MIDTERM BABES WAKEUP

what counts as a crime?

• violence is also structural

• much violence perpetrated by powerful

• much violence goes unmeasured

• disparate enforcement of law on the books

what counts as a crime? examples

• criminalization of weed and opioids targeting specific minority groups

• fights in high school → lower economic schools call police more than richer schools

Crime reflects

Power (wanting to keep status quo)

why does karakatsanis argue we think we create these definitions of crime and enforce them in these ways?

• benefits the most powerful

• protecting property and maintaining current power relations

examples of definitions of crime?

• camden police department coverage: media reflects unwillingness to challenge the status quo; small reform preserve it

• police enforce evictions, trespassing law, theft; do not attend to violent harm perpetrated by corporation

constructing crime

social construction of reality (symbolic interactionism) → berger and luckman (1966: knowledge and beliefs of what reality is become embedded in the fabric of society)

something that exists because

people behave as if it exists, so much that rules (formal and informal) come to exist in association

Constructing crime example

School to prison pipeline

crime is “created” (richard quinney (1970):

• definition of behavior conferred on some persons by others to serve political interests

• varies by space and time

• power matter

uniform crime reports (UCR)

• reported crime stats (proceeded by police departments)

• participation not required by law

UCR is

• Underreported

• Participation is not required by law (low staffing, not objective, underreported rural areas, doing a poor job they wont)

the national crime victimization survey (NCVS)

come from surveys of the population

• sampling

crime is

socially constructed

trends in rates of crimes are difficult to measure empirically + conceptually

• UCR: PD records. In theory more comprehensive, but participation is option and only measures reported crime.

• NCVS: based on sampled surveys of people’s experiences of surveys

why does this matter?

• The malleability of crime means that elite messaging, media, etc. matter a lot in perceptions of what’s happening with “crime”

• BUT- Trends in rates of crime are difficult to measure, empirically + conceptually

what is ethnography?

qualitative mode of research where investigator immerses themselves in the daily lives of people, groups, organizations, and institutions under study

the researcher is inherently part of the

data collection process

reuben miller

the “gift of proximity”

crime does not equal punishment: the amount we punish is subject to many facts

• Politics and legislation (state and federal, but mostly state)

• Media and public perceptions

• Bureaucratic and institutional capacity

1.scan the text first

A. DOWNLOAD THE PDF

B. Read the Intro/conclusion relatively well (intro: question + overview, conclusion: high level findings relevance)

C. Scan section titles/subheaders and subtitles

D. Scan italicized and numbered points

E. Glance charts/graphs and their captions (what are they measuring? variables?)

F. Get a (loose) sense of the methods used (which method/reasoning)

2. Identify the question, findings, argument: and the type of evidence needed to support them.

• this info often appears near the end of intro and first section (books have more variability but still towards the beginning)

• argument can start with “i argue” or “in this chapter/article”

• question may not have a ? (e.g “i examined”..ect)

• identifying the argument early will help you read more efficiently and meaningfully

3. Read UNdemocratically

• Read with the argument in mind. Do not read every word with the same level of attention and care—think about the argument the author is making, and look for the different “moves” of the argument in the text

  • Read the first sentence of the paragraph to determine if it is a pivotal paragraph or just adding more detail

• As you read, identify and mark important passages (like definitions of key concepts and CLARIFYING EXAMPLES) for re-reading or

• reference

• Don’t dwell on tangents, elaborate illustrations, or “enticing” details–skim, move on

4. Put text in context:

Think about connections or contrasts to other readings, place in the framework of the class themes

• For example, you might think about the young men in Stuart’s book in the context of the social construction of crime

Reading Sociologically

1. Scan and Scope the Text First!

2. Identify the question, findings, and argument

3. Read Undemocratically

4. Put text in context

UCR controlled by

FBU + participation by individual police depts is voluntary

crime is hyperlocal (space matters); example?

mexico city

• iztapalpa → bad crime area (high crime)

• milpaalta/tihauac → low crime

• BUT rather across city vary really significantly

• high crime parts in iztapalpa but worst section isnt even in this section (need to look at blocks)

crime doesnt equal punishment: The amount we punish is is subject to many factors (including):

