History of Crime Class 1

Administrative Athletes Glossary Cell Phone reminder Quizzes returned at end of class

Review Crime is a social construct Crime myths are useful to the media and the government Media and government not trying to mislead the public

Today Processes of Stereotype and Myth Construction Historical Aspects of Crime Relationship of Crime and Sin Capital Punishment Who were the criminals? Key Points to Understand from Today

I. Processes of Stereotype and Myth Construction Creating Criminal Stereotypes Presentation of Opinion as Fact Masking Opinions through Sources and Selective Interviewing Value-loaded Terminology

I. Processes of Stereotype and Myth Construction Confusing Correlation with Causation Information Management Undocumented Sources of Authority

II. Historical Aspects of Crime Can you identify behavior which is now a crime but wasn’t in an earlier time period? Can you identify behavior which is now legal but was a crime in an earlier time period? What causes such changes in what we consider to be criminal behavior?

II. Historical Aspects of Crime Early Colonial Massachusetts – Jesuits forbidden to enter except by ship wreck or accident 1905 illegal for whites and blacks to play checkers together in any public park in Birmingham, Alabama

III. Relationship of Crime and Sin Blasphemy was often a crime Heresy was a more serious crime

III. Relationship of Crime and Sin Victimless crimes against public morality Examples of contemporary laws that are derived from notions of sin Are all such crimes victimless?

IV. Capital Punishment Used much more extensively in the colonial period than currently Some of the offenses were the same, especially murder Rape was also routinely a capital offense Benefit of clergy Impact of capital punishment

IV. Capital Punishment Adultery was a capital crime in colonial Massachusetts Whites and Blacks Sodomy and Buggery were capital crimes Recidivists subject to death penalty

V. Who Were the Criminals Overwhelmingly male Overwhelmingly lower class Religious, Ethnic and Racial Minorities

V. Who Were the Criminals Who are the people prosecuted and convicted today? Do the poor and the lower class really commit more crimes? What kinds of crimes do the well-off commit? How do we treat those crimes? Why?

VI. Key Points to Understand from Today Since crime is a social construct, crimes change as society changes In earlier time periods, crime and sin were seen as pretty much the same thing Capital punishment was much more frequent for a much wider array of offenses We tend to focus on crimes committed by the poor and lower classes and not on those committed by the wealthy This reflects who has the power to create the social construction of crime

Next Time Begin discussion of crime waves