Podcast
Questions and Answers
What defines a subculture within a larger culture?
What defines a subculture within a larger culture?
Which of the following describes the subculture of violence according to Wolfgang and Ferracuti?
Which of the following describes the subculture of violence according to Wolfgang and Ferracuti?
How might exposure to violence impact police officers' behavior?
How might exposure to violence impact police officers' behavior?
Which statement best describes the norms within a subculture of violence?
Which statement best describes the norms within a subculture of violence?
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What is one of the ways substance abuse influences violence according to the information provided?
What is one of the ways substance abuse influences violence according to the information provided?
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What can be said about the relationship between socioeconomic status and the subculture of violence?
What can be said about the relationship between socioeconomic status and the subculture of violence?
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Which statement accurately describes the link between firearm availability and violence?
Which statement accurately describes the link between firearm availability and violence?
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What significant change occurred in Canadian laws regarding rape in 1983?
What significant change occurred in Canadian laws regarding rape in 1983?
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Which factor contributes to a higher prevalence of violence in certain communities?
Which factor contributes to a higher prevalence of violence in certain communities?
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What is a potential outcome for individuals raised in a subculture of violence when offended?
What is a potential outcome for individuals raised in a subculture of violence when offended?
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Which level of sexual assault involves the use of a weapon or results in bodily harm?
Which level of sexual assault involves the use of a weapon or results in bodily harm?
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What percentage of sexual assaults is reported to police, indicating a common issue with underreporting?
What percentage of sexual assaults is reported to police, indicating a common issue with underreporting?
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What significant effect does firearm availability have in communities with a subculture of violence?
What significant effect does firearm availability have in communities with a subculture of violence?
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In terms of victim demographics, which statement is correct?
In terms of victim demographics, which statement is correct?
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What common reason do individuals give for not reporting sexual assault cases?
What common reason do individuals give for not reporting sexual assault cases?
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Which characteristic differentiates planned sexual assaults from spontaneous ones?
Which characteristic differentiates planned sexual assaults from spontaneous ones?
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Which element is NOT considered part of every assault?
Which element is NOT considered part of every assault?
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What is the primary goal of 'power rape'?
What is the primary goal of 'power rape'?
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Which of the following is a type of date rape drug?
Which of the following is a type of date rape drug?
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What defines acquaintance rape?
What defines acquaintance rape?
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After what year was the marital exemption in the Criminal Code removed?
After what year was the marital exemption in the Criminal Code removed?
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Which statement about victims of date rape is likely true?
Which statement about victims of date rape is likely true?
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What percentage of college women are victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault?
What percentage of college women are victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault?
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Which type of rape includes elements of both sexuality and aggression?
Which type of rape includes elements of both sexuality and aggression?
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Study Notes
Violent Crime
- Violence is categorized into two types: Instrumental and Expressive.
- Instrumental violence is designed to improve the perpetrator's financial or social standing. Examples include armed robbery and arson.
- Expressive violence vents rage, anger, or frustration. Examples include sexual assault, domestic violence, and assault.
Roots of Violence: Personal Traits
- A link exists between violence and personality traits/disorders.
- Violent offenders often exhibit abnormal personality structures.
- Examples of abnormal structures include aggression, dishonesty, pathological lying, lack of remorse, and impulsivity.
- Homicidal youth often show signs of major neurological impairment, such as abnormal EEGs, severe seizures, low IQs, psychotic relatives, and psychotic symptoms.
- A high proportion of serial rapists and repeat sexual offenders display psychopathic personalities.
- No single diagnosis fully explains all criminal behavior.
Psychopathology
- Psychopathology encompasses mental disorders characterized by deviations from normal behavior.
- Psychosis includes delusions and hallucinations, indicating impaired contact with reality.
Roots of Violence: Ineffective Families
- Rejecting, ineffective, absent, or deviant parents are linked to persistent violent offending.
- Inconsistent discipline and lack of supervision are also linked to violent behavior.
- Children clinically diagnosed as abused have a higher rate of later delinquent behaviors, including violence.
- A significant percentage of convicted murderers experienced serious abuse during youth.
Roots of Violence: Evolutionary Factors/Human Instinct
- Some researchers attribute aggression and violence to inherent animal instincts.
- Violence may contribute to species survival, with only the strongest individuals surviving and reproducing.
Roots of Violence: Exposure to Violence
- Exposure to violence in home, school, or the environment can lead individuals to adopt violent methods.
- Exposure to violence affects adults, including police officers, increasing the use of deadly force in high-violence areas.
Roots of Violence: Subculture
- Subcultures are cultural groups within a larger culture, often with beliefs or interests different from the dominant culture.
- Subcultures have distinctive values and norms that differ from the majority group's values and norms.
