Deviance Exam 2

why do people kill?

(a) The external restraint theory tries to explain how the presence or absence of restraints controls the expression of frustration, leading to suicide or murder. Intensely frustrated people will choose self-directed aggression (suicide) if they experience weak external restraint, but will choose other-directed aggression (homicide) if they suffer strong external restraint, and blame others for their problems. Gold felt that socialization in aggression by physical punishment can explain why external restraint leads to murder. Psychological punishment, however, can lead to suicide. (b) Wolfgang theorized that a subculture of violence is the basic cause of high homicide rates in poor neighborhoods. Violence becomes part of the poor's lifestyle and their way of solving interpersonal problems. But critics of this theory point out that participants in violence don't necessarily value violence and that poverty and social inequality are the actual causes. The subculture of violence, though, does seem to encourage violent behavior.

myths about family violence

1) family violence hits the poor only, but research shows that only a small number of poor families are violent. 2) violence and love are so opposite that they cannot exist together. But parents who use violence to discipline their children still love their children, and abusive spouses often express love and remorse after violent episodes. 3) being abused as a child is associated with being a child abuser later in life; the majority of child abuse victims do not grow up to abuse their children. 4) family violence involves drugs and alcohol, but these substances themselves do not cause family violence and are often used as excuses for violence.

elder abuse

1. About 25 percent of elderly people require long-term care, and some of them suffer abuse at the hand of their caretakers. 2. Elders who live with overstressed relatives are the most likely to be abused, where they may experience neglect, emotional abuse, and financial exploitation. Elders who live alone and are isolated from friends and relatives can experience abuse. Elder abuse can lead to depression and sleeping disorders. 3. Causes of elder abuse include the stressful nature of helping elders, especially for female members of today's "sandwiched generation" who are both raising their own children and taking care of their parents; severe personal problems of caregivers; and financial problems or dependency on their victims. Other times, elderly spouses abuse their mates. Well-off daughters of dependent elderly persons are not likely to abuse their elders and often gain monetarily or emotionally from their care.

child molestation: victims

1. Child molesting is a form of rape because the victim is too young and cannot legally give consent to sex. Girls are far more likely than boys to be molested; the majority of molesters are men; molesters are more likely to know their victims; the molester is usually unmarried and rarely dates; and they suffer from social incompetence or deficiency in social skills. 2. Victims can suffer greatly from various problems including posttraumatic stress disorder, behavior problems, sexualized behaviors, and poor self-esteem.

hate killings

1. Every year, 9,000 Americans experience hate crimes, and African Americans and gays are the most likely to be victims. Most hate-motivated killers have joined hate groups, often while in prison, which makes them more bold and willing to take risks. 2. There are three types of hate killers: thrill hate killers are marginalized and alienated youngsters who feel powerful from attacks, defensive hate killers feel they must defend their birthright, and mission hate killers seek to kill all members of a hated group.

female genital mutilation

1. Female circumcision involves the removal of female genitals and can take four forms: removal of prepuce, amputation of the clitoris, amputation of the clitoris and labia minora, or removal of all external genitalia with the vulva stitched closed. It is performed on girls from the ages 4 to 14 by "ritual leaders" or respected women in the community who are given this task. 2. Westerners have expressed outrage about its cruelty and violation of women. They say the practice creates the following problems for the victim: physical pain and infection; anxiety, depression, and memory of the horror of mutilation; and the absence of sexual pleasure. But some experts say only a few suffer any of these problems. 3. Many experts say the cause of genital mutilation is patriarchy, or a way that men dominate women and turn them into obedient wives. More specific reasons for this practice are: (a) cultural beliefs about what it means to be a woman, where the clitoris is not seen as truly female or beautiful and circumcision is a form of cosmetic surgery; (b) the high value of virginity and marriageability, where circumcision is seen as proof of virginity; and (c) the social and psychological benefits to the participant, including becoming respected by others and experiencing a feeling of power from undergoing the knife.

genocide

1. Genocide is the whole-sale killing of a racial or ethnic group, and many incidents of it have occurred around the world. Victims are killed for who they are, such as members of a stigmatized category. 2. Perpetrators are not monsters but are mostly normal people who have been given orders to kill others. Bystanders are average citizens who usually do nothing to stop the genocide. 3. Theories of genocide suggest it is caused by physical or psychological separation between perpetrators and victims; the dehumanization of victims; unquestioned obedience to authority; the psychological ability to dissociate themselves from the insanity of killing; and in cases where a powerful government can carry out killing on a large scale.

myths about physical violence

1. Many myths cloud our understanding of physical violence, such as the beliefs that African Americans are more likely to kill whites and women kill their husbands due to infidelity. In fact, homicide is very intraracial, and women kill to escape an abusive relationship. 2. Terrorism now accounts for much violence, especially in Israel and London, and al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups vow to spread terror to the United States. 3. Suicide terrorists are typically educated and commonly come from wealthy families.

Marital Rape

1. Marital rape, which is the raping of a woman by her husband, is the most prevalent form of forced sex and involves about 14 percent of wives. Most marital rape involves the use of physical force, which often results in injury. Forced anal intercourse occurs more often than vaginal rapes. Marital rape is as traumatic to the victim as stranger rape is. 2. Marital rape can be attributed to three causes: (a) the sexist belief that husbands are entitled to have sex with their wives; (b) the husband's attempt to punish wives for some "sin;" and (c) the husband's attempt to use rape as a form of control over his wife. These causes are an integral part of a patriarchal society that encourages men to dominate women. Cultural pressure against seeing marital rape as a crime causes victims to blame themselves and to continue living with their abusive husbands.

does the death penalty deter murder?

