BIOSOCIAL FALL 2020 | CCJ 4934 | ONLINE SYNCHRONOUS |T: 10:40 – 11:30am; TH: 10:40am – 12:35pm

This broad course argues that answers to questions on the etiology of violence, antisocial behavior, and lie significantly in an interdisciplinary biopsychosocial perspective: the interaction or interplay between cultural, environmental, social, psychological, medical, biological, neurological, and genetic factors. It takes a cross- disciplinary approach to understanding criminal behavior, drawing on perspectives from psychology, criminology, , anthropology, criminology, law, , , neurobiology, , , forensics, pediatrics, and public health. It is only by incorporating knowledge from multiple areas that we will be better able to understand, predict, and ultimately prevent future criminal behavior. The focus will not just be on violence and but will also include related clinical and legal concepts of crime, psychopathy, aggression, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and . This course will also go beyond research and practice into the moral, ethical, political, and philosophical issues underlying the subject matter, such as and . Because this class is relatively broad and interdisciplinary, it is appropriate for those from a wide range of majors without a background in biology or criminology. Students need not have any prior knowledge of biology to take this class. It is especially appropriate for Criminology, Psychology, and Biological Bases of Behavior majors, as well as students from other disciplines. The course utilizes a variety of different sources of information on criminal behavior: my lectures, guest lectures/expert (maybe), journal article readings, and documentaries. Be attentive to the fact that this is an interdisciplinary class. At times we may go into narrower methodological and research issues. Conversely, be also prepared for a much broader sweep of our knowledgebase on this topic than you would normally obtain in a more specialist Criminology, Biology, or Psychology class. The course focuses on neurobiological processes because they have been greatly neglected to date and there is a need to communicate these new advances. But this course will not espouse a simple explanation for the causes of crime. If behavior genetic studies on crime and violence have told us anything, it is that between 40-60% of the variability in crime is due to the environment. One of the future challenges lie in understanding how environmental factors interact with biological factors in predisposing to violence, and we will devote time to this important area. The causes of violence are complex and multifaceted.

Instructor: Dorothy Du Email: [email protected] Office: Turlington 3201 Office Hour: by appointment

Email is the easiest and most effective way to reach me. However, if I don't answer your email within 48 hours,

Pronouns: she/her please re-email me.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. To develop a rudimentary understanding of some of the techniques used to probe violence, including brain imaging, psychophysiology, neurochemistry, , and behavioral / molecular . 2. Introduce you to “” or “biosociopsycho-criminology”: the neurobiological and biological factors that predispose to crime and violence.

3. Understand how psychological factors interact with biological and social factors in predisposing to crime and violence. 4. Gain an appreciation of a multidisciplinary approach to understanding crime, as well as some

basic methodological, conceptual, and technical knowledge from these disciplines.

5. To gain a critical appreciation of the main biological theories on the causes of violent and antisocial behavior. 6. To recognize implications of research for the treatment and ultimate prevention of violent and antisocial behavior. 7. Gain an awareness of the moral, ethical, forensic, and legal issues surrounding biosocial criminology and their implications for society at large. 8. More generally, increase your interest, understanding, and appreciation of crime and violence.

COURSE READINGS

The course text which will give you a general introduction to each topic/lecture and is available in paperback:

Raine, A. (2014). The anatomy of violence: The biological roots of crime. Vintage Books (paperback).

Below under “Course Schedule”, for each lecture you will see a chapter from the book that gives you a background to that topic. If it says, “see index”, just look up the topic in the index in the back of the book. In addition, each week I will also give you at least two readings (or sometimes more) that relate to the week’s lecture.

You will need to read both articles and book chapters BEFORE each class.

CANVAS

Our course is organized via Canvas. Additional Readings will be posted on our canvas site.

