Help with Assignment


Students will be asked to prepare a paper on the content of a guest speaker event that occurred in our class.   Choose one of the three listed below–Sr. CCPD Officer Austin Jochec or Guadalupe Leal from the Child Support office or Moody High School Principal Enrique Vela.  The report will be a minimum of 4 pages in length, plus a separate reference page. 

Papers should be double-spaced, grammatical, spell-checked and use proper bibliographical citations.  All quoted material should be placed in quotation marks and properly cited. 

Select ONE of the following topics:

  • Gangs & Delinquency
  • Family & Delinquency
  • Schools & Delinquency

Carefully watch and analyze the guest presentation posted on Blackboard related to your topic:

Format for your report:     

1)  Begin by providing an overview of the topic you choose (Gangs & Delinquency, Schools & Delinquency, or Family & Delinquency).  Base your overview on recent scholarly research on the subject.  Cite at least 2 scholarly sources (not magazines, newspapers).  All quoted material must be in quotation marks followed by the last name of the author and the year of publication in parentheses, for example, According to Jones, “Gangs are widespread in the U.S., particularly in large urban areas such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston” (Jones, 2020). This section of the paper should be a minimum of 1 page in length.

2)  Provide a detailed, accurate description of the guest presentation. This section of the paper should be a minimum of 2 pages in length.  Do not copy directly from speaker’s PowerPoint slides.  Put info into your own words.

3)  Provide an in-depth analysis of your impressions, thoughts, and feelings engendered by the presentation.  What did you find most compelling, surprising, informative, shocking about the presentation?  This section of the paper should be a minimum of 1 page in length.      

4)  Cite research sources for section 1 of your paper.  A reference list contains the actual sources used in writing your paper.  These are the ones you used for quotes and ideas that were taken from articles.  For how to do a reference page, see https://www.bibliography.com/how-to/bibliography-examples-for-students/Use the style you prefer: MLA, APA, or Chicago style. 

This paper will help students develop the important professional skills of:      

  • Preparing clear, factual descriptions of scholarly literature on problems and challenges related to delinquency in American society.
  • Preparing clear, factual descriptions of guest presentations/events.
  • Distinguishing your personal feelings, thoughts, prejudices, and concerns from accurate presentation of facts and findings. 
  • Providing reference information in standard format.

In fairness to fellow classmates, late papers will not receive full credit – 10 points off for each day late.  Use headings and paragraphs to help the reader distinguish between the different sections of your paper.  For example:  

  • Overview of the Topic (based on scholarly research – 1 page minimum)
  •  Factual Description of the Guest Presentation (2 page minimum)
  •  My Thoughts & Feelings (1 page minimum)
  •  References

Please do not use headings and triple spacing to simply fill up your minimum page requirement. Give the assignment your ALL.  I know you can be counted on to do your very best.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s work as one’s own.  All quoted material from an article, must be put in quotation marks followed by the author’s name, year of publication (Jones, 2020).  The “McClellan Rule” is that if you use more than 3 words from someone’s sentence, they must be put in quotation marks.  The full bibliographical information on your source should be included in your reference page at the end of the paper.  Rely on scholarly articles, not popular magazines or social media or your textbook for section one of your paper.