Do you prosecute that as a hate-crime, just because it might be? One group of people is now getting special treatment under the law. That sounds lot like discrimination to me, which isn't how this country is supposed to work. Whatever happened to equal protection under the law? Further, because most hate-crime legislation puts added effort into prosecuting crimes against certain individuals or groups, what about the same crimes committed against someone who doesn't fit into one of those groups?
In this essay we will assess the usefulness of these functionalist theories, and look at how it helps us explain crime. One functionalist who tried to explain crime is Merton and his strain theory, the strain theory argues that people engage in the deviant behaviour when they are unable to achieve socially approved goals by legitimate means. Merton explanation combines 2 elements; structural factors- society’s unequal opportunity structure, cultural factors- strong emphasis to achieve goals and weak emphasis on using legit means. Merton uses the strain theory to explain some patterns of crime in society, he argues a person’s positioning in society affects the way they adapt or respond to the strain to anomie. Merton gives 5 different types of adaption; Conformity- the individual accepts socially acceptable goal and achieves it through legitimate means, Innovation- Individual accepts the role of success and wealth but uses illegitimate means to achieve them, Ritualism- Individual give up on legitimate goals but still follow strictly to the rules, Retreatism- Individuals reject legitimate goals and means of achieving them e.g drug addicts, the final type is Rebellion- Individuals reject existing goals and means but replace them with new one in desire to bring about revolutionary change.
The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label." – Howard Becker, 1963. Labeling theory has its roots in Emile Durkheims studies into suicide where he expressed the view that deviance and crime is not so much about a specific violation of a penal code but more of an act that differs exceptionally from the social norm. Many people are labeled deviant even if they have not broken a specific law or even committed a crime. Society generally labels an individual as deviant if they differ from the social norms in appearance or behavior.
This suggests that high anxiety situations have a negative impact on EW identification accuracy. In the second one he considered the recall of culprits and scene details. He found that details were correctly recalled by 64% for low anxiety conditions compared to 52% for high anxiety conditions. This shows that high anxiety reduces the ability to identify details of a crime. Also, we have to consider that eyewitnesses victims of a violent crime will register more the situations that pose a treat to them, like the criminal’s weapon.
Victims and Victimization Jessieca Omowele Keiser University Criminology September 18, 2011 Professor Colon Abstract Until the 1980s, the study of crime and deviance focused on the criminal or deviant, or on the social processes that labeled particular actions as criminal or deviant. From the 1980s onwards, there has been an interest in the study of the victims- who they are, the interactions between criminal and victim, and the effect of crime or other deviance on the victim (Abercrombie, Hill and Turner 2006). Victims and Victimization Victims were once viewed to be “in the wrong place at the wrong time” but that changed more than 60 years ago when studies found that, the victim’s own behavior is important in the crime process. Victims were found to influence criminal behavior by playing an active role in a criminal incident, such as when an assault victim initially provokes an eventual attacker. Victims can also play an indirect role in a criminal incident, such as when a woman adopts a lifestyle that continually brings her into high-crime areas (Siegel 2011).
Criminal Acts and Choices Sandra Garcia Criminal Justice CJA/204 September 14, 2011 Leroy Hendrix, MS Criminals are often categorized or labeled as the bad seeds of society or the rejects and failures. Those are the individuals that make the choice of disobeying the law and decide to live the life of a felon. Those criminal behaviors later on result to becoming habitual and progressive towards severe crimes being committed. However, for every action there is a reason to better understand the mind of a criminal certain theories have been introduced to the criminal justice system to gain knowledge in why people commit crime and what can be done to prevent it from occurring. In this paper choice theories will be identified and how they
The first research question, “suicide notes from different age groups would signal different psychological reasons for committing suicide” (O’Connor et al., 1999).The second question “depressed persons committed suicide for different reasons than non-depressed persons” (O’Connor et al, 1999). Finally the question “first time suicides differ psychologically from those with a history of previous attempts” (O’Connor et al, 1999). First of all, to fully understand the contribution of qualitative research to psychology the distinction between quantitative and qualitative research must be acknowledged. Qualitative research is the accumulation analysis and interpretation of what people say, write, and do (Abawi, 2008). Qualitative research is deemed a more investigative method than quantitative as it uses in depth collection techniques such as interviews, observations and focus groups.
Introduction Secondary victimisation is where the victims of crime are treated with disrespect and have had their basic human rights ignored. In certain instances, this secondary victimisation can be far more traumatic to the victim than the initial crime. Not only can the secondary victimisation be due to the treatment by criminal justice officials, but also by the victim’s family, friends or community. Secondary victimisation in the court process Secondary victimisation refers to behaviours and attitudes of social service providers that are "victim-blaming" and insensitive, and which traumatise victims of violence who are being served by these agencies. A victim of rape (primary victimisation), for example, may be subjected to victim blaming and ostracism as the result of the attack; those who become disabled (primary victimisation) may be subjected to non-accommodation, medicalization, and segregation; and those who develop mental disorder (primary victimisation) may be subject to institutionalisation, that in each case may be far more victimising to these individuals and limiting of their life opportunity than the primary victimising stigmatic condition itself, and are thus called secondary victimisation.
The psychological assumption of crime suggests that negative expectations influence certain individuals to execute in a criminal way as their stereotypes change their social interactions. This theory is supported by Jahoda’s study of names. Jahoda have studied the Ashanti
Role of Victimology Victimology in its most simple form is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender. It is defined as "the thorough study and analysis of victim characteristics" (Turvey, 1999) and may also be called "victim profiling" (Holmes, 1996). In essence criminal profilers are studying the harm the victim endured during the crime, plus its physical and emotional aspects. Victimologists are people who are in essence investigators, researchers, and observers of the victimized persons and their connection to the crime (Karmen, 2007). Holmes & Holmes (2009, p290) stated “To appraise a crime without some knowledge of the victim is certainly remiss.” The victim constitutes half of the crime therefore victimology should be heavily looked at in order to connect them to the offender (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, & Ressler, 1992).Victimology is important to an investigation process in that, it is not just learning about the victim’s personal history and personality, but it also why the victim was chosen (Petherick, 2010).