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1. Page 1 of 2 1 Criminology Research Paper Assignment Guidelines
Page1of 21Criminology Research Paper Assignment Guidelines1. Research a criminal
offender of your choice (bank robber, drug dealer, mob boss,assassin, serial killer,
embezzler, etc…whoever you are most interested in). The key is tomake sure there is a lot of
biographical information available on that person.Here is a starting point for ideas if you
don’t have anyone specific in mind:http://www.biography.com/people/groups/criminals2.
Develop a paper that focuses on the relevance of specific biological, psychological
andsociological factors to your chosen offender -for example traumatic brain injury,
IQ(biology), child abuse/neglect, mental illness (psychology), lack
ofresources/opportunities (sociology).Note that the “type” of offender you choose may
determine how much information youcan find about his/her life relevant to particular
crime theories. For instance, biographicalinformation that implies sociological factors may
take precedence for a drug dealer whilepsychological factors may be emphasized for a serial
killer (and not necessarily becausethat accurately reflects the dominance of one theory over
another), although certainlythere will still be biographical information to apply to the other
perspectives. Thisdefinitely depends on the individual offender though.The goal is to
correctly explain and apply the theories from the textbook and lectures tothe person’s
psyche, upbringing, environment (i.e. life history). Analyze information thatsupports and
discounts the crime theories you are examining.3. Cite where you get the information about
the offender throughout your paper (books,articles, websites), and also when you refer to,
define, and elaborate on specific theories.If a potential biological, psychological, or
sociological theory comes up in your researchthat was not explicitly discussed in the
textbook or via other course content, I encourageyou to find a scholarly source and include
those findings in your analysis. So to reiterate:You can (but are not required to) bring in
outside sources for theory application but theymust be SCHOLARLY. The biographical
information on your offender need not be froma scholarly source.*The goal of this paper is
NOT to summarize how other people analyze your offender’sbehavior, but to synthesize the
biographical information yourself and apply it to coursematerial/ scholarly sources
discussing particular crime theories.4. Discuss how much support there is for each set of
theoretical perspectives (the particularbiological, psychological, and sociological factors
explaining your criminal’s behavior).2Is this individual’s crime/s explained mostly by one
particular factor or set of factors, orsome combination? The point here is to make a logical
argument supported by the data,factors and theories discussed throughout your

2. count towards length) : 4-
-point Arial or Times New Roman fontI will be
writing about Nicholas cruz the parkland school shooter.