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This semester, we examined the construction and enforcement of law and punishment through the
intersecting lenses of racism, sexism, and classism. We engaged in a critical assessment of the
flaws of the criminal justice system in the United States, including how race, class, and gender are
defined, how they intersect, and how they play a central role throughout the criminal justice
process. We focused on specific contemporary problems related to crime and punishment, and
discussed social movements and advocacy groups and their alternative visions and proposals to
transform the way we think of and enact justice, punishment, and prevention.
Based on this core material from the class, you will write a response paper to a book of your
choosing from the list provided on the syllabus. These book are nonfiction accounts of lived
experiences with the United States criminal justice system, including the extreme challenges that
many face as a result of systemic racism, classism, and/or sexism. In your paper, you must:
1) Summarize the main themes of the book. I am not looking for a recap of every event that
happened here. Rather, I want you to pull out the major points that the author makes over the
course of the book. Some questions to get you started here are: what are some of the major
themes presented in the book? Why do you think the author chose to write about these cases?
What impressions are you, as the audience, supposed to gather from the story/stories presented
in the book? This part of your paper should be no more than one to one and a half pages
of the total assignment.
2) Tell me what aspects of race, class, gender, or an intersection of these you see demonstrated
in this book, including aspects of the criminal justice system that are or are not working as they
should. Some questions to get you started here are: what aspects of crime and punishment do
you see most at play here? How are things like race, class, and/or gender intertwined with the
experiences of people in the book? How do people’s race, class, gender, or other factors
influence the construction of their criminality? How do these things inform their experiences
with the criminal justice system?
3) Give me your overall reaction to the book. What did you think? What impression of crime
and the criminal justice system did the book leave you with? Do you think the author’s
portrayal was fair? What, if anything, do you think should be done in response to the issues
they present? Be critical and evaluative in your thoughts. Remember: I do not care if you liked
or did not like the book. All I want to see here is that you can demonstrate that you thought
critically about it and can give your own thoughtful analysis. This section can be used as
your conclusion to the paper, but it must be more than just a few sentences.
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