Chapter 5 - PowerPoint Presentation

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Chapter 5

Violence in Society: Rape and MurderSlide2

The Problem in Sociological PerspectiveViolence:

the use of force to injure people or to destroy their property

Types of Violence

Situational group violence

: unplanned and spontaneous

Organized group violence

: planned but unauthorized

Institutionalized group violence

: violence carried out by agents of the government

Anti-institutional violence

: violence directed against the government in violation of the lawSlide3

What Makes Violence a Social Problem?The amount of violence (an objective condition) does not make violence a social problem.

Subjective concerns about violence make it a social problem.

When deciding whether a particular violent behavior is a problem, people ask the following questions:

What do the actors intend by their action?

Does violence conform to, or violate, social norms and values?

Does the violence support or threaten the social order?

Is the violent committed by or against the government?Slide4

Rate Of ViolenceNumber of violent crimes for each 100,000 Americans Always be wary of crime statisticsSlide5
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Figure 5.3

– How Countries Compare in Rape and MurderSlide7

Looking at the Problem TheoreticallyBiological Explanations

Cesare

Lombroso (1835–1909)

Atavistic:

biological throwbacks to earlier period when humanity was violent and primitive

Konrad

Lorenz (1966)

Claimed that evolution was the key to explaining violence

Psychologist John Dollard

Frustration–Aggression Theory of Violence

Problems with biological approachSlide8

Psychological TheoriesBehavior Modification – Operant ConditioningStress that if some behavior is rewarded (“reinforced”), that behavior will occur againModelingCopying another person’s behavior

Problems with psychological approach

Sociological approach to understanding violence

Sociologists stress environmental causes

Examine how social life shapes and encourages—or discourages—violenceSlide9

FunctionalismEmile Durkheim: asking the sociological question…functions of crime?

Crimes affirm a society’s norms and values

Recognizing crime = line between right and wrong

Brings people together

Social change

Violence/crime is normal

Anomie

: feelings of disconnectedness and anxietySlide10

Robert Merton: Strain TheoryUsed Durkheim’s anomie to explain crime in the U.S.Success becomes a cultural goalCultural Means: ways to reach cultural goalStrain (or frustration and anxiety) that comes from limited means may motivate some to commit crime

Strain Theory explains why high crime rates exist among poor minorities—they experience fewer means to achieve successSlide11

Gottfredson and Hirschi: Control TheoryControl Theory: places root cause of committing illegal acts on a lack of self-control

Causes of low self-control are negative and tend to show themselves in the absence of nurture, discipline, or training

Ineffective child-rearing practices are the major cause of low self control

Internal/External controls

Minimum requirements of effective child rearing:

Adequate monitoring of the child’s behavior

Recognition of deviant behavior when it occurs

Fair and consistent punishment of such behavior when it occursSlide12

Symbolic Interactionism

Edwin Sutherland: Differential Association

People learn violence by interacting with other violent individuals.

People learn techniques, attitudes, motives, drives, and rationalizations for violence.

Excess of definitions

Most significant interactions in which people learn violence take place earliest in life, are the most frequent, endure the longest, and are the most emotional or meaningful.

Mechanisms for learning violence are the same as those used to learn nonviolence.Slide13

Marvin Wolfgang: Subcultures of ViolenceSubcultural TheoryPeople who grow up in subculture that approves violent behavior have higher chance of becoming violentFitting the theories together

Theories complement one another well

Subcultural

theory stresses that violence is woven into the life of some groups.

Differential association explains how people learn that violence is a suitable response from other violent people.Slide14

Conflict TheoryViolence is inherent in society

Social classes find themselves competing over limited resources.

Essential division is between owners of production and workers.

Situation is particularly tense for working-class males.

Look beneath the surface and realize that capitalist class is actually more violent than the working class.

