Violence and the Violent Offender

Cultural Explanations to drugs

There are different cultural norms and customs regarding use of alcohol and behavior while intoxicated.

reactionary rightist

generally seek to defend existing power relationships and inequalities or return to a previous status quo.

local walk-ins

i.e. lone wolf. those who come up with an idea for a terrorist attack on their own and pursue funding from a bigger terrorist organization.

Cultural Deviance has 6 focal concerns

1. Trouble 2. Toughness 3. Smartness 4. Excitement 5. Luck 6. Autonomy

Routine Activities & illegal markets

1. motivated offenders, 2. suitable targets, and 3. the absence of a capable guardian offenders commit offenses near places they spend most of their time, and major pathways in between.

Strain theory & terrorism

Adaptations to strain (discrepancy between cultural goals and institutionalized means) include: Rebellion (e.g., Cohen's "Reaction Formation"). This adaptation explains some types of terrorism. religious beliefs can provide the motivations and justification for violence. For the religious terrorist, violence is first and foremost a sacramental act or divine duty executed in response to some theological demand or imperative. Religious terrorists often seek to eliminate broadly defined categories of enemies and accordingly regard such large-scale violence not only as morally justified but as a necessary expedient to attain their goals

Death Penalty

Arguments in favor of the death penalty 1) public support 2) deterrence 3) retribution 4) cost-effectiveness Arguments against the death penalty 1) improper use of state power 2) racial discrimination 3) possibility of errors

Kansas City Gun Experiment

Based on the theory that additional, proactive police patrols to detect gun violations in high-crime areas would increase gun seizures and reduce gun crime either by deterring or incapacitating gun-using criminals

Conflict Theory & Terrorism

Conflicts among dominant and subordinate groups may be resolved not only be consensual methods, but also by deception and force. Violence is a resource that is used, terrorism is associated with the breakdown of traditional authority structures and with efforts to create new ones. This attracts the youth and politically inexperienced who are in the subordinate group and have not internalized the accommodations of dominance and deference that characterize well established authority structures.

Social Control

Criminality is part of human nature and left to their own devices all individuals would commit crimes. Due to lack of commitment, attachment, and belief people are more likely to commit crimes.

Deterrence

General refers to the inhibiting effect that punishment has on potential offenders in the public. Specific seeks to prevent future criminal acts only by the individual punished.

Trouble

Getting into or out of trouble - lower class involvement in such activities as fighting, drinking, and sexual misbehavior is a daily part of lower-class life.

Structural explanations to drugs

Harsh structural conditions found in many urban areas may promote cultural adjustments that contribute to participation in illegal drug markets and high levels of violence

Routine Activities & drugs

Locations with large concentrations of alcohol outlets are often hot spots of crime, attracting many visitors who engage in a wide variety of illegal activities. The spatial distribution of alcohol outlets and the targeted advertising of alcohol to particular communities, especially minority communities, may mediate relationships between alcohol and violence. The widespread advertising, sale, and use of alcohol contributes to the construction of a symbolic system that builds alcohol consumption into the life world of its residents.

Demographics

Male, African American gangs are the highest, then Hispanic Latino gangs, and white gangs are the smallest.

Public Health Approach

Multilevel Risk Approach - We need to examine the interactions of individual, institutional, social structural, and cultural factors related to violence OJJDP Comprehensive Strategy - individual, school, family, & community risk factors. Community-Based Approaches- Programs located in specific neighborhoods, designed and implemented mainly by nonprofit community groups rather than justice or social service agencies Blueprints for Violence Prevention- A comprehensive effort to provide communities with a set of programs whose effectiveness has been scientifically demonstrated

Luck

People believe that life is subject to forces over which they have little control. The focal concern of luck expresses itself in a belief in lucky numbers, whether the cards are right, or whether the dice are good to them.

cultural theories & firearm availability

Proportion of households owning a gun has remained stable at about 50% for three decades. Rates of gun ownership are highest in rural areas and small towns, higher for whites than blacks, highest in the South, and higher for high-income households. Simple "subcultural" interpretations are thus not easy to support: there is considerable diversity in the membership of gun owners.

Biological & Psychological effects

Psychological and social factors may mediate the alcohol-gender relationship. men = more likely to binge drink and be aggressive.

The Neotraditional Gang

Resembles the traditional gang but has not been in existence as long, is a medium size, consisting of 50 to 100 members and is territorial. (local)

situational explanations to drugs

Set: mental or emotional state of user, personality, and mood influence drug effects Setting: the social and physical environment influence effects (e.g., who, where) The drug: physiological effects of a drug

Strain Theory in Relation to Gangs

Strain theory argues that most people are law abiding but become criminal under pressure. The task is to explain what is meant by pressure or strain. The disparity between cultural goals and institutionalized means leads to a number of adaptions. Those who join gangs do not have the institutionalized means to reach cultural goals so they attain them through gang membership.

