COR 405 PRISON NATION: DECONSTRUCTING THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
In a land that claims to be the greatest advocate of democracy and civil rights in the world, why are more prisons than schools being built? Why does America lead Western nations in the number of persons incarcerated? What factors account for the disproportionate number of minorities and the poor represented in America's criminal justice system? Why do women represent the fastest growing segment of the population going to jail? Is prison an actual deterrent to crime? Who are the people actually being incarcerated, the most serious offenders or those who have committed less serious offenses? Why has prison become a "resort" for some offenders? The course will utilize texts from various disciplinary perspectives to provide great springboards through which students might explore some of the complexities of criminal justice in the United States the criminalization of various segments of American society and the ways in which the nation and private corporations benefit from crime. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third or fourth year of study. Counts toward Public Health Studies major for students not using it for the COR capstone seminar.
Corequisite
Course Types
Core Interdisciplinary Seminar; Public Health Elective; Criminal Justice Elective