Fieldwork

Fieldwork Assignment Instructions

The assignment is completed in two stages. The first stage requires conducting three brief ethnographic observations (15%) and the second stage requires one comparative ethnographic analysis (25%), following the rubrics and writing composition processes provided. This assignment shows that students can critically observe, collect, synthesize, and interpret data using a variety of analytic frameworks. It is therefore the aim of this assignment to not only serve as the partial satisfaction of this course’s requirements but also the opportunity to write a quality writing sample that can be used for future employment or graduate study.

While it is recognized that students have other life commitments, producing college-level writing is not something that ‘just happens.’ This assignment requires planning your time well and a focused effort.

Stage One: Three Short Ethnographies (15%)

Based upon your readings of Foucault and Goffman, your fieldwork assignment is to visit 3 different films.

Based upon your notes and class discussions, you are required to report back your observations in three reports; one for each research site. Each report is required to be between 1,500 and 1,750 words minimum. Other formatting requirements: double spaced; standard 1-inch margins; 12-point font; Times New Roman.

One Ethnographic Report of The Stanford Prison Experiment

Background:

Criag Haney and Philip Zimbardo describe the impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment on penal policy in the following way:

“The Stanford Prison Experiment and related studies imply that exclusively individual-centered approaches to crime control (like imprisonment) are self-limiting and doomed to failure in the absence of other approaches that simultaneously and systematically address criminogenic situational and contextual factors. Because traditional models of rehabilitation are person-centered and dispositional in nature (focusing entirely on individual-level change), they typically have ignored the post-release situational factors that help to account for discouraging rates of recidivism.” (Haney & Zimbardo, 1998)

Given this description, we can note that psychology’s emphasis on rehabilitating the individual misses the point.

Research Question: How would Foucault explain the results of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

For this report, you are required to watch The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015), available at an affordable rate to stream on Amazon. Before watching the movie, read “The Past and Future of U.S. Prison Policy” [Criag Haney & Philip Zimbardo, American Psychologist, 1998] (Blackboard).

While watching the movie, be sure to take fieldnotes concerning the plot, character development, and the themes described in the course readings cited above.

(Continued)

Rubric for Observation:

Introduction (200-300 words) (10 %)

Summary of The Stanford Prison Experiment (400 words) (20 %)

Summary of “The Past and Future of U.S. Prison Policy” (400 words) (20 %)

Foucault’s Explanation (600 words) (40 %)

Concluding Reflection (250 words; Bring it all together!!!) (10 %)

Composition Process:

Perform Observation and Take Notes

-Draft 1: Write Up Each Narrative Separately (Simply describe what happened!)

-Draft 2: Perform Analysis (Apply relevant sociological concepts to your narrative!)

Visit Writing Center to Create Draft 3

Revise Draft 3 into Final Draft and Submit via TurnItIn!

One Ethnographic Report of the Survivors Guide to Prison

Background:

Following the stories of Bruce Lisker and Reggie Cole who spent year after year in prison for murders they didn't commit – audiences get a harrowing look at how barbaric the US justice system is. The film ultimately asks how we can survive the prison model at all, and looks at better solutions for conflict resolution, harm reduction, crime and more. Hosted by filmmaker Matthew Cooke and guest hosting representatives from the massive range of Americans joining forces to change this broken system.

Research Question: How would Goffman respond to the Survivors Guide to Prison?

For this report, you are required to watch the Survivors Guide to Prison (2018), available at an affordable rate to stream on Amazon. Before watching the movie, read My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard [Shane Bauer, Mother Jones, 2016] (Blackboard). While watching the movie, be sure to take fieldnotes concerning the plot, character development, and the themes described in the course.

Rubric for Observation:

Introduction (200-300 words) (10 %)

-Summary of the Survivors Guide to Prison (400 words) (20 %)

-Analysis of the Documentary’s Arguments (400 words) (20 %)

-Goffman’s Explanation (600 words) (40 %)

-Concluding Reflection (250 words; Bring it all together!!!) (10 %)

Composition Process:

Perform Observation and Take Notes

-Draft 1: Write Up Each Narrative Separately (Simply describe what happened!)

-Draft 2: Perform Analysis (Apply relevant sociological concepts to your narrative!)