You will need to complete a final paper discussing a topic of your choice (you are responsible for identifying the topic from the list provided below). It is highly recommended that you select an aspect of the issue to discuss; this will make your paper more manageable (e.g., rather than looking just at violence prevention use in general, look at youth violence prevention or discuss terrorism and war, etc.) You will need to submit your topic to me for approval by the designated date. If you do not submit a topic on time, 10 points will automatically be deducted from your final paper grade.

Your paper should include an overview of the topic that you have selected. You should explain the various dimensions of the issue (e.g., the ways that race, class, gender, culture, etc. interact when considering this problem) and the reasons why you have selected it as a topic. In addition, you should provide an analysis of extant literature (what does the literature say about the topic?). You need to use at least seven sources for your paper, of which no more than two may be reports published by governmental, non-governmental, and/or non-profit organizations. The remainder of your sources needs to be scholarly books and/or journal articles. Only one of these may be a chapter we covered in class. Your paper should be approximately seven to ten pages long and should be typed, double-spaced, and should use conventional margins. Finally, your paper needs to conform to APA formatting guidelines.

Your paper will receive a grade out of 100. Late papers will receive an automatic 10-point deduction for each day the paper is late. Final grades will be assessed in the following manner: 10 points for stylistic considerations (correct use of APA format, font, margins, page length, etc.); 60 points for content (the thoroughness of your discussion of the topic you selected, the completeness of your literature review, etc.); 30 points for critical thinking (the degree to which you provide a thoughtful analysis of the dimensions of the issue, the thoughtfulness of your discussion of your personal reflections on the topic, etc.)