BOOK CLUB

You are responsible for finding a book on some aspect of biosocial criminology that interests you. The book needs to be approved by me (see below).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Class Attendance/Participation: Class attendance is required. All students are expected to participate in each class session with appropriate comments in the lecture, by sharing discussion questions, and through lively conversations in the discussion part of class. You may not be excused from a class period barring a documentable emergency. Class attendance and participation is worth 30 points of your grade (15 points for attending, 15 points for participating, defined as speaking at least 3 times in a class). Yes, you must participate in class to earn the full 30 points.

Exams. This course does NOT have any exams.

. For each designated class session, you are expected to submit material to Reading Responses help with the class discussion that day. The material consists of: 1) 5 things you learned in the reading that you did not know before; 2) 5 discussion questions designed to provoke thought; 3) Any points of confusion or clarification that you needed to understand the material; and 4) Any answers to questions posed for that week. The material you submit should draw on all the articles assigned for that week. Papers will be given full credits, partial credits, or no credit based on whether you meet the above criteria. These papers should be submitted via canvas by 9:00am the morning of class, and discussion questions should be posted on the discussion board on canvas for that week to help with guiding discussion for that week. This component is worth 130 points (10 points each x 13 weeks) of your final grade.

Weekly Discussion Leader. Each week, we will assign a different person/people to lead class discussion. To lead discussion, (a) you should provide a brief summary/overview of the readings for that week; (b) find two additional scientific articles; and (c) summarize them in greater details and upload the summary on canvas before your lead discussion day (15 -20 minutes). After that, you will lead a discussion using the discussion questions you generated for that week (and any additional questions that the class submitted). In the spirit of becoming critical thinkers and good leaders, I will provide comments and suggestions for each leading class discussion. Your presentation/leadership will be graded as two components: presentation (30 points) + two article summaries (40 points, 20 points each). You will be responsible for leading discussion at least twice throughout the semester (totally worth 70 x 2 = 140 points). At most two persons per topic area.

Book Club. Part of the learning process is to learn how to engage in it independently. In addition, while there is material we have to cover in this class, there is other material that

The book club is is not as central to class or that you might like to cover more in depth. designed to meet those needs! You’ll need to complete the following activities:

Choose a topic that you’d like to learn more. The range of topics you can develop is pretty wide open. I am happy for you to focus on whatever aspect of biosocial

criminology you would like to learn more (it has to be course relevant).

Choose a SCHOLAR book or a resource that will help you achieve this goal. You will need to identify and get your source approved by me by SEPTEMBER 22. To approve your source, send me an email with 1) your topic area; 2) the title of your source; and 3) the reason(s) you think this source will help you develop your knowledge in this topic area.

Read your book! This is self-explanatory. Present it to the class! The best part of a book club is that we get to benefit from one another’s experiences. So, you will be scheduled for a presentation time slot in class on

DECEMBER 1st and 3rd. Your participation in the book club is worth 40 points of your final

grade, which will be based on your presentation (15-20 mins).

Small Project/Reflection Paper. This course will also consist of a project/reflection paper of a minimum of 4 pages of text in length (double-spaced, times new roman, 12 font, 1 inch margin, not counting APA references and any figures/illustrations), written on a topic of your choice and covering any aspect of the course material. I will provide more details of this paper during the semester. At least 50% of the content of your essay should be “bio” in content. You are free to make up your own project title but check with me to ensure its appropriateness. The deadline for this project/reflection paper is Monday DECEMBER 7 at 11:59 pm. However, I strongly advise you to think well ahead of time and complete/hand it in earlier. Those handed in after the deadline will be penalized 5 points (out of 60 points) for each day late. This component is worth 60 points.

GRADING

Grades will be calculated on the following scale:

Percentage Grade Corresponding Grade Points 93-100% A 4.00 90-92% A- 3.67 87-89% B+ 3.33 83-86% B 3.00 80-82% B- 2.67 77-79% C+ 2.33 70-76% C 2.00 67-69% D+ 1.33 63-66% D 1.00 60-62% D- 0.67 >60% E 0.00

If you desire to convert your earned points into a percentage to determine course standing, you will need to take the number of earned points and divide by the total number of possible points. For example, if you earned a total of 330 points your grade is 330 /400 = .825 (82.5 which is a B).

