For this discussion board, please respond to 2 questions from Section A and 2 questions from Section B. Make sure you clearly indicate the question that corresponds with each of your responses. These questions are intended to stimulate your critical thinking skills and provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of key terms and concepts from the course. I would encourage you to review and integrate earlier concepts in the course (anything from Weeks 1-13) in your responses.
Once again respond to 2 questions from section A and 2 questions from section B…
Prompts
Section A: Respond to 2!
1) Do you think a biological intervention OR a social intervention would be most effective for youth offenders? Explain your answer.
2) In thinking about the intervention/treatment options discussed in class, which intervention do you think would be most effective for at-risk individuals without subjecting them to negative stigmas/labels? Explain your answer.
3) In general, there is less concern about using psychologically-based (e.g., CBT) or socially-based (e.g., multi-systemic therapy) interventions compared to biologically-based interventions (e.g., meditation, medication, castration). Why do you think there is hesitation or reluctance to use biologically-based interventions? Explain your answer.
Section B: Respond to 2!
4) As antisocial individuals tend to exhibit poor decision-making, how ethical would it be to require a biologically-based treatment as part of an offender’s sentence? Explain your answer.
5) For what type of crime or offender, if any, should a biologically-based treatment be mandated (in other words, required) as part of the offender’s sentence? Explain your answer.
6) Do you think biological factors should be considered an aggravating (factors that increase a defendant’s culpability and could result in a harsher or longer sentence) factor OR a mitigating (factors that may reduce a defendant’s culpability and could result in a more lenient or shorter sentence) factor when determining the sentencing of an offender? Explain your answer.
Grading Rubric
This discussion board is worth 20 points. You should provide 4 responses (2 from Section A and 2 from Section B). The points breakdown is as follows:
- Up to 4 points for providing a clear answer to each prompt
- Up to 4 points for providing relevant evidence or examples (from the lecture videos, textbook, or scholarly sources outside of class) to support your answers
- Up to 4 points for explaining how/why the evidence or examples support your answers
- Up to 4 points for demonstrating understanding or integration of assigned course material with well-developed ideas/responses
- Up to 2 points for having 2 responses for Section A and 2 responses for Section B
- Up to 2 points for grammar/writing quality