• Politics and legislation (state and federal, but mostly state)

• Media and public perceptions

• Bureaucratic and institutional capacity

The malleability of crime means that

elite messaging, media, etc. matter a lot in perceptions of what’s happening with “crime”

Trends in rates of crime are difficult to measure, empirically + conceptually

BUT: Crime, for the most part, is still at historically low rates, despite p eriods of increased public fears about it

How and how much we punish is divorced from crime;

the great crime decline is a helpful empirical example of this

UCR

Uniform Crime Reports (voluntary reports from police

NCVS

National Crime Victimization Survey (sample survey of people of their experiences of victimization)

why drill music

Broader Social Structures

• Drug markets and RICO (“Why do 10 when you can tell on a friend?”)

• Digital and industry transformations

why drill music: personal drivers

• Rewards of online infamy

• • Family, love, belonging, meaning

• • Escaping the street

larger changes in the social fabric

The erosion of hierarchal gang structures also changed important aspects of growing up in low-income areas

Loss of informal social control:

social pressure to conform to dominant norms and standards (as opposed to formal social controls, like laws and written rules/policies)

Limiting opportunities to

learn about self and create identity through work (remember these are kids! That is part of growing up)

Stuart is Concerned with Digital Disadvantage (Not the Digital Divide)

Difference between uses and access

robert merton and strain theory

Strain theory is a typology of types of deviance

deviance

a violation of social norms or conventions; may involve law- breaking or not

typology

a classification scheme of a social phenomenon to better understand it

social strain: understand deviance by looking at two criteria

(1) a person’s motivations or her adherence to cultural goals;

(2) a person’s belief in how to attain his goals

strain occurs in the

discrepancies between culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means available to achieve these goals

instructional means

cultural goals

Accept both: conformity

Accept insti but reject cul: ritualism

Reject insi but accept cul: innovation

Reject both: retreatism

new means and new goals: rebellion

conformity

A college student studying hard and working an entry-level internship to earn a legitimate career and financial stability.

innovation

Selling illicit drugs, committing theft, or engaging in fraud to make money after facing persistent poverty and unemployment

ritualism

A low-level office worker who has completely abandoned hope of a promotion or a higher salary, but still shows up on time every day and follows every minor corporate rule out of habit.

retreatism

Chronic homelessness, severe alcoholism, or severe substance addiction where an individual stops trying to achieve societal standards of success entirely

rebellion

Political radicals, revolutionaries, or members of extremist anti-system groups who want to completely overhaul societal structures

ballad of the bullet

Changes in broader social structures (drug markets and technological transformations) and changes in social fabric gave rise to drill

strain theory

• This theory argues that deviance is structural, in that it is our social positions that set up for certain kinds of deviance

• People can turn to deviance in the pursuit of widely accepted social values and goals

in mertons strain theory, the corner boys would be in which category?

innovation trying to accept the culture of being out of the hood and living a good life but through new means of drill music and not the standard 9-5.

age crime curve

• goes up in 10 years

• tails off in mid 20’s

study based in amherst ny

• votes saftest/ one of the safest city in the US

• rich youth have more opportunities to be rationally modern → able to avoid the potentially devastating consequences

affluent places and regulative safety (parents and community)

• parents: more resources, more cultural capital, “over- parenting” and training

• community: anti-zero-tolerance policies, greater variety of resources to help kids in trouble

construction of crime:

place and time matters

rational safety

• based on trust, a necessity for modern “thin” relationships

• transition to adulthood- trust important for proper identity formation to deal with complexities of modernity

• communities with higher levels of crime have lower levels of trust

police more likely to make arrest for minor crimes in the inner cities

2011: about 12,000 youth were arrested in New York City for possessing small amounts of marijuana

inner cities have

fewer programs, diversionary resources than suburbs, authority figures use more punitive tools

goffman: life as a performance (“dramaturgical model”)

• front stage: putting on a show

• backstage: more authentic, vulnerable (perception)

• social media as a collapse of front and back stage

the ecology of drill

who faces the most risk in ecology of drill

CBE

who faces the most reward in ecology of drill

broader social structure/music industry

shoots are both protection in both

performance and reality

shoots: what is the cost of being a shooter?

