Midterm Flashcards
Violence
Research consistently shows that violence is “connected by a web of actions, behaviours, ideas, perceptions and justifications.”
- Violence – despite how it is manifested – often committed for same kinds of reasons
- Perpetrator often sees violence as justified
- Violent behaviour often replicated in different spheres of one’s life (e.g. predictor of violence is history of violent behaviour)
- Violence overlaps in variety of situations (e.g. macro/micro linkages)
Culture and Violence - Engaging in Violence in Multiple Spheres
Examples of people engaging in violence in multiple spheres would include:
- Athletes in violent/contact sports who commit violent crimes (e.g. sexual assault, domestic violence)
- Military and/or law enforcement officials and problem of domestic violence among its members
Culture and Violence - Violence Overlap in Different Context
Examples how violence overlaps in different contexts
- More society engages in ‘legitimate violence’ the more ‘illegitimate violence’ there will be
- Brutalization hypothesis: Argues states with death penalty have higher rates of homicide than those that don’t; essentially argument says death penalty desensitizes society to killing and devalues human life which increases tolerance toward lethal behaviour
- War also found to increase rates of illegitimate violence, not just among returning soldiers in domestic realm, but within larger soceity as well.
Types of Violence
1) Instrumental
2) Expressive
Types of Violence - Instrumental Violence
Violence is means to an end.
Designed to improve the financial or social position of the criminal.
- E.g., inheritance
Types of Violence
1) Instrumental: Violence is means to an end.
2) Expressive: Violence that vents, rage, anger or frustration.
3 Interconnected Types of Violence
Iadicola & Shupe
1) Interpersonal
2) Institutional
3) Structural
Violence is any action or structural arrangement that results in physical or non-physical harm to one or more persons.
1) Interpersonal
Person-to-person.
- E.g., murder, rape
2) Institutional
Violence perpetuated in organizational settings.
- E.g., family violence, corporate and workplace violence
3) Structural Violence
Discriminatory social arrangements in light of negative effects on life changes on particular groups.
Definition of Violence - Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
“exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse…intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force.”
Definition of Violence - National Panel on the Understanding & Control of Violent Behaviour
“behaviors by individuals that intentionally threaten, attempt, or inflict physical harm to others.”
Definition of Violence - Newman (1998)
“a series of events, the course of which or the outcomes of which, cause injury or damage to persons or property.”
Definition of Violence - Iadicola & Shupe (2003)
“Violence is any action or structural arrangement that results in physical or non-physical harm to one or more persons”
Strengths of Mainstream Violence Definitions
All definitions agree that violence and aggression are harmful.
- Differ in conceptualizing what kinds of harm count
Limitations of Mainstream Violence Definitions
Violence is about injuring, damaging, destroying, or killing.
- Can be for constructive reasons, but always destructive
- Important to differentiate between intent and purpose of act and act itself
Mary Jackman
- Author argues that research on violence has been limited because of legal discourse and focus on forms of violence deemed socially deviant and motivated by willful malice
- Attempts to present “generic definition of violence that focuses unequivocally on the injuriousness of actions, detached from their social, moral, or legal standing”
Range of Injurious Outcomes
Issues that distort understanding of violence:
1) Physical
2) Psychological
3) Material
4) Social
All are highly consequential, sometimes devastating for human beings
- Most profound effects of physical violence often nonphysical
Range of Injurious Outcomes - Physical
Physical outcomes don’t adequately represent range of injuries that human beings find consequential.
Range of Injurious Outcomes - Psychological
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Shame
- Low Self-Esteem
Range of Injurious Outcomes - Material
- Destruction
- Confiscation
- Defacement of Property
- Loss of Earnings
- Loss of Material Goods
Range of Injurious Outcomes - Social
- Public Humiliation
- Stigmatization
- Exclusion
- Imprisonment
- Banishment
Injurious Behaviours - Physical
Verbal & written actions may also cause physical injuries
- Either directly or indirectly
- Legalistic concept of agency holds individual physically responsible for act; ignores others who are equally complicit but further removed
Injurious Behaviours - Verbal & Written
Verbal & written actions can accomplish variety of non-physical injuries as well
- Actions that denigrate, defame, or humiliate individual/group inflicts significant psychological, social, or material injuries
- To some degree, law provides remedies for individual, not group
Mary Jackman - Definition of Violence
Actions that inflict, threaten, or cause injury.
