Crime Waves and Fear of Crime

Class 1

Administrative

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Remember to check announcements a couple of times every week

Review

Social Construction of Crime History of Crime

– Behaviors that are and are not criminal change over time

– Relationship in the past of crime and sin– Capital crimes were much more common– One thing that hasn’t changed much is

demographic make-up of crime

Today

I. Images of Crime and Criminals

II. What do the Data Show?

III. Limitations of Crime Data

IV. “Recent” Crime Waves/Panics

I. Images of Crime and Criminals

What do we picture when we think about crime?

Why is this what we picture?

How accurate is this picture?

What is a crime wave?

II. What Do the Data Show?

Does crime get worse over time?

Why do so many people have the impression that it does?

II. What Do the Data Show?

2011 City Crime Rate Rankings Nationally highest are Camden N.J., Detroit

Mi., Flint, Mi., St. Louis, Mo. and Oakland, Ca.

Nationally lowest are Fishers, In., Johns Creek, Ga., O’Fallon Mo., Carmel, In. and Newton, Ma.

II. What do the Data Show?

2012 City Crime Rate Rankings (only cities over 500,000)

Highest are Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

Lowest are El Paso, San Diego, New York, Austin, and San Jose, Ca.

II. What Do the Data Show?

Rankings of major cities in New York State– Yonkers 185*– New York 210– Albany 313– Syracuse 331– Rochester 386– Buffalo 405

III. Limitations of Crime Data

Definitional issues

Who does the reporting?

What do they report?

Gaps in the data?

IV. “Recent” Crime Waves/Panics

The McCarthy Period (1940s and 1950s)

The Drug Crime Scare (1980s)

Immigration Scare (2000s)

In each case, what did the data show?

Next Time

An example of the response to a crime wave

Crime Waves and Fear of Crime

Class 2

Administrative

Return quizzes

Review

Our data about crime are highly imperfect

No evidence crime is becoming a worse problem – which doesn’t prevent our politicians from claiming it is

Crime waves often based on hysteria rather than hard evidence

Today

I. What happened to Tyler Clementi and why?

II. What does the public believe happened?

III. How did the legal authorities respond?

IV. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Bill

I. What Happened to Tyler Clementi and Why

Roommate set up webcam so he (and others) could watch Clementi during date

Watched during date and commented online Clementi became aware and unplugged roommate’s

computer so second attempt unsuccessful Clementi reported roommate’s action to Rutgers

authorities Clementi committed suicide (jumped off George

Washington Bridge)

II. What Does the Public Believe Happened?

That Ravi and his friends outed Clementi

That Ravi posted pictures of Clementi having gay sex on the internet

Does the falsity of these beliefs matter? Should it matter?

III. How Did the Legal Authorities Respond

Plea bargaining with Dharun Ravi’s friend Molly Wei for her testimony

Charged Ravi with 15 counts of four different offenses

Offered Ravi plea bargains which he rejected Verdict and sentence

IV. The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Bill

Introduced less than two months after Clementi’s death

Requires colleges to have anti-harassment policies

Is this a sensible response?– Is this a major problem susceptible to legal resolution– Are there adequate laws on the books– Will this result in negative unintended consequences?

Next Time

Begin section on violent crime