Final Project Planning: Let's Do This

I'm going to start with a general definition of conflict theory- the idea that society needs to function based off inequalities and positive/negative sanctions, that not everything can be right and just for the world to work.

Then I'll take that theory and intertwine it with the ways these three case studies shaped Society, even today.

I'll take Jack The Ripper - his was the first use of criminal profiling in the case of a serial killer. It also brought much attention to the East End in London, where the killings happened. This case helped highlight the areas of poverty and changed the way people looked at crime in poorer areas, the first time they considered crimes in poor areas might be complex rather than out of necessity. Criminal profilers today recognize that serial killers may oftentimes start their kills in poorer areas, with people who might not be noticed if missing.

The Zodiac Killer was kind of the same way, only I'll also talk about how he brought serial killing to light in Northern America, and also the fear he inspired throughout the West Coast. It's sort of the weakest point I have so far, I'll spend this weekend studying other cases to use, maybe. I'm sure I can find a better one.

The 9/11 Terrorist Attack will focus on the after effects, how security in airports and bus terminals and buildings were heightened, how large cities are still reeling from the effects of the attacks, and how we as a nation felt it more than, say, the police force, although things in the police force did change, obviously.

I'll tie these changes back in with conflict theory, and wrap it all up saying how these changes were necessary  for society to grow and change and function and would have had to happen at one point or another.

Final Study

At this point, I think I've finally figured out my study:

Three case studies, laden with archival research and naturalistic observation, all about the effects violent crime has on our society. I'm going to take three specific cases and draw parallels between them, and tie in conflict theory- the idea that we need to have conflict in order to have, well, order.

The first case will probably be Jack the Ripper, because let's be honest, I like Ripper and he's an early enough and infamous enough killer to have shaped the whole of the nineteen hundreds.

The second case will be the Zodiac, because he was more focused in the natural, sort of idealistic American setting, and definitely shaped American investigative work, specifically.

The third case, I think, will be the September 11th attacks on the United States- it's a sort of different act of violent crime we don't think about very often, because it falls so specifically under the branch of "terrorism", but is a violent crime none the less, and has severely impact us in later society, to the point where our generation can easily pinpoint a "before" and "after" society that evolved from the attacks.

I'll draw parallels between these cases and how they fit into the general conflict theory, which I'll dive more into and explain more in detail, and offer specific examples in our daily lives that were shaped by these incidents, acting under the thesis that society needs violent crime to function, believe it or not. 

Research, Research, and More Research...

Okay, so I'm a little stuck.

Completely stuck would actually probably be more accurate. I have genuinely no clue what to do for this project. I guess it's mostly my own fault because hello, I can't quite go and park myself in Newark for a couple hours and see what I find. That's not really a thing that will work out too well for me, at least not that I think, anyway.

I also don't want to do just archival research. I spend a huge chunk of my time already reading up on things like this because violent crime is interesting beyond recognition, but this kind of feels like more of an opportunity to go and find something out, rather than just make connections through exciting things that other people have already done.

An experiment could totally be done with the effects of violent crime in the media... I could pick a violent movie, sit a few people down to watch it, then observe them afterwards- I could even throw in a bit of provocation, enlist a friend to be an annoyance on the street or something, but I think that all comes from me watching way too much "What Would You Do?". It might be a bit too complicated to actually go into, and with my luck I'd wind up completely throwing the results by not properly defining something, so I'll scratch that for now.

Maybe it's just my bias, but I don't think a survey would work here. Think about it, how many people would genuinely answer that they feel more violent after watching a violent film or something, or how many would answer honestly about that time they got into a fist fight while pissed out of their mind at a grad week party? Not too many, unless it was done anonymously, and even then I have my doubts.

I could do a case study, take a famous killer and see exactly how they've influenced current society and the media- like Jack The Ripper, for example. His (or her- they never found the culprit) case was one of the most influential of the time, and completely changed the way a lot of people tend to look at cases of serial killers. That seems like the most logical thing to do, at this point. I just have to decide on which killer to study, and what connections I'm going to make.

Hmmm. This could work.

Serial Killers: Why?

Okay, okay, you all got to see me be a massive nerd in class because of how much I like this topic, but seriously, once you get past the gore and terror, serial killers are fascinating. There are so many insane variations of people who fall into the topic of "serial killer" that it's so vast to study.

Example: You get people like The Zodiac killer, who killed thirty seven men and women in the 1960s-70s, and sent encrypted notes to local police forces, notes that some say were asking for help to stop. He was never caught. It's suspected he committed suicide, which is supported by the recent cracking of one of his letters. (Read the article, at least the bit at the end where the note's contents are. It's so crazy!)