Actions may be corporal, written, or verbal.
Injuries may be corporal, psychological, material or social.
Mary Jackman - Concept Strengths
- Includes all actions that directly inflict injury as well as those that either threaten or result in violence
- Specifies injurious actions and outcomes may take many forms.
- Language permits injurious outcomes to be immediate or delayed, certain or probabilistic.
- Sets no constraints on motivations of either victim or agent
- Highlights problems inherent in concept of ‘non-violence’
Measuring Violence
Important for 2 significant reasons:
1) Assuming that we, as a society, have mutually agreed on and accepted common definition of violence, any subsequent social or public response to violence requires knowledge of its scope, magnitude, and location in society.
2) Measures themselves are grounded in actions, decisions, & interpretations of individuals who measure it; thus, very act of measurement itself is aspect of reality construction
Uniform Crime Reporting System
- Police statistics.
- Launched, 1961.
- Applies standard definitions to all offences
- Under this system, information is collected from more than 400 municipal police departments across Canada on 91 detailed categories of crime
- Annually, the government publishes data on types of offences and characteristics of offenders
- Collects information about each crime, greater detail.
- Information on victims, accused, and circumstances of the incident type - Most police forces participate, reporting about 60% of crimes.
- But better analyses of crime trends
Uniform Crime Report 2 (UCR2)
- 1984: Revised UCR2 collects information about each crime
- 148 police forces participate (90% of all crime)
- More details of each crime (accused and victim characteristics)
- Used incident-based data allows for a more specific sense of how and why offences occur.
Incident-based data: Compared with aggregate (UCR) crime data, incident-based data provides data on specific factors, such as the location of the offence and the relationship.
Crime Severity Index
- The CSI measures both the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada
- Created to reflect different rates in volume and seriousness of different crimes
- Assigns weight to different crimes so that large changes in less serious crimes do not unduly affect the crime rate
Victimization Survey
Victimization surveys are used to measure the number of crimes not reported to the police.
- United States since 1966; Canada since 1988
- Mainly through telephone interviews
- Surveys often include questions about fear of crime.
General Social Survey (GSS)
- Most violent and property crimes are not reported to the police.
People report only crimes which involve major loss or injury.
Structuring Criminality - Decision to commit crime depends on:
1) The Location - The ability to avoid detection
2) The Target - No one home, cash in till
3) The Available Means and Techniques - Skills and tools needed for the job
General Deterrence
Fear of punishment which inhibits crime results from:
1) Certainty of punishment
2) Severity of punishment
3) Celerity (speed) of punishment
and the interactions among these variables.
Rates of Violent Victimization in Canada
- Includes homicide, attempted murder, sexual assault, assault, robbery and abduction.
- Rates declined during 1990s.
- Stable during early 2000s.
Characteristics of Violent Victimization
- Women were at higher risk than men of being victims of violent crime.
- Age was the key risk factor in violent victimization
- Drug use, binge drinking and the frequency of evening activities were associated with risk of victimization
- Mental health was identified as a risk factor
- People who suffered child maltreatment were more likely to be victims of violent crime
- People with history of homelessness more likely to report being victimized
- Risk of violent victimization higher among people residing in neighbourhood with low social cohesion
- Members of the LGBT community recorded high victimization rates
- Aboriginal people, in particular women, were more likely to be victims
- 1.4 of violent incidents took place at victim’s place of work
- The majority of offenders were male and, on average, in their early thirties
- Most victims knew their attacker
- Most violent incidents did not involve weapons and did not result in physical injury
Self-Report Survey
- Asking people about crimes they may have committed.
- Crimes not necessarily reported to the police.
