• The student should be able to describe the sociological perspective on crime and to discuss the major explanations of crime, including biological and psychological perspectives, as well as the three sociological perspectives.

• The student should be able to describe the major types of crime found in the United States, describe their extent, and explain why they occur.

• The student should be able to summarize the research showing how gender, age, socioeconomic status, and race influence the likelihood of involvement in crime and also describe the characteristics of crime victims.

• The student should be able to show what role the police, courts, and prisons play in controlling crime, summarize the research on how effective each is, and describe how the mass media construct images of both crime and the criminal justice system.

• The student should be able to describe each of the policies that have been either proposed or implemented in order to control crime and assess the effectiveness of each.

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