Also along the same lines, is Jack The Ripper, who roamed the streets of London in the late 1880s, snatching women off the streets, killing them, and, in later murders, taking small body parts (ear, spleen, etc.). Those are "souvenirs" or "trophies" of the crime (the two terms actually mean different things, but since The Ripper was never caught, it's unclear as to which these may fall into, although it's most likely the second category). Jack The Ripper, like The Zodiac killer, sent letters to the local police forces, telling them that he (or she, there's speculation that The Ripper was a girl) had "done their work" and always addressed the letter "Dear Boss". Creepy, right? But also insanely interesting.

Then, on the flip side, there's people like The Green River Killer, who killed forty plus people, and walked away laughing once he was caught. He showed absolutely no sign of remorse.He never asked for help, and once in custody he told, proudly, of more bodies that the police hadn't even come close to finding.

It's terrifying, we can all agree, absolutely terrifying, and almost unfathomable that a person can be capable of such a horrible crime, of such horrible crimes in the plural, but it's also fascinating. How do people come to be like this? Is it the double Y theory? Is it something they're raised to do? Maybe they're born with it? (Maybe it's Maybelline? No? Awful joke? Moving on...)

So why do you think they do it? There's really no wrong answer when we're talking so generally, not about one specific person. What could be motivation? Could psychological disorders fit into it? How do sociological aspects fit into the profile of a serial killer? What do you think? 


(and, if you're interested in things like this, some movies I'd definitely recommend would totally be:
Zodiac (2007 - Fincher), The Capture of the Green River Killer (2008 - Lifetime). And, if you're like Mrs. Wren and like TV over film, check out Criminal Minds. They have real F.B.I. members consulting on the show to make sure it's accurate, and they reference some of the most famous cases.)

Criminology

You know how people on cooking shows will be like "Oh, good, a desert challenge, this is my playground!". Well, I've been pretty excited for this section, because serial killers and criminology are kind of my playground.

Don't give me that look, we all want to study things we like, and things like this fascinates me and it's what I know best! I mean, that's not to say I've had close contact with killers or anything... at least as far as I know... but it's where my field of study lies. I've wanted to go into go into and research criminology and serial killers and behavioral analysis and victimology and things like that since before I can properly remember. Even as we speak, one of the tabs I have open is the course requirements for the criminology department of a school I'm applying to, another for the forensic psych program, where some of the courses overlap. It's interesting beyond measure to me, which explains my excitement about this section.

I don't have an article or video or anything, though I will tell you if you're interested in serial killers or other types of criminals  in mass media (i.e., crime shows), you should check out Criminal Minds, a show that runs on CBS on Wednesdays at nine, but I do have a question. For those of you who are interested in criminology and forensic psychology/sociology, what do you think the most common misconception is about crime/criminals/killers, etc.? I know it's a bit of a gory topic, but hey, I guess I can pass it off as it being close to Halloween, but I guess you guys'll all know the truth- that I genuinely like studying weird stuff.

Social Deviance: Why?

After a prolonged break, brought to you in part by the inconveniently timed Senior Retreat and our awful Laptops (Seriously, though, my Sys32 file deleted itself on Friday, so on Sunday I hunted down Mr. Hotz at the open house and interrupted him giving a tour to beg him to fix my laptop... Somewhere out there there's a prospective IHA girl whose family thinks our school is made up of hysterical, rude girls... they might be right.)

Anyway, moving right along. We've been talking about social deviance a whole lot in class lately, which fits into my topic nicely. Violent Crime, in itself, is a social deviance. You don't see people stabbing each other or robbing each other every day, because it's not a social norm. I found this article on Social Deviance, and how it relates to Crime, and why it relates to Crime, Biologically, Socially, etc.

You don't have to read the whole thing, as it's kind of wordy, but it's interesting. Why do you think people commit violent crimes? If it's a social deviancy, how do people learn it? Would criminals be considered a counter culture?

When we heard the word "criminal", we think of hardened criminals- murderers, robbers, rapists, etc. But on the other hand, what about something like that scene in Disney's Aladdin- "I steal only what I can't afford- but that's everything!"? Does that make people who are only trying to survive social deviants? People who commit crimes of "necessity"?

What do you think?

We spent a lot of time in class talking about social media, like facebook, twitter, tumblr- how they keep us connected and involved in the lives of people around us. But does social media have an impact on violent crime in any way? We know facebook can make groups, and twitter you can tag anyone in it that you need to, so long as it's under 160 characters, and no one has to know what you're planning or talking about, depending on the privacy of whatever site and account you're using. Could these be too-helpful aids in planning violent crimes?

Here's an example: during the Riots in England this year, the British government threatened to track all suspicious tweets, even text messages- does this mean the riots were being planned online? No, not necessarily, but social media sites could have been a part of it, absolutely.

What do you think? Are social media sites catalysts to violent crime? Could they be? Do you know any times where they definitely have been?

The Social Effect of Batman

This is going to be really self indulgent, because I get to talk about one of my favorite things: the (newer) Batman Movie Franchise.