- Questions about subjects’ attitudes, values, personal characteristics, and behaviours.
- Information used for various purposes (e.g. to measure attitudes towards criminal offences; examine the relationship between crime and certain social variables).
- Also used to measure prevalence of offending.
- Most focus on youths, drug offences, and specific criminological subjects.
What is Theory?
A theory is a statement of how and why specific facts are related.
The goal of a sociological theory is to explain social behaviour in the real world.
Theories are based on theoretical approaches, basic images of society that guide thinking and research.
- Sociologists ask two basic questions: “What issues should we study?” and “How should we connect the facts?”
Sociological Criminology
- Patterns of crime within the social structure
- The dynamics of interaction between individuals and social institutions
- The effects of social stratification
Biological Theories of Violence
Sociobiology and criminology
- Biology, environment and learnings are mutually interdependent
- Personal traits separate deviant from non-deviant
- Personal traits account for different responses to similar conditions
Development of Biological Theory - Cesare Lombroso
Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909).
- Italian prison doctor.
- Known as “father of criminology”.
- Concept of ‘phrenology’
- Used poor research method.
- Ideas abandoned in early 20th century.
Contemporary Trait Theory
- Criminality can be explained by individual differences:
- Both biological and psychological
- May be genetic, neurological or chemical - Focus on basic human drives, not legal definitions:
- Agression, impulsivity - Traits work in combination with environmental and social factors
- Focuses on chronic offenders, criminal careers
Hormones
Used to explain gender differences in behaviour.
- Associated with impulsivity, emotional volatility and antisocial emotions.
Androgens
- Testosterone has been linked to violence.
PMS (Premenstrual syndrome)
- Belief that antisocial behaviour increases shortly before menstruation.
- Research evidence is mixed.
- PMS defense only used a few times
Arousal Theory
- High-risk activity causes arousal (stimulation).
- Too much arousal causes anxiety, too little results in boredom.
Evolutionary Views of Crime
- Aggression facilitates dominance over scarce resources.
- Provides advantage in survival and reproduction. - Gender differences in reproduction encourages aggression in males.
- More sexual partners, more offspring.
- Aggressive males have greater impact on gene pool.
- Accounts for jealousy, war, spousal abuse.
Social Learning Theory
Basic premise of behaviourism
- Behaviour is supported by rewards, extinguished by punishments.
- Crime is a learned response to life situations.
Social Learning Theory - Albert Bandura
Aggression is learned, not innate.
Requires personal observation of aggression or rewards for aggression.
- Involves behaviour modelling of family members, community members, and mass media.
Social Learning of Violence: Violence and Aggression are Produced by?
Violence and aggression are produced by:
- An arousal event (provocation).
- Learned aggressive skills.
- Expected success and rewards.
- Pro-violence values.
Structuring Criminality - Decision to commit crime depends on?
Decision to commit crime depends on:
1) The Location - The ability to avoid detection
2) The Target - No one home, cash in till
3) The Available Means and Techniques - Skills and tools needed for the job
Child Abuse Victim Characteristics - Gender
- Minor Physical Abuse: equal risk for abuse
- Major Physical Abuse: Males at slightly higher risk (54 - 64%)
- Sexual Abuse: Majority of reports are female; Male sexual abuse may be underreported
Why is the Death Penalty ineffective?
- Murder is often a “crime of passion”, not planned
- Occurs under the influence of drugs, alcohol
- By-product of crimes related to poverty
Specific Deterrence
Does the experience of punishment deter crime?
Convicted criminals
- High rates of recidivism.
- 2/3 of incarcerated are re-arrested within 3 years.
- Recidivism is lower for those on probation.
Domestic violence research
- Mixed results on the effectiveness of arrest and jail terms.
Can incapacitation deter crime?
Research is inconclusive.
- Incarceration may increase recidivism.
- Strict incarceration may reduce violent crime.
Social Structural Theories
Basic perspectives
- Economic class position is the primary cause of crime.
- Economic and social forces in low income neighbourhoods push residents into crime.
