Serial Killer Paper (see syllabus for due date)

Worth 50 pts

Guidelines: 

Follow Writing Expectations provided on Canvas 

The length of the paper should be 2 ?3 pages (I will deduct points for each subsequent page). 

Please double space your paper.  

Please use a 12 point font (preferably Times New Roman, Arial, or another plain text font).  

Margins must be set at 1?all around.  

Include page numbers

Paper must be uploaded as a PDF or Word doc (I will not grade assignments I cannot open).

As stated in your syllabus: Papers are expected to exhibit thoughtful reflection of topics presented and therefore should be written in a scholarly manner.  Any students submitting assignments containing email/ text messaging lingo and/or abbreviations will be immediately lose half credit on the assignment.  If you have any questions about what constitutes mail/ text messaging lingo and/or abbreviations?please check in with me.

*This subject matter can be very disturbing.  If you think you will find the subject matter too difficult to handle, please contact me (at least one week before the due date) for an alternate paper assignment. 

Research:

Read the list of Signs of a Serial Killer available on Canvas. Then follow the link on Canvas to the Crime Library and select “Serial Killers”. Pick a serial killer to read about. You can also do an online video search on YouTube for the A&E biographies on Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, or Gary Heidnick, Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, etc. Either way, do research on the life and crimes of one specific serial killer. 

Prompt:

Use the following guidelines to write and structure your paper. Remember to use APA style parenthetical citation when directly quoting (Author, year of publication, page number) and when paraphrasing (Author, year of publication).  You do not need a title page or abstract, but please sure to cite where your information is coming from using APA parenthetical citations.  

Introduction:

Begin your paper with a brief Introduction letting the read know who you will be researching and a quick overview of his/ her life and crimes.

Body paragraphs:

Describe the life and crimes of your serial killer in detail.  Which signs from the list do you think apply to your serial killer?  Explain how they apply.  

Select 2 of the 6 broad theories of crime discussed in your text (Ch 4 – Rational Choice Theory, Ch 5 – Trait Theory, Ch 6 – Social Structure Theory, Ch 7 – Social Process Theory, Ch 8 – Social Conflict, Critical Criminology, and Restorative Justice, and Ch 9 – Developmental Theories) and explain how they apply to the serial killer you researched. 

Concluding paragraph(s):

Conclude your paper by telling the reader if you think serial killers are born or made.  Is there anything society can do to rehabilitate them?  (This is your opinion, so no citation is necessary for this part). 

Works Cited Page:

APA Style ?see APA link on Canvas 

This does not could towards your total page count

Grading:

You will be graded on both the quality and content of your paper.  Papers should be free of grammatical and spelling errors.  Papers should be coherent and cohesive, demonstrating organized understanding of the material.