Breaking the Cycle of Violence Engaged Scholarship Project

1. “It always seems Impossible until it is done.”“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”Nelson Mandela

2. Breaking the Cycle of Violence Engaged Scholarship Project Juvenile Delinquency Class Sociology 362 - Spring 2014 40 students

3. Sociology 362: Juvenile Delinquency • Course catalog description of the course: • “The nature and extent of delinquency. Consideration of theories, delinquent subculture, and programs for control and prevention.” • Course description from my last syllabus • The Juvenile Delinquency course will investigate the nature and extent of delinquency. We will consider theories, how the category of delinquency is constructed, what are considered delinquent subculture, and the formal and informal social organizations and how they are used for control and prevention. We will also investigate juvenile delinquency from a cross-cultural perspective.

4. Community Partners Needs: Do The Write Thing Needs: Outreach to middle schools in Boston Public School System Research on systemic issues of violence Content analysis of essays Recognition ceremony Breaking the Cycle of Violence Initiative Needs: Content analysis of essays Building essay to practice models Peace Circles Needs: Monitor and administrate social media Facilitate Peace Circles in Timility Middle School Outreach to other teachers and schools to introduce Peace Circles Changing Lives Through Literature Needs: Facilitate the reading, discussing, and reflective write at Dorchester and Chelsea Juvenile Probation Department Develop curriculum resources

5. Civic Responsibility • Once you know something, you can no longer use ignorance as a reason for inaction. • Once you know something, you are civically obligated to act on that knowledge. • Use your knowledge to start where you are and grow from there.

6. Learning Goals • Academic • Understand social construction of delinquency • Identify factors/variables that contribute to delinquency • Politics 101: how to identify a community issue, organize around the issue, develop action plan, and reach desired outcome • Theories of delinquency • Assessed through a policy/program research paper & reflection exercises • Inter & Intra Personal • Group work one day a week to discuss community work experience • Work on joint project outcomes in weekly group • Assed through the three reflection exercises

7. Learning Goals • Diversity • Identify the race, class, and gender intersection with the social construction of delinquency • Identify the disproportionate minority contact with the juvenile justice system and why • Assessed through use of personal reflection journals responding to specific questions and research paper • Social responsibility & Democratic Citizenship • How to apply the theories to site specific issue • How to challenge the disproportionate minority contact • Assessed through the three reflection exercises and research paper.

8. Three Reflection Exercises • 1. Journals • Linking course content – using questions such as “what course concepts from this weeks material can be applied to your work at the community partner site?” • Self Awareness – using questions such as “which of your skills, maybe newly realized skills, have been an asset at the community partner site?” • Civically engaged person – using questions such as “what does a civically minded person in your chosen field do?” “ What experience in this course has impacted your thoughts on what kind of community member you want to be?” • Social justice/social change – ask question such as “what conditions of inequality make the service necessary?” and “what next steps do you think you could take to better understand these underlying inequities.” • Tool of journaling will be the double-entry journal: in one column they will list incidents, observations, and personal thoughts of their community work. In another column they will list key issues from classroom discussion and readings. Conclude with a paragraph discuss relationships with course material and they community experience

9. Three Reflection Exercises • Presentations • Advocate for the community partner project using concepts learned in the classroom to further the agencies goals. Location of presentation to be determined. • Multimedia & technology • Webpage design • Twitter/blog • Online report of research recommendations posted to BCVI’s Webpage.