- Crime is mainly the work of youth gangs and underemployed young adults.
Elder Abuse (Historial Context)
- America is a youth-oriented culture
- As a result, elder abuse has gone generally unrecognized until recently
- 1975 – “Granny Battering” first described in the literature
Social Disorganization Theory - Poverty
- Development of isolated slums
- Lack of conventional social opportunities
- Racial and ethnic discrimination
Male Aggression against Women
Naturalness and rightness of male aggression reflected in daily patterns of gender domination that are built into norms related to courtship, sex, family, and work
While not all men support male dominance, our culture still legitimizes it through frequent and routine reinforcements of male authority (e.g., pornography, “dumb blonde” jokes, leering)
- Leads some men to believe they have right to assault women physically and/or sexually
- Demonstrates connection between male aggression and gender inequality
Social Strain Theory - Strain
Lack of opportunity coupled with desire for conventional success produces strain and frustration.
Social Strain Theory - Crime and Delinquency
Methods of groups (theft, violence, substance abuse) are defined as illegal by the dominant culture.
Social Strain Theory - Formation of Gangs & Groups
Youth form law-violating groups to seek alternative means of achieving success.
Social Strain Theory - Criminal Careers
- Most youthful gang members “age out” of crime.
- Some continue as adult criminals.
The Power of Groups
- Groups possess legitimacy & authority
- Have been socialized to function within groups, organizations, and institutions
- Groups have ability to dictate our behaviour even when we don’t agree with it (conformity)
1. Asch experiment (75% of sample influenced by others)
2. Milgram experiment (subjects asked to administer electric shocks)
Group Think
Group interaction can lead to groupthink - Pressure to conform despite individual misgivings.
- Result can be dangerous or even disastrous.
Power of groups to ensure conformity is often valuable asset, especially with sports teams and the military.
Moral Disengagement - Albert Bandura
Social learning theorist who argues that even though we are taught not to act against own sense of morals/values, we have learned how to selectively disengage from certain acts
- Behaviour reconstructed as being moral or justified - positive
- Larger, more hierarchical groups makes it easier to avoid personal accountability and/or to engage in problematic behaviour
Deindividuation
1) Individuals lose sense of self/individuality in a group.
- Loss of identity allows people to act outside of boundaries of ‘normal’ behaviour/creates semblance of freedom
- Hooliganism, Lynch mobs, genocide, violent crowds
2) Conformity to Peer Pressure (e.g. military)
Process of deindividuation aided by circumstances such as anonymity, loss of individual responsibility, arousal, sensory overload, and/or drugs and alcohol
Mob Mentality Critiques
Critique of theories: tends to simplify actions of mob as emotional/irrational response which ignores instrumental aspects of violence
Groups
- Conformity is integral part of group life and ensures group cohesion
- Primary groups generate more pressure to conform than secondary groups
- Emotional intimacy created by strong social ties that ensure primary group members share similar attitudes, beliefs, and information
- Group members tend to dress and act alike, speak same lingo, share same likes and dislikes, and demand loyalty – especially in face of external threat
Continuum of Mob Violence
Riots (Least Organized) —- Lynch Mobs —– Vigilante Groups (Most Organized)
Mob Mentality - LeBon
LeBon: ‘grandfather of collective behaviour theory’
- Crowd develops mind of its own & individuals highly susceptible to will of group
- Crowd behaviour is contagious
Mob Mentality - Blumer
Blumer: transformation of crowd to mob
Trigger
- Crowd focuses on common element
Mob Mentality as Rational Response - MacPhail
Recent research argues mob is more rational than previously stated
McPhail: “individuals are not driven made by crowds; nor do they lose cognitive control.”
