Alvarado 1

Bryan Alvarado
Matt Wilson
Writing 2
3 June 2016
Messages in Writing Disciplines
When you enter a university, there is a collection of subjects in which you have the
option of studying. Over the next couple of years, you will experience and handle work that
consists of different genres. These discourse communities are based upon the principles of shared
beliefs and assumptions, and in order to be successful in different subjects, you must understand
the purpose, argument, rhetoric, and conventions of each. If understood correctly, the path to
becoming a better writer will be easier and attainable. Looking at a specific issue, juvenile
delinquency is a topic that has been examined by many people to understand their purpose and
affect in existing communities. This topic is shared by different discourse communities as it is
predominant today. Specifically, disciplines such as sociology and criminology contain
researchers that dedicate their work to understand this concept further because each discipline
focuses on a particular purpose. By understanding this from two disciplines, it allows us to
examine how two groups approach this topic in their perspective. In this essay, we will examine
juvenile delinquency in two different texts. A sociological case study and a monograph about
criminal justice will be used for the intentions of addressing the conventions, audience, and
purpose of each text.
Similar to Dana Lynn Driscolls essay, Introduction to Primary Research: Observations,
Surveys, and Interviews, in sociology, research methods like surveys, observations, and
interviews are utilized in order to understand how a specific group affects a certain community

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(86). Studying juveniles and their effects in society is one of the main points that is mentioned in
Bernard Segals article, Racial Membership and Juvenile Delinquency. This case study
contains these conventions from two sample groups of different groups of people. Interviews and
observations are essential in this discipline because primary research is useful for attaining new
data and conclusions (89). While analyzing the research study, Segals main question of the study
was: what are the results of racial differences regarding delinquent boys committing the same
offense in different socio economic backgrounds? This is an example of a sociologist examining
the community in broad sense. This important for the audience in understanding the main idea of
the piece.
Another aspect to consider is the organization of the sociological case study. In most
sociology readings, the layout of the piece is driven by the research method. The organization of
Segals article plays a key role in understanding the information that he is providing. The goal is
to write with clarity and flow so the reader can follow along with the information. For example,
he begins his work with the introduction and then transitions into the method section where the
study is explained. After that it moves forward into Offenses, Motives, and Social Classes
where the paper explains the general idea of committing an offense and how it affects among
different social classes. The use of evidence and organization correlate with each other to
strengthen the argument of the writer. By doing this, the audience is able to understand each
section of the reading instead of being overwhelmed by concepts being presented at them with
no structure. Just like in Karen Rosenbergs essay, Reading Games: Strategies for Reading
Scholarly Sources, she explains that once you know who your intended audience, your writing
can be structured to cater those who are reading it (62). In this discipline, organization is used to
in a level of sequential importance. By beginning with the research and concluding his the

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results, the writer is able to gain credibility as it shows the steps taken in coming to a conclusion.
This style of organization help the readers in this field to thoroughly analyze all of the
information that is provided.
Now examining under a new light, criminology uses unique diction and different sources
of evidence to make an argument on a topic. Criminology examines how crime makes a juvenile
an offender, and how it affects the perspectives of people who govern the justice system and law
enforcement. These aspects of criminology are explained with the emphasis on juvenile
delinquency in Owen B. Hahns book, Perspectives on Juvenile Offenders. This book address its
audience differently than other disciplines because of the conventions that are present.
Throughout the book, there are many statistics provided such as graphs and charts to explain the
different types of issues and topics in each chapter. Form this observation, as a reader, you must
have some knowledge on how to read statistical methods in order to understand the data. In this
chapter, Hahn and Lindsey M. Hayes conduct various surveys about suicides in juvenile facilities
to gather data and compile a graph based on the results. From this study, numerous graphs were
created that displayed different aspects about the issue of suicides in juvenile facilities. In this
discipline, it is important to analyze data and draw conclusions from them. The audience is
expected to know this and draw their own inferences on the issue as well.
Hahn writes this book that is targeted towards an audience who are specifically
researchers and scholars of this field. The importance of criminology is to also be familiar with
the jargon or word choice that people use among others. One example of the words used
frequently throughout this book is confinement. Other words or phrases such as juvenile
justice, offenders, rehabilitate, and etc. are also used (1-3). These are fundamental concepts
that are important to know when studying this discipline. As stated before, knowing these terms

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can help avoid confusion. This style of rhetoric can make scholars credible when writing to their
audience. This is important because this language sets the tone for the piece which is factual and
objective.
To sum up, while disciplines can be studied by anyone, it is important to understand the
discourse communities intended beliefs and thoughts to be successful in writing within these
subjects. Sociology is a more general idea of analyzing interactions within communities.
However despite the various conventions and audience, criminology is a more specific branch of
sociology that examines how crime makes a juvenile an offender, and how it affects the
perspectives of people who govern the justice system and law enforcement. While both
disciplines focus on specific aspects of juvenile delinquency, they both manage to cater to their
own specific audience with effective tone, organization, and style.

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Works Cited
Driscoll, Dana Lynn. "Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and
Interviews." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 2. N.p.: n.p., 2011. 86-89. Print.
Hahn, Owen. B. (2010) Perspectives on Juvenile Offenders. New York, New York: Nova Science
Publishers, Inc. (1-7).
Seagal, Bernard. Racial Group Membership and Juvenile Justice Delinquency. Social Forces
43.1 (1964): 70-81.
Rosenberg, Karen. "Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources." Writing Spaces:
Readings on Writing. Vol. 2. N.p.: n.p., 2011. 62. Print.