Recommendation: Review the requirements for the Final Paper, and tie your research to its requirements. Who has the most influence on crime control policy? The president? The governor? Our representatives? Chapter 3 of Criminal Justice Policy, “Street-Level Bureaucracy: From Policy to Practice” takes us from theory to reality. Arsneault states,
“Without someone to implement it, policy is nothing more than words on a page. Furthermore, what is written as policy is often more theory than reality, because implementing a policy at the street-level is seldom as neat and clean as it appears on the page.” (p. 37).
First, select a crime control policy (e.g., the three-strikes law, legalization of recreational use of marijuana, combatting terrorism and the Patriot Act, gang initiatives, or gun control, etc.). In your paper:
- Summarize the key elements of the selected crime control policy.
- Explain the political process that sets the foundation for the selected crime control policy.
- Examine the role of the federal government when it comes to formulating crime control policy.
- Discuss how the U.S. Congress influences crime control policy of the states and ensures consistency of laws among the states (Note: Traditionally, crime control legislation falls under state legislatures. There are articles on various policies in the Arsneault, 2014, chapter.)
Your paper must:
- Be three to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
- Include a separate title page with the following:
- Title of paper
- Student’s name
- Course name and number
- Instructor’s name
- Date submitted
- Use at least five scholarly sources in addition to the course text.