You can also calculate your grade at any time during the course by taking the number of earned points up to that point of the course and divide by the total number of possible points at that particular time of the course. For example, if you have earned 150 points of 200 possible in the course, then your grade at that particular moment in the course is 150/200 = .75 (75 which is a C).

EXTRA CREDIT

Summarize extra academic/empirical/peer reviewed journal articles and share with the class~! Each summarized paper is worth 10 points and maximum TWO per person~!

COURSE POLICIES

Makeup PolicieS 3StudentS with DiSabilitiES I understand that sometimes one's life sometimes Students requesting classroom accommodations must first interferes with one's ability to complete class register with the Dean of Students Office. The DOS will provide requirements. If you have a legitimate reason for documentation to the student who must then provide this missing a class assignment (e.g., illness, death in the documentation to the course coordinator, when requesting accommodation. http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/. You should family), you will be allowed to make up what you missed contact me and the Disability Resource Center as early in the IF you contact me immediately before/after the missed semester as possible. The Disability Resource Center is located assignment. If you miss a class discussion, we will come in 001 Building 0020 (Reid Hall). Their phone number is 352- up with a mutually agreeable alternative assignment for 392-8565. you to complete. Religious holidays are excused without documentation CamPUS RESourcES but must be discussed in advance. Part of examining professional development is examining one’s own habits, goals, and growth. This may be emotionally CourSe Evaluation difficult at times, and I encourage you to seek out campus Students are expected to provide professional and resources for support. UF provides several different types of resources: Counseling and Wellness Center: respectful feedback on the quality of instruction in this course by completing course evaluations online via https://counseling.ufl.edu/ 352-392-1575 Student Health Care Center: https://shcc.ufl.edu/ 352-392-1161 GatorEvals. Guidance on how to give feedback in a UF Police Department Office of Victim professional and respectful manner is available at Services: http://www.police.ufl.edu/victim-services/ http://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/students/. Students will be Dean of Students Office – emergency response notified when the evaluation period opens and can team: complete evaluations through the email they receive https://www.dso.ufl.edu/home/about/emergency_respon from GatorEvals, in their Canvas course menu under se U Matter, We Care can also help students, staff, or GatorEvals, or via https://ufl.bluera.com/ufl/. faculty in distress. You can reach them via email at Summaries of course evaluation results are available to [email protected] or students at https://gatorevals.aa.ufl.edu/public- phone 352-392-1575. If you find yourself concerned about a results/. fellow student, you can notify U Matter, We Care, and they will reach out to the student.

Academic MiSConduct Civility UF Students are bound by the Honor Pledge which Please remember that as members of this class and university, states “We the members of the University of Florida we are members of a larger learning community where excellence is achieved through civility. Our actions affect community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to everyone in our community. Everyone is to be respectful of the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding others regardless of gender, age, race, culture, religion, or by the honor code. On all work submitted for credit by sexual orientation. students at the University of Florida, the following Additionally, it is expected that you will be considerate of pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have your classmates and refrain from disruptive behavior. neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” AdminiStrative Information This syllabus is provided for your information and may change For this course, all work is to be completed individually as deemed necessary, especially to accommodate guest unless otherwise specified. If you have questions about speakers. You are responsible for learning all the material the honor code or what constitutes a violation, please contained in the syllabus as well as any modifications that are consult with your instructor. made to the syllabus during class time. All changes to the https://sccr.dso.ufl.edu/policies/student-honor-code- syllabus will be announced and emailed to you. If you have any student-conduct-code/ questions about the syllabus or course requirements, please feel free to contact me. A proposed semester schedule appears below, and any changes will be updated on canvas

and announced in class.