- Suggests crowd/mob behaviour often rational attempt to accomplish or prevent social change
- Rationality is informed by emotional/affective elements
Other scholars have pointed out that mobs often very selective in choice of victims/targets which does not support image of ‘mindless violence
Riots
Tend to be least organized
- Definitions will vary depending on time/place
- Paul Gilje: riot is 12 or more people
- Term embodies political judgement rather than analytical distinction (Tilly)
Riots in Canadian History
- 1958 Riots in Prince Rupert, British Columbia (only 2nd time Riot Act read)
- 1992 Toronto Riot
Race Riots
Not solely U.S. phenomenon, but global
- Attack on African-Canadian workers in Halifax, NS in 18th century
- 1886 Anti-Chinese riots in B.C.
In US. 33 instances of racial violence between 1900-1949
Class Riots
white-on-black (minority) violence
- Text makes reference to African-American outbursts as race riots when in fact better viewed as class riots considering intersectionality of race and poverty in North America
- Argue these manifestations of violence/riots ‘triggered’ by racial discrimination, confrontations with police, as well as entrenched poverty, lack of opportunities that breeds frustration
Lynchings
Form of collective violence where group circumvent law & punish individuals for real/imaginary crimes
- Started out non-lethal (whippings/tar & feathering) ⇒ escalated into more brutal, dehumanizing mode of social control
- Term associated with Judge Charles Lynch
Lynching Era (1880 - 1930)
Lynchings were not spontaneous events but rather calculated actions influenced by political, economic or social goals
- Families and entire communities attended
Perpetrators often held high status making it seem ‘acceptable’ or ‘legitimate’ – serves as justification
- Law enforcement and government officials often complicit
Four Functions of Lynching
Lynching represents form of extralegal violence (or popular justice) designed:
- To eradicate specific persons accused of crimes against white community;
- As a mechanism of state-sanctioned terrorism designed to maintain degree of leverage over A/A pop.;
- To eliminate/neutralize A/A competitors for social, economic, or political rewards;
- As a symbolic manifestation of the unity of white supremacy
Vigilante Justice
Defined as organized, extralegal movements where participants take law into own hands.
- Tend to be conservative groups intent on maintain status quo.
- Found in societies in transition
Family Violence - The Canadian Government Perspective
Federal Family Violence Initiative 2010
- Family violence is “…. a range of abusive behaviours that occur when relationships based on kinship, intimacy, dependency or trust”
Child Abuse
Child abuse and neglect or child maltreatment is the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of 18 by a person who is responsible for the child’s welfare. The child’s health or welfare is harmed or threatened by these actions.
Child Maltreatment (Historical Perspective)
- Spans entire history of our nation
- Children traditionally viewed as “property” until the 1900’s
Spare the rod, spoil the child - 1874 – Case of Mary-Ellen Wilson
- Mid-1960’s – enactment of child protection laws
Subordination of Women
During medieval European feudal system, women subordinate and homebound
- Allowed to own/dispose of property only if no male relative around
- Lower class women had freer but harder lives as they struggled with male counterparts to survive
- Church reinforced belief that women were subordinate to their husbands
Renaissance writers saw women as more virtuous and less worldly than men.
- Women not to be involved in world outside the home, not because they were evil (as assumed earlier), but because the world was evil.
Intimate Partner Violence (Historial Context)
- Similar to children, wives were seen as property of their husbands in our culture
- “Rule of Thumb” – men given societal sanction to use a stick (no wider than a thumb) to correct wife’s behaviour
- 1970’s – mandatory arrest laws introduced
- 1985 – Thurman vs. City of Torrington
Intimate Partner Violence - Alcohol
- Alcohol use directly affects cognitive and physical function, reducing self-control and leaving individuals less capable of negotiating a non-violent resolution to conflicts within relationships.
- Individual and societal beliefs that alcohol causes aggression can encourage violent behaviour after drinking and the use of alcohol as an excuse for violent behaviour.
- Experiencing violence within a relationship can lead to alcohol consumption as a method of coping or self-medicating.
- Children who witnesses violence or threats of violence between parents are more likely to display harmful drinking patterns later in life.
Bystander Apathy
The greater the number of bystanders, the less responsibility any one individuals feels, and less likelihood of helping.
GroupThink - 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster
Space shuttle disaster in which seven astronauts died - Largely resulted from engineers silencing misgivings about foam insulation debris.
