, 5pm (AEST) 1500 words (±10%, maximum 1650 words) 40%

TASK
Drawing on a minimum of 8 academic sources, as well as other reputable sources, provide a 1200-word essay
response and a 300-word essay plan to ONE of the topics listed below. These are based on the topics covered
in weeks 4-6 of the unit (Youth and Crime, Crime in the Streets, and Crime in the Home).
A key criteria for this assessment is to demonstrate your ability to conduct research. In your response you
must draw on a minimum of 8 academic sources to support your argument. These should include references
to a range of sources such as books, journal articles, sentencing judgments or reports from government
departments and agencies. For further information about appropriate resources, see the Criminology
Resource Guide https://deakin.libguides.com/criminology or use the ‘Ask Marion and Brad Discussion’ forum
to contact our librarians.
Harvard Referencing Guide
For this task you must use Harvard style referencing, which includes in-text referencing and a reference list.
Download the Deakin Harvard Referencing Guide from the CloudDeakin site (Resources > Additional
Resources > Deakin guide to Harvard referencing) to use as a guide when writing and referencing your essay.
ESSAY TOPICS
Please choose ONE of the following topics:
1. Choose a particular type of crime discussed in Chapter 7 of the textbook (pp. 157-163). Discuss at
least two ways your chosen offence could be responded to more effectively by an identified arm of
the criminal justice system (police, courts or corrections), other branches of government and/or
society more broadly. In your response, consider what prominent criminologists (or other reputable
sources) say is needed for positive change to occur in the context of your identified topic.
2. ‘The best way to reduce street crime is to increase situational crime prevention strategies’. Outline
what prominent criminologists (or other reputable sources) say about this idea and identify a
specific crime type and at least two alternative strategies in response to it.
3. Some people argue that youthful deviance is ‘normal’ and that criminalising certain kinds of youthful
behaviour might have unintended consequences. They suggest that the less we intervene with
formal criminal justice responses the better, as this approach can often do more harm than good.
Identify at least two approaches suggested by criminologists (or other reputable sources) that reflect
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this point of view. In your response, discuss the theoretical origins of these approaches and briefly
outline key criticisms of the ‘welfare’ approach to crime.
INSTRUCTIONS
GETTING STARTED
Step 1 Choose ONE of the above topics
DOING RESEARCH
Step 2 Start looking for, downloading and reading relevant books, articles and reports related to your
chosen topic. You MUST use at least 8 academic sources.
Thoroughly read the relevant textbook chapters and Study Guide material (especially Chapter 29).
Next, brainstorm the issues that arise from the essay topic and try to get a sense of your own views on them.
What do you see as the most crucial elements of the debate? What evidence do we need to understand about
the issues raised in order to respond to the question(s) posed?
Next look up some of the references used by the authors of the relevant textbook chapter(s) to provide
evidence and support for the points they raise. Use the Library and other databases to find these and other
relevant academic sources. Your essay requires a minimum of 8 academic sources so you’ll need to read
enough literature before you decide what will be most useful to you.
Remember, this task is asking you to identify and discuss what criminologists and other academics argue about
each of the topics listed in the three questions listed above (remembering that you only need to choose one!).
So, the argument in your essay should be constructed around the weight of evidence from your reading of
these academic sources. For example: if in your research you find that most of the academic opinions agree
that a tough on crime approach for youth offending is an appropriate approach then this would form the basis
of your argument. Be sure to also discuss alternative arguments as well – try to provide a balanced discussion,
but still argue a particular perspective (i.e. don’t ‘sit on the fence’).
Without conducting enough reading/research, it is very difficult to know how you are going to respond to the
essay question – but don’t saturate yourself. Ideally, you would spend at least three days researching, perhaps
over the course of a couple of weeks. Allow yourself time to process information and to take efficient notes.
Make thorough notes of the sources you consult as you go – you’ll need them for your reference list later
(remember all direct quotes and paraphrasing need page numbers in your in-text reference).
Try to include the authors in your discussion and when you use quotes, e.g. Smith (2017) argues that… Taylor
and Billing suggest…
If you need help finding academic sources:
• Review the online resources at the Criminology Resource Guide;
• Watch the videos on digital literacy especially ‘Finding Resources Using Library Search’;
• Contact your liaison librarians Marion (Waurn Ponds), or Brad (Burwood) via their dedicated
discussion board on Resources > Discussions > ‘Assessment 3: Ask Marion & Brad’;
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• For technical difficulties contact IT Help;
• For individual help with understanding this assignment (e.g. academic writing, study skills, etc.), and
other personal issues contact the Study Support staff.
WRITING YOUR ESSAY PLAN
Step 3 Write a 300-word essay plan responding to the question you have chosen
Your essay plan should evolve as the research progresses. Write down ideas as you read until a clear,
supportable argument evolves. Next, organise the points that support your argument into a coherent order
and make sure you have references to support them. Briefly plan what you want to include in your conclusion.
There are no hard and fast rules about how best to plan and lots of resources available on the web to help you
find the best approach for you.
How you present your plan is totally up to you and is part of your assessment. You do not need to include full,
polished paragraphs or large sections of text, it is simply about demonstrating how you are going to respond
to the question and how you will present this.
At minimum your essay plan should include the following:
Introduction
• In one sentence, outline the elements of the debate you have chosen to focus on (this will be three
or four of many that might be analysed; your discussion will not be exhaustive because of the word
limit – that is fine). You should choose the points that you see as most important. It is good practice
to acknowledge this briefly in your essay.
• Indicate what you will argue about the issues
• Dot point how the discussion will proceed.
