Violent Crimes

Class 1 – Missing Children

Administrative

Give quiz

Make sure you keep track of quizzes, journals and paper proposal

Review

• Social construction of crime

• History of Crime

• Crime Waves/Crime Panics

Today

I. The Crime of the Twentieth Century

II. The Response by the Public and the Government

III. The Federalization of Crime

IV. Missing children

V. Danger in schools

I. The Crime of the Twentieth Century

March 1, 1932 baby of Charles and Anna Lindbergh kidnapped

Ransom was demanded and paid Baby was dead Suspect arrested Tried, convicted and executed

II. The Response by the Public and the Government

Public completely outraged by the crime

Demands for action and to make sure this couldn’t happen again

Result was passage of “The Lindbergh Law” by Congress

III. Federalization of Crime

Most crimes are local

Most are dealt with by state or local authorities

Lindbergh Law was major step toward increasing federal role in law enforcement

IV. Missing Children

Myth of Missing Children– Missing children and sexual exploitation of

children– Results of most child disappearances

V. Danger in Schools

Incidents as in Columbine and Newtown have people worried about the safety of their children in schools

NRA has recommended that teachers carry guns or that armed guards be posted

How dangerous are schools?

Next Time

Serial Killers

Violent Crime

Class 2 – Serial Killers

Administrative

Return Quiz at end of class

Collect paper proposals

Mid-term examination

Review

Crimes Against Children– Myth that Missing Children and Sexually Exploited

Children are the Same Problem– Most missing children have run away– Most abducted children not abducted by strangers

Story of the Lindbergh Kidnapping and its Role in the Creation of the Myth of Child Abductions

Today

I. Nature of Crime Panics

II. Creation of the Serial Killer Panic

III. Defining Serial Killers

IV. Genuine Scale of the Problem

V. The Lewis Lent Case

VI. The Ted Bundy Case

I. Nature of Crime Panics

Often based in part on xenophobia and anti-immigrant prejudice

Can be used by agencies to help build support for their missions

Doesn’t mean there is no real foundation

II. Creation of the Serial Killer Panic

Problem of getting accurate numbers Source of the numbers Serial Murder Panic and Federal

Government Linkage of serial murder to children

III. Defining Serial Killers

Serial killers versus mass murderers

Definitional issues

IV. Genuine Scale of the Problem

Seems problem did grow after late 1960s

The 1971-87 serial murder wave

Greater dangers than serial murder

How are most of the serial killers we catch caught?

V. The Lewis Lent Case

Sara Anne Wood disappearance

The Lent confession

What do we know and what was the public led to believe?

VI. The Ted Bundy Case

Bundy Background

Notice how ordinary all of this seems and how many people he impressed

VI. The Ted Bundy Case

Arrests and conviction

What do we know?

Next Time

Murder and Stalking

Violent Crimes

Class 3 – Murder and Stalking

Administrative

Anyone have paper proposal to submit?

Will return paper proposals and talk about papers at end of class

Turn in journals

Schedule mid-term

Review

Crime as a social construct History of crime Crime Waves Myths about crime against children Myths about serial killers Recent Example of Passing Laws too Quickly

Today

I. Murder Variations

II. Creation of the Stalking Myth

III. Defining and Measuring Stalking

IV. Legal Responses to the Stalking Myth

V. Nature of Most Stalking Behavior

VI. Consequences of Criminalization

VII. The John Hinckley Story

I. Murder Variations

Stereotypes and Myths about murder?

Do homicide rates vary significantly between the USA and other countries?

Examples

Why such sharp differences?

I. Murder Variations

U.S. homicide rate

How does this compare to other types of violent death– Vehicle accidents– Suicide

II. Creating the Stalking Myth

Background of stalking and the law

Focus on sensational celebrity cases

Ability of celebrities to help create mythology

Emotion-laden terminology

III. Defining and Measuring Stalking

How is stalking defined?

How should we define stalking?

IV. Legal Response to the Stalking Myth

Why the flurry of laws?

1989 there were no statutes

This all happened in the absence of a precise definition and any analysis of the seriousness of the problem

V. Nature of Most Stalking Behavior

Hard to know how extensive it is without clear definition

Researchers who find it extensive usually define it broadly

Gender patterns Behaviors Most common stalking patterns

VI. Consequences of Criminalization

Stalking and other criminal charges

Stalking and the power to arrest

Stalking and punishment

VII. The John Hinckley Story

Do you know who he is?

Background

The Jodie Foster Obsession

VII. The John Hinckley Story

Attempts to get Foster’s attention

The Assassination attempt

Message to Foster before the attempt on Reagan

VII. The John Hinckley Story

The trial

The public reaction

Hinckley since

Next Time

Organized Crime

Violent Crime

Class 4 – Organized Crime

Administrative

Any questions about where we are or what we are doing?

Anyone have paper proposal to return

Will return journals. Don’t forget that next time must respond to all comments and questions

Review

Murder in the US and elsewhere Creation of the stalking myth Laws rushed to passage without thinking

through the implications Most stalking nonviolent and most by men

trying to continue domestic relationships The John Hinckley affair

Today

I. The Organized Crime Myth

II. The Mafia story and U.S. Culture

III. New Businesses of Organized Crime

IV. State-organized Crime

V. Alternative solutions

I. The Organized Crime Myth

Define the term – organized crime

What kinds of criminal activities are involved?

I. The Organized Crime Myth

What is the “Mafia?”

What is the “Syndicate?”

What is the “Cosa Nostra?”

The Mafia Myth in the United States

II. The Mafia Story and U.S. Culture

Why was the Mafia Story so easy to establish and hard to eliminate in the United States?

What is the alternative narrative to the organized crime myth?

How is organized crime organized?

III. New Businesses of Organized Crime

Crime has internationalized Relatively new businesses

– Arms trafficking– Contraband smuggling– Illegal dumping of hazardous wastes

IV. State-Organized Crimes

What is a state-organized crime?

Examples?

Does government actively attempt to eliminate or reduce this behavior?

V. Alternative Solutions

How do we try to address this problem now?

Given the nature of organized crime, what solutions might be successful?

Next Time

Economic and Consensual Crime

We’ll be showing a movie so we need to choose snacks!