This assignment asks you to critically reflect on themes and arguments in a selected documentary, in light of course material

CRITICAL REFLECTION ‘MINI-ESSAY’ ASSIGNMENT

CRIM 1615H

 

Two-Stage Assignment

To be submitted via the drop box located in “Assignments” on the left-hand navigation panel.

 

This assignment asks you to critically reflect on themes and arguments in a selected documentary, in light of course material. There is some flexibility in what documentary you choose, offering an opportunity for you to critically explore an area in criminology that holds particular interest for you, but it must relate to crime, criminality, and/or criminal justice. The film can focus on a Canadian context but this is not required. The assignment will be completed in two stages.

 

Goals of the Critical Reflection

• To provide students with an opportunity to “put theory into practice,” by using course content to examine crime, criminality and criminal justice within a specific set of representations and arguments.
• To provide students an opportunity to use theory, ideas and language from the course, and this will assist with preparation for the final exam.

 

Stage 1,

This stage requires the submission of a one-page document (maximum) that includes:

• The reference for the selected a documentary in APA formatting.
• One paragraph highlighting the themes and main argument of the documentary.
• A sentence or two indicating what discussion posting you plan to incorporate into Stage 2. The posting should be one written by you and be sure to indicate the module number.

 

Stage 2,

Students will prepare a 3-page (maximum) concise and precise critical reflection on the selected documentary (double-spaced, 12 point font, 2.54cm margins, APA style referencing) that brings together:

• Selected documentary
• At least one course reading
• Additional content from at least one module, such as a YouTube video, a TED Talk or a pre-recorded lecture by referring to it at least once.
• A brief remark (just a few sentences) on one of your own discussion post(s) in light of the documentary. For example, did you take a stance in a discussion post and the documentary convinced you to take a different view? On the other hand, did the documentary solidify your stance?

 

 

 

 

Your assignment should include the following:

• An introduction that concisely and precisely provides the main argument of the film. Don’t simply summarize the documentary – there isn’t room for it in this assignment.
• A consideration of links between the argument(s) presented in the documentary and topics/issues/themes examined in the course (this should be the main part of the paper).
• Brief remarks on one of your discussion postings.
• A standard reference list in APA formatting that includes all of the works cited. Don’t forget to include the course items on this list!

 

 

Remember:

• Do not simply summarize the documentary. The assignment requires that you engage with the content.
• Keep direct quotes to a minimum.
• Use proper essay formatting.
• The cover page and the reference list do not count towards your three (maximum) pages.

 

 

You are welcome to choose a documentary from the following list. More details on the films and links are provided below and they’re also available on the “List of Readings and Videos” – available on the left-hand navigation panel.

 

1. Two Worlds Colliding (2004) National Film Board of Canada
2. Shakespeare behind bars: A Theatre Troupe in Prison (2005) Philomath Films
3. Out of Sight, Out of Mind. (2013) National Film Board of Canada
4. Legacy of Pain. (1999) The Fifth Estate
5. The Interrogation (2019) Java Films
6. Life on Victor Street. (2012) National Film Board of Canada
7. The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet: Where Cybercrime Goes to Hide (2015) Cinetic Rights Management LLC.

 

Please note, this is not an exhaustive list and there many other films that can be linked to this course. You’re welcome to select a documentary not listed here. If you opt to do this, you are required to confirm it with the course instructor before proceeding with the assignment. This can be done at an interactive lecture or via email. More details on the films are provided below:

 

 

 

1. Two Worlds Colliding (2004) National Film Board of Canada.

 

Summary from the NFB website: “This documentary is an inquiry into what came to be known as Saskatoon’s infamous “freezing deaths,” and the schism between a fearful, mistrustful Indigenous community and a police force harbouring a harrowing secret.

 

One frigid night in January 2000 Darrell Night, an Indigenous man was dumped by two police officers in -20° C temperatures in a barren field on the city outskirts. He survives the ordeal but is stunned to hear that the frozen body of another Indigenous man was discovered in the same area. Days later, another victim, also Native, is found. When Night comes forward with his story, he sets into motion a chain of events: a major RCMP investigation into several suspicious deaths, the conviction of the two constables who abandoned him and the reopening of an old case, leading to a judicial inquiry.”

