Chapter 9

Question 1

• Criminal Homicide accounts for how many violent crimes?
• # of homicides at all time hi
• at all time low
• total homicides in 2010
• violent offenses report
• many involve who? (4)
• known relationship btwn perp and vic (%) within those how many related? acquainted?

Answer 1

1-2%

• 24,503 in 91
• 14.522 in 99
• 14,728
• 1.246 mill
• angry friends, spouses, gang and drug related
• 54% of all homicides, 25%, 53%

Question 2

Reasons disproportionate Amt of attention to homicide? (3)

• psychologist’s explanation
• curiosity explanation

Answer 2

1. highly serious crime resulting in death
2. fascination with mystery and macabre
3. need certain amt of arousal to prevent bordem
   - novely produces arousal and excitemnt and breaks monotony. This need for excitement is greater in some ppl (extraverts)
   - One purpose of curiousity is to allow ppl to adjust to enviro, you explore a new situation to satisfy curiousity which is theorized by a physio drive state and in process of discorvery new info, adapts to new situation.

Question 3

Availability Heursitic

• is
• heuristic is?

Answer 3

a social psych pehenomenon where media attention to violence makes you believe it is more widespread. When media continually shows graphic violence, ppl incorp vivid details into cognitive shorthand and have them readily available for furture ref. When they think of violence at later time, they remember most horrific account and exxaggerate incidence
− Herustic is a cognitive shortcut to make quick inferesnces about world

Question 4

• Criminologists: agg assualt & homicide

- Dunn challenges this belief

Answer 4

−generally study aggravated assualt and homicide together because they view assualts as failed homicide attmept
− by stating that agg assault rate is at least 20 times that of homicide. Given this disparity in rates, it is difficult to imagine that even ¼ of all assaults were attemtped homicides. Therefore it may be unwarranted to consider assault as being in same league as homicide; the two may be very diff in variables such as motives of perp

Question 5

Criminal Homicide

• is?
• 2
• diff/sims between them

Answer 5

is causing death of another person without legal justification or excuse. Legally divided into 2 categories: murder and nonegligent manslaughter
-Essential diff between the two is that malice afterthought present for murder. Both intended to kill victim

Question 6

Murder

- male afterthought

Answer 6

is unlawful killing of one human by another with malice afterthought either expressed or implied (premeditation or mental state of person who thinks ahead, plans, voluntarily causes death of another)

Question 7

Nonnegliegent manslaughter

Answer 7

is killing without premeditation but with intention to kill in the heat of moment such as high emotional state. Orginal intent may not be to kill victim but emotions cause them to lose control of self-reg system

Question 8

Homicide laws

• most jurisdictions/allows
• 1st degree
• 2nd degree

Answer 8

-murder is divided into 2 degress, a statutory provision that allows courts to impose a more severe penalty for some murders. The degree system was once useful for distinguishing between murder that was punishable by death and that which was not. However, recently degrees more blurrd.
−State statues gen posit that murder of first degree is a homicide committed with vicious willfull premed intent.
- 2nd degree is intentional and unlawful killing but without premed (crimes of passion)

Question 9

Negligent manslaughter

- AKA

Answer 9

is killing another as result of recklessness orculpable neglience (AKA involuntary manslaughter). No intent to kill but law sys you should have know your actions could result in death (ex: playing with gun)

Question 10

Assault

• defintion
• imp to qualify def bc?
• the state with exception

Answer 10

−Assault is the intentional inflicting of bodily injury on another person or attempt to inflict such injury
− Important to qualify defintion bc in past years assault and battery considered two discrete crimes. State laws treated threat of physical injury as an assualt and the completed act of physical contant as battery
− Many states have gotten away from distinguishing two but in some jursidictions (Flordia) assault is still threat of injury and battery is contact

Question 11

Aggravated Assault

Answer 11

is attack/assualt with intent to inflict serious bodily injury. Often accomp by use of deadly weapon (gun, knife)

Question 12

Simple Assault

- fists

Answer 12

Simple assualt is unlwaful intentional inlficing of less serious bodily injury without deadly weapon or attempt to inflict without deadly weapon. However, ones fists can be deadly weapon (if vic is seriously assaulted in fistfight then its agg assault)

