Strengths and Weaknesses in Written, Group and Presentation Assignments

In essence, there are so many things to improve on and do differently from now on. But perhaps one of the most important things I will do differently in future is making sure that I narrow down my interest on topics to study. This is because I realized that focusing on many topics of interest at a time does not only create confusion, but it also makes it relatively hard to acquire sufficient knowledge on every topic. Indeed, as the saying goes, “it is better to practice one kick a thousand times than to practice a thousand kicks a thousand times.” This is what happened in my case, I had almost four topics of interests, and instead of focusing on one, I decided to focus on all of them and ended up in confusion. I will have to change that in future.

Strengths and weaknesses in written, group and presentation assignments

I have many deficiencies in writing. My biggest weakness is making sense of how to write what I am thinking about. I have never been good at this. It looks great to me when I read it, however when I turn the paper over to another person; they do not find the point I was trying to pass on. Commonly, I need to express the importance of the paper to them verbally. However, my strength is that I am consistent with my work, and I never miss assignments. In group assignments, two of my best strengths are my patience and effective communication through interpersonal skills. My shortcoming is that my perfectionism and my relationship with time are bad though. I get caught up in the endless loop of perfectionism which normally leads me to turn in things late since I would not delegate work. In presentations, my strength is that I am very good at making presentation projects and I enjoy doing that. Conversely, my weakness is lack of confidence because I find it difficult to stand in front of a room full of people to present my projects.

How I might build on my strength and address my weaknesses

I understand that by investing enough time in developing my existing strengths, I could accomplish exceptional professional goals and enjoy a sense of self-achievement and wellbeing, bringing my special contribution to the world. In order to address my weaknesses, I would first find someone else who has a strength in that particular area. Secondly, I will find a different way to attain the same result. Thirdly, I would have to decrease the duration and frequency of these activities to which I have most weaknesses to allocate more time to areas of strength. And lastly, I would quiz myself about what I have just studied.

The topic of most interest to me

Well, I had many topics that go my interest throughout this study; however, I narrowed down my attention to four themes. This includes Cybercrime, White-Collar Crime, Broken Windows Theory of Crime and capital punishment. The decision to settle for the above topics is informed by the fact that I find them to present contemporary perspectives into the whole learning. Primarily, they cover most of the contemporary issues on crime and deviance. I am not only interested in learning about crime, but to get the necessary knowledge and skills because, in future, I would like to actively participate in solving crime indirectly, as well as directly. Thus, more topic on contemporary issues is an added advantage.

Readings and resources that would help me improve my study skills.

In essence, evaluation of resources goes beyond simply gathering and listing the readings and references, and it requires me to analyze the content of every source and decide if they are relevant or not. There are many readings and resources to choose from on this topic are and therefore deciding on the exact one is difficult. Nonetheless, I have found four sources that I am sure would improve my study skills next semester. The first is Criminology: A Sociological Introduction (2004), a book by Eamonn Carrabine, Paul Iganski, Maggy Lee, Ken Plummer and Nigel South. The second book is Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Culture (2003), by Claire Valier. The third is Unequal Crime Decline: Theorizing Race, Urban Inequality, and Criminal Violence (2008), by Karen F. Parker. And lastly, Youth Crime and Youth Culture in the Inner City (2005), by Bill Sanders.

What I would prioritize for discussion

At the start of the semester, I would like to prioritize a discussion on the contemporary issues on crime and deviance. I feel that this is of importance because while crime affects us all, it is continually changing and there is a need to keep up with the current trends. It is worth noting that societies are forced to find approaches to normalize behavior and belief and to characterize what is unacceptable or acceptable to the people living in a community, group or country. In several cases, there have been societies that have normalized horrible behaviours and activities as not only acceptable but even a necessary process. Thus, one of the first things I would love to discuss is the global definition of behavior as deviant. This is a big issue, for instance, in America, tempting to stone a woman for infidelity would probably lead to the deaths of those who try to do the stoning. In other nations, for instance in the Arab world, the entire neighborhood may promptly participate on the stoning, if just out of fear of being sanctioned for not taking part in the exercise.

References

Antonopoulos, G. A., & Papanicolaou, G. (2009). Unequal Crime Decline: Theorising Race, Urban Inequality and Criminal Violence. By Karen F. Parker (New York: NYU, 2008, 163pp. 35.50). British Journal of Criminology, 49(6), 925-927. doi:10.1093/bjc/azp053

Boggs, S. L., & Gibbons, D. C. (1969). Society, Crime, and Criminal Careers: An Introduction to Criminology. American Sociological Review, 34(5), 801. doi:10.2307/2092373

Ferreyra-Orozco, G. (2012). Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Criminal Justice in Mexico. Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Criminal Justice in the Americas, 169-191. doi:10.1057/9780230355866_8

Greene, H. T., Gabbidon, S. L., Sage Publications, & Sage eReference (Online service). (2009). Encyclopedia of race and crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Iganski, P., Lee, M., Plummer, K., South, N., Carrabine, E., Iganski, P., … South, P. N. (2004). Criminology: A Sociological Introduction. London: Taylor & Francis.

Leon-Guerrero, A., & Zentgraf, K. M. (2009). Contemporary readings in social problems. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press.

MacDonald, R. (2006). Social Exclusion, Youth Transitions and Criminal Careers: Five Critical Reflections on ‘Risk’. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 39(3), 371-383. doi:10.1375/acri.39.3.371

Morash, M. (2006). Understanding gender, crime, and justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Parker, K. F. (2010). Unequal crime decline: Theorizing race, urban inequality, and criminal violence. New York: New York University Press.

Sanders, B. (2005). Youth crime and youth culture in the inner city. London: Routledge.

Valier, C. (2005). Crime and Punishment in Contemporary Culture. doi:10.4324/9780203987384

Williams, D. (2012). Race, Ethnicity, and Crime: Alternate Perspectives. Algora Publishing.

Wolfgang, M. E., & Sellin, T. (1968). Crime and culture: Essays in honor of Thorsten Sellin. New York: Wiley.

Wortley, S., & Owusu-Bempah, A. (2012). Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Criminal Justice in Canada. Race, Ethnicity, Crime and Criminal Justice in the Americas, 11-40. doi:10.1057/9780230355866_2