Comments on Chapter 8, Crime Types & PAPER TOPIC DESCRIPTION

Before posting some additional comments on Chapter 8 of Crime Types, just a couple reminders: (1) To earn 6 points, on a separate sheet of paper I want you to write answers to questions # 4, 10, 15, 21, 33, 35 from the midterm exam. I expect the answers to be correct and complete, and you may do this regardless of whether you missed these questions or not on the exam. Please turn this in by next Tuesday 10/28 along with your exam. (2) Green family report on Chapter 2 & Blue Family report on Chapter 3 will be heard tomorrow (Thurs. 10/23). And now for my addtional comments on Chapter 8:


I left off around p. 320 in the Introduction of Chapter 8.

1. Prosecutors prefer plea bargains because the average white collar defendant has a good legal defense team. Trials are long and expensive. (see last 2 paragraphs p. 321)

2. They are much less likely to go to prison.

3. Informal social control often is not effective. (see 1st paragraph p. 323, and note the reference to Braithwaite and his version of labeling theory)


#19 "The Crash of ValuJet Flight 592: A Case Study in State-Corporate Crime"

A. This article brings together the private and public sectors -- negligent federal regulators bear part of the blame.

B. Organizational crime theorists have relied on three basic concepts to explain the crimes committed by corporations and governments. (see last paragraph p. 333- 334. Sort of a combination of Anomie and Control theories.)

1. The authors even go as far as to say that: "...the goal of capital accumulation can be a highly criminogenic force for organizations." (p. 334)

C. Finally -- "A basic tenet of organizational crime theory is that low levels of external social control provides opportunities to engage in crime." (p. 335) which, I would add, may have some relevance to the current financial crisis.


#20 "The Twisted Road to Genocide: On the Psychological Development of Evil During the Holocaust"

A. Looks at how this horrific act "developed" -- that it was not a fluke or simply the product of a sole mad dictator.

1. "In reality, the mass murder of the Jews and of other peoples was only possible because it could draw on the mass support of all segments of German society and the military." (p. 340)

B. Just as individuals go through a process to become good or moral, likewise there is a psychological development toward evil. Or, one learns to become evil. "Evil and goodness do not 'spring' from inner depths; they are carefully nurtured qualities of the mind." (p. 345) which, to me, suggests the application of differential association or social learning to the organizational level.

1. "Ordinary people, cast in extreme circumstances and initially subjected to great pressures, can become unusually bad or good." (p. 346)


#21 "Recreational Abusers and Therapeutic Self-Medicators: Two Criminal Career Trajectories among Drug Using Pharmacists"

A. Apparently this is a fairly widespread practice in pharmacy schools. They had more of a social support network in school. But recreational use really took off when they got out and became practicing pharmacists.

B. "All of the respondents (50 pharmacists) drew upon their social status as pharmacists to convince themselves that their drug use would not progress into dependency." (p. 360) But IN EVERY CASE occasional prescription drug abuse eventually gave way to an advanced addictive state. (p. 361) which, to me, underscores the power of addiction over people who should know better.


***Please insert these notes in with my other comments on Chapter 8.
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PAPER TOPIC DESCRIPTION

Below is a write-up of the paper assignment for this course. I do not plan to hand out a hard copy of this assignment, so please refer to this blog post for the details of this assignment.

Sociology 220
Paper Topic
10/22/08

Locate 3 articles relevant to a particular crime type discussed in our text, Crime Types, which you have an interest in investigating more. In searching for these articles, you should focus on more popular publications such as newspapers, popular magazines, and, as a last resort, professional journals in criminology. The articles should each be at least roughly two pages long. In your paper I want you to discuss what insights these articles contain, as well as discuss how they relate to the analysis of that crime type in the text. Do the articles support, not support, or contradict the treatment of that crime type in the text? Finally, I want you to address the question of the implications of what you've learned about this type of criminal behavior for policies to better control or reduce it.

The paper should be roughly 6-7 pages, double-spaced typewritten. PLEASE TURN IN COPIES OF ALL THREE ARTICLES ALONG WITH YOUR PAPER. To cite any passages that you may quote in your paper, you may simply assign a number at the end of the quote and then put the source and page number at the end of the paper on an Endnotes page. This, of course, would include any passages from Crime Types that you might use in your paper. No bibliography is required since I will have the sources that you drew on.

This paper is due on THURSDAY, NOV. 20TH, at which time everyone will have a brief opportunity to summarize your findings for the class (5 minutes, tops). The paper is worth 50 points, and the presentation 5 points.