Syllabus

 

CCJ 4905-02     Visual Criminology     Summer 2006--Prague
Last updated

 

FSU College of Criminology

Dr. Cecil Greek

 

Class Teaching Assistant: Lena Greek

 

Contact Points:
cgreek@mailer.fsu.edu
775 625 290 (Prague cell phone)
850-906-0340 (home phone)
850-644-4746 (office)
850-339-4268 (Tally cell)
775 325 290 (Prague cell)

850-644-9614 (fax)

Web Homepage: http://home.earthlink.net/~cegreek/index.html

DR. Greek's Photo Page: http://www.pbase.com/cgreek/root

 

Required Texts:

    

Emmison, M & P. Smith. (2000). Researching the Visual. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage ISBN: 0761958452. Purchase direct from publisher at:
http://www.sagepub.com/book.aspx?pid=6666

 

Greek, C. (2005). Visual Criminology. (Unpublished Manuscript).
Please download (and print in color) from the link below this Adobe Acrobat file.
http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/faculty/greek/VisualCriminology.pdf

 

 

 

Equipment Needs:

 

A camera is needed, but it may be possible to partner with other students in the class to share cameras. Digital cameras are preferred over film cameras. There are computers at the study center to download photos, but having your own laptop will make things easier for you. A card reader will allow fast transfer of photos from camera to computer.

 

 

Course Description:

 

This course will cover the use of photography/videography as an ethnographic research tool, particularly focusing on criminal justice interactions and agencies. Methods of collection, categorization and analysis of visual data will be discussed. Ethical issues will be covered.

 

 

Course Objectives:

 

• The student will be able to state the major uses made within criminology of recorded visual data.

 

• The student will be able to better operate a digital camera (and enhancement software) to produce the types of visual results that are critical to ethnographic “deep description.”

 

• The student will adopt the ethnographic scientific method as a way of thinking regarding visual data.

 

• The student will be able to apply ethical standards when photographing human subjects, particularly in criminal justice-related situations.

 

• The student will be able to classify the content of photographs according to social science criteria.

 

• The student will be able to generate an interpretation of their visual data to suggest possible theories which can be tested.  

 

 

Course Overview:

 

Visual criminology can be defined broadly to include the use of photography and videography for a number of purposes, including (1) ethnographic fieldwork and research, (2) news media usages of visual materials (e.g., crime photojournalism and war crimes photography) and (3) the collection of evidentiary (e.g., forensics) and other legal materials. This course will briefly discuss the second and third, while focusing on academic research and related pedagogical issues. While visual anthropology, visual sociology and the broader field of visual studies have grown in significance in the recent past, visual criminology as a research methodology remains an under-explored area ripe for ethnographic investigation (data collection, analysis and theory building).

 

This course is based upon the instructor’s experiences of conducting both officially approved photography of law enforcement activities, correctional facilities, forensic laboratories and anti-terrorism exercises in the United States, as well as “street photography” of police-citizen interactions in a number of countries (USA, UK, Italy, France, Canada, Poland). Primarily these photographic efforts focused on two related phenomenon: (1) the criminal justice system as an everyday work experience for criminal justice employees and (2) the nature of the communities and situations in which police and correctional officers interact with citizens on the street and inside criminal justice facilities.

 

The social science issues related to this type of photographic research include: (1) initial data collection decisions, (2) entry into the field, (3) ethical and human subjects concerns, (4) data analysis: from categorizing images to selecting specific images that have an ethnographic “richness” for depth discussion and, finally, (5) theory building.

 

Doing ethnographic visual criminology presumes a certain familiarity with the use of cameras and photographic software as well. Therefore, to get everyone in the class “up to speed,” the course will briefly cover the use of cameras, lenses and computer digital photo manipulation techniques. Photographic techniques such as framing, image composition, exposure, depth of field and lighting will be discussed. How to take photographs that contain important ethnographic details will be highlighted. The use of software such as PhotoShop to improve image quality will be covered. (Note: For those with little or no photographic experience the suggested text Digital Photography for Dummies should help greatly.)