- Transcripts of high-level meetings that preceded the space shuttle showed that the official who ran shuttle management meetings – a non-engineer – believed from the outset that foam insulation debris could not damage the spacecraft
- She dismissed the issue and cut off discussion when an engineer expressed his concerns
- The others quickly fell into line with the non-engineer running the meeting
- A few days later, damage caused by foam insulation caused Columbia to break apart on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere killing 7 astronauts
NAACP: A ‘lynching’ requires?
- Evidence a person was killed
- Person must have ,et death illegally;
- Group of 3+ persons must have participated in killings
- Group must have acted under pretext of service to justice or tradition
Lynching of James Byrd (1998)
- James Byrd, Jr. (May 2, 1949 – June 7, 1998) was an African-American who was murdered by three white men in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Allen Berry, Lawrence Russell Brewer, and John William King dragged Byrd behind a pick-up truck along a macadam pavement after they wrapped a heavy logging chain around his ankles. Byrd was pulled along for about two miles as the truck swerved from side to side.[1]
Byrd, who remained conscious throughout most the ordeal, was killed when his body hit the edge of a culvert severing his right arm and head. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of Jasper’s black cemetery.[1] Byrd’s lynching-by-dragging gave impetus to passage of a Texas hate crimes law. It later led to the Federal October 22, 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, commonly known as the “Matthew Shepard Act”. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on October 28, 2009. - Some believe the nooses are a response to debate ignited by the case of the Jena Six in Louisiana, in which six black male high school students were charged in the beating of a white student after a noose was found hanging from a tree near the school. Allegedly, prior to the noose’s appearance, black students had sat under what was known locally as a whites-only tree.
- National law enforcement officials have not taken the incidents lightly. In fact, the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI currently are investigating approximately 20 incidents of hanging nooses that have taken place since the Jena Six case gained attention in August.
Vigilante Justice - Rosenbaum & Sederberg’s 3 Types
- Crime Control Vigilantism:
Elimination of crime
2. Social Group Control Vigilantism: Maintain racial/class order
- Regime Control Vigilantism:
Control government if strays from desired policy or prevent perceived infringements
Family Violence includes:
- Physical
- Sexual
- Verbal
- Emotional
- Financial Victimization
- Neglect
Elements of Family Violence
- Type of family relationship
2. Form of violence
Elder Abuse includes:
- Inadequate care and nutrition
- Low standards of nursing care
- Inappropriate or aggressive staff–client interactions, or
- Substandard, overcrowded or unsanitary living environments.
- The misuse of physical or chemical restraints is also a form of abuse.
- In some cases, a facility’s policies may be inappropriate for meeting an older adult’s needs.
- For example, institutions may be operated to meet a goal that is in conflict with meeting residents’ health and environmental needs
Senior Victims
- There were 12,202senior victims (aged 65 and older)of police-reported violence in Canada in 2018. Of these victims, 45% were female and 55% were male (Table3.1).
- One-third (33%) of senior victims of police-reported violence were victimized by a family member such as a child, spouse, sibling or other family member. Female senior victims of family violence were most likely to be victimized by a spouse (14%) compared to senior male victims, who were most often victimized by their child (9%) (Table3.1).
- Between 2017 and 2018, family violence against seniors increased 4% while non-family violence increased by 2%. Between 2009 and 2018, family violence against seniors increased 11% and non-family violence had a slightly larger increase (+15%) (Chart3.1
Limitations of UCR
- Only the most serious offence is counted when there is more than one offence involved in an incident.
- Each act is listed as a single offence for some crimes but not for others
- Cases are screened as unfounded and founded
- The notation ‘cleared by charge’ may not be made in the month the offence was committed
Victimization Survey Advantages
- Help estimate unrecorded crime.
- Help explain why victims do not report crimes to the police.
- Provide information about the impact of crime on victims, and
- Identify populations at risk
Victimization Survey Limitations
- Underreporting (e.g. many crimes are forgotten by victims or seem insignificant).
