Describe what experts believe about identifying potential mass shooters.

Principles of Sociology – Jamison
Spring 2016
Assignment #3 (CHOICE #1) (50 POINTS – 20%)
Mass Shootings – Due April 11, 2015, 11:00 pm, on Turnitin

Horrible events, such as mass shootings, typically gain a lot of media attention (with fear and political outrage not far behind calls for action).

This assignment will help you think about how Social Networks can be useful in helping us predict and prevent an act of mass shooting. It is required that you refer to the “Crowd Sleuthing” link on Blackboard in order to complete this assignment and to my PowerPoint slides. If you attended the forum in which I participated, you can use the information you heard in that forum in your paper as well. If you did not attend the forum, you will have enough information on the link to complete your paper.

Your paper should be 4-5 pages, double spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 pt. type, and contain the following:

Read the newspaper article thoroughly (4-1/2 pages) “The Next Page: “Crowd Sleuthing” the next John Shick” and review the PowerPoint slides I prepared that are posted on Blackboard.

Summarize and describe what occurred at Western Psychiatric hospital

Describe how Dr. Brennan Spiegel became involved in this incident

Describe Dr. Spiegel’s views on human beings as threat detectors. What claims are made in this story about the causes of this specific mass shooting?

Describe what experts believe about identifying potential mass shooters.

Describe Dr. Spiegel’s “before the fact crowd sleuthing” theory.

Describe the profile of a mass shooter.

Describe Dr. Spiegel’s view on how we might change in order to detect the next John Shick.

What policies are discussed, and what policy changes are suggested in this article and in my slides that might address mass shootings?

What is your reaction to this incident, and your reaction to the news article. This is your personal opinion about a serious issue that we all face today in our society.

IMPORTANT – READ PAGE #2
IMPORTANT

This assignment is worth 20% of your grade.

Because it is worth the same number of points as an exam, I will be grading these assignments very thoroughly.

Your paper can be longer than three pages if you need to expand the number of pages to answer all questions

VERY IMPORTANT:

Unfortunately, I have had several experiences with students plagiarizing papers in my classes, which necessitates that I state the following:

I will be reading these papers carefully for evidence of plagiarism and if it is discovered that you plagiarized in any way, your score for this paper will be a zero.

I will also consider turning you in to the Academic Integrity Committee if I detect plagiarism.

By now, I know your writing style, and because I have read thousands of student papers, it is fairly easy to detect plagiarism. I will be going back to your first two assignments to compare your writing if I am doubting the authenticity of your writing for this assignment.

To my ESL students, I do not expect you to have perfect grammar. You should write this paper like you are speaking to me.

To Everyone:
I do not expect you to write this paper like an academic. I want you to speak like who you are…an undergraduate college student. This does not mean I do not want you to try to write your best paper, but please make sure you are not copying from the newspaper article directly, and that you are not copying from any other source, but that you are summarizing and restating what you learn and what you think about this issue in your own words.

I am sure that every one of you has had a reaction to all of the mass shootings in this country and that you are concerned about this issue. You should be able to write about this topic from your knowledge after reading the article and reviewing my PowerPoints. There is plenty of information for you to read on Blackboard without going further and doing any further research.

Please read the Plagiarism policy on my syllabus for more information.