Smartness

Street smarts. the ability to get something by outwitting or conning another person.

Social learning theory & terrorism

Terrorist acts is acquired, reinforced, and maintained through interactions with significant others, especially friends family peers and neighbors, but also through secondary agents of socialization (religion and political). Through such interactions, one may learn definitions favorable or unfavorable to deviant acts, including terrorism.

Autonomy

The last focal concern is expressed in lower class person's resentment of authority and its rules.

Boston Gun Project

This was a large, multimodal intervention that included no tolerance gang suppression techniques, strict enforcement, and provision of services in select neighborhoods. Interventions strategies focused on both supply and demand

The Traditional Gang

Traditional gangs have been around for twenty years or more and keep generating themselves. They have a wide age range - 9 to 10 years, numbering 100 or more people, are territorial, and have several internal cliques based on age or area.

The Specialty Gang

Unlike other gangs, that may engage in a variety of criminal offenses, the specialty gang is narrowly focused. The principal purpose is criminal, with a well defined territory and a narrow age range. Drug gangs are an example of a specialty gang. Also - stolen artwork, jewels, weapons

Three strikes

When someone is put away for committing 3 similar crimes. Intended to reduce serious crime by incapacitating repeat offenders and by deterring others from becoming repeat offenders.

Excitement

a focal concern expressed by fighting, getting drunk, and or using drugs; anything to break up a monotonous existence

Definition of a gang

a street gang is any durable, street-oriented youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of its group identity.

terrorist incident

a violent act or an act dangerous to human life in violation of the criminal laws of the US, or of any state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

Agreement of what a gang is:

gangs are youths between the ages of 10 and 20 or older and engagement in law violating behavior

Incapacitation

an offender is restrained from committing any further crimes against the public, at least during the period he/she is confined Selective: attempts to incapacitate worst offenders (e.g., career criminals) General: attempts to reduce crime by locking up offenders for as long as possible

Restoration

attempts to restore the victim and or the community to his or her prior state before the crime occurred. Seeks to repair the harm resulted from the offense.

professional cadre

comprises the most dedicated, committed, and professional soldiers, entrusted with the most important and high value attacks.

Weeding

concentrated and enhanced law enforcement efforts to identity, arrest, and prosecute violent offenders, drug traffickers, and other criminals operating in the target areas.

4 types of Criminal Justice Approaches to Prevention & Punishment

deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and restoration

Symbolic Interaction Theory & Firearms

disputes become violent through a series of interpersonal exchanges. The concept of a situated transaction refers to a series of transactions between people in a specific setting, time, and social context. conflict escalates over time - (RESPECT)

like minded insurgents

existing groups who may have benefited from aid that comes from terrorists

Offenses most likely to involve firearm

firearms are involved in more than half of all known suicides and two thirds or more of homicides. 66.9 percent of the nation's murders.

Risk factors of juvenile offending

individual, school, family, & community risk factors.

international terrorism

is the unlawful use of force or violence committed by a group or an individual, who has some connection to a foreign power or whose activities transcend national boundaries, against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

The Collective Gang

like the compressed gang, but larger and has been around longer. Described as a shapeless mass that has not developed distinguishing characteristics.

Brady Act

mandated presale background checks and prohibited retail sales of guns to persons in high-risk categories specified by federal law. Only about 2% of all applicants are rejected annually. Most rejections (58%) were for a prior felony conviction or a current felony indictment

Pharmacological effects

physiological effects of a drug on the body. Biological effects influence violent behavior, but there are many interactions with other factors

National separatists

primarily seek changes in territories or boundaries related to desired independence and or new political identities.

revolutionary leftists

primarily wish to alter fundamental political and social relationships and governance within an existing state. overthrow the gov't and replace it

trained amateurs

receive some training and funding, but they are distinctly less professional, less dedicated, less well supported, and more expendable than the professional cadre.

domestic terrorism

refers to activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any state; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence the policy of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the US.

Rehabilitation

refers to any post conviction treatment aimed at reducing an offender's future likelihood of committing crimes. Evidence: A National Academy of Sciences panel concluded that we know very little about what works or what does not. The best studies show that some types of treatment work for some types of offenders, at least some of the time.

economically compulsive violence

refers to crimes that are committed to obtain drugs or money for purchasing drugs.

religious terrorism

terrorism motivated either in whole or in part by a religious imperative, where violence is regarded by practitioners as a divine duty or sacramental act.

The compressed Gang

the age range is 10 years or fewer between older and younger members, they are up to 50 members, it has been in existence for 10 years or less, some are territorial, and its future is unclear.

Toughness

the focal concern refers to a show of masculinity and a denial of sentimentality. lower class males growing up in female dominated households

terrorism

the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

female gang member

very few; because gangs are male dominated and because female gang members are mere sex objects with no involvement in the violent acts gang males commit.

systemic violence

violence associated with the illegal sale and distribution of drugs