1. Most sociologists have observed that the death penalty is not very effective in deterring murder: homicide rates in states with capital punishment are higher. Also, comparisons of homicide rates before and after abolition show no significant difference. Homicide rates actually increase after well-publicized executions. Other studies, though, have discovered a small deterrent effect of capital punishment, at least for a short time. Overall, the death penalty is no more effective than life imprisonment in deterring murder. Murder is a crime of passion rather than a calmly calculated act, and causal forces of murder, such as economic deprivation, are simply too powerful to be neutralized by the threat of capital punishment. However, capital punishment is effective for other reasons: it does prevent the murderer from harming others again and satisfies the emotion of outrage against murder. For these reasons, a majority of Americans support capital punishment. The United States remains the only industrialized nation that executes murderers; ironically, it still has the highest murder rate.

theories on why men rape women

1. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts agree that rapists suffer from some personality defects or emotional disturbance, but they disagree about specific personality characteristics that supposedly reside in rapists. Researchers have suggested that rapists suffer from feelings of sexual inadequacy, are troubled by inner conflict, are afraid of revealing homosexual tendencies, need a fight to feel aroused, have an Oedipus complex, or have experienced sexual overstimulation as a youth. These traits do fit a pattern of sexual inadequacy but cannot explain the widespread existence of rape. 2. Some sociologists have tried to explain why rape rates vary depending on a community's level of sexual permissiveness. Chappel and his associates believed that more permissive communities would increase relative sexual frustration and therefore cause rape to be more prevalent. Permissive areas also raise expectations for sex, which can lead to more frustration and more rape. 3. Feminist theory blames rape on gender inequality, where rape is primarily an expression of men's dominance over women and thus a reflection of society's sexual inequality. Rape serves to intimidate women, keeping them in their place and maintaining sexual inequality. Evidence of this position is found in almost all societies: men's greater physical, political, or economic power leads to their rape of women; the subculture of violence encourages rape by idealizing personal violence and prowess in its male members' social and sexual lives; stricter norms promote rape by regulating women's sexual behavior but not men's; and societies marked by interpersonal violence, male dominance, and sexual separation show strong rape-prone tendencies.

school violence

1. School violence now occurs in all areas of the country and is attributed to the increased availability of guns, media violence, peer taunting, and a culture of violence that is especially prevalent in the South. 2. The mental illness of the Virginia Tech killer was likely a factor in the massacre, but was not the only cause. Depression cannot by itself cause killing. Other factors were involved. 3. This environment conducive to school violence seriously affects only a few students, especially those rejected by parents or peers. The Columbine High School killers were denigrated as nerds or geeks, banded together with other rejects, and decided to take over the school by force. But school boy homicide remains extremely rare, especially when compared to other kinds of school violence.

stalking

1. Stalking is pursuing someone that may cause the victim to fear being assaulted or killed, spying on or following a victim, showing up at places where he or she is present, or killing their pets. It can lead to assaulting or killing a victim and, on average, last for two years. It is more prevalent than other forms of violence. 2. Most stalkers know their victims as ex-intimates or fellow employees, but they sometimes stalk strangers, especially celebrities, such as John Hinckley's attempt to assassinate President Reagan. Most stalkers are males whose victims are females, and there is no racial connection to stalking.

terrorism

1. Terrorism is violence toward a government, but the victims are usually innocent citizens. Timothy McVeigh, who attacked a federal building in Oklahoma, is one example. Another is the September 11 terrorist attack against the United States, where the terrorists belonged to the group al Qaeda and believed in a holy war against infidels. Al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, believed that the U.S. culture of secularism and materialism threatens the traditional Islamic way of life and that U.S. foreign policy threatens Muslims. Some of bin Laden's followers were intensely religious and patriotic and became suicide terrorists who carried out the horrendous crime on September 11. 2. The United States is engaged in a "war on terrorism" that is attempting to stop such terrorists through the military by destroying terrorist organizations, political organization by seeking cooperation from governments around the world to stop the terrorists, and culture by correcting Arab misconceptions about the United States. The U.S. government has had some success. Friendly Muslim countries have provided aid, many of al Qaeda's operational leaders have been killed or captured, and Saddam Hussein has been executed. The military operation in Iraq, though, has led to the deaths of many U.S. troops, and the Iraq government is not yet able to govern on its own.

Theories of Family Violence

1. The social learning theory states that people are likely to engage in family violence if they have been exposed to violence or learn that violence is an appropriate way to deal with interpersonal problems. 2. The stress theory says that some people who experience stress will turn to violence. Those who lack personal resources and social support from relatives and friends are more likely to react to stress through violence. 3. The exchange theory states that persons are likely to commit violence if its benefit is greater than the cost of punishment for it. Rewards include power and control over the victim, while the risk is being arrested.

patterns of killing

1. There seems to be some connection between the season of the year and murder. Fewer murders occur during fall and spring, and more during July and August; they also peak during December. Saturday night is when murder most often occurs. Higher class murders, though, are more premeditated and show no variation by time of year or week because they are likely to be premeditated. There is no correlation between lunar phases and homicide rates. 2. While men commit murders inside and outside the house, women almost exclusively kill in their own homes, and especially the kitchen, because they spend more time there. 3. Most objects can be readily turned into murder weapons if they are accessible when bursts of anger occur, but by far the most often used is the gun. If guns were less available, many heated arguments would result in aggravated assaults rather than murders, thereby reducing the number of fatalities. In America, over 10,000 handgun homicides occur each year, compared to less than 100 in other industrialized nations such as Canada, England, and Japan where guns are much harder to get. Guns serve as equalizers for the poor who use guns to commit murder as do members of the upper classes.

