police brutality in American against African Americans

1
TH 450 – Final Research Paper and visual presentation: based on the Pastoral Circle
Objectives:
1. Apply the Pastoral Circle (Experience, Analysis, Theological reflection and Action) to one justice issue
2. Motivate oneself to act in this one area or at least on an injustice that is close to home
3. Improve one’s writing skills and use of academic sources in a complex document
Please be sure to see the tips at end to cite sources properly and avoid plagiarism. The consequence of plagiarism, that
is, copying from a source with proper citation, is loss of all credit for this paper.
100 points, due in two parts. The visual presentation, part of the forum discussion in Week 8, 20 points. It is not more
or separate, but a brief capsule of your research to share.
Instructions:
1. Choose a topic from the list provided—one student per topic. If you have a passion for a topic that is not
listed, please get it approved by the instructor. The first student to “claim” a topic gets it.
2. You will need 8-10 sources, and only two (2) may be from news outlets such as NY Times or Huffington Post.
Do NOT use blogs or popular magazines.
3. Become familiar with Academic Search Complete, a collection of academic journals and other sources for
any topic. Path on NDC Library home page:
4. Use MLA or APA format for in-text citations and the Works Cited pages. (See Rule of 5 at the end)
5. Each part (Part 1 and Part 2) must begin with a general introductory paragraph and end with a concluding
paragraph.
Part 1, due Sunday of Week 6 (60 points)
A. Experience and data, on the Pastoral circle – at least 3 pages
20 pts content plus 5 pts grammar (25 points total)
• Name of injustice and relevant definitions of key terms
• Your experience with this injustice, if any and why you are interested in the topic
• History: it is a recent issue like cyper bullying, or is there a long history
• Location: you may LIMIT the scope here, to the US or Ohio or one region
• victims and effects of injustice on them
• Statistics: get recent statistics on victims and perpetrators for the region you are studying
• Describe the profile of persons guilty of the injustices
B. Causes of the injustice (at least 3) – 6 paragraphs at least; 3+ pages
20 pts plus 5 pts grammar (25 points total)
• Be sure to research the causes and do not report on types of injustices instead. For example,
Financial abuse is a type of elder abuse; poorly paid/ poorly trained nursing home staff is a cause.
• Name 3 or more causes in first paragraph and then develop them in order you named them
• One paragraph for each cause.
• One paragraph on how the causes are interrelated.
• One paragraph on the way(s) YOU may be contributing to the causes. If there is no way, then
explain which cause comes closest to your life or experiences.
2
C. Works Cited page for content in A and B – 10 points
Part 2 due Sunday of Week 8 (40 points)
A. Theological Reflection – at least 3 pages 12 pts content; 3 pts grammar
• 2-3 paragraphs reflecting on Bible passages that point to this injustice or call to respond
• 1 or 2 paragraphs on some of the chapters in Lazarus at the Table
• A paragraph or two on what your religious tradition teaches about justice. If you have no
tradition, then explain what you have already been taught about the morality involved.
• A paragraph on which human rights are being violated if these are not mentioned above
• A paragraph on how YOU feel about and are affected by this injustice
B. Action to heal the problem – 3 pages – 12 pts content; 3 pts grammar
• Report on at least one individual who is working to stop this injustice. If you cannot find an
individual, report on two organizations.
• Report on at least one organization or agency dedicated to stopping this problem
OR two agencies if you cannot find one individual working to stop it
• Explain how YOU might get involved to work toward justice in this area and your feelings about
the issue.
• One personal “take away” that has changed you in some way
C. Works Cited page for content in A and B – 10 pts
Presentation: see separate directions: 40 points
Remember this RULE of 5:
1.Quote directly or paraphrase only 1-2 sentences from another source per page of your own words.
2. When quoting directly, you MUST use quote marks at the beginning and end of quoted sentence.
3. After closing quote marks put in parentheses a short form of the source and end with a period.
4. When paraphrasing, do NOT use quote marks but you MUST indicate the source at beginning or end of the
paraphrased sentences. A “paraphrase” is the author’s thoughts with slightly changed wording.
5. At end of essay, put full source information on a Works Cited page.
Samples of full information for Works Cited page:
a. Massaro, T. (2012). Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action. (2nd classroom ed.). Lanham,
MD: Rowan and Littlefield. [print source: book]
b. Roper, Caitlin. (2013). “The Human Element: Melinda Gates and Paul Farmer on Designing Global
Health.” Wired Magazine. Online. (11/12/13—this is the date you accessed the online document).
Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/2112gatefarmers/.