This course is intended to acquaint students with current and historical issues surrounding the use of incarceration as a criminal sanction. It examines both short-term incarceration in jails and long-term incarceration in prisons. Students will learn about the issues facing inmates, correctional officers, administrators, and upper-level policy makers. In addition, this course will examine how institutional corrections fit into the criminal justice system of the United States.

Robert Johnson. 1996. Hard Time: Understanding and Reforming the Prison. New York: Wadsworth Publishing.

Additional readings will be available on reserve at the main UCF library, but need not be purchased.

There are several requirements for this course.

• There will be two exams. Each test will cover only the material presented since the previous exam. Material for the exams will be drawn from course lectures and discussions as well as assigned readings.
• Two class tours of local correction institutions are scheduled during the term. Students are expected to attend and to write two reaction papers based on their experiences. Those who are unable to take the tours will be required to complete a written assignment as a substitute. A detailed information sheet that outlines the expectations for the reaction papers and for the alternative written assignment will be distributed in class (they are posted separately on the web site).
• There will also be occasional in-class assignments and activities. Your participation will be used to determine your class participation grade.

I expect that each of the exams and assignments will reflect your own work. In particular, you should not copy someone else's work or allow them to copy yours. When you are reporting ideas from something you have read, you must cite the source. Finally, if you draw any direct quotes from someone else, you must put them in quotation marks and cite the original author (direct quotes should be used sparingly and only when you cannot adequately restate the idea in your own words).

Grades will be based on the above requirements as follows, and will reflect a typical grading scale:

You will be allowed to make up exams or hand in assignments late without penalty only in the event of an emergency. Written verification that you could not meet the deadline or attend class (e.g., emergency room receipt, arrest report) must be provided.

If you do not have a valid emergency excuse, you may still make up exams or hand in assignments late (with the exception of the summaries), but you will lose 2 percent of the total possible points from the assignment/exam for each day that you are late. The count begins as soon as the class is over on the original date. Also, make-ups will only be accepted within one week of the original due date.

In either situation, you must contact me as soon as possible after the due date to discuss the make up work.

In-class activities cannot be made up.