males a rape victims

2. Male rape is common in prison, more so than men-on-women rape outside prison. This is because there is little public sympathy for convict victims, rapists go unpunished, rapists are not segregated from victims, and rape is used as a prison management tool. Slightly built young men are usually victims and are repeatedly raped by gangs of inmates. Some seek protection from a powerful inmate but become that inmate's slave, while others are forced into prostitution for money or to pay gambling debts. Prison rapists are like male rapists of women outside of prison; they are heterosexual, more powerful, and older. Most prison rape is interracial. The primary motive for same-sex rape is the need to subjugate and humiliate the victim. 3. Outside prison, there is less rape of men. Many male victims on college campuses feel pressure to have sex, although the coercion they experience is not considered rape. These men are often pressured by women's pleading or blackmail, but not force. When men rape men, physical force is often used, and nearly half of male offenders know their victims as peers, counselors, subordinates, or dates. One-half of victims are heterosexuals, and the rapist assaults them with the intent to punish or dominate. Male victims react in the same way as female victims to heterosexual rape, including shock, self-blame, and depression. 4. Men can be raped by women, because rape is basically an expression of power. To the extent that a woman can overpower a man in a sexual encounter, she is able to rape him. Some men can perform sexually when anxious, but all can be forced to perform oral sex, anal sex, and other sex acts that degrade them but fulfill their attacker's need for asserting power and dominance. Older women can seduce a teenage boy. The use of force can traumatize the male victim.

Social Responses to Family Violence

2. Nearly all states have passed laws against marital rape and battery, but sometimes they are not enforced. Battered women seek protection at shelters and safe houses and attempt to develop new lives. The criminal justice system sometimes protects women by requiring abusers to participate in counseling programs, but most abusers never attend and are not prosecuted for abuse. 3. Doctors and other professionals in all states are required to report child abuse to a government child protective service agency that provides services or removes endangered children. Providing services sometimes leaves children in dangerous situations, while removing children can cause psychological harm to the child. Sometimes, protective services are overzealous and falsely accuse and punish innocent parents, especially those using disputed techniques such as recovered- memory therapy. 4. There are no formal government protective service agencies for the elderly, but most states have mandatory reporting laws. Some social service agencies provide a wide spectrum of services to abused elderly, including medical and legal services.

child molestation: molesters

3. A social profile of child molesters shows that men who molest young girls differ considerably from rapists: they tend to be older, be more gentle and passive, be less likely to resort to violence, be less capable of dealing with the other sex, molest one child rather than many, and admit their guilt. They fail to meet the sexist cultural standards of "masculinity" and are scorned in prison. They are like rapists in that they victimize a person who is less powerful than they are. 4. Men rarely molest boys, and those who do are not usually homosexual. Boy victims are more likely than other boys to grow up to be child abusers. Women even more rarely molest young boys. There is a gender difference in the ways victims of child molestation deal with anger. Boys are able to externalize anger and express outrage at what happened to them, while girls tend to internalize their anger, blame themselves, and more likely become victims again later in life.

egoistic suicide

A type of anomic suicide.

committing suicide

About two-thirds of those who commit suicide are known to have had at least one prior attempt to kill themselves, and most have openly or subtly communicated their suicidal ideas to others. Suicide committers seem to feel five ways about their act of suicide: feeling so depressed that they withdraw from daily activities; feeling apologetic toward their survivors; feeling vindictive toward their survivors or themselves, which is called atonement suicide; feeling magnanimous toward the world they choose to leave behind; and being suffused with surrealistic feelings, especially during the very act of ending their lives

abusive husbands

Abusive husbands act as if they have license to batter their wives. They do not express remorse by admitting guilt, rationalize the act by blaming their wives for provoking the offense, claim little harm was done, or attribute violence to problems beyond their control, such as alcohol.

feminist theory on wife-beating

According to feminist theorists, a major cause of wife beating is the sexist, patriarchal nature of society that supports husbands' treatment of women as their property. This cause is seen in weak law enforcement against abusive men and the absence of much wife beating in more egalitarian societies. Other factors that influence patriarchy are husbands who have lost control of their lives because of poverty, alcohol, unemployment, or drug abuse. Such problems lead more poor men to be abusive toward their wives.

prevalence of child abuse

As many as 20 percent of women report having suffered sexual abuse from family members during childhood and adolescence, and about 2 percent of children are seriously abused each year. Daughters are the most common victims, and fathers and stepfathers are the usual offenders. Offenders come from all social classes and ethnic groups, are isolated from others, and experience intense guilt over what they do.

facts about assault

Assault involves the unlawful use of physical force against another person, and it can be classified as aggravated or simple. Aggravated assault involves an atrocious attack with the intent to kill or the use of a deadly weapon where the victim survives rather than dies. Assault is similar to homicide in terms of class, race, age, and time of assaults, but assaulters are less likely than murderers to use firearms in committing the crime, and assault rises more dramatically during the summer.

suicide in college students

Attending college, especially at better universities, is more stressful than a leading non-college or working life, which leads to higher suicide rates. Also, college students are more likely than their non-college peers to be single.

A Social Profile of Family Abusers

Average abusers in the family are more likely to be younger, have a lower income, be experiencing a stressful home life, and be socially isolated from others. Except for more serious violence and incest, women are slightly more likely than men to victimize children, due to their greater responsibility for child care. A stressful home life and social isolation also increase the likelihood of family violence.

causes of child abuse

Causes of child abuse include the following: (a) the intergenerational transmission of violence, which comes from the experience of abuse in childhood and which is true of 30 percent of child abusers and (b) society's acceptance of physical violence as an appropriate method to discipline children. Parents who approve of physical punishment are four times more likely to abuse their child. Poverty, unemployment, and lack of education can contribute to child abuse. Problematic interactions between parents and children also increase risk.

