Violent Crime Throughout History Criminology Essay

Violent Crime Throughout History Criminology Essay From the beginning of human life, violent crime has been an issue that society has had to deal with. Violent crime destroys the lives of innocent people. In order for people to live in peace, it is important that society finds a way to decrease violent criminal behavior. Society continually puts restraints in place as a means of deterring violent crime. These restraints are based on theories as to how violent behavior is derived and controlled. Before we can successfully deter criminal behavior, we must first understand the minds of those that commit these crimes. Social organizational theories suggest that the criminal mind evolves from its environment. Statistically, there is some truth to this, because crime is more dominant in urban, low income geographic areas with weak community controls. Theorists, Clifford Shaw and Henry Mckay (1972), Note the format for multiple authors, described socially disorganized neighborhoods as brimming with attitudes and values conductive to delinquency and crime, which provided pathways to adult crime. Social disorganization is described by social scientist, Robert Bursik (1988), this is the citation format for a single author as the capacity of a neighborhood to regulate itself through formal and informal processes of social control. This criminal behavior sometimes becomes violent and is passed down from one generation to the next, which provides the continuation to its same geographic location. Violent criminal behavior is prevalent in areas that have a high rate of crime. Marvin Wolfgang (1958) found that most non-premeditated homicides, not caused by mental disease or defect, occur mostly among members of certain social groups living in certain neighborhoods. He also attributed most perpetrators as being young, nonwhite, lower-class males who share a value system, that conduct norms of a subculture of violence. (Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967, p. 276) If the quote is more than 40 words or more you do not use quotes. You block the quote, starting on a new line and indenting five spaces from the left margin on each line and double spacing. When quoting, always provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list. Most perpetrators value their social status in the community more than human life. Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967) explained the thoughts of some perpetrators as its either him or me. Violence is used as a means of survival in some disorganized neighborhoods. This makes violent crime extremely hard to combat. Social organizational theories lend support to many different ways of deterring and combating violent crimes. Community policing can be directed to those areas that have many violent crimes reducing social disorder at the neighborhood level. Such neighborhoods can form groups, and separate themselves from gangs and violent crowds, categorizing such behavior as deviant and unacceptable to society. Gerald Suttles (1968) referred to such communities as defended neighborhoods. The Wilson and Kelling, (1982) broken window theory also reflects ways of deterring crime by cosmetically cleaning up a disorganized community, to instill pride in its inhabitants. Some communities are also installing gates and guards to keep the criminal element out. All of these deterrents are effective ways to combat violent crimes, but none will entirely eliminate them. Although statistics definitely reinforce social organizational theories, they definitely undermine a persons free will to commit a violent crime. There are people that come from disorganized communities that become successful and do not turn to crime, just as there are murderers and rapists that come from high class neighborhoods. Violent criminal behavior is not always passed down through generations. If a persons environment is responsible for the crimes that they commit, why is a person punished for their crimes? Is violent behavior a byproduct of ones environment, or is it the behavior learned or is its consequences not learned from their parents, peers, teachers, etc.? These are all questions that we struggle to find answers to that would help future endeavors in combating and deterring violent crime. Social Process Theories: Here we are given notice that the topic is changing substantially Theories that explain criminal behavior as learned behavior are considered social process theories. According to sociologist Edwin L. Sutherland (1950), criminal behavior is learned and most learning occurs within intimate personal groups. This has become known as the differential association theory. According to Ronald Akers (1985), learned criminal behavior is acquired or conditioned by the effects, outcomes, or consequences it has on the persons environment. This is accomplished through a persons punishments and reinforcements (rewards or avoided punishments). F. Ivan Nye (1958) described criminal activity from juvenile delinquents as being attributed to family-level punishments and restrictions, affection with parents, their conscience, and the availability of the means to gratify needs. Recently, young males are responsible for a good portion of not only crimes, but violent crimes. Violent crimes are a true concern to the public. Social process theories suggest that violent behavior may be learned from a persons peers or parents. Gang members form close-knit groups and may influence their peers to commit violent crimes. These theories also suggest that a child learns behavior from his or her parents. This can attribute to domestic violence, which has been proven to be spread from one generation to the next in many cases. According to social process theories, children must learn that violence is deviant in society and they must have proper parental guidance and reinforcement from peers. One way to combat violent criminal behavior is through the social bonding theory. According to Travis Hirschi (1972) The bond of affection for conventional persons is a major deterrent to crime. A social bond is the forces in a persons environment that connects them to society and its morality. The social bond theory is based on such key elements as attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. This theory can be applied by parental guidance, affection, and by incorporating community programs for children. Law enforcement officials can interact with troubled children, having a positive influence on them. DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, and GREAT, Gang Resistance Education and Training are two examples of programs based on social process theories. Although effectiveness is debated, with some refinement, these programs may possibly have a profound effect on criminal behavior amongst juveniles. Social process theories offer some good ideas behind the cause of criminal behavior and ways to correct or deter it, but they definitely dont cover all crimes, especially some of those considered to be violent. Social process theories do not give much account for individual motives as to why crimes are committed. They do little to explain crimes of passion, and other violent crimes committed by people that were never exposed to such criminal behavior as a child. Travis Hirshci (1969), suggests that criminality is more or less naturally present, that it requires socialization for its control. Social learning theories suggest that criminal behavior is learned rather than naturally present. Conclusion: Your paper should end with a conclusionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦usually your summary and any opinion of your findings. (avoid writing in the first person) Although different, social organizational and social process theories are similar in some aspects. Social organizational theories explain criminal or violent behavior as a product of ones environment. This is true in a way that the criminal behavior is learned through the people which surround them, which reflects views of social process theories. Sheldon Glueck (1950) refers to this as birds of a feather flock together. People are influenced by their surroundings either positively or negatively. This attributes to their upbringing. Statistics prove that someone from a good upbringing is less likely to become involved in crime. Criminal behavior leads to violent crime. One is very rarely present without the other. One example of this is that people on drugs will do what ever can to get a hold of drugs. When the regard for themselves and others diminishes, violent crime will occur. Both of these sets of theories are true in many aspects about the cause of crime. They both also provide us useful ways of combating and deterring crime. All theories are useful, but no one theory successfully explains all criminal behavior and the best way to deter it. In order to successfully deter violent crime, we must look at all of these theories and combat crime from all angles. Once we better understand the minds behind violent crime, we will do better in combating and deterring it.