- Examples of subcultures are provided in the slides in the form of videos and examples of particular regions in Toronto.
Subculture of Violence
- Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967) observed that some members of lower socioeconomic classes and certain ethnic groups embrace values and rules different from the majority, affecting their perception of honor and status.
- Different orientations to violence, viewing physical aggression as acceptable.
- A subculture of violence legitimizes and expects violence to resolve social conflict.
- This differs from society's dominant value system and influences lifestyle, socialization processes, and interpersonal relationships.
- Individuals who feel offended may resort to violence for reparation.
Gangs and Guns
- Toronto police have seized numerous guns and arrested individuals within a special investigation ("Project Barbell").
Roots of Violence: Substance Abuse
- Substance abuse, particularly alcohol, impacts violence in three ways:
- Psychopharmacological relationship (altered behavior)
- Economically compulsive behavior (committing crimes for money/drugs)
- Systemic link (connected to broader issues e.g., poverty)
- A significant portion of Canadian homicides involved the accused having taken drugs or alcohol shortly before the incident.
Roots of Violence: Firearm Availability
- Firearm availability facilitates, but does not cause, violence.
- Small disagreements can escalate to deadly consequences in the presence of firearms.
- A high percentage of firearm deaths are suicides.
Rape and Sexual Assault
- Traditional legal definition describes rape as the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.
- Non-consensual sexual intercourse is key, including any act, from unwanted touching to penetration.
- Significant Canadian legal reforms in 1983 eliminated marital exemptions and replaced "rape" with "sexual assault".
Rape versus Sexual Assault
- A shift to "sexual assault" recognized violence, aggression, and unwanted contact in the act.
- Sexual assault covers a range of behaviors from unwanted touching to penetration.
- Sexual assault has 3 levels: simple assault, assault with a weapon or resulting in bodily harm, and aggravated sexual assault.
Incidence of Sexual Assault
- 36,000 sexual assaults were reported in 2022.
- Women are disproportionately affected.
- Many cases are unreported due to factors like embarrassment, feeling helpless, or blaming themselves.
- Urban areas experience higher rates than rural areas.
- Warm weather months, such as July and August, tend to see higher reports as well.
Types of Sexual Assault
- Some sexual assaults are planned, and others are spontaneous.
- Some target specific individuals, while others are random acts.
- Some assaults involve one offender, others multiple attackers.
Classifying Sexual Offenders
- Sexual assaults often involve anger, power, and sexuality.
- Offenders are classified into three types: anger rapists, power rapists, and sadistic rapists.
- Anger rapists use violence to express anger and rage.
- Power rapists seek control over the victim.
- Sadistic rapists have a craving for pain and excitement.
Types of Sexual Assault (continued)
- Acquaintance rape involves perpetrators and victims knowing each other.
- Date rape occurs during courting relationships.
- Marital rape is the occurrence of forcible sex within a legally married relationship.
Date Rape
- Sexual assault increases in dating relationships often in the courting phase and may persist in longer relationships.
- Victims sometimes blame themselves due to invested relationships.
- Frequently involves the use of 'date rape drugs', like Rohypnol, GHB, Ketamine, and Ecstasy/MDMA.
Marital Rape
- Marital rape, legally prohibited since 1983, is forcible sex within a married relationship.
- Research suggests many women experience marital rape within a larger context of spousal abuse.
- Physical violence often accompanies marital rape.
Sexual Assault and Persons Under Age of Consent
- Sexual interference happens if someone under 16 is touched for sexual purposes.
- Consent from a minor or misunderstandings about age aren't viable defenses against criminal charges.
- Sexual exploitation occurs when an adult sexually engages with an individual aged 16-18 concerning a significant power imbalance.
Causes of Violent Crime: Evolutionary/Biological Factors
- Some suggest sexual assault may be an evolved instinctual drive within males, driven by the need to reproduce.
- Behavior might have developed over time to maximize the continuation of the species, with forces needed to ensure the replication of the species as a whole as a priority.
- This might involve behaviors such as aggression as a means for maximizing offspring in primitive times.
Causes of Violent Crime: Male Socialization
- Socialization plays a role in shaping male behavior, including aggressive, forceful, tough, dominant attitudes and views on women.
- Men may be taught from a young age that female vulnerability is an aspect that men can take control in all situations.
- Sexual insecurity can lead some to commit sexual assault to boost and reinforce distorted perceptions of masculinity and self-image.
Causes of Violent Crime: Hypermasculinity
- Hypermasculine men often have callous sexual attitudes.
- Violence is viewed as a sign of masculinity.
- They frequently perceive danger as exciting or enticing.
- These men are overly sensitive to insult or ridicule which can be a factor in violent behavior.
- These men also tend to be impulsive and boast about their sexual conquests.
- Increased alcohol consumption can exacerbate these problems.
