Week 10 pt.1 : Violent crime Flashcards
1
Q
Violent crime…
A
- *general category of crime that includes homicide, attempted murder, robbery, assault & other serious offences that involve the physical violation of a person
- conventional crimes
2
Q
Violent crime rates over time…
A
- rates of murder & assault way lower than before 1800s : cuz cultural & demographic changes from urbanization & more wealth so more attention to combatting crime
- violent crime quadrupled in Canada in 1962-1992… but declined by 9% between 2007-2017
- violent crime represents only 10% of all criminal violations, but has considerable media & public
- the financial cost of crime to Canadians has been increasing
3
Q
Why are stats not always great?
A
- do not represent whole picture (crime funnel)
- do not indicate who is committing which crimes and why
- violence not considered a crime (like deadly force by police officers) is not in the statistics
4
Q
What is homicide?
A
- *act of causing the death of another person, whether direcrly or indirectly, by an unlawful act or by negligence
5
Q
Culpable vs non-culpable homicides
A
- *culpable homicide = a criminal offence,
- *non-culpable homicide = not a criminal offence (legally justified)
6
Q
Homicide vs murder
A
- homicide = encompasses first- and second-degree murder & infanticide & manslaughter
- murder = the unlawful, often planned & deliberate taking of a persons life
7
Q
Criminal code divides homicide into 4 subcategories based on intent & nature of killings…
A
- *first-degree murder = culpable, planned & deliberate, can be killing somoene while commiting another offence
- *second-degree murder = all murder that isn’t 1st degree, not planned but deliberate
- *manslaughter = unintentional killing of another person (provoked, high/drunk, being reckless/careless) even if it results from an intention to cause harm
- *Infanticide = female causes death of newly born kid if they are under the age of 1 (deliberate or neglect)
8
Q
Rates and trends of homicide…
A
- *2020 Alberta & nova scotia had highest rates of homicide since 1961… there was an increase in domestic violence because of the lockdown
- 2020 homicide rates higher than the average for previous decade
- *stabbing was the most common but firearms passed it in 2016-2020
- *majority of homicides commited still is usually a person known to the victim
- 2020 IPV accounted for 1/10 of police-reported solved homicides
- 28% of homicide victims in 2020 were indigenous
9
Q
*Types of homicides…
A
- Mass murder = killing a number of ppl at the same time & place (school shootings e.g.) & often ends with murderer dying at scene (suicide/lethal police action)
- Serial murder = killing a number of ppl over a period of time (3+ seperate events) & usually white men aged 20-30 & most likely to kill strangers (vulnerable ppl)… not many serial killers are female (10-15%)
10
Q
*Holmes & DeBurger typologies of serial killers… (4)
A
- visionary
- mission oriented
- hedonistic
- power/control oriented
11
Q
*1 - visionary
A
- result of some form of psychosis
- killer out of touch w/ reality & feel compelled to commit murder from visions/voices in their heads
- e.g. David Berkowitz (Sons of Sam killer)… claimed he was obeying the orders of a demon & member of a satanic cult, confessed to 8 murders & suspected of many arsons
12
Q
*2 - mission oriented
A
- mission in life is to kill certain kinds of individuals
- the individuals that they consider as undesireable & seek to eliminate them
- e.g. Robert Pickton… Canada’s deadliest serial killer charged with 22 counts of first degree murder (up to 60 expected), pig farmer in BC whos mission was to eliminate sex workers
13
Q
*3 - hedonistic
A
- thrill seeker killers
- get excitement & sexual pleasure from the act of killing (emotional rush)
- typically above average in intelligence - larger ability to not be caught by police
- not a lot of planning goes into their attacks
- e.g. Jeffrey Dahmer… raped, murdered & dismembered 17 boys/men & had extended periods of torture
14
Q
*4 - Power/control oriented
A
- enjoy having complete control over their victims
- sexual activity is almost always involved but they gain their satisfaction by just having complete control
- fueled by planning, very methodological
- e.g. Ted Bundy… kidnapped, raped & killed women
15
Q
Silverman & Kennedy suggest that 2 classes of theories deal w/ homicide…
A
- individual social interaction & conflict = includes Hirschi’s social control theory, general theory of crime, power control theory, routine activity theory, etc.