Durkheimian theory of suicide

Classical Durkheimian theory argues that there are two major factors in suicide: social integration, which involves persons attaching themselves to groups; and social regulation, which involves individuals being coercively regulated by a group. Too little or too much social integration and too much or too little regulation lead to more suicide. Egoistic suicide is the type caused by too little social integration, altruistic suicide is the type brought about by too much integration, anomic suicide is the type generated by too little social regulation, and fatalistic suicide results from too much regulation. Durkheim's theory has been largely supported by research.

suicide rates by marital status

Divorced persons have the highest suicide rate, married people have the lowest rate, and the single and widowed have an intermediate rate. Strong family ties prevent suicide.

The Extent of Family Violence

Estimating the prevalence of family violence is complicated by the wide variety of definitions for and forms of violence. A narrow definition, which only includes physical and sexual violence severe enough to cause injury, suggests that as many as 14 percent of wives experience marital rape, 3 percent of wives experience beatings, 6 percent of children experience child abuse, and 2 percent of the elderly are abused. The actual extent of family violence might be higher.

statistics about suicide

Every year, 31,000 Americans die by their own hands, which is a much higher number that commit suicide than in traditional societies. It is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, after motor vehicle accidents. While many people assume that persons who take their own lives are mentally ill, sociologists believe the factors that push depressed people to suicide include various social forces such as lack of social support, social stigma, and high occupational status.

A Global Perspective on Family Violence

Family violence takes place in every society and involves physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. It occurs more often in developing countries where victims cannot get help from the police or others. While some developing countries have begun to protect women, others remain patriarchal and overlook violence toward women. In the United States, women are protected, but gender equality has led to more abuse by women against men, especially in the form of self-defense or retaliation.

suicide rates by social class

Findings on the relationship between social class and suicide are contradictory. The old belief was that the rich were more likely to kill themselves because of their higher status and aspirations, especially when they fail during an economic crisis. But other studies find poverty related to suicide through the presence of stress or depression. These studies are confusing because they use different methods to define class. Nevertheless, wealthier societies have higher suicide rates, and it is reasonable to assume that affluent Americans are more suicidal.

definition of rape and prevalence

Forcible rape is a crime that involves having sexual intercourse without the victim's consent. Twenty-two percent of women aged 18-90 reported having been sexually assaulted. A conservative estimate still places an average woman's chance of being raped at 1 in 10. The vast majority of rape victims know their rapist.

gang rapes

Gang rapists are typically adolescents aged 10-19 who come from lower-class families, are members of street gangs, and find victims through cruising an area, abducting a woman at night, or taking a date with one of the gang members to a location where the gang is waiting. Gang rapes also occur on college campuses, but this happens less often and usually occurs at a party after a woman gets high. While psychiatrists interpret gang rape as latent homosexuality, sociologists believe it more likely fulfills a social need than a sexual desire. Close-knit groups, like athletic teams, gangs, and soldiers, are more likely to commit gang rape.

anomic suicide

Generated by too little regulation.

a global perspective on homicide

Homicide rates are higher in developing countries. Among developed countries, the United States has the highest rate. This higher rate is due to more poverty and guns in the United States. Latin America has the highest homicide rates in the world due in part to a culture of "machismo." In every culture, men are much more likely to kill. In highly patriarchal societies such as the Middle East, women are likely to fall victim to "honor killings" by their male relatives.

homicide-suicide

Homicide-suicide offenders first kill another person and then finish themselves off. Rather than keeping suicidal wishes secret, homicide-suicide offenders often reveal them. While sociologists see this type of murder as normal because the offender feels remorse, psychiatrists diagnose the murderer-suicide perpetrators as psychotic because they assume the offender seeks reunion with the victim in another life. In both cases, the offender, who could even be an airline pilot, is unaffected by the culture of masculinity.

time of season or week and suicides

In Western countries, suicide rates peak in the spring and bottom out in winter, because of seasonal variations in social interaction and support. Suicide occurs more often at the beginning of the week and very rarely on weekends.

victim-precipitated homicide

In one of four homicides, the victim first attacks his subsequent slayer, which is called victim-precipitated homicide. This has led some experts to assume that some murder victims secretly wanted to commit murder themselves. American culture encourages males to show off their toughness; therefore, males who are inclined to suicide might choose to display masculine bravado and earn some respect by making an assault upon another that is designed for annihilation. The victim, then, contributes more than the offender to the occurrence of murder. Some experts, though, feel that both offenders and victims jointly contribute to the occurrence of murder.

suicide rates by age

In the United States, the suicide rate tends to rise with increasing age, especially after 64, when rates peak, at least for white males, perhaps because social ties diminish with the commencement of old age. Elderly women's suicide rates, though, do not go up, perhaps because women are traditionally less performance- oriented and their self-identity does not decline with age. This holds true for both elderly male and female blacks.

rape and race

In the past, rape was largely intraracial: blacks raping blacks and whites raping whites. Today, rape has become considerably less intraracial. Most rapes remain intraracial because the majority of rapes involve whites raping whites. But a majority of black rapists now choose white victims. This change might be due to a lessening of racial segregation, a desire to get even with white society, or the enshrinement of the white female as the ideal of sexual attractiveness. The age group most vulnerable to rape is 16-20 years of age, while black rapists of white women are usually younger than their white victims and are often robbers who take advantage of opportunity. Rape increases during the summer months, most often occurs on weekends, and usually involves drinking on the part of offenders. Rapists overall are not as violent as murderers.