Body paragraphs (3-4 of these)
• Each paragraph should identify one element of debate about the issue you have chosen to discuss
• What does the evidence show (critically assess various arguments, points of view, research or
commentary on the issue and note relevant references)
• Which views are most persuasive according to your analysis? And, importantly, you should explain
why these views are persuasive and/or reliable.
Conclusion
• What have you argued
• Why have you argued this
• What do you want to convince your reader of?
NOTES
• As identified in the marking rubric, you must include your Essay Plan in the final submission of your
essay, as one document (ideally, pasted before the essay).
• The Essay Plan is worth 5% of your overall mark for the Research & Writing Exercise (AT3), and will be
graded on merit, so make sure you undertake this task seriously.
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• Dot points are best for a plan! Further help with your planning process will be offered during seminars.
Cut and paste your plan onto the first page of your final document for submission.
• As this task has a 10% leeway in relation to word count, it is up to you to decide how you allocate your
words. If you are able to concisely present your plan, then any leftover words can be used in your
essay. Essay Plans must not be shorter than 250-words.
WRITING YOUR ESSAY
Step 4 Write a 1200-word essay responding to the question you have chosen, ensuring that:
• You have a clear introduction that outlines the topic being discussed, the key points of your argument
and how you are going to argue it.
• You plan your essay first, as this will ensure that you follow a particular direction.
• Your paragraph structure is clear and follows what is outlined in the introduction. Each paragraph
should relate to a key point of your argument, as well as fit the overall flow of your essay.
• You provide a strong and coherent conclusion, which does more than simply repeat the material
raised in your essay. A conclusion should summarise the key points, but also highlight the overall
outcome of your essay – i.e. what is your answer to the question posed?
• You adhere to the formatting requirements outlined at the end of this document.
• Your essay should be presented on a new page, separate from the Essay Plan.
• You submit your essay before the time listed as the deadline for the task. Note: the deadline for this
task is set at 5pm.
IMPORTANT: If you have a valid reason for requiring an extension for this task you must adhere to Faculty
requirements for seeking an extension, including the provision of supporting documentation. You can find
the form at https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1379767/Assignment-ExtensionForm-Sept-2019-ArtsEd.pdf. If you do not submit your extension request with the appropriate
documentation filled out your request will be denied.
SUBMITTING YOUR ESSAY
Step 5 Go to Assessment > Assignments > Assessment Task 3: Research & Writing Exercise, and follow the
instructions for uploading your work.
• You must submit your assignment as a Word document (i.e. .doc or .docx file) or PDF document (i.e.
.pdf file) only – no other file formats will be accepted.
• Get into the habit of labelling your assessments sensibly (e.g. ‘ACR101-AT3-Smith’).
• Uploading your work to the Research & Writing Exercise Assignment link will also result in your work
being automatically submitted to Turnitin and checked for plagiarism and collusion.
• You may want to submit your work early in order to review your Turnitin report. You will be able to
upload and overwrite your submission up until the due date and time (i.e. you can have multiple
submissions, though please avoid doing this too many times). Please note that submission through
Turnitin sometimes takes up to 24 hours, so leave yourself time before the submission deadline if
you wish to do this and resubmit.
• Make sure that you receive a confirmation email, otherwise your assessment may not have been
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successfully uploaded.
• Please note that you must submit by the due date, as a penalty will be applied as per University Policy
where the assessment task is submitted after this date, without an approved extension as follows:
1. 5% will be deducted from available marks for each day up to five days (incl. weekends).
2. Where work is submitted more than five days after the due date, the task will not be marked and
the student will receive 0% for the task.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS
• You must submit your essay as a Word document (i.e. a .doc or .docx file) OR a PDF document (i.e. a
.pdf file) only – no other document formats will be accepted.
• Use must use a sensible font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, etc.), ideally in size 12pt.
• Justify the text (home tab > paragraph > justify icon/straight lines).
• Use 1.5 line spacing (home tab > paragraph > line spacing icon).
• Insert page numbers (insert tab > header & footer > page number> bottom of page).
• You must use Harvard style in-text referencing and provide a reference list in the same style.
Ensure you have adequately met the required word limit (1500 words)
• Your essay may be 10% (150 words) under or over the word limit without penalty; this means your
essay and essay plan should collectively sit somewhere between 1350-1650 words in total.
Include a reference list at the end of your paper
• Insert a page break (insert tab > pages > page break) at the end of the document, and add your
reference list on the new page created by the page break.
• Place each of your references in alphabetical order by the first author’s family name (how you present
this should look the same as the reference lists used in the textbook). You will find instructions for how
to create a reference list on the ‘Harvard’ link in the Deakin Guide to Referencing.
• NB: It is not acceptable to reference the text book editors (Palmer, de Lint and Dalton) as the authors
of any textbook chapters should be used. You must instead use the name of the individual chapter
author(s) both in-text and in the reference list. Marks will be lost for only using the editors’ names intext.
Edit your work for spelling and grammar
• Turn spell AND grammar checks on and set proofing language to English (Australian) (file > options >
language > English (Australia) (click on ‘set as default’).
• Ensure that all words with a red line underneath are corrected.
• Ensure that all words with a blue line underneath are checked to ensure the right word is chosen (e.g.
there/their/they’re).
• Ensure all sentences with a green line underneath are checked for clarity of written expression.
GENERAL ADVICE
• Thoroughly read or revise the online learning resources (Study Guide) and chapter in the textbook that
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correspond with the chosen topic; this will provide you with a basic grounding in the topic. Note:
students will also find useful material in the learning resources and chapters for weeks 2 and 3 and are
encouraged to also make use of these in their assignments where appropriate (particularly with regard
to the use of statistics).
• Proof read your work before submitting. This is often best done by reading your paper aloud. Asking
someone else to read it is also useful (e.g. parents or friends, but not classmates). Remember – no-one
else should be involved in directly editing your submitted document.