The purpose of this paper is to look at the information about violence that you have learned about all semester and apply this information to an act of violence that has occurred in history.  

You should start by selecting an act of violence that has actually occurred in the world. It can be a large scale violent event – such as the Holocaust, 9/11, or other large-scale atrocities. Or, it can be a smaller violent event such as Columbine (or other public shootings), a single act of domestic violence, gang violence, etc. It can be a recent act of violence, or something that has happened long ago. The event you select is up to you. However, it should be an event that is well documented in the media.

Your paper should start with a thorough and detailed discussion of the event itself. When did it happen, what are the main facts about the event, why did this event occur, etc.

1.     You need to include a discussion on one or more of theoretical approaches that applies to the event (biological, psychological, social). Why did you select that approach or approaches.The remainder of the paper should be based on research that you conduct on the type of event you selected to give a deeper explanation on why events like this occur in society. For example, if you selected an act of terrorism to discuss, you would conduct research on terrorism and apply that information to help explain your particular event. If you select Columbine, you may want to conduct research on the topic of school shootings or the effects of bullying, etc. and apply it to your discussion of Columbine. Make sure to follow these guidelines for whatever specific event you choose.    

You should use at least four research sources. One source should be a media or press article that gives you specific information on your event. For the other two sources, please find peer reviewed, academic journal articles that provide you more general research information on the type of event you chose (i.e., a research article on domestic violence, mass shootings, racial violence, etc.

*          Paper should be 7-10 double spaced pages – with numbered pages

*          1-inch margin all around

*          12 point Times New Roman font. 

*          Please use either APA for MLA style to cite your sources in-text and format your reference         page. Make sure to reference any direct quote and to include a reference list at the end of           the paper. 

I also want to say a few words about plagiarism. It seems like every semester I catch a student trying to pass off a paper they downloaded off the internet as their own. I am very good at catching this. Blackboard will also do an automatic plagiarism check when you submit your paper to the assignments folder. If I do catch anyone plagiarizing this paper, they will get an automatic 0 on the assignment. This will greatly affect your final grade. I  don’t think I will have that problem in this class, but I always include this comment about plagiarism, just in case. Let me know if you all have any questions.