Follow-ups to Chapter 7 & Chapter 5

Before I begin to re-cap these two chapters, let me, again, remind you to check out the description of the next essay assignment connected with the documentary I will be showing next Tuesday 11/4. That description can be found at the previous blog post, on Wed., Oct. 29th.


First, my comments on Chapter 7 which I did not get to yesterday in class:

#16 "Drugs-Crime Connections: Elaborations from the Life Histories of Hard Core Heroin Addicts"

A. Looks at the basic question: do drugs cause crime or does crime cause drugs?

1. Basically, addicts said their drug and criminal activities began independently, but eventually became intertwined, which makes sense.

B. Two general factors shape the drug and crime careers of respondents: (1) availability -- more you had, more you did; less available it was most addicts could adjust by reducing consumption. (2) life-structure -- "...regularly occuring patterns of daily domestic, occupational, recreational, or criminal activity."

C. The article makes an important point about when heroin becomes the most destructive -- when that larger "life-structure" is deteriorated. See middle paragraph on p. 274, under heading: The Free-Wheeling Junkie -- High Availability/Low Life Structure.

D. We must seek to improve that life structure -- sense of order and purpose -- to rehabilitate the heroin addict.


#17 "The Miami Sex-for-Crack Market Revisited"

A. No question that prostitution and crack cocaine use are related. Also includes a public health warning about having sex in some of these crack houses -- that they are at extreme risk of contracting HIV.

#18 "An Analysis of Women's Involvement in Prostitution"

A. This is an unpublished paper which I believe is poorly written, filled with jargon, and based on only 21 interviews.

B. One interesting point which was touched on in the class report is the irony of fining these women for their behavior. "Fining women involved in prostitution for their prostitution-related offenses is paradoxical. Many of them simply did not have the financial resources to pay their fines. The obvious irony is that the criminal justice system, itself, created the conditions that both justified these women's continued involvement in prostitution as well as trapped them within it" (p. 296)



Chapter 5 Burglary

A. Recent NCVS data suggest that crimes against property account for more than three-fourths of all criminal victimizations, and roughly one in six property crimes is a household burglary. Estimates indicate that 3,139,700 households were burglarized in 2001. Total of $2.9 billion in losses, not to mention the emotional trauma of the victims.

1. Yet the rate of burglary has dropped nearly 75% over the past three decades. In 1973 there were 110 per 1,000 households compared to 28.7 per 1,000 in 2001.

2. Perhaps surprisingly, the rural rate is higher than the suburban rate, which is the lowest. This is probably due to greater prevalence of neighborhood watch programs, more police patrols, in suburban areas. This lends credence to the routine activities theory. (see bottom, p. 172)

3. Also surprising, this is one crime where the U.S. compares favorably with many other countries. (see top, p. 173)

B. A significant point is that this type of crime also depends on a thriving UNDERGROUND ECONOMY, consisting of FENCES (people willing to handle stolen goods) and consumers willing to buy this stolen merchandise. (Flea markets are notorious for being places where stolen goods are sold.)

C. Under the "cognitive aspects of burglary," Dabney notes the "shallow instrumental motives" -- burglars become accustomed to a fast-paced lifestyle and/or are addicted to drugs "thus (they) continue to commit burglaries in the face of increasing risks and diminishing rewards." (p. 176)

1. Although obviously some planning is involved -- "Research indicates that most burglars engage in only minimal pre-event planning....Indeed, they tend to operate in a somewhat spontaneous fashion, exploiting opportunities as they arise." (p. 177)

2. 56% of incarcerated burglars in one survey were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time they committed their last offense. But a urinalysis of arrested offenders found 80% to have drugs or alcohol in their system.

a) Some use drugs to enhance their performance (botttom, p. 178), such as Malcolm X who talked about snorting cocaine before going out to burglarize.

3. Burglars tend to depend on others such as getting inside information about whether a home is vacant or what valuables might be in a home.

D. Arrest rate is only 13% (which might suggest the relevance of deterrence theory since the certainty of punishment in so low).

E. Informal controls (eg., neighborhood crime watch) are important to deter burglary activity. Even neighbors just getting together to clean up their neighborhood might send a deterrence message to would-be burglars.


#11 "A Woman's Place Is in the Home: Females and Residential Burglary"

A. Profiles female burglars who share a lot of the characteristics with males, but in some cases even more so -- eg., that they almost always work with others. Also, women tend to start at an older age than males.

B. Confirms an observation I made about feminist criminological theories which claim bias against women in our criminal justice system. This is NOT the case here; if anything women got more lenient treatment. (See middle, p. 187)


#12 "Operational Parameters in the Stolen Property System"

A. Examines the property theft system (or business) from a marketing perspective -- such as the role of supply and demand.

B. Makes a very good point about how many studies have focused on the individual criminal apart from the social system with which he connects, which the authors contend is short-sighted. See especially p. 194 (almost the entire page which brings this point out well).

1. The authors get rather detailed about how this Stolen Propety System works, especially how the thief and the fence interact.

__________________________

That's all for now. Incorporate the above comments in your notes for the class. Also, only one family has turned in their two proposed short-answer questions (and answers). The rest of the families need to do that soon. By next Tuesday (11/4), if at all possible. I will be adding some concluding comments on Crime Types as a whole, probably on Tuesday 11/11.