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Class Journal #1
Read “Pajama Party with Elvis” (Canvas)
Elvis Presley’s interactions with these young girls be perceived differently today. How would they be perceived differently?
Why would these interactions be perceived differently today? Identify the social and cultural conditions that have changed since Elvis Presley’s time.
How would Durkheim (“The Normality of Crime”) interpret the differences in public responses over time to Elvis’s actions?
Elvis Presley’s interactions with the girls within the article is most definitely perceived as predatory as well as morally reprehensible today according to the vast majority of people, including myself. As a result, I consider it to be very unlikely that his career could have recovered from such a scandal in current times if revealed to the public. However, logically speaking I am uncertain of whether or not charges pressed against him would be successful. Because he was well known with monetary assets, the minors had their parent’s permission to be with him, he stopped whenever they told him to, and the participants were not interested in pressing charges, it would be a uphill battle to legally reprimand him. As stated above though, I doubt he would have been able to continue his career with the current social and cultural conditions if he was a rising star today. His actions run a fine line between mala prohibita and all social harms and would not bode well in cancel culture or the court of public opinion, even if he isn’t charged for anything. Durkheim, author of, “The Normality of Crime” would likely interpret the differences in public responses over time to Elvis’s actions as a change in social conditions that is normal for the evolution of society.
Class Journal #2
Reiman (“A Crime by Any Other Name”) discusses the disparate treatment of street crime and white-collar crime in America.
What is a “street crime” that you think is punished too harshly in America?
What are the factors that Reiman would point to as reasons for harsh punishment for this offense?
What are some of the societal consequences of punishing this offense so harshly?
I don’t think street crime is punished too harshly, instead I think it isn’t punished in the right way. I believe the primary purpose of prison should be rehabilitation and incapacitation because vengeful punishment is in my eyes criminal and deterrence happens naturally as a result of being forced to do things against your will. It is also bad for the economy and society to have so much of its population imprisoned and therefore unable to work or protest/vote for social change. The current criminal justice system shows a hasty solution that isn’t being utilized to the best of its abilities. Even corrupt fictional governments, like the one in 1984, understand that the prison population shouldn’t just be locked away and left alone. Instead it is better to teach or in dystopian societies “reeducate” the prisoners, so you can gain value from unfortunate circumstances of chance, negligence, and the like. Furthermore, culpability, which many people find to be paramount, and is one of the primary reasons why the justice system is akin to a distorted carnival mirror according to Reiman, should only be utilized as a measurement of how much one is viable for rehabilitation or incapacitation. For those who were just negligent or careless, making them fully comprehend the gravity of their actions and teaching them how to move forward would be better than keeping them locked away. As for the most dangerous people, being permitted a relatively isolated place to work and create could be a good solution and allow people to gain insight into minds that are unable to function within normal everyday life. In the end, I feel the current justice system quite sloppy workmanship on most accounts and is remaining the way it is because instigating change is difficult and time consuming.
Class Journal #3
Tell me about:
a) A crime that you witnessed, or
b) A crime you have heard about (from family, friends, news).
Can any of the theories covered today (classical, biological, psychological) explain this event? How would they explain it? Feel free to apply multiple theories if relevant.
There have been several crimes I have heard about and seen within my lifetime, many of which are quite tragic. Despite being in a suburban neighborhood of relatively well-off people there have been civilian, school, and police shootings, among other less noteworthy crimes. Perhaps my perspective is unique, but from what I see crime and lawlessness lurk indefinitely, just waiting for someone to slip up or lose their temper.