 

 

2. Shakespeare behind bars: A Theatre Troupe in Prison (2005) Philomath Films.

 

Summary on Kanopy: Murderers, Fugitives, Thieves…Shakespeare would have loved these guys. Shakespeare Behind Bars is an unexpectedly delightful documentary that follows the casting, rehearsal, and presentation of Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, by convicted felons inside Kentucky’s Luther Luckett Correctional Complex. Winner of eight film festival awards, Shakespeare Behind Bars smashes many of our long held notions about prisoners and criminals as we watch these remarkably unique actors prepare. Ultimately, we get to see the human psyche unfold in all of its complexities, as these men, ostracized from society, reveal their kindness, generosity and faith. In the process, we accompany them as they discover the power of truth, forgiveness and transformation.

 

Shakespeare Behind Bars does not glorify these men or excuse their crimes, but rather attempts to take a more humane look at them as human beings, not merely felons. Over the course of the year and the film, we see these men changed – enriched, challenged, awakened, and fulfilled.

 

 

 

3. Out of Sight, Out of Mind. (2014) National Film Board of Canada.

 

Summary from Films on Demand: “What happens to people who suffer from mental illnesses and commit violent crimes? Where do they go? How are they treated? Little is known about the facilities—once called asylums for the criminally insane—to which some of these patients are sent. Now known as forensic psychiatric hospitals, these are institutions inside which patients disappear, away from public view for years. Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner has been granted unprecedented access to one such hospital: the Brockville Mental Health Centre. He filmed inside this facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness. The result is two remarkable documentaries. The first, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible (Item #58175), premiered at Hot Docs in the spring of 2013 and follows the story of a violent patient released into the community, much to the alarm of his victim and her family. Kastner’s film returns to the Brockville Mental Health Centre to follow treatment processes normally hidden from the public, profiling four patients—two men and two women—as they struggle to gain control over their lives, so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them.”

 

 

4. Legacy of Pain. (1999) The Fifth Estate.

 

Summary from Curio: On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine walked into Montreal’s École Polytechnique and shot 14 young women to death. The massacre shocked the world. Questions about Lépine and his motives were difficult to answer. A profile of Marc Lépine traces his upbringing and other factors that shaped his distorted world in an effort to provide some explanation for his heinous crime. Legacy of Pain also looks at the aftermath from a number of perspectives, starting with the families of the murdered women.

*Please note this film contains discussions of suicide.

 

 

5. The Interrogation. (2019) Java Films.

 

Summary on Kanopy: Why would someone confess to a crime they didn’t commit? In America, nearly 30% of those exonerated by DNA tests had previously confessed. For more than half a century, the Reid technique was the favored method of extracting confessions out of suspects. This method of slowly building pressure often made it seem that admitting guilt was the easiest way out. But now, a number of police forces are abandoning the Reid technique because of the risk of generating false confessions.

 

In The Interrogation you will hear from the men and women who have spent more than twenty years in prison for crimes they did not commit. They tell us about that moment when, in the darkness of the interrogation room, cut off from the world and terrified by police officers, they finally said what the interrogators wanted to hear…the moment their lives changed forever.

 

 

 

6. 6. Life on Victor Street. (2012) National Film Board of Canada.

Available through the Trent Library:

 

Summary from the NFB website: This short documentary depicts an Aboriginal Winnipeg teen’s struggle to stay in school and away from local gangs. Filmed over 2 years, the film is a moving portrait of one family trying to break the cycle of addiction, violence and poverty in an environment filled with anger and despair.

 

 

7. The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet: Where Cybercrime Goes to Hide (2015) Cinetic Rights Management LLC.

 

Summary on Films on Demand: “What if there were “countries” the size of the average suburban household? What if they had their own rules, laws, and currencies? What if one of them almost brought the entire Internet to its knees? They’re called data havens, and they are the Switzerlands of the Internet: bunkers, caves, and sea fortresses, offering cybercriminals and freedom fighters alike the privacy to conduct unregulated information exchanges, malware attacks, spam dumps, ransomware breaches, and more. Nearly every cybercriminal alive walks these halls, virtually or literally. Here today, gone tomorrow, disappearing and re-emerging, these independent micro-nations are the sole provider of true online privacy, offering 100% anonymity without any government restrictions. Welcome to The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet.”