- Hypermasculine men are notably prone to sexually aggressive behavior.
Causes of Violent Crime: Violent Experiences
- Men and women might learn to commit sexual violence through experiences like abuse.
- Individuals may learn violent behaviors in the same way that a person can acquire other learned behaviors e.g., through socialization or observation.
- One study indicated that 40% of rapists in a specific study reported adolescent sexual abuse.
- Sexual trauma may connect to a desire for harming others.
- Exposure to violent or pornographic media might correlate with sexually aggressive behavior among men.
Sexual Assault and the Law
- 1983 amendments to the Criminal Code eliminated the term "rape" and created a three-step structure (levels) of sexual assault offences.
- Spousal immunity was removed.
- Specific provisions concerning the admissibility of a victim's past sexual history were eliminated.
Sexual Assault and the Law (1992 amendments, Bill C-49):
- 1992 Bill C-49 clarified the meaning of "consent," removed the defense of "mistaken belief" about consent, and shifted the responsibility for ensuring consent to both parties.
- Laws about a victims' past histories also were strengthened.
Murder and Homicide
- Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.
- It's the most serious crime.
- The death penalty was abolished in Canada in 1976.
- Homicide can be divided into culpable and non-culpable types.
Nature and Extent of Murder
- Most murder victims are males over 18 years of age.
- Victims typically knew their killers.
- Nearly a third of solved homicides are committed by family members.
- Stabbings account for a significant proportion, roughly 40%, of homicides.
- Characteristics like the perpetrators being known to, or close relation with, the victims, are typical.
Homicide Statistics
- Acquaintance homicides account for 45% of cases.
- Family member involvement is found in approximately 33% of homicides.
- Instances of stranger homicides have declined.
- Western and Northern Canada exhibit comparatively higher homicide rates.
Murderous Relations
- Acquaintance homicide is a common form of murder, and married couple homicides have decreased.
- Women are more often victims of spousal murder, while men face a higher risk from common-law partners.
- Female killers commonly have survived repeated violent incidents in the past.
- Alternatives for leaving abusive relationships have risen, possibly reducing rates of male partners’ violence.
Murderous Relations: Stranger Homicide
- Instances of stranger homicide frequently follow burglaries or robberies.
- 2013 saw the lowest rate of stranger homicides in 40 years.
- Approximately 13% of murder victims were killed by strangers.
- Thrill killings, driven by a desire for danger or recklessness, are a form of stranger homicide.
Warning!
- Important videos mentioned that are relevant to learning in this respect are provided.
Murderous Relations: Serial Murder
- Serial killers are those who kill multiple victims over time; unlike a single violent outburst in which multiple victims are assassinated.
- They generally do not follow the same dynamic as mass murderers.
- Males are more likely offenders in one study of serial killers with males appearing to use extreme violence.
- Females are more likely to use poison or smothering in their attacks.
Murderous Relations: Serial Murder (Continued)
- There is a potential link between antisocial personality disorder and serial killings.
- Long-standing violent behaviors are associated to serial killers.
- Other traits include bedwetting, setting fires or other violence targeting children.
- Difficulties in relationships with the opposite sex are frequently associated with instances of violent serial killing.
Murderous Relations: Serial Murder (Continued)
- Serial killers sometimes suffer from neurological damage or neglect or have negative childhood experiences.
- They frequently kill through the infliction of child abuse (during their childhood or through observation or experience).
- Victims are often subjected to torture and violence.
Assault
- Assault isn't necessarily physical, but is more than just words
- It's a gesture or another act that leads to harm or the threat of harm.
- The Criminal Code defines assault as the intentional application of force to another person without their consent.
Assault (Levels):
- First level assault is considered common and less violent
- Second level assault is more violent and has a greater probability of harm.
- Third level assault is usually deemed aggravated assault.
Nature and Patterns of Assault
- Assault patterns mirror homicide, with the crucial difference being victim survival
- Assaults are fairly common and likely stem from societal stressors.
Assault in the Home: Child Abuse
- Child abuse can include physical, sexual, or emotional maltreatment and neglect in relation to those young children.
- These acts usually involve individuals whom the child intimately relies upon during sensitive periods.
Assault in the Home: Child Abuse (continued)
- Child neglect involves failing to provide the child's needs for physical, psychological, or emotional well-being and often can lead the child to suffer, especially where issues with caretakers can be considered an instance of neglect.
- An often-cited example of abuse is sexual abuse, which involves the exploitation of children through rape, sexual molestation, or incest.
Assault in the Home: Child Abuse (specifics)
- Incest is a specific form of child abuse within a family dynamic, often involving a blood relationship e.g., parent-child, siblings).
- Most family violence/abuse/assaults involve physical violence being inflicted on children, and those under three years old are most likely to be violated by a parent.