Question 13

Race/Ethnicity in Homicides

• Major finding: blacks
• blacks make up (%) but acct for how many homicides? (%)
• homicide offending rate: blacks vs. whites
• victimization rate: b vs. whites
• most murders are? cross of racial lines (%)
• Disporportionate rep of blacks due to
• biological evidence

Answer 13

−One of most consistent findings is that blacks in US are involved in crim homicide (both offenders and vics) at rate that exceeds number of gen pop
−Blacks make up 13% of US but account for 53% of all homicide arrests
− is 8x higher than whites
− is 6x higher than whites
−Most murders are intraracial (blacks kill blacks) altho stranger homicides are most likley to cross racial lines (27%)
−social inequities (lack of employment, edu, racial oppression, discriminatory treatment of justice system, law enforement in inner city)
− No evidence that racial biological predispostion plays a role

Question 14

Gender and homicides

• arrests rates (males vs. females %s)
• males rep how many homicide vics? offenders?

Answer 14

− UCR data consistently shows that arrest rates for murder about 90% male and 10% female
− Males rep 77% of homicide vics and 90% of offenders

Question 15

Age and homcide

• how many arrested for violent crime in what age range?
• murder vics under 25? offenders?

Answer 15

− Nat stats continue to underscore fact that about ½ of all arrested for violent crime btwn ages 20-29; specfically refers to homicide
− 1/3rd of murder vics and almost ½ of offenders under 25

Question 16

Socioeconomic class and homicide

• children in adverse enviro
• poverty a risk bc?
• poverty and parents

Answer 16

− Research shows that children born into adverse neighborhood and disadvantaged family context at higher risk for violence as either offender or victims
− Poverty places child at risk bc of lack of resources, social support and oppurtunity (highlights imp of social programs)
− Poverty makes it hard for parents to avoid harsh or inconsistnet discipline
However, warm supportive parenting exists across all social classes

Question 17

Circumstances in homicide

• most freq one
• second freq one
• others

Answer 17

−interpersonal arguments (includeing those precedinf fam violence) are most freq
− those that occur in process of felonies (rape, robbery, arson, drug trafficking)
−33% involved other types of circumstances such as brawls, sniper attacks, juvenile and gang killers

Question 18

Weapons used in violence:

• firearms used in homicide (%)
• knives (%)
• every ? minutes someone dies from? (%s)
• supreme court ruling
• lower courts
• Hepburn and Hemenway (2)

Answer 18

−Firearms used in 67% of all homicides
−Knives used in less than 13%
-Every 14 mins someone in America dies from gunshot wound. ½ of them sucides, 44% homcides, 4% unintentional
−After many years of debate on 2nd amendment, supreme court ruled in two sep cases that right to bear arms is an individ right that neither fed gov or state gov can abridge
- have allowed states to have waiting periods, requiring criminal and mental health checks and forbid ownership by felons or possession by juvs
−found that where there is higher levels of gun ownership, homicides higher. Availablity of guns is a major reason homicides occur
- found that high number of available weapons in community promote more aggression in vicious cycle of violence may be due to prescense of aggressive stimuli (weapons affect)

Question 19

Juvenile Weapon Possession
- law/year
- other ways to get guns:
asking others (%), buy (%)
- theft: how many stolen?
- how many offenders use stolen guns (%)
- UCR 2010: how many arrests for illegal poss were juvs (%), how many under 15 (%)
- males vs. females on carrying weapons? most are? (%s)
- survey of grades 9-12: how many carry weapons? inner-city? (%s)
- how many mid schoolers carry gun to school (%)
- how many use if for self-protection?

Answer 19

− The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1974 made it fed offense to sell or transfer handgun to person under 18. Also fed offense for juv to possess ammunition for handgun
−gangs often have community gun hidden, some aske others (28%), 11% buy them at pawshop or gunshop
− 500,000 guns stole each year
-70% firearms used by offenders were stolen
−29% of arrests for illegal possession were juvs, 11% were under 15
− males 4x more likely than females to carry weapon. Most often knives or razors (55%), clubs (24%), firearms (21%)
−18% said they carried weapon outside home in prev 30 days. Percents higher for inner city schools (22%)
−Recent survy found 2% of midd schoolers carried gun to school on reg basis
− Data suggests that more than 2/3rds of juvs who carry weapons say they do so for self-protection