suicide rates by gender

In virtually all societies, men are much more likely to kill themselves than are women, perhaps because greater freedom and aspirations of men lead to more frustrations from failure to achieve those aspirations. Attempted suicide rates, however, are considerably higher among women than men. Women are more likely than men to use less immediately lethal methods such as poisoning, except in rural China and India where women use more deadly methods like hanging and drowning. Men are more likely to use more lethal instruments such as firearms, which leads to more completed suicides. Most suicides of Western men are anomic, while Asian suicides tend to be fatalistic.

suicidal meanings

Individuals impute meaning to the act of suicide.

suicidal processes

Individuals must overcome social prohibitions before taking own life.

myths about suicide

Many myths surround the tragedy of suicide: one is that depression is the major cause of suicide and another is that suicide bombers are generally psychotic, or at least irrational, and poor and uneducated. In reality, other risk factors lead to suicide, and suicide bombers generally come from educated, middle-class families.

who tries to prevent suicide?

Many persons try to prevent suicide. Right-to-life groups are more concerned with the sanctity of life and oppose any effort to terminate life prematurely. Another group is more interested in discouraging a large mass of distressed, suicidal people from killing themselves, and they have developed an increasing number of suicide-prevention organizations in various countries. Evidence suggests that these organizations can effectively deal with a few individual cases of potential suicide, but they cannot substantially reduce suicide rates. One reason is that suicide is basically a sociological problem, caused by larger social forces, rather than a psychological problem. Also, suicide-prone persons tend to stay away from suicide centers, which are more useful to people who are less likely to commit suicide.

"hidden culture of rape"

Many societies have a hidden culture of rape that encourages males to assault females; influences men who are immature, irresponsible, and lacking in social conscience; and is evidenced in prevailing attitudes toward women and sex roles. Poor and black women are considered as even less valuable sex objects and find it more difficult to win a rape conviction. The rape culture is seen in the fact that men view rape victims as despoiled and less lovable. The use of their images in violent pornography further illustrates the rape culture. This lack of respect for women promotes rape.

mass-murders

Mass murder, which involves killing a number of people at about the same time and place, is extremely rare. Offenders usually die by their own hands or the hands of the police. Before the killing, they appear very normal. They include disgruntled employees, alienated heads of families, pseudo-commandos, and team members under the direction of a charismatic leader such as the suicide bombers who attacked the United States. Serial murder involves killing a number of people one at a time. Most offenders murder in one city, plan what they do, stalk their victims, and lure them into traps. Most have suffered abuse while children and cannot feel remorse or guilt for hurting others.

men vs. women murderers

More men than women commit murder, and they tend to kill other men because men are more concerned about their manhood. Men kill as an expression of dominance. Women usually kill in self-defense in an abusive relationship. While violence by women is primarily defensive, violence by men is usually offensive. Defensive killing serves as "self-help social control" against abusive husbands, especially in states with no laws for domestic violence arrests. Both male and female murderers are relatively young: the group with the highest murder rate is aged 15-19 for males and 20-24 for females. Younger killers are more likely than their older peers to victimize strangers and to commit murder and robbery together.

facts about child abuse victims

Most child abuse is physical, and about 4 percent of all children are severely assaulted each year. Much of a reported increase in abuse is due to the emergence and growth of a "child abuse establishment" over the past 20 years, which is made up of social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and law enforcement officials who are overly eager to label a growing number of people as child abusers. This establishment was created by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974, which provided funds for the detection of child abuse and led to the incorrect labeling of many people as child abusers. However, the number of children being severely abused is a serious problem. Abusers tend to come from lower-income families and have some emotional or behavioral difficulties. Victims tend to develop social and psychological problems such as poor academic performance, delinquency, and involvement in drugs and crime after they reach adulthood.

tactics of rapists

Most rapists do some planning before they attack. They choose females who are vulnerable to attack, such as handicapped, drunk, or older women or women who are timid and unassertive. Rapists look for places that can be easily entered and are relatively safe, such as old houses and apartments in rundown areas of a city. Most rapists rely only on verbal coercion and nonphysical aggression, but they also push, shove, slap, or choke their victims at the point of attack. Sometimes rapists make jokes at their victims' expense.

acquaintance rape

Most unreported rapes are committed by acquaintances and take place in the residence of either the victim or the offender. Assailants are more likely to use verbal or psychological coercion than guns and knives and to premeditate sex which leads to rape when the victim does not comply. Victims see themselves as victims, but not as legitimate crime victims; therefore, they rarely report the rape to the police. As many as one-half of all college students have been involved in sexual assault. It appears to be an extension of, rather than a departure from, the conventional pattern of male sexual behavior, where males are expected to be aggressive and achieve sexual conquests. Consequently, most assailants and their victims do not consider the event as rape, and victims either find it hard to believe that someone they knew raped them or blame themselves for what happened. This type of rape is a common offense; one survey of college women discovered that one-half had been sexually assaulted in one way or another. The more sexually active young men are more likely to partake in acquaintance rape, but most don't identify themselves as rapists.

murder rates by region

Murder rates vary by region; the southern region has the highest rate (10 per 100,000), which might be attributed to a "subculture of violence" and rurality. Large cities have a significantly higher murder rate than small cities and rural areas. Urbanism encourages homicides by reducing community integration through population heterogeneity.

myths about rape

Myths about rape include the belief that rape is committed against strangers and that imprisoned men rape fellow male inmates to relieve sexual deprivation. In reality, most rapes occur between acquaintances, and the primary motive for rape in prison is the need to humiliate a victim.