Form of violence that distinguishes workers from capitalistsSlide15

Research FindingsTwo most serious forms of physical violence:

rape

and

murder

Forcible Rape

: form of assault where one forces another to have any type of sexual relations against that person’s will

Statutory Rape

: sexual intercourse between an adult and a minorSlide16

RapeRape perceived as social

rather than

personal

problem

Feminists: traditional definition of rape places blame on the victim, not perpetrator

Feminist revision removed burden of guilt from victim and placed on perpetrator

Rape is an outcome of

patriarchy

:

control by men of a disproportionately large share of power

Legal definitions of rape changed and replaced with

Criminal Sexual AssaultSlide17

The Social Patterns of RapeFBI: 89,000 American women are forcibly raped each year

The National Crime Victimization Survey

Predictable social patterns

Acquaintanceship; place; time; season; age; income; race–ethnicity; geography; region; weapon

Sociologists conclude that rape is not the act of a few sick men, but, rather, is intimately linked to our patriarchal culture.

Injury, rape, and resistance

Woman who resists her attacker less likely to be raped, but more likely to be injuredSlide18

Profiling the Rapist10 profiles of rapists based on confessions:

Woman Hater

Sadist

Generally Violence-prone

Revenge

Political

Soldier Rape: rape committed by a soldier on a country’s inhabitants during wartime

Walter

Mitty

rapist

Opportunist

Date Rapists, also called Acquaintance Rapists

Recreational Rapist

Husband rapist attacks his own wifeSlide19

Reactions to RapeThe trauma of rape

Does not end with the physical attack

Dealing with their trauma

Expressive

or

Controlled

Dealing with the legal system

Police departments have grown more sensitive to rape victims

In only 40% of reported rapes is someone arrested

“Legal Rape”

Homosexual rapeSlide20

MurderThe social patterns of murder

Least likely to be committed by a stranger

Perpetrators share characteristics of social class, sex, age, and race–ethnicity with rapists

Men as killers identify guns as masculine

Most dangerous time of the week is Saturday night

Saturday Night Specials refer to any inexpensive handgun

U.S. murder rates have plunged 43%Slide21
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Explaining Social PatternsAcquaintanceship: most killed by someone they know

Poverty

: Conflict Theory—people in poverty may be striking out at one another instead of at their oppressors.

Functionalists

adopt both strain theory and control theory.

The meaning behind murder:

Symbolic Interaction

—in some poor subcultures criminal behavior enhances a person’s reputation.

Social classes also resolve disputes differently.Slide28
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Killing as a manly act: the measure of one’s capacity as a manWomen are less likely to be socialized into violenceRacial–ethnic differencesAfrican Americans kill at a higher rate than other races.

More likely to be poor

Subculture identifies masculinity with the willingness to defend oneself aggressively

Interracial patterns: Functionalists stress a connection between race–ethnicity and moneySlide30

Mass Murder: killing of four or more people in a single episodeSerial Murder: killing of several people in three or more separate eventsFour social policies for prevention of violence:

Programs that teach equality

Social policies that increase the likelihood that rapists will be punished

Support research to determine how our culture creates a climate of violence

Gun controlSlide31

The Future of the ProblemConflict theory

indicates that tensions will remain in our society

Functionalist perspective

explains that violence is functional enough to be perpetuated and

maintained

Symbolic interactionist

perspective focuses on violence as a cultural symbol used to resolve conflict

Sociological perspective

on violence essential to understanding our present and future state

Understanding of the

social basis of violence

can be used

to implement beneficial solutionsSlide32

The Mass Media and ViolenceThere is no single cause of violence in US societyMost researchers agree that mass media play a part in the problemToday’s young people live in a world dominated by the mass media, and violence is an ever-growing part of that cultureMost analysts agree that violence in the media affects everyone by desensitizing people to violenceSlide33

Poverty and ViolencePoverty itself as a form of violence that US society inflicts on peopleLow income people are highly represented as both victims and offenders of violent crimesMost violent crime in poor neighborhoods is a work of a small number of repeat offendersSlide34

Youth Gangs and ViolenceYouth gangs can be:Nonviolent groupsThose who sometimes clash over turfAll-out criminal organizationsTypical violent gang members:Come from poor, single-parent families

Are from neighborhoods characterized by high crime rates, drug abuse, and limited job opportunitiesSlide35

Drugs and ViolenceDrugs contribute to violence by distorting judgment and reducing inhibitionsAddictions can cause cravings so strong that the search for the next high may lead some people to violence and sometimes even to neglecting or abusing their children