The Marigolds- Lizabeth

THE LIFE THAT MAKES UP WHO LIZABETH IS TODAY Because of her going through depression and regretting mistakes she has done, Lizabeth’s maturity level has risen and so has her understanding of life– causing this to make up the person she is today. To begin with, Lizabeth’s depression interferes with her teenage experience. â€Å"When I think of the hometown of my youth, all that I seem to remember is dust– the brown, crumbly dust of late summer– arid, sterile dust that gets into the throat between the toes of bare brown feet. According to the story, Lizabeth sounds like a depressed person that would rather stay in the house all day alone than go outside and have fun with friends. She is letting the Great Depression ruin her one-in-a-lifetime experience that no child will ever forget. â€Å"And so, when I think of that time and that place, I remember only the dry September of the dirt roads and grassless yards of the shantytown where I lived. † Lizabeth only thinks of her past and remembers it better than any other of her childhood memories.The reason is because the depression has a huge effect on her and her family’s life because they are poor and they live in poverty. Also, it is difficult to make a living off of so little money back then, especially with only the mom working. It is also hard to support a family with only one person working. Not only does Lizabeth suffer from depression but she also has regrets. â€Å"I feel again the chaotic emotions of adolescence, illusive as smoke, yet as real as the potted geranium before me now. Lizabeth regrets what she does in the past and she cannot find any way to deserve forgiveness. Lizabeth is a confusing teenager that still believes she has no idea why these things have been happening to her. Furthermore, Lizabeth’s maturity level rises as she deals with her problems as an adult rather than be childish about things. â€Å"Joy and rage and wild animal gladne ss and shame become tangled together in multicolored skein of fourteen-going-on-fifteen as I recall that devastating moment when I was suddenly more woman than child, years ago in Miss Lottie’s yard. â€Å"We children, of course, were only vaguely aware of the extent of our poverty. Having no radios, few newspapers, and no magazines, we were somewhat unaware of the world outside of our community. † Lizabeth knows that the Great Depression is going on but she isn’t worried because she has always been living in poverty; with no communications with the outside world she will never know how poor her lifestyle really is.Last but not least, although Lizabeth is a confused teenager, she still knows her right from wrong and she is shameful of the disrespectful and rude remarks she makes at Miss Lottie. â€Å"Of course I could not express the things that I knew about Miss Lottie as I stood there awkward and ashamed. † â€Å"For one does not have to be ignorant an d poor to find that his life is as barren as the dusty yards of our town. And I have too planted marigolds. † Lizabeth finally accepts who she is as a person and does the right thing by moving on and forgetting the past.