Assault in the Home: Child Abuse (continued)
- Child abuse is a complex problem, influencing various social/cultural factors e.g., ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic class, sex, education level, gender characteristics).
Assault in the Home: Child Abuse (risk factors)
- Financial stress, poor housing conditions, young parents, poor parenting skills, marital violence, large family size, and prior experiences of abuse are some of the factors linked to child abuse.
- Social isolation can also increase the chance of child abuse.
Assault in the Home: Child Abuse (intergenerational patterns):
- Family violence often results in intergenerational patterns, where the abuse is replicated across successive generations in a familial context.
- Blended families increase the risk if no support systems are set in place.
Assault in the Home: Spouse Abuse
- Spouse abuse occurs across history and often involved one partner holding a stronger social position than the other.
- Traditionally, in some cultures and societies, husbands had the right to physically discipline their wives, e.g., following certain cultural standards.
- By the middle/late 1800s, severe wife-beating came to be viewed unfavorably or negatively in society.
- Modern analyses show men and women are both victims/perpetrators at comparable rates and the rates are similar amongst those who are married, in common-law relationships, or even unmarried.
Assault in the Home: Spouse Abuse (Continued)
- Women are often subjected to severe violence, suffering additional harm than men and are more often the victims of physical abuse/assaults.
- Aspects like neuropsychological problems, cognitive impairment (and issues related), are also presented as being influential e.g., in spouse abuse incidents.
Assault in the Home: Spouse Abuse (Characteristics of Male Abusive Partners):
- Characteristics of male abusers include excessive alcohol abuse, resentment/hostility towards partners, and under-economic stress.
- Experiencing child abuse can influence the likelihood that these men will cause injury towards their partners later in life.
Robbery
- Robbery involves taking or attempting to take something of value from someone else, often through force or violence, or the threat of violence.
- Robberies are a serious crime.
- The severity of punishment generally reflects the degree or amount of force used, not the worth of the objects taken.
Robbery
- Robbery rates are approximately three times higher in the United States when compared to Canada.
- Robberies are often armed crimes.
- The majority of robberies involve strangers on public streets.
- Different motives exist in the commission of robbery and are usually categorized as professional, opportunist, substance-related, and alcoholic robberies.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Stalking
- Stalking is defined as Criminal Harassment under Canadian law.
- It became illegal in 1993 in Canada, before which there wasn't a federal law against stalking.
- This was a legislative change in order to address behaviors such as restraining orders in order to prevent contact, which had been established previously outside the legal code (and were therefore not enforceable during the periods before this change).
- Key requirements include repeated acts of "following" or contacting.
- A single severe or threatening incident can be sufficient for conviction if the pattern makes that incident or act explicit.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Stalking (Continued)
- Stalking involves specific prohibited activities, like repeated following, repeated communication both directly and indirectly, watching someone where they live or work or if just present (publicly), and/ or threatening or engaging in other criminal conduct towards them, or someone close to them.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Home Invasions
- Home invasion encompasses robberies in private homes or residences using force, violence, or threats to gain entry and threaten occupants.
- This type of criminal behavior might target residences occupied by either high-value individuals or by another individual or gang.
- Three general categories exist for home invasions, which include targeting ordinary residents, targeting criminals or another criminal gang (e.g., a prison break), or members of the opposite sex.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Hate Crimes
- Hate crimes are violent acts targeting individuals or groups based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or other characteristics.
- If hate, bias, or prejudice accompanies other offences (e.g., assault, property damage), courts consider it an aggravating factor.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Hate Crimes (Legal Sections)
- Specific legal sections address hate crimes.
- These include advocating genocide and inciting hatred.
- Laws permit the seizure of hate propaganda for distribution or sale.
- The code allows for hate propaganda to be removed from computer systems and websites.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Hate Crimes (Motivations)
- Hate crime motivations are primarily toward race/ethnicity (50%), religion (30%), sexual orientation (13%), disability, or other factors like age (6%).
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Workplace Violence
- Workplace violence comprises approximately 365,000 incidents annually.
- Health care workers are particularly vulnerable.
- Physical assaults account for roughly 71% of incidents.
- Middle-aged white males are usually the perpetrators.
- The "going postal" phenomenon describes a sudden outburst of violence in a workplace setting by a perpetrator.
Interpersonal Violent Crime: Workplace Violence (Continued)
- Workplace violence has underlying factors like economic restructuring conflicts, unsupportive managers, romantic rejection, coveting another's job, poor service issues.
Additional Material (Independent Learning)
- Additional materials for independent study are mentioned, including specific research typologies for serial killer behavior patterns and mass murder motivations. Relevant individuals and researchers, e.g., Lonnie Athens, James Fox, Jack Levin, are introduced.
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