 

A broader theoretical discussion of the role of visual imagery vis-à-vis text in criminological ethnographic description builds upon the issues discussed in this course. In comparison to visual research, academic criminology’s currently dominant research paradigm is based upon a combination of mathematics and descriptive text, used in the effort to discern the roots of deviant behavior and the forces at play in the social world. Are qualitative and quantitative methodologies fated to remain at odds with each other as they often are currently, or can they be used side by side, perhaps to produce a closer verisimilitude to lived experience? Photography as a form of visual criminology may have an important role to play in the research process.

 

 

Course Readings by Week and Topic:

 

 

Week 1: Breadth of Visual Criminology	Greek, pp. 1-10 Emmison & Smith, chapter 1
Week 2: Ethnographic Research	Greek, pp. 10-17 Emmison & Smith, chapter 2
Week 3: Signs and Settings	Greek, pp. 10-41 Emmison & Smith, chapter 3 & 4
Week 4: Build Environment	Greek, pp. 42-57 Emmison & Smith, chapter 5
Week 5: Social Interaction	Greek, pp. 57-70 Emmison & Smith, chapter 6
Week 6: Final Project Due	No Readings

 

 

 

Class Projects and Exams:

 

Mini-Projects: (Weeks two through five only)

 

Each week students will complete one of the suggested visual research exercises as described in the Emmison and Smith text. Students will be permitted to suggest variations or replacement exercises as long as these are in keeping with the week’s major themes and fit the Prague setting. Variations must be approved in advance by the instructor. Projects will be presented and discussed in class. Constructive criticism will be offered.

 

Some of these will be set up as "photo safaris." We will go out as a group and photograph, so that we can assist each other in getting quality, informative photographs. First of these will be Sunday June 25th, when we will visit several cemeteries (Czech, Russian, Jewish) to practice basic settings, framing, etc.). Before the course starts, please read the manual which came with your camera if you do not know how to change to exposure or aperture priority modes, etc.

 

Midterm Exam:

 

There will be a midterm exam during the first class of week 4. The exam will be essay type and and cover all readings and classroom lectures through the end of week 3. Students will write a four to five page essay (Word processed) on how the readings have influenced their photography. Both the instructor's essay and book chapters must be discussed. Keeping a photo diary or blog will help you prepare this paper.

 

Final Project: (Due in Week 6)

 

There will be a final project, which will constitute the final exam for the course. Students will produce a paper (expected length is approximately 10 pages, not including the images) that describes a series of photographs (20 to 40 images) they have taken regarding an ethnographic theme of their choice. Students who wish to briefly present their projects to the class will be permitted to do so.

 

The instructor will hold an individual discussion with each student to approve their project. Possible themes include architecture of criminal justice agency buildings, concentration camp/war crimes themes, “Broken Windows” neighborhood analysis such as grime and graffiti, police officers in cities and small towns, street and building signs aimed at controlling public behavior or police interaction with the public at major events (rallies, sports, street fairs, etc.). These are just suggestions.

 

In addition to the photographs, which may be submitted as prints or on CD, the student’s paper (the paper can be submitted as a Word file with the photos embedded as well, or in print) will include the following:

 

1.      The overall theme of the images and their theoretical significance. This should be described in the first paragraph.

 

2.      An in-depth description of each image and how it relates to the overall theme/theory of your paper. Specific details within the image should be highlighted in your discussion. Order you photos sequentially to demonstrate your theme and subthemes.

 

3.      Time, date and place for each photo: (as placeholders just below the image) or written on the back of prints.

 

4.      An overall discussion of the ethical issues you encountered while conducting your research and taking the photographs.

 

5.      A comparison/analysis of what you learned from the process of doing your photographic research to what you learned from other academic aspects of your coursework in Prague. Examples: (1) Compare your readings about war crimes to what you gained from choosing this topic for your photographic research. (2) Compare how photographing the architecture (both interior and exterior) of criminal justice related facilities was different or similar to what you experienced by seeing people interact in those settings. Again, these are just suggested examples.