- Response bias (e.g. Whites more likely to report victimization than Blacks and university graduates more than the less educated).
What are Self-Report Surveys?
Respondents report on their own illegal activity anonymously.
- Telephoned at home
- Mailed or online survey
Used with captive audience
- Students, prisoners
What do Self-Report Surveys show?
- Crome is universal, criminals are versatile
- Common offences - truancy, soft drug and alcohol abuse, trespassing, shoplifting, fighting, property damage
- Females are less likely to commit offences
Self-Report Survey Criticisms
- Problems with lying, forgetting, bragging
- Emphasis is on minor offences, delinquencies
- “Missing cases”
Neurophysiology - Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD)
May be manifested in episodes of rage associated with child and spousal abuse, suicide, homicide
- Common in prison populations
Neurophysiology - Brain Scans
Impairments in prefrontal lobes, thalamus, medical temporal lobe, superior parietal and left angular gyrus areas of the brain.
Arousal Theory “Sensation Seekers”
- “Sensation seekers”
Require high levels of stimulation, seek out exciting activities.
May include criminal and violent activities.
Levels of arousal are a result of?
Level of arousal may be result of:
Brain chemistry, number brain cells with neurotransmitter receptor sites, heart rate.
Social Strain Theory - Poverty
- Development of isolated lower-class culture
- Lack of conventional social opportunities
Racial and ethnic discrimination
Social Strain Theory - Maintenance of Conventional Rules & Norms
Remain loyal to conventional values and rules of dominant middle-class
Mob Mentality - Behaviour Contagious
One person gets angry, excited, or violence others pick up on emotional fervour.
Individuals swayed by mood/behaviour of group because at unconscious level we are programmed to do so.
Mob Mentality - Trigger
Something that draws people together like police shooting or court decision, media coverage of certain events.
Mob Mentality - Convergence
Actions of one person (e.g., throw rocks at windows, looting) quickly mirrored by others in crowd.
The Riot Act
In Canada, the Riot Act has been incorporated into ss. 32-33 and 64-69 of the C.C. of Canada.
- The proclamation is worded as follows:
- Her Majesty the Queen charges and commands all persons being assembled immediately to disperse and peaceably to depart to their habitations or to their lawful business on the pain of being guilty of an offence for which, on conviction, they may be sentenced to imprisonment for life. God Save the Queen.
NAACP ‘lynching’ definition requirements
- Evidence a person was killed
- Person must have met death illegally
- Group of 3+ persons must have participated in killings
- Group must have acted under pretext of service of justice or tradition
Context of Violence
- The victim
- The offender
- The specific nature of the violence
- The location of the violence
- The rationale for the violence
Patriarchy
Patriarchy: a form of social organization in which males dominate females
- Influences how we are socialized & is embedded in institutions
Androcentricity:
Approaching the topic from a male-only perspective
Male Aggression against Women
Naturalness and rightness of male aggression reflected in daily patterns of gender domination that are built into norms related to courtship, sex, family, and work
While not all men support male dominance, our culture still legitimizes it through frequent and routine reinforcements of male authority (e.g., pornography, “dumb blonde” jokes, leering)
- Leads some men to believe they have right to assault women physically and/or sexually
- Demonstrates connection between male aggression and gender inequality
Socio-Economic Factors
- Violence appears among all social classes
- Lack of economic opportunities
- Higher rates of domestic violence among minority populations.
- Economic factors are taken out of the equation, race is no longer a significant factor.
Cycle of Violence - Intimate Partner Violence
Women Battered Syndrome
Tension - Building Phase
Acute or Battering Phase
Honeymoon Phase
Family Violence Theory- Feminist Models
Male Power/Control
Family Violence Theory - Exchange Theory
Benefits outweigh costs
Family Violence Theory Developmental -
Insecure Attachments
Family Violence Theory - Social Learning/Trauma Models
Generational Transmission
Jackman 4 Themes (1)
the important of physical injuries vs. psychological, social, and material injuries
