Prior to beginning work on this assignment read Chapter 6: Tracking Ideas and Sources from the text, and begin to research the ideas that you outlined in Week 2, using the Ashford University Library. You may also use any relevant sources that you found for your Week 1 Annotated Bibliography assignment.

This week you will build on the outline you created in Week 2. Think of this paper draft as an abbreviated version of your Capstone Paper; it does not need to be a complete Capstone Paper. Consider your rough draft a “mini-Capstone Paper” that will prepare you to create your comprehensive Capstone paper in Week 5.

Write a short paragraph for each of the points in your outline, Integrating Research (Links to an external site.) to support these ideas. Add a short introductory paragraph, Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.) at the beginning of your outline.

As you begin development of this paper, check out the Ashford Writing Center’s source Writing a Paper (Links to an external site.). It breaks down the entire process as well as provides links to other sources that will help you. Visit the Ashford University Library to review the Criminal Justice Research Guide which may help in your research. You may also find the Ashford University Library Quick N’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, The Research Process (Links to an external site.) tutorial, and the Advanced Search Techniques (Links to an external site.) tip sheet helpful as you conduct your research. As you conduct your research, the Ashford University Library also provides the RefWorks tool that will help you organize your research, create APA reference entries and citations, and more. Creating a RefWorks Account (Links to an external site.) will assist you in creating an account in order to start using the tool.

After submitting your draft, you will receive feedback on this paper from your instructor in Week 4. Based on the instructor feedback that you receive, you will expand, revise, and edit your essay to create your final Capstone paper in Week 5.

In your paper,

• Revise your thesis statement that you created in Weeks 1 and 2, which identifies your social and criminal justice issue.
  • Incorporate any feedback that you received regarding your thesis statement from your instructor.
• Summarize your chosen social and criminal justice issue.
  • Describe what makes this an issue.
  • Provide data to show how this issue has made an impact on society.
  • Explain which social justice principles need to be addressed and why.
  • Detail the cultural and diversity issues present in your chosen social and criminal justice problem.
  • Describe how addressing your chosen issue contributes to the goal of a more just society.
• Analyze the empirical research on your chosen topic.
  • You may use your Week 1 Annotated Bibliography to complete this section of the paper.
• Propose a possible resolution to your chosen social and criminal justice issue.
  • Evaluate which branches of the criminal justice system are impacted/involved and how they either help or hinder the issue.
  • Analyze how the criminal and social justice theories (in relation to the United States Constitution) and landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions impact your chosen issue and support your resolution.
  • Examine how the judiciary, corrections, and law enforcement systems address social equality, solidarity, human rights, and overall fairness for all and how these essential concepts impact your issue and resolution.
  • Evaluate how poverty, racism, religion and other sociocultural variables may apply to contemporary social and criminal justice by drawing information among the fields of, but not limited to, criminology, law, philosophy, psychology, science, and sociology.

The Capstone Paper Rough Draft,

• Must be 1,000 to 1,500 words in length (not including title and references pages and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least five scholarly and/or credible sources.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.