Safe State vs. Swing State

Ben Mason Eng. 1001 sect. 38 9/26/12 The Voting Playground: Play it safe? Or swing? This is a concern that arises for presidential candidates every four years as we approach presidential elections. First, there are two terms to be recognized: â€Å"safe state† and â€Å"swing state†. In a â€Å"safe state† the presidential candidate of a particular party has the vast majority of support of that state's voters, regularly, so that he/she can safely assume the favorable outcome of the state's electoral college votes. Some ell-known safe states are California for democrats, and Texas for republicans. On the contrary, there are states that are not like safe states and no single candidate or party has overwhelming support of the votes. These are called â€Å"swing states† or â€Å"battleground states†. Some examples of swing states of this election are Florida, Iowa, Colorado, and others. In the voting world, the president is decided through representativ e votes by the states. This is called the electoral college. A presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election. For 48 states, it is a inner-takes-all election which means that whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate), takes all of the state's electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that use a proportional vote system. In these states, there could be a split of electoral votes among candidates. (Dugan) The electoral college plays a huge role on the topic of safe states and swing states by effecting the behaviors of presidential candidates. For instance, safe states that re known to vote a certain way will not receive near as much attention or campaigning as swing states during the times close to elections. This is why candidates fight over swing states that may only have as little as 4 electoral votes, instead of fighting for states wit h a lot more. (Dugan) An example of this would be Romney and Obama spending large amounts of money campaigning in a swing state such as Iowa with 7 electoral votes and very little in a safe state like California with 55 electoral votes. (Politico) Candidates do not put a lot of effort into afe states because it is unlikely that he/she can change the minds of the people there. Also, one will not spend time and money campaigning in safe states because he/she may already have the support of the people in those states. As you can see, the electoral college is key to understanding how safe states and swing states work. There is a kind of two party dictatorship in today's American politics and the vast majority of voters fall into these two categories or parties: Republican or Democratic. Every election period there are two candidates unning for these parties. In order for the candidate to get the vote of a particular state he/she must run a campaign. The aggressiveness and frequency of t he campaigns might vary due to the status of a party's influence over certain states. Sometimes the candidates have to modify there stance or ideals on certain issues to fit to that particular state. An example would be that some candidates may want to position themselves to appeal to a certain ethnic group of that area. Obama has tried to appeal to the Hispanic vote in Colorado due to the growing umber of Hispanic immigrants. (Larcinese) This may be a smart move because he is usually popular among minority groups. In return, Romney has tried to address people in rural areas. Recent polls show that he is 14 percent more popular with people in rural areas than Obama is. (Gruber) Also, issues that are a big concern in an area may be emphasized. Things like restoring the health of a declining ecosystem may be brought up in an area that is suffering from deforestation or pollution to secure the votes of people concerned about that subject.Other factors play into campaigning in swing sta tes as well. Many times instead of stretching the truth, a candidate will just neglect to bring up the matter, whatever it may be. The sensitive issues of a certain state might be avoided in order to sound better on a vague level. Slogans are made short and vague for this reason to get anyone to jump on the band wagon. Making the issues fit the political views of the people in a certain area or background is imperative to getting favorable votes. Candidates do whatever it takes to look good or appeal to people.This sometimes means mud-slinging or making the opposing candidate look bad. This has been going on since the beginning of presidential runoffs. A great example of this would be â€Å"Romney's war on women† as said by Obama because of Mitt Romney's stance on issues for women. This gives the allusion that Romney doesn't care about women's health issues so that Obama would be favorable to women. (Politico) In return, Mitt Romney has attacked Obama's healthcare plan saying that Obama wont cover people with preexisting conditions. This is an ongoing thing that will never stop.There will always be differences in views that candidates will trash each other with. There are a vast array of ways to advertise to capture the hearts and minds of would-be voters. The key to it all is appealing to the people that have the most stake in the situation and convincing them to vote a certain way to decide the victor of the presidential race. As you can see, the role of swing states and safe state are crucial to how things are done and the way that American politics play out. Works Cited Larcinese, Valentino. â€Å"Allocating the U. S. Federal Budget to the States. The Journal of Politics. Wiley Library. , 27 Apr 2006. Web. Vol. 68 May 2006 Gruber, Jonathan. â€Å"Rural Favor and Polls† Hastings Center Report. Wiley Library. , 8 Feb 2012. , Sep,Oct 2006 Politico. org. , â€Å"News, Analysis, Candidates, and Polls. † Real Clear Polls. Swing state view. , Sep 26 2012 archive. fairvote. org/e_college. htm. , â€Å"Maine and Nebraska. † â€Å"Center for voting and Democracy. †, copyright 2002. , Dec 10 2009 Dugan, Andrew. Gallup. com/poll/swingstate. htm. , â€Å"Swing State Voters. † Washington D. C. , â€Å"Race Track 2012† Sep 9 2012

Fine Art Programs Should Be Banned - 1581 Words

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The ways that these fine art programs can help students are shown through three fine art programs drama, art, and musical education because all of these have positive effects that can help children grow and learn. Some drama classes in schools are being elminated because critics say, â€Å"The plays had references drinking† (Huffingtonpost.com 2). This shows that some plays have a more mature theme, but that should not mean that the whole drama program should be eliminated in the whole school. This is shown when American Alliance For Theater Education says, â€Å"Students considered to be at high risk for dropping out of high school cite drama and other arts classes as their motivations for staying inShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Stephen Chbosky s The Catcher Rye And F. Scott Fitzgerald And Tennessee Williams1460 Words   |  6 PagesPittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 25,1970. â€Å"He is the son Lea, a taxpayer, and Fred B Chbosky, a steel company executive and consultants to CFO’s†. 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