(J. Katz) Seductions of Crime: Moral and Sensual Attractions in Doing Evil

THE WAYS OF THE "BADASS"

-Becoming an adolescent "tough guy -Dress -Language -Greeting others with a punch -Alien to civilized society -Body language -Earning reputation as "bad" is marker of status and validation.

The Magic in Motivation

-Emergence of distinctive sensual Dynamics -What propels the individual to commit a particular ? -Economic status and psychological history have little to do with the motivation for crime -What seduces criminals to act? -Sociology of Emotions

MORAL EMOTIONS IN CRIMINAL PROJECTS

-HUMILIATION -RIGHTEOUSNESS -ARROGANCE -RIDICULE -CYNICISM -DEFILEMENT -VENGEANCE

TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF 'RIGHTEOUS SLAUGHTER"

-MOST MURDERS ARE UNPLANNED -CONFLICT/ALTERCATION ESCALATING TO LETHAL CONSEQUENCES -MURDERER DOES NOT THINK ABOUT LEGAL CONSEQUENCES -MOST MURDERERS MAKE NO ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE -PROSPECT OF PUNISHMENT DOES NOT CONCERN THEM WHILE COMMITTING THE CRIME -ULTIMATE GOAL=REMOVE SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION AND HUMILIATION

TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF "RIGHTEOUS SLAUGHTER"

-OVERCOMING CHALLENGE TO MORAL EXISTENCE -ESCAPING HUMILIATION -TURNING HUMILIATION INTO RAGE -DEFENSE OF THE ETERNAL, UNIVERSAL, "GOOD" -SELF-JUSTIFIED KILLING-ACTING TO ATTACK ON : -DIGNITY, PRIDE, RESPECT, REPUTATION -PROPERTY RIGHTS

THE MAGIC IN MOTIVATION SLIDE 4

-Situation/context-------> Emotions -SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM -MEANING CREATED THROUGH INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS -Words, signs, gestures, body language, etc.

CONDITIONS FOR CRIMINAL PROJECTS

1. PATH OF ACTION 2. LINE OF INTERPRETATION 3. EMOTIONAL PROCESS

AN EXAMPLE OF RIGHTEOUS SLAUGHTER

If I can't have you, girls, I will destroy you. You denied me a happy life, and in turn, I will deny all of your life, It's only fair. (Elliot Rodger)

MORAL EMOTIONS AND CRIME

Moral emotions are driving factors in many crimes Crime is not perpetrated for materialist reasons Deviants and delinquents go through vast range of emotions, often contradictory Pride and delight while shoplifting, vandalizing, and terrorizing the neighborhood Shame when caught and placed under arrest

SHOPLIFTING AND VANDALISM FOR THE THRILL

OBJECT OR TARGET IS NOT THAT IMPORTANT "GETTING AWAY WITH IT"

THE MAGIC IN MOTIVATION SLIDE 3

Rarely are we conscious we are directing our own conduct, interpreting and making sense of the world around us. "Why did you do it?" How did you do it? How did it Feel? What did you do after? A WHOLE WORLD OF MEANING EMERGE: THRILL, RIGHTEOUS=DEFENDING, HONOR, LOYALTY

"AS UNATTRACTIVE MORALLY AS CRIME MAY BE, BE MUST APPRECIATE THAT THER IS A GENUINE EXPERIENTIAL CRATIVITY IN IT AS WELL" JACK kATZ, SEDUCTIONS OF CRIME P.125 BOOK.

SLIDE 5

ROBBERIES AND STICKUPS

STICKUPS AND ROBBERIES ARE LEARNED MORAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE "HARDMAN" ROBBER'S WILL MUST PREVAIL OVER RISK OF DANGER TO HIMSELF VICTIMS DO SOMETIMES RESIST 24% OF THOSE CONFRONTED BY ROBBER WITH A GUN

THE SENSUAL METAPHYSICS OF "SNEAKY THRILLS"

Social world is delimited by time, space, locations - there are constraints Dreams and Fantasies transcend the mundane world A moral self-transcendence is happening in the process of being seduced by crime Individuals knowingly engage in criminal behavior but when they get caught they cry and protest: "HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING TO ME?" Possible way to reject the criminal label is through techniques of neutralization (see Gresham M. Sykes and David Matza chapter 33)

Jack Katz on crime

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Past research on crime

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