Students must craft an independent short essay response to each of the following questions:

1) Which one penological principle do you believe most heavily influences contemporary punishment in Australia? In what ways is this politically motivated?
Culturally motivated? How do you envision Australia’s preferences for certain penological principles shifting in the future?

2) In what ways is selective incapacitation relied upon in contemporary criminal justice practice? What are the prospects and pitfalls of expanding its use in the
future?

3) How does assessment influence the sanctions that offenders receive? How have these assessments progressed? How do these assessments need to improve?

4) In what ways do contemporary correctional sanctions achieve general deterrence? How should punishment be changed or facilitated in the future with the goal of
preventing offending more widely?

5) The term ‘double jeopardy’ is sometimes used to express the notion that a person should not be punished twice for the same offence. Discuss one criminal justice
sanction that carries an additional punishment after the formal punishment. Should we keep things that way? If so, how come? If not, why and how should things
change?

SHORT ESSAY FORMAT
The short essays should be submitted as one document; this document will include a cover page, the short essay responses, and a list of cited references. Each essay
response should begin at the top of a new page, and students should make note of which question they are answering. Students are expected to submit a final product in
accordance with a typical essay style; each of the five compositions should contain a brief introduction, a body with supporting evidence, and a succinct conclusion.
Although students will be providing personal opinions, the use of the first person voice should be avoided, and research evidence should be used to substantiate points
of contention. Each short essay response must be between 400-500 words, for a total composition length of 2000-2500 words (exclusive of front- and end-matter); point
deductions will occur for failure to abide by these conditions of essay length. Short essays should be written and formatted according to APA (American Psychological
Association) stipulations, including 2.54 cm margins, double spacing with no additional breaks, proper header information and page numbers, 12-pitch Times New Roman
font, in-text citations and a list of included references. Students must incorporate a minimum of 10 empirical, peerreviewed references; these resources can include
readings discussed in class, although they should be integrated into the essay response (that is, the references must be substantively presented within the paper and
not simply placed as an appended parenthetical citation). Finally, students should ensure that their final composition is free from spelling and grammatical errors,
enhances readability, is logically defensible, and wholly answers the questions posed above.
ASSESSMENT MARKING
This assessment is weighted as 40% of students’ final mark in the course. Students’ performance on the short essays will be assessed according to the following marking
criteria:
PER EACH SHORT ESSAY QUESTION
Points possible Essay Response Content
– Assumes a broad stance and provides illustrations
– Not overcome by an excess of narrow examples
– Accurately defines the topic – Identifies the significance of the topic
– Demonstrates familiarity with the conceptual issues relevant to the topic
– Incorporates appropriate empirical research pertaining to the topic
– Detects and critically discusses significant gaps in the theory, research, or policy related to the topic
– Asserts a position, thoroughly stipulating the rationale for such
Organization, Clarity, and Voice
– Essay is thematically organized
– Comprehensive treatment of the central issues relevant to the topic
– Evidence of systematic thinking
– Pursues an analytical approach to the exploration of the topic
– Introduces creative insights
– Develops a compelling narrative
Presentation
– Clear, consistent, and suitable essay writing style
– Within the length requirements
– Accurate spelling and punctuation
– APA referencing style
– Follows formatting requirements /2
TOTAL: /8
SUMMATION FOR ALL SHORT ESSAY QUESTIONS
Points possible Short Essay Questions
– Short essay question #1 /8
– Short essay question #2 /8
– Short essay question #3 /8
– Short essay question #4 /8
– Short essay question #5 /8
TOTAL: /40
These are some of the readings that can be referenced in this essay
Required Reading for this course is
Bull, M. (2010). Punishment & sentencing: Risk, rehabilitation and restitution. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. Chapter 2, : Principles and practices of
punishment and sentencing (pp. 23-44). Ch 3 (pp. 45-62). Ch6 (pp. 111-128).

This book can give answers to some of these questions.

Other readings
James R. P. Ogloff, Michael R. Davis (2004). Advances in offender assessment and rehabilitation: contributions of the risk–needs–responsivity approach

James, Bonta (2002). Offender risk assessment: guidelines for selection and use