homicide and strangers

Of all crimes, homicide is the least likely to involve strangers (less than 20 percent). Murder involves a great deal of emotion, and relations with friends and loved ones are the most emotional, both positively and negatively. Therefore, most murders are warmblooded rather than cold-blooded.

child molestation: catholic priests

Pedophile priests have created a major crisis in the Catholic Church. The church repressed reports of pedophile priests, but a recent flood of accusations helped publicize this problem. Only a few priests, less than 4 percent, are pedophiles, and they tend to be emotionally troubled, socially incompetent, or sexually immature. Celibacy is not a cause because so few priests are pedophiles. Reasons for this problem include the absence of women and married men serving as priests; the declining number of priests entering the church, which leads to lower standards in priest selection; the failure of leadership to dismiss offending priests; and the culture of secrecy and forgiveness which surrounds the church.

suicide in people with terminal illnesses

People with fatal diseases have higher suicide rates, as do those with AIDS. The rates for less sick persons who are only infected with HIV are higher, perhaps because of the uncertainty about the outcome of HIV infection and the sudden transformation from being a totally healthy person to a seriously ill person. But as death gets closer, the individual's stress lessens, and the rate of suicide declines.

Phenomenological theories of suicide

Phenomenological theories assume that because official statistics are seriously unreliable, sociologists need to look at the meaning of suicide, not its etiology, and study the actual experiences of suicide from up close, not far away. (a) The theory of suicidal meanings argues that individuals impute specific meanings to their prospective suicidal acts which are influenced by the meanings society attaches to suicide. There are three such meanings: suicidal actions are meaningful; something is fundamentally wrong with the suicidal person's social situation; and something is fundamentally wrong with the suicidal person himself. Individuals construct more specific meanings for themselves, seeing suicide as a way of transporting their soul from this world to the other world, changing the view of themselves held by others in this world or by God, achieving fellow-feeling, and getting revenge. These perceptions facilitate the suicide process. (b) The theory of suicide process sees the social meaning of suicide as a social prohibition against suicide so that the suicidal person must overcome the prohibition before taking his or her own life. To overcome the prohibition, the individual goes through a series of experiences and rationalizations.

police and rape victims

Police mistreatment of rape victims creates a feeling of being raped again. Traditionally, in America and other societies, the police were sexist, were insensitive, and did little about the rape. The feminist movement has led to a significant decrease in police insensitivity. But problems still exist, especially when the police question the victim's moral character and behavior which presumes that the rape survivor might have asked for the attack. Courtrooms are also insensitive, and some victims have described trials as worse than the rape itself. Courts are very biased against the victim and allow defense attorneys to focus on the victim's sexual history and reputation, which essentially puts her on trial. However, some legal reforms have occurred, including reclassifying rape as criminal sexual assault and making the court more sensitive. Nevertheless, defense attorneys are still allowed to present the victim's sexual history, as seen in the famous cases of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and the Kobe Bryant trial.

religion and suicide rates

Protestants have higher suicide rates than Catholics, who in turn have higher rates than Jews. But strength of religious identity or degree of religious conservatism is more important than type of religion, because the less religiously integrated commit more suicide. Weak religious identity, religious liberalism, and lack of religious integration seem to reflect inadequate social involvement, leading to more suicides.

psychiatric theories of suicide

Psychiatric theories of suicide generally assume that there is something wrong with the person who commits suicide. On the contrary, sociological theories assume that there is nothing wrong with the person because there is no relationship between mental illness and the categories of people who commit suicide. To sociologists, the causes of suicide do not reside within the individual but rather within the group to whom the individual belongs.

rape in college

Rape is particularly prevalent on college campuses. About 15 percent of college women report having been raped, although both rapists and their victims do not see the offense as forcible rape. This is due to U.S. culture's defining aggressiveness with women as a highly desirable quality in young men. One study discovered that campuses where sexual assault is not seriously dealt with, heavy drinking is encouraged, and bragging about sexual conquest is prevalent are rape-prone; while campuses where sexual assault is treated as a serious offense and women are respected as friends and equals are rape-free. Another study pinpointed fraternity norms and values as being heavy contributors to campus rape. Fraternities emphasize the values of sticking together, masculinity, and the excessive use of alcohol, all of which seem to promote rape. College athletes also are more rape-prone.

Patient Self-Determination Act

Requires hospitals to inform patients of their right to control their treatment through living wills.

how suicide statistics may be biased

Researchers have always tended to focus on successful suicides rather than suicide threats or attempts and have relied on suicide statistics compiled by coroners and other government officials expressed in the form of suicide rates. But these statistics are not reliable, because different states and areas use different procedures to determine what constitutes suicide and suicide victims' relatives may conceal evidence indicating that the deaths were self-inflicted. As a consequence, some sociologists concentrate on the social meanings of suicide. Other sociologists evaluate statistics the best they can to determine which social groups are more likely than others to commit suicide.

social regulation

Restraint by society.

fatalistic suicide

Results from over-regulation.

disorders stemming from wife-beating

Some abused women experience posttraumatic stress, including feelings of depression and helplessness. Others develop the "battered woman syndrome," which is a specific deadly pattern of losing self-esteem and sometimes violence against the husband.

murder as a "character contest"

Sometimes the motive for murder appears trivial, and it may be a quick and effective way for the poor to win an argument. While middle-class people can talk their way out of an argument, the poor tend more to suffer from a lack of verbal ability. Thus, they may feel compelled to use their physical strength which sometimes results in murder. Further, the poor face economic and social oppression; the poor man's dignity as a man has been diminished by frustrating and humiliating forces in his life. He thus hangs on to his dignity, and an insult from relatives, friends, or acquaintances means this honor could be taken away. This is why researchers have found that most homicides result from a "character contest" in which the offender and victim try to defend their dignity after it has been threatened by the other.

wife beating: how prevalent is it?