One of the most notable tragedies was my sister’s school. My sister and I did not know the shooter, but she knew people who knew him. From what I can gather, he was under a lot of stress, wasn’t in the best state of mind, and the social pressures of the school didn’t help. The biological theory in positivism could be used to say that he had mental deficiencies, but I find it more plausible that the psychological position fits better. This school is notorious, now at least, for its poor conditions and less than ideal methods of dealing with conduct disorders. When my sister was there, their where: clicks that you fit into or got barred from, expectations of at least 2 hours of homework each night, rigorous and toxic sports training to the point of permanent injury to win events, not to mention anyone who said they were suicidal was taken out in hand cuffs. When I went to a different high school five years later, I heard about fourteen separate suicides from the same school in my junior year alone, so I don’t think it has changed either. Anyway, when the shooter was removed from his social click, kicked of the debate team, and ostracized, I find it likely that his possibly already precarious mental state was pushed into madness. With easy access to weapons, he made a choice to enact criminal vengeance on the teacher that he felt was responsible, ending in a murder suicide. The classical theory describes a solution to these sorts of crimes based in the idea that everyone acts rationally all the times and posits the solution that a severe enough punishment for a crime is enough deterrence. However, as many, including myself, point out, there are flaws in this logic. People, especially young people, do not care what the punishment is for breaking the law if they end up dead by the end of the crime. Suicide, therefore, would seem to be a large hole in this theory. The problem arises from, I believe, a failing in the system, i.e., the carnival mirror of justice. The administrators of the school are not blamed for any of these deaths, nor are they charged for negligence of any kind. Regardless, I believe that the cause of this crime is primarily explained by the psychological aspects of positivism, because he demonstrated usage of psychology impaired justifications and neutralizations to account for his behavior.
Class Journal #4
Watch any clip from “MTV Cribs.” (You may also choose a different show or clip with a similar theme.)–https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mtv+cribs
Why was this show so popular? What is its appeal?
How does it make you feel when you watch it?
What would strain theorists say about the cultural and economic effects of such a show?
MTV Cribs is likely popular because it shows the classic American dream of owning a big house and having fancy appliances/cars. People want to see how successful famous celebrities can be when have made their dreams a reality and want to envision themselves in a similar scenario, or at the very least, related to them in some way. Personally though, I feel disgusted watching it. The maximum size of a house I find appropriate is far smaller and more compact. One does not need pools, a sport court, a doghouse, and a lawn in their backyard, nor do they need more cars than there are people. I think that wasting and flaunting wealth in such a manner can only lead to ruin, for when people have enough strain and unite enough, the individuals they go after first are the obviously rich, and regardless leading such a lifestyle is not sustainable given disasters or unrest. Strain theorists would likely argue that showing such wealth sets the cultural goals higher than they ordinarily would be, thus pushing out people without the structural means to achieve such outlandish aspirations. This, in turn, makes less people in the conformity category and increases the people in the innovation category, which, if they attempt to purchase such things without sustainable structural means, can cause more people to fall in the retreatism category after accumulating det. These two negative things perpetuated by the structure of our media and embraced by the individual, can also cause people to get closer to rebellion through anger, when they realize how their aspirations where mere mirages in a distant dream.
Class Journal #5
Identify a situation you have heard about personally or in the media about inequality in the criminal justice system.
What individual-level factors shape this inequality?
What institutional factors shape this inequality?
Which (individual or institutional factors) has more impact on this situation? Why?
From what I have heard from the media and from familial experiences, divorce cases are definitively unequal. Depending upon the country/state these inequities are lessoned or reversed, however are usually still prevalent in some form or another. In an institutional sense, there are some parts of the law that have negative side effects if applied in certain scenarios. In Canada, for example, if one does not have enough money to pay child support, they can be imprisoned and will only be released if they pay the money past due, which can lead to a life sentence as it is quite difficult to make money while behind bars. In addition, in some states, like Florida, have permanent alimony, which means that the person who made more money in the marriage at the time of divorce has to pay the other person for the rest of their life, regardless of whether or not they maintain the same level of income. A response some judges have given on a person not having enough money to make the payments are, “The ability to pay is not relevant to the obligation.” Thus, the structure of divorce is, in most cases, deliberately unequal when pertaining to monetary assets. Some would argue that not having these structures in place would cause the person who is not as monetarily successful a permanent disadvantage in marriage and in calling for a divorce, however creating these laws, especially if they are as strict as these examples are, merely turns the tables of inequality to the opposite side. This inherent inequality in divorce is not necessarily perpetuated by only structural factors though. According to people who have gone through divorces in westernized countries, the court favors the wife, especially in child custody. This is not, in most classes, a structural law, rather a gender-based discrimination that is consciously or unconsciously against husbands. Depending upon the lens, location, and scope of the situation at hand, either individual or structural factors could more impactful. For example, individual factors may play a more prevalent role in a singular divorce settlement and can be quite widespread if the culture it stems from is not put under scrutiny. Structural factors inherently affect more cases, as they are involved in all of them, but have differing severities and outcomes in different countries/states. If I where to choose one over another I would stay the structural factors of the law and of the cultural practice play more of a role than each individual-level bias.