COURSE SCHEDULE

tentative

Week Date Class Agenda Readings DO or Due for class 1 09-01 Introduction to course --- Sign up for discussion leader

09-03 1) Discussion of biosocial • Raine: Chapter 1 • Reading response due 9 am criminology theory; • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader: historical background 2) (Anthropology and )

2 09-08 1) Genetics 1 (Molecular and • Raine: Chapter 2 • Reading response due 9 am Behavioral Genetics) • Readings on Canvas

09-10 1) Genetics 2 (Molecular and • Raine: Chapter 2 • Reading response due 9 am Behavioral Genetics) • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader:

3 09-15 1) Hormones and • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am • Readings on Canvas (neurochemistry)

09-17 1) Continue discussion of • Raine: Chapter 5 • Reading response due 9 am neurochemistry if necessary • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader: 2) Neuropsychology and (neurocriminology)

4 09-22 1) Brain imaging 1: Structure • Raine: Chapter 5 • Reading response due 9 am (neuroscience) • Readings on Canvas • Book club approval DUE

09-24 1) Continue discussion of • Raine: Chapter 3 • Reading response due 9 am structural brain imaging • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader: 2) Brain imaging 2: function (neuroscience)

5 09-29 1) Psychophysiology (physiology) • Raine: Chapter 4 • Reading response due 9 am • Readings on Canvas 10-01 1) Continue discussion of • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am psychophysiology • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader: 2) Lie Detection (Forensic Psychology)

6 10-06 1) Health Factors 1 (Obstetrics, • Raine: Chapter 6 & 7 • Reading response due 9 am Nutrition, Pediatrics, • Readings on Canvas Environmental Studies, Toxicology)

10-08 1) Health Factors 2 (Obstetrics, • Raine: Chapter 6 & 7 • Reading response due 9 am Nutrition, Pediatrics, • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader: Environmental Studies, Toxicology)

7 10-13 1) Crime and Mental Illness 1 • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am (Psychiatry & Clinical • Readings on Canvas Psychology)

10-15 1) Crime and Mental Illness 2 • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am (Psychiatry & Clinical • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader: Psychology)

8 10-20 1) Psychopaths 1 (clinical • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am neuroscience) • Readings on Canvas

10-22 1) Psychopaths 2 (clinical • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am neuroscience) • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader:

9 10-27 1) Serial Killers and Homicide 1 • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am (criminology) • Readings on Canvas

10-29 1) Serial Killers and Homicide 2 • Raine: see index • Reading response due 9 am (criminology) • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader:

10 11-03 1) Biosocial interactions 1 • Raine: Chapter 8 • Reading response due 9 am • Readings on Canvas

11-05 1) Biosocial interaction 2 • Raine: Chapter 8 • Reading response due 9 am • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader:

11 11-10 1) Intervention & Prevention 1 • Raine: Chapter 9 • Reading response due 9 am • Readings on Canvas

11-12 1) Intervention & Prevention 2 • Raine: Chapter 9 • Reading response due 9 am • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader:

12 11-17 1) Ethics and Law 1 (neuroethics • Raine: Chapter 10 • Reading response due 9 am and neurolaw) • Readings on Canvas

11-19 1) Ethics and Law 2 (neuroethics • Raine: Chapter 11 • Reading response due 9 am and neurolaw) • Readings on Canvas • Discussion leader:

13 11-24 1) Overview and wrap up 2) Book Club presentation 1!

11-26 THANKSGIVING

14 12-01 1) Book Club presentation 2!

12-03 1) Book Club presentation 3! • Project/reflection paper DUE by Monday DECEMBER 7 at 11:59 pm

15 12-08 1) Book Club presentation continues~ if necessary

COVID-19 Statements

Virtual Class Statement

Our class sessions may be audio-visually recorded for students in the class to refer back and for enrolled students who are unable to attend live. Students who participate with their camera engaged or utilize a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded. If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, be sure to keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate verbally are agreeing to have their voices recorded.

If you are not willing to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the "chat" feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live. The chat will not be recorded or shared. As in all courses, unauthorized recording and unauthorized sharing of recorded materials is prohibited.