Spouse assault is very common and might involve as many as one-third of couples every year. Few women assault their husbands and most serious assault involves men beating women.

social profile of serial killers

Studies reveal the following about serial killers: they are neither monsters nor especially charming, but are unusually ordinary; most are blue-collar workers; they are usually white men in their late 20s or 30s; and they are motivated by an intense desire for power and sadism.

example of suicide bombing attack

Suicide attacks have been common throughout history. One example is Japanese kamikaze pilots who crashed their planes into U.S. warships during World War II.

attempting suicide

Suicide attempters are ambiguous in their intent and less explicit in communicating their suicidal feelings. They seem to be seeking help, but either cannot communicate their message or others do not take it seriously because of its vagueness, which leads to more dramatic and dangerous methods to express their appeal for help. They use methods such as wrist cutting, but only 5 to 10 percent of attempters eventually kill themselves. They are more likely to be women than men, young than old, and from lower classes than upper classes. The number of attempters has gone up dramatically in comparison to committers and involves traditional women who think in rigid patterns and see events from narrow perspectives.

misconceptions about suicide bombers

Suicide bombers are usually not psychotic, poor, or uneducated. They come from relatively well-off, middle-class families and are better educated than their countrymen. They are rational enough to know they could resort to suicide bombing as an ultimate weapon against perceived oppression.

suicide in prison

Suicide in prison is relatively common and is the leading cause of death among prison inmates. Inmates who commit suicide are predominantly whites, in their early twenties, single or divorced, and use the method of hanging. They seem to fear prison and other inmates because of a radical transformation from a free person to someone confined in a dangerous milieu. They kill themselves more during the first few days of imprisonment because of a fear of imprisonment and other inmates and a sense of despair or hopelessness.

suicide rates globally

Suicide rates are higher among citizens of industrialized countries because of their beliefs in self-reliance and being alone to solve problems. Suicide rates are also high in developing countries like Russia and South Africa because of the radical disruption of traditional patterns of life, leading to more freedom, more pressure to succeed, and more problems. Suicide rates in industrialized countries where people have more income equality are also higher.

sandwiched generation

Taking care of both children and elders

suicide in teenagers

Teenagers today are much more likely than their peers of the past to kill themselves, perhaps because the adolescent life crisis has gotten worse over the last 20 years. Today's youth are more confused, full of conflict, and in rebellion against parents and society. While adolescents have always experienced confusion, today there are proportionately more parental divorces, more single-parent families, more two-career families, and more latch-key kids—all of which may lead to a decline in social integration and regulation and an increase in suicide rates.

profile of a suicide bomber

The bombers are mostly young, male, and single and see themselves as martyrs. Their parents are proud of them, and their communities also see them as martyrs and provide money for their families.

the mass media's effect on suicide

The mass media has an influence on suicide, especially after a famous, well-publicized suicide occurs. This publicity is likely to encourage some ordinary people to kill themselves in imitation, especially if they share social characteristics of the person in the suicide. Celebrity suicide can legitimize this way of dealing with life's problems. Country music's popularity and themes also exercise an influence on suicide.

profile of a murderer

The most striking thing about murderers is their poverty. Being generally poorer than whites, blacks are more likely to commit homicide. Over 90 percent of murderers in the United States are in the lower classes. This is due to the poor having more financial, marital, and other stressful problems, which lead to interpersonal conflict and a tendency to resort to physical violence as a way of dealing with such conflict. Race is also a factor. While they make up only 12 percent of the general population, blacks account for 45 percent of the murders. This may be due to the higher rate of poverty among blacks, along with the racial discrimination against blacks, which is also a major source of frustration and alienation. Most killings are intraracial: blacks tend to kill fellow blacks more than whites, and whites murder whites more than blacks. Interracial murders are rare because racial discrimination discourages interaction between blacks and whites.

why do battered women stay in abusive relationships?

The overwhelming majority of abused women do leave abusive relationships. Those who stay do so because they are socially and economically isolated and fear that their husbands will retaliate if they leave. Women who stay are more likely to be killed by their husbands or strike back in a violent way.

suicide rates by race

The rate of suicide is much higher among whites than blacks in the United States, perhaps because they experience less social regulation or more freedom—another factor associated with suicide. Recently, though, the suicide rate among black youths has risen sharply, perhaps reflecting the move of more blacks into the middle class. Whites of various younger age groups have lower suicide rates than do Native Americans, but older whites are more suicidal.

consequences of rape

The responses of rape survivors vary greatly: some show a lack of concern and fall asleep, while others are so traumatized that they sink into deep depression, attempt suicide, or actually kill themselves. Most experience shock, disbelief, anger, anxiety, or depression, but eventually pull themselves out of it, depending on the degree of violence and their age, social class, cultural background, and prior sexual experience. Most survivors go through two phases of disorganization. The first is an acute phase involving extreme fear, shock, humiliation, self-blame, or anxiety. The second is a longer, lingering phase of disorganization involving dreams and phobias; it may include a fear of indoors if a woman was raped in her bed, fear of outdoors if the rape occurred outdoors, fear of being alone, fear of crowds, fear of being followed by another person, and sexual fears. It may lead to a decline in many forms of sexual satisfaction. Rapes by strangers that involve violence and trauma leave survivors with more persistent depression, fear, and interpersonal problems. Some rape victims express their feelings outwardly, including seeking revenge and acting out in anger. Since the 1970s, primarily due to the feminist movement, an increasing number of rape survivors have actively tried to combat rape by setting up anti-rape organizations, teaching self-defense, advocating for a change police behavior, and pressuring legislators to change the law. More and more women who are raped will likely stop plunging into the traditional self-destructive feelings of fear, anxiety, and guilt and will instead take constructive steps to find inner peace.