A friend of mine linked me to the documentary "The Psychology of the Dark Knight" a while back, and while admittedly I'm a documentary junkie, this was also just really interesting on a regular level, too. It's not too long- only about forty five minutes- but it's really worth it, I promise.

It focuses intensely on the psychology of the characters- the hero complex of Bruce Wayne, the guilt complex which drives him to create his alter-ego, the unadulterated violence of The Joker, so on and so forth. While these are all psychological characteristics, they are shown and glorified at large, effecting entire societies at large.

While I've been focusing on Violent Crime in the Media and what makes people act on the crime they see, now I'm wondering how people react to the violence they see. When things like this are, like I said, glorified in films such as Batman, where the main character is acting under good intentions, but the violence is still present. Those are conflicting ideas- violence for good? How does that make us feel? What are common views about violent crime, and how does media affect them?

Anyway, watch the documentary if you want and see what you think! (It's one of my favorites of all time!)

Children's Exposure to Violent Crime

I'm not going to lie, I was struggling to figure out what to write for this week, until I stumbled across this article, and ideas hit me like a freight truck.

The main point of the article shows that children's exposure to real life violent crime (living in a house with a victim of rape, domestic abuse, etc.) has gone down dramatically since the 1990's. From 1993 to 2010, studies have shown that children's exposed to violent crime has gone down a whopping 68%, from 8.7 million to 2.8 million, which is absolutely crazy.

Researchers think this is because now a days so many clinics and programs and legal help centers are available for victims of crime that action is taken before it can affect a child, which is terrific, as prolonged experience with violent crime in childhood can lead to adolescent and adult depression, anxiety and antisocial tendencies.

What does this say about our culture as Americans? Are we finally becoming more aware of victims and helping them, instead of blaming them or keeping them quiet? Lately movements for rape victims and domestic abuse victims have become widespread, whereas before subjects like those were mostly taboo.

What do you think? Are we become more understanding, or are things just looking up on their own?

A Focus on Media

A huge focus of mine when it comes to violent crime revolves around the idea that violent crime in the media affects us as a whole society. We see action films with chase scenes and combat scenes and just general streetfighting scenes, and while they're interesting and exciting for us as movie-watches to see, what affects do they have on the overall population who watches them and possibly learns from them?

This article explains the forms of violence in the media that children and adolescents are exposed to, and the long term influence these media outlets could have on children throughout their life. The article itself it chocked full of facts about the film and media industry and how they work with the portrayal of violent crime. 15% of music videos have some form of impersonal violence. Television programs overall show an average of 812 violent acts per hour. Most children will watch 200,000 acts of violence on television by the time they turn 18.

But exactly what input does that have on how we act in social groups, or what we think about violence in general. Sure, it's been drilled into our heads since we started watching TV that its influence is greater than we could imagine, but is it really? This article say yes. It states that children under four cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy, and may therefor become immune to the idea of excessive violence and may grow up to think it is a normal occurrence. Ideas of a hero complex where the hero is violent and then worshiped for being so lodge in the minds of children and could have serious affects on problem solving as they grow up. With the whole population acting on ideas such as this, does that make us as a whole society more violent, simply because of the culture we live in? It seems crazy to think we, as Americans- civilized, self-sufficient, intelligent Americans- could be predisposed to violence and things we almost think of as barbaric, just because of the things we watch and the society we live in.

My question is, what do you think? We've all sat down with a good superhero movie, or even a horror or action thriller, but does that make us more susceptible to break out into a fight? Because I watched the latest Batman film, does that mean I'm doing to infiltrate Wall Street, or take out a couple dozen cops or so?

What do you think, how does violence in the media affect our ways of thinking and interacting?

An Introduction, of sorts.

On November 20th, 1976, my father was shot outside a bar on Broadway in Manhattan.

The man who shot him had a small handgun, one that could be purchased in any second-rate gun shop at the time. The provocation was a bar fight involving my uncle that my father stepped into to protect his best friend. Neither he nor my uncle were armed. He was twenty three years old at the time.

As a direct result of the shooting, my father became one 100% paralyzed from the waist down, and now can only walk with the use of crutches.

My own dad was a victim of violent crime.

It's jarring to think about this, especially in such a personalized matter. Statistically, though, violent crime is less of a scary thought and more of a terrifying reality. It runs rampant on our news circuits, is reported every single day, no matter where you live or who you are. There's hardly a single person in this world who hasn't been affected in some way by the spread of violent crime.

Why are we so fascinated by violent crime? Movies are made glorifying it, crime dramas continually scrape the top of the television charts, murder mystery novels were once the highest selling genre of books in the entire American market. Statistically, in one way or another, crime affects the whole world, both negatively and positively.

It's my goal to find out why, and to understand how, violent crime is persistently in the forefront of the American mind, and the Global mind. It means loads to me, coming from a place where my life has been personally affected by violent crime, and since criminology is something I plan to spend my whole life studying, this seems like a good place to start.


Question: Have you, your family, or friends ever been affected by violent crime of any sorts?