Crime Waves and Fear of Crime Class 1

Administrative Give quiz

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 criminals

Today Images of Crime and Criminals What do the Data Show? Limitations of Crime Data What happened to Tyler Clementi and why? What does the public believe happened? How did the legal authorities respond? The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Bill Key Points from Today’s Class

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?

III. Limitations of Crime Data Definitional issues Who does the reporting? What do they report? Gaps in the data?

IV. 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)

V. 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?

VI. 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

VII. 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?

VIII. Key Points from Today’s Class Many crime waves are as much imaginary as real Crime Trends and Public Perceptions Crime data imperfect but still better than not having the data We often don’t know what we think we know about even well publicized crimes Our responses to crime panics are often not helpful

Next Time Begin section on violent crime