victim socialization

The typical feminine role may lead to rape

"women secretly wish to be raped"

There is a popular myth that women secretly wish to be raped. Many men hold the victim responsible for the rape and reflect society's attempt to put women in their place by denying them freedoms that men enjoy. The expression of this myth varies: rapists insist that women encourage and enjoy sexual assault, courts put the rape victim on trial, and a man pressures a woman to have sex even though she says "no."

living wills and "right to die"

Those who are contemplating killing themselves can generate great emotional support from relatives and friends, as seen in the recent move toward approving suicide as a way of dealing with unbearable life problems such as terminal illness or unrelievable pain. Congress has passed the Patient Self-Determination Act, which requires hospitals to inform patients of their right to refuse life-sustaining treatment through a living will. More than half of American doctors are no longer opposed to this option, but most are still reluctant to help patients commit suicide as Dr. Kevorkian did. Oregon is the only state where assisted suicide is legal, and doctors have helped only 70 patients die, which is much less than other countries with assisted suicide laws. But Oregon's law has been gaining support throughout the United States, where a patient's unbearable pain and a declining quality of life are seen as reasons for a person to choose to die. There is also the legal argument that the right to die is the same as the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy.

threatening suicide

Those who threaten suicide do so explicitly, directly, or clearly, and 40 percent of such people have seriously attempted to kill themselves in the past. Their threats are intended as a means of achieving some objective in life and they clearly want to live.

current murder rate

Today, the overall murder rate in the United States is lower than it was in the mid- 1980s, but since 1985 there has been a stunning upsurge in murders committed by teenagers, especially senseless murders. Many inner-city teenagers carry guns to protect themselves in high crime areas, and this increased possession leads to higher rates of teen murder. Other causes of this upsurge are the great availability of guns, dysfunctional families, drugs, the declining quality of the public schools, and increased violence on TV and in the movies. Since 1994, the teen murder rate has declined due to the crack market's decline and confiscation of guns by the police.

urban vs. rural suicide rates

Traditionally, suicide rates in urban areas have always been high due to characteristics of city life such as a heterogeneous population, conflicting social norms, fast-changing lifestyles, and weakening ties with others. Today, though, suicide rates are higher in rural areas, perhaps because isolated people are more individualistic and less dependent on others—two characteristics associated with suicide.

Trifactor theory of suicide

Trifactor theory, as presented by Henry and Short, sees suicide as an act of aggression directed toward oneself that results from three factors. (a) The sociological factor consists of weak relational systems and weak external restraints, which are Durkheim's concepts of weak social integration and weak social regulation. (b) The psychological factor has to do with a strong superego that leads to self-blame and more suicide. (c) An economic factor involves economic depressions as a cause of higher suicide rates. The three factors are related to each other through status: higher-status people are more likely to have a weak relational system and weak external restraints and therefore to commit suicide; they also have stronger superegos and are more prone to frustration during economic depression.

victim-precipitated rape

Victim-precipitated rape, which is actually a myth, occurs when the offender interprets the woman's initial behavior as consensual to sexual relations but she retracts agreement before the actual act. Some interpret a ride or a drink from a stranger as an invitation for sexual intercourse and claim that the victim is as much to blame as her offender. But this is a male-biased view and part of a sexist myth. This victim contribution only occurs during pre-rape intimacy, does not involve the use of force, and hence is not a crime. The rape itself involves the use of force and is therefore a crime; some men do not recognize this difference between consensual intimacy and forced sex. Studies suggest that many male high school students regard forced sex as acceptable when a woman excites them or consents, and then later changes her mind, which is a form of blaming the victim.

social integration

Voluntary attachment to society.

global perspective on wartime rape

Wartime rape is widespread and is based on the universally shared attitude that women are men's property. This form of rape is especially dehumanizing and brutal. In Bosnia, women were mass raped and then thrown out of their homes in dishonor and shame; Bosnian victims were also corralled in concentration camps and repeatedly raped in front of family members. However, even men have experienced sexual assaults during war, as happened in Iraq.

survivors of the suicide victim

When a loved one commits suicide, survivors tend to feel guilty. Most adults can rationalize away their guilt by regarding themselves as having been good to the person who committed suicide, viewing the suicide as inevitable, or considering the suicide as a good thing for the person involved. Other survivors experience symptoms of physical illness and emotional disturbance. Parents of children who commit suicide suffer the most because they feel totally responsible for the death and are acutely aware of the stigma society attaches to parents whose child commits suicide.

suicide rates in places that accept it vs places that condemn it.

Whether suicide is common or rare depends to some degree on how society responds to it. Countries and ethnic groups that condemn suicide usually have lower suicide rates. In the present century, there has been an increasingly permissive attitude toward it. Few countries have anti-suicide laws. Currently, posthumous love toward the self-killer typically fills the hearts of survivors.

masculinity contests and rape

Women are used as part of men's masculinity contests that often resemble competitive sports. Here, women are used as objects to play with, and the only goal is to score. This attitude is found in gang rapes, the language men use to refer to sexual intercourse, and the social pressure to score. The role men learn to play requires them to be active, aggressive, or forceful in achieving social and sexual relations with a female. TV often perpetuates this role, and in real life such sexual aggression may easily lead to forcible rape.

victim precipitation

tendency to blame the victim