- focuses on the social strucutre within society = with these theories, crime is subject to the effects of the economy, inequality & social disorganization
16
Q
Sexual assault…
A
- *cuts across all social classes & ages in Canada
- more commonly by someone the victim knows
- *more common for men –> women… often viewed as a gendered violence
17
Q
sexual assault in the criminal code…
A
- in 1983 the code was revised with addition of sections 271 & 272
- replaced rape and indecent assault with sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault & sexual assault with a weapon
- it is also now aloud for polie to arrest a suspect when they have ‘reasonable & probable grounds’
18
Q
Criminal code recognizes 3 levels sexual assault…
A
- level 1 assault (s.271) = common assault, no serious bodily harm or physica injury to the victim
- level 2 assault (s.272) = more force or threatened force (e.g. with a weapon) is used & a degree of bodily harm was inflicted by the offender
- level 3 asault (s.273) = aggravated assault, the victim is disfigured, maimed, wounded or has their life endangered
19
Q
*Charatceristic of perpetrators & victims
A
- median age of men charged = 33
- median age of women charged = 28
- median age of victims = 18 (male victims usually younger then female)
- women between ages of 15-24 were significantly more likely to be victims of sexual assault
- victimization of Indigenous (3x) & LGBTQ+ more likely than other identities
- super underreported so we dont acc know real rates
- From 2015-2016, sexual violations against kids jumped 30%
- Sexual assault rates higher outside major cities (highest in the territories)
20
Q
Theoretical efforts to explain characteristics of perps & vicitms in sexual assault
A
- offenders personal pathologies = among adult & adolescent male sexual offenders, primary predictor of sexual assault was anti-social orientation
- sociological studies = point to such factors as social learning processes in environments w/ higher levels of violence & the mass media
- feminist theories = consider sexual violence as a product of patriarchy in which men dominate all aspects of life, including women
- evolutionary psychologists = study how sexual offending may be related to reproductive success in ancestral environments
21
Q
Interpreting trends in reporting
A
- *sexual assault is underreported
- *reasons victims of sexual assault give for not reporting these crimes include… the incident wasn’t important enough or the victim feared police would not think its important enough
- only 5% of sexual assaults of women 15+ were brought to the attention of the police
- 1/20 sexual assaults are reported
- Investigators dismiss 1 in 5 reports of sexual assault as ‘unfounded’
22
Q
family violence is…
A
considered to be any form of abuse, mistreatment or neglect that a child or adult experiences from a family member/from someone with whom they have an intimate relationship
23
Q
Family violence stats…
A
- 1/4 of all violent crimes in 2019 were family violence
- 67% vicitms women & girls
- indigneous women more likely
- lesbian/bisexual greater risk of experiencing violence by a partner
- most domestic violence against men is not reported to the police
- stalking & harassment can happen after a victim leaves
- primary trigger is when one partner feels the neex to control/dominate the other partner
24
Q
Elder abuse
A
- affects almost half of ppl over 65
- commited by offenders known to victim usually, in form of fincancial/emotional abuse (stranger financial rising tho)
- pandemic accelerated financial elder abuse
25
Q
Robbery fear
A
- one of the most feared crimes common to large urban centres because of its sudden nature & the threat of death or serious injury
- robbery has a double element of fear… (1) fear of losing ones property (2) fear of suffering physical harm
- not that common tho (6% of all violent crimes)
26
Q
definition of robbery in the criminal code s.343… everyone commits robbery who…
A
- steals & uses violence/threats of violence to a person/property for extorting stolen goods/to prevent/overcome resistance to the theft
- steals from any person & wounds, beats, strikes of afflicts someone while stealing or immedietly before or after
- assaults any person with intent to steal
- steals from any person while armed with an offensive weapon/imitation thereof
27
Q
Characteristics of Robbery and Robbers
A
- most robbers are amateur petty criminals and opportunists
- but some specialize in robbery & carefully plan & select targets
- 90% committed by young males
- money most commonly stolen
28
Q
‘causes’ of robbery
A
- high unemployment rate among names 15-24 might explain trends in robbery
- different types of robbers… opportunistic, professional & complusive/addict
- more than 80% of ppl convicted are incarcerated
29
Q
Honour killings (new form of violence)
A
- Canada is one of the most receptive Western countries in welcoming immigrants
- in early 2000s, honour killings entered public consciousness, through sensationalized media accounts of domestic homicide carried out supposedly to preserve a family’s reputation
- There have been over a dozen identified honour killings in Canada since 2002
30
Q
*what is hate crime? (new forms of violence)
A
- interpersonal violent crime motivated by bias, hatred/prejudice against victims who may (actual or perceived) be characterized by a particular physical or social trait (colour, religion, nationality, gender, (dis)ability, sexual orientation)
- relative & evolutive construct
- Generally spontaneous & can be motivated by victims just going about their normal daily activities
- In 2019, 1,946 hate-motivated incidents were reported to police (sexual orientation most violent & race motivated ones increased during pandemic)
- While hate crime is generally classified as a crime of violence, it can also be a property-related offence
31
Q
Under sections 318-320 of the Criminal Code, there are four specific forms of hate crime…
A
- advocating genocide
- publicly inciting hatred
- wilfully promoting hatred
- vandalism in relation to religious property
32
Q
*Hate crime can be divided into 3 types based on the motives for the crime…
A
- thrill-seeking hate crimes
- reactive hate crimes
- mission hate crimes
33
Q
*1 - Thrill seeking hate crimes
A
- Sadistic sense of satisfaction from threatening and/or terrorizing their targeted group
34
Q
*2 - reactive hate crimes
A
- ‘Outsider’ is seen as threat then they become the victim of a reactive hate crime
- Committed by individuals who are acting out of a misguided sense of righteousness + loyalty to the community
- Rationalize their behaviour
- E.g. covid hurting Asians
35
Q
*3 - mission hate crimes
A
- Think its their duty/mission to seek out and eliminate people who they think threaten their beliefs
- Most dangerous cuz seek to eliminate a whole group that they think is undesirable
