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Jeffrey Worley
Elizabeth Kent
English 1020
2/27/2016
Unit 2
In this unit Ill be going over the possible sources Ill be using for my essay
and sorting their relevancy to the purpose, while giving and evaluation and
summary.
Rowhani-Rahbar, Ali, et al. "Firearm-Related Hospitalization And Risk For
Subsequent Violent Injury, Death, Or Crime Perpetration: A Cohort Study."
Annals Of Internal Medicine 162.7 (2015): 492-500. MEDLINE. Web. 1 Mar.
2016.
This sources goes over statistics showing armed crime versus unarmed
crime. It may either involve others or even be self-inflicted, but makes sure
to include age, mental background, and pay level. While the timing wasnt
meant for the time Im using the source, it fits very well into the presidential
race and how theyll incorporate a form of gun control or lack of gun control.
It is relevant to my topic in that the cause of crime can sometimes be
accessibility to tools to commit the crime.
The sources strengths and weaknesses lies in its own statistics. Many
crimes may have been due to weapons being readily available, but many
crimes have also been prevented because the right person had one of those
tools in their hand. This information would stand on its own and against

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critical evaluation, because it backs up all of its information with proven

studies and numbers. Despite that Im sure that it would create
conversations or arguments due to people letting emotions get the best of
them or disliking an opposing viewpoint, as is the usual case with
controversial topics. The argument of the source is provided in a rational
manner. It gives sources and statistics pulled from reliable places ensuring
that the numbers are accurate and trustworthy. I plan on using this source in
my essay since its so controversial and is a good spot to spark ideas to
move my essay along as well as provide accurate accounts, backing up the
statements given in the essay.
Montolio, Daniel, and Simn Planells-Struse. "When Police Patrols Matter. The
Effect Of Police Proximity On Citizens Crime Risk Perception." Journal Of
Economic Psychology 50.(2015): 73-93. Business Source Premier. Web. 1
Mar. 2016.
The content of this source details the location, attitude, and the
relationship of the police with the community that they work in and how that
affects the increase or decrease in crime. The timing of this source isnt
considered, since this is a timeless issue that can fall out of balance or could
be strived towards. The author isnt relevant in that his studies are in Spain
and mainly looks at that areas police force, but goes on to include data
provided from of the United States statistics on crime related to police
occupancy.

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The information can stand on its own, once again due to all of the selfsupporting facts and fact-checking it provides with the information. It really
shows the articles strengths and thoroughness in research keeping all of the
information trustworthy. This information could begin a conversation in the
sense that some people may believe that the proximity of the police may not
have an effect on crime rates nearby. The argument is presented in a very
informative and professional manner with many references to back up the
information being given, as well as many scholarly reviews approving the
source. This reinforcement of information would also make the source able to
withstand a critical evaluation. The source has many strengths in that it
doesnt only cover the base of police proximity, but explain how it relates
and connects to other factors of crime in the area. This gives a well-rounded
view and better prepared idea of how the area is affected by those changes. I
plan to use this by connecting the information used and follow the idea of
having a completely connected topic, even though Im using five separate
sources.
Stacey, Michele. "The Effect Of Law On Hate Crime Reporting: The Case Of
Racial And Ethnic Violence." American Journal Of Criminal Justice 40.4 (2015):
876-900. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
The information included in this source runs into the subject of racial
crimes. Crimes dealt against other races for the sake of race alone.
Something that sticks out immediately is the source of this information was
based out of the U.K. This can be seen as bad, as someone might not have

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an inside view on how things work. On the other hand an outside view might
be necessary, but racial biased could be involved with one source, which is
where the data and many other sources are pooled to cover all bases. The
relevancy and timeliness, like the other, subjects, are constant. The only
thing that could stop that would be people getting over any or all differences.
The strengths of this source is that it covers the majority of races and
subgroups included in those categories. On the other side it comes across
almost biased towards minority groups that it also states are growing in
numbers. The information stands on its own, but with not a whole lot to go
off of. It states that hate crime is rare and has pulled from seven other
sources to build this source leaving a small test group. This could also be the
argument, in that there isnt enough data to inconclusively say that one
thing effects another in a certain way for sure. However, it has been done in
a scholarly manner and has been back by reviews and facts, so I believe it
would stand fine on its own. I would use this source in my essay to help knit
together the overall view of crime rate.
Woodiwiss, Michael. "Combatting And Analysing Organized Crime: The View
From Witnesses." Trends In Organized Crime 18.1/2 (2015): 1-11. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
In summarization of this source it goes over the history of organized
crime and how it came to be and evolved into what we know it as today. It
also goes over the law enforcements evolution alongside the criminals to
combat the problem. The source has pulled together many validated sources

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of information, making this source trustworthy. The source is from Bristol,

U.K. where they are relevant through studies of the subject. This source is
relevant to my essay in that it follows the recurring theme of crime and how
its all linked together in some way or another. The timing holds no
importance since organized crime has been around even before there was a
word for it, as it states in the source.
The strengths that this source has is the involvement of history and
using that to prove a point and that things are bound to repeat themselves
or can be used to watch which direction the crime will evolve. Its weakness is
that criminals are constantly coming up with new and devious ways to get
what they want. The source stands on its own giving a solid background
explanation leading up to current even and keeping everyone on the same
page. This topic can and certainly has made many conversations pop up over
the years and even inspired some Hollywood movies to portray organized
crime.
I believe that this is one of the more important sources I will have for
my essay. Organized crime is a completely different beast than a crime of
passion, since it takes time to plan the crime soon to be committed. This
makes it far more nefarious and monstrous than the others.
Surette, Ray, and Allison Maze. "Video Game Play And Copycat Crime: An
Exploratory Analysis Of An Inmate Population." Psychology Of Popular Media
Culture 4.4 (2015): 360-374. PsycARTICLES. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.

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This source covers video games and how criminals try to use them as
an excuse for why they committed the crimes that they did. This was
published by the US : Educational Publishing Foundation from the authors
Surette, Ray and Maze, Allison of the Department of Criminal Justice located
at the University of Central Florida. In this case the relevancy of the authors
could be questioned in that they are most likely not gamers themselves and
possibly have a bias that those who do play dont adapt well to society.
The strengths that the sources brings are the facts shown that even
though the criminals announce that a video game had some kind of bearing
to their actions, it hasnt shown true. That also could be counted for a
weakness. Even if studies are done there can be no certain way that a game
had an influence on their actions and its most likely what the criminals bank
off of. This is what could also drive an argument or conversation on this
source. There is so much happenstance and hearsay even with all of the
studies that have been done, so there are no absolute truths in this subject,
which would also keep it from standing on its own.
I plan to use this in my essay as an argument that the law isnt perfect
and can even sometimes help criminals get the upper hand. If the court is
busier trying to figure out how crime relates to games instead of why the
criminal committed it, then it works to the criminals favor. This could make it
just as bad as helping them.