Class Journal #6
Watch the two video game review videos on Prison Architect & Prison Tycoon.
What evidence of managerial principles do you observe in these games?
How are prisoners depicted in these games?
What are the goals of these games?
How do games like this affect public and political conversations about prisons and prisoners?
The management of these games, the players, do have the ability to be compassionate to the inmates and help them through rehabilitation, but that is not necessarily a requirement. The main purpose of these games is to expand your prisons with the inmates as the workers and sometimes the product. There is a very capitalistic nature to the games that puts success first and foremost with compassion as a byproduct of a playstyle or an unnecessary tool. These games, from the videos, seemed to affect people differently, as they were made in somewhat different times and eras of computer programming, with Prison Architect being the more recent iteration of this genre.
Prison Tycoon seemed to get a lot of bad press and does not appear to be an enjoyable game overall. The controversy likely brought some discussion about how modern prison systems have steered away from rehabilitation, then towards mass incarceration for deterrence, punishment, and profit, however I am fairly certain movies and books where more successful in getting this message across. Prison Architect had a more positive review to it and had a story mode to it, but not much else in its political messaging.
Although many would consider these games a negative contribution to the discussion on how to deal with prison systems, but I disagree. I think people gain more knowledge about the injustices within the system and how cruel and callous they can be by experiencing it in the game format themselves. Seeing how easily one can shift to dehumanizing the prisoners in pursuit of a goal can allow people to empathize and sympathize with people within the prison system, who otherwise would not have.
Class Journal #7
"Election week and..."
Class Journal #8
Think of an anti-drug ad that you have been exposed to, (you can also look one up online).
What was the content of the ad?
How does this ad make viewers feel about drug use and drug users?
What public policies does this ad suggest?
What public policies does this ad NOT suggest?
Most, if not all, of the anti-drug ads that I have been exposed which use fear tactics to start with a middle class youth, usually male, who has something horrible and unrealistic happen to him the moment he starts using the drugs. The abundance and similarity between all these ads are enough to put into one singular ad. Usually he loses his teeth, gets a hole in his neck from a breathing tube, or turns into some sort of feral creature. The ads usually give the impression to the viewer that once you start using drugs you get instantly addicted and you lose everything in the process.
The public policies of these ads are unanimous and simple, imprison those who do drugs, along with deter usage of the drugs, or in other words don’t start and if you have stop before it’s too late. When it comes to drugs and crime, they tend to lean to banning drugs, some even explicitly show people committing crimes for drug money or just generally committing crimes because of the psychological effects they have.
As for what public policies the ads do not suggest, they do not speak about rehabilitation measures or vindictive punishment. The ads focus more on how the youth is a victim of circumstance rather than a perpetrator who willingly decides what to do. This makes sense in some way, as they are attempting to make the main character of this tragedy relatable and human at first, showing their downfall to scare people of their age into not following in their footsteps. If they showed rehabilitation they wouldn’t have as strong of a case to not do the drugs, as it puts hope into the equation and if they showed vindictive punishment they might keep the fear factor but they would also lose the protective nature of the law that they are trying to maintain.
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