Restricted enrollment. Email the professor (mydeitch@aol.com) for permission to register for this course.
This course combines the content and structure of a seminar with client- directed research and a service learning opportunity through a field placement with a community partner. Students will learn about the Texas juvenile justice system, which has been the subject of intense legislative scrutiny over the last three years, and will contribute their research skills to conduct important research for one of the key stakeholders in the juvenile system. The research tasks performed by the students have the potential to directly impact reform efforts currently underway. Students must work a total of 100 hours with the community partner over the course of the semester, in a placement that will be determined and arranged by the instructor in consultation with the student. Students' field work will culminate in the production of a substantial research assignment that will be submitted to both the instructor and to the field supervisor. Classroom work will provide substantive background about the operations of the juvenile justice system as well as opportunities for reflection about the students' field work.
This three-credit course is open to a total of 10 students: four from the LBJ School; three from the Law School; and three from the School of Social Work. Registration is by permission of the instructor.
Deitch, Michele Y.