CJ 330
VIOLENCE, CRIME AND JUSTICE
FALL 1999
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER FOR IN-CLASS WRITING EXERCISE 10/22
updated: 10/14
NOTE. In getting ready for the in-class writing exercise, be
sure to review all the memos that have been posted to the class web
site. Some of these cover material reviewed in class, some are extra
material that may not have not been covered in class. Go to
http://blue.temple.edu/~ralph,
go to CJ330, go to memos, and check out each of them. Be sure you are
clear on what each one is talking about. Call me or write me if you
want to discuss further.
NOTE. I am not promising to ask only these questions on the in-class exercise. There is a good chance that I could draw only on these questions. But there is a slight chance that I might be struck with an exciting new question, and want to put that on as well. For the in-class exercise, you will have a certain number of questions, and be asked to answer a certain number of them.
NOTE. I may be adding to this list over the next week or so, so check back. The Bok questions have not yet been added. I will change update date, and will add new questions at the bottom, if I add.
Roger Lane, in reviewing the history of murder in America, suggests that if we are to understand how the criminal justice system responds to violence, we need to recognize that there were, at various points in America's past, three different criminal justice systems operating. Explain, and provide a specific example showing how which criminal justice system applied to a person affected the system's response to violence either perpetrated by that person, or where that person was a victim of violence.
Roger Lane suggests that violence could be used as an instrument to achieve specific social policy goals. Provide one example from the post Civil War era. Describe the type of violence, and the goal to be achieved, and the relative success of the policy.
Roger Lane, when discussing the history of race riots in this country describes three different "eras" of race riots. Examples of the three are provided by the NYC draft riots in 1863, the riots around WWI in major cities, and the 1960s civil disorders. What were the differences between these three types of riots, and what does each of these show about changing race relations in this country?
Lane makes the case that violence among whites was high in medieval times, much higher than the violence rates experienced by whites during Elizabethan and Colonial times. What features of life during medieval times, that accompanied these high rates, seem to confound some of the current ecological explanations for high rates of violent crime?
One of Lane's major theses is that violence declined from about 1830 to about 1950 as the "culture of dignity" seemed to gain ground over the "culture of honor." (A) Describe the specific changes in economic, political and cultural factors that were linked with this violence decline. (B) Argue either that this thesis represents an accurate description of changes or that the thesis misleads, and explain in specific terms the reasoning you are using. I do not care, from a grading point of view, if you argue for or against; I am more interested in the clarity of your arguments.
LaFree and Lane seem to present two opposing viewpoints on the role of institutions in inciting violence. Lane would seem to readily admit that specific institutions would try and foster violence for their own ends. LaFree seems to argue that institutions (the three traditional institutions and the three new "alternative" institutions) in general suppress violence. (A) Provide one specific example to illustrate Lane's viewpoint and one specific example to illustrate LaFree's point. (B) Tell me specifically which view -- LaFree's or Lane's -- you find more persuasive, and why.
Describe why LaFree decides to focus on changes in institutions per se, rather than other types of changes, for explaining postwar changes in robbery rates. What leads him to focus on this type of feature of society?
(A) Describe the difference between an institution being traditional, and an institution having legitimacy. (B) Can you give a specific example how how an institution having low legitimacy is linked to more violence? (C) Can you give a specific example of how an institution having high legitimacy is linked to less violence?
Given LaFree's overall argument, of the specific policy changes that he proposes for reducing violence (chapter 10), which do you think should be the highest priority for implementation, and why?
LaFree argues that, over time, increasing legitimacy accorded to alternative institutions will play important roles in reducing violence. Given this perspective, what will happen with violence given the decline of affirmative action, and the end of welfare as we know it? Describe the specific dynamics linking each institutional change to violence change.
How does Bok describe the potential impacts of entertainment violence on individuals and society?
According to Bok, in what ways can discussions about media entertainment violence be short-circuited?
In what ways can the non-behavioral impacts of entertainment violence described by Bok make increases in violence more likely?
In the last 50 years, argue either for or against the following: the impacts of media entertainment violence on violence and attitudes towards violence have been greater than the impacts of the six institutions described by LaFree. Be sure to be specific both about your argument and about specific details to back it up.
Based on your reading, and in-class discussions (see memos), explain how BOTH LaFree and Bok treat the family in too positive a light as a force for countering violence or tendencies toward violence.
Argue either for or against the following: Given the economic and family changes taking place in this country in the last fifty years or so, as described by LaFree, Bok's hope that parents will exercise strong consumer choice and regulate children's exposure to violence is unrealistic. Be sure to be specific both about your argument and about specific details to back it up. I want details both from Bok and LaFree.