The purpose of this paper is to allow you to see the practical application of criminological theory. It is also designed to assist you in comprehending how your own experiences impact your views on law-violating behavior and its explanations.

On the title page of your paper you must type the following statement: “The purpose of this paper is to examine my own past activities in order to better understand the causes of my behavior and that of others’. This is an education exercise and in no way is to be seen as a confession that could in any way be used against me. I understand that only Dr. Michalsen and I will see the results of this assignment.”

The paper should be divided into five sections, including the headings below:

Confessions: Describes in detail all of the “crimes” you have “committed” from birth to the date of the paper submission. You are to recall your earliest memories of disobedient, delinquent, or antisocial behavior. You many find it worthwhile to discuss these incidents with your parents, friends, or other family members in order to gain a better perspective on how you behaved in your early years.

Explanation: Use personal opinion to explain the factors that contributed to your participation in these behaviors.  Please be sensible: you should focus on deviant behavior and minor infractions.  Specifically, please do not report any of the following activities: Murder, Burglary, Robbery, Escape from Prison/Jail, Arson, Kidnapping, Sodomy or Rape, and do not write about any currently open criminal cases you may have.

Theories of Explanation: Evaluate the factors used to explain your behavior in the prior section and use at least one criminological theory from each of the CATEGORIES that could best (or fails to!) explain your “criminal” behaviors (remember, these are not the theories – they are the categories under which the different theories fall):

• Neo-classical
• Psychological
• Social structure
• Social process
• Social conflict

In effect, you will apply a criminological theory to your own “crimes.” This will assist you in becoming more aware of the various competing understandings of how behaviors develop, evolve, persist, and desist.  This section should be the bulk of your paper.

Response: Discuss what actions could have impacted your participation in criminal behaviors. What actions could have prevented these behaviors? Decreased these behaviors? Changed these behaviors? Also briefly describe what you believe may have happened to you had any of your “crimes” resulted in incarceration.

Conclusion: Describe what you have learned from participating in this assignment about yourself and about your own views of criminal behavior.  For some inspiration, try reading this: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/05/18/alexander.who.am.i/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Your “my life of crime” paper must be at least 1,500 words , double spaced, in Times New Roman 12 point font, using one inch margins, and appropriate citations included using the APA citation system.