• Frequent exposure to law enforcement

• Participation in crime increases, ergo potential for experiencing violence increases

• Shooting comes at cost of pursuing conventional means of success (for instance, school)

• Have to be armed, be a sort of bodyguard

• Instability of life, ongoing presence of threat

benefits of being a shooter?

• Shout outs– get credit

• Drillers act as big brothers– offers structure and support during difficult life transitions

• When drillers get famous, they bring their shooters along with them

wealthier suburbs have

youth crime--- they deal with it less punitively and have more resources to support youth experiencing trouble (“regulative safety”)

drill is part of a larger ecosystem —>

benefits flow up, risks flow down

shooters play a key role in the

“Front stage” and “Back Stage” of drill productions

crime is not only hyperlocal but

spatially concentrated

crime is also socially concentrated

violence is “transmitted through social networks by social interactions.

modeling contagion through social networks to explain and predict gunshot violence in Chicago (2006-2014) (article)

• viewing gun violence as a public health conflict

  • impacts peoples health (mental health)

  • access to outside, green spaces, ect

  • transportation (high violence, drug activity, ect)

• gun violence as an epidemic

chains of violence

• snapshot in time of victims of gun violence → how are they connected (network)

• look at violence prevention → social networks v demographics

  • more potential in social networks

what happened between javon and junior?

junior: was the target for his drill, was with javon when he was shot, feels responsible, depressed

javon: shot and killed

digital disadvantage

“How different people, with contrasting levels of privilege, fatefully engage with the same technology in their daily lives. This requires lengthy, detailed observations as they create, share, and other wise engage with digital content. It also means paying close attention to how this engagement spills into seemingly unrelated social spheres like work, family, and community relations.”

sticky reputations

have a reputation that sticks with you and can interfere with your everyday life

AJ

• Lost his childhood best friend → subsequent spells of depression

• Involved in raising girlfriend’s children, generally not “on the block”

• Shoots a feature with idol “Killa Castro,” who is killed the next day

• By the end of the book, his popularity has grown, but so too has risk of violence

Junior

• Loses his shooter and best friend Javon in attempt on his life

• His mom, Tasha, moves him to the other side of the city to try and get him out

• Tries to go straight to support a new family, but tied down by neighborhood violence, online reputation, and probation finding his video

stevie

• Shooter

• Tries to distance himself from CBE when he becomes a father

• Chased away from 2 jobs when recognized by rival gang members

• Tries (unsuccessfully) to get CBE to take his videos down

stuart’s arguments: Online and offline violence differ:

online representations are a front stage, but the back stage is different

stuart’s arguments: We can’t say that drill rap increases violence– the data doesn’t exist--- but

participation in drill increases a young person’s risk of exposure to violence (function/meaning of violence)

stuart’s arguments: Its not that young, marginalized people lack access to social media--- its that the

consequences of that use are different (digital disadvantage)

young men turn to drill for a number of reasons like

• money

• accessing conventional goals

policy conclusions: what stuart proposes

“radical systemic change” and...

• Right to be forgotten and digital scrubbing

• Safe spaces for artistic creation

• De-escalation on social media

• Recognizing young people as artists

structural vs interpersonal: race and class disparities

def of crime + social causes of crime = crime → arrest → conviction → prison

“real” victim

a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action

the ideal victim

Being a victim is not a thing, an objective phenomenon. It will not be the same to all people in situations externally described as being the “same.” It has to do with the participants' definition of the situation.

social construction

Something that exists because people behave as if it exists, so much that rules (formal and informal) come to exist in association with it

by ideal victim, i have instead in mind a person or a category of individuals who, when hit by a crime, more readily are given the

complete and legitimate status of being a victim

domestic

• white/lighter skinned (class)

• visible injuries

• position of weakness

• femininity

violence

• domestic violence

• women positioned clearly as victims

• men unclearly place in position of victim

cvc: Applicants denied Crime Victim Compensation in Florida by race

black applicants denied

• 60yrs pass and still denied

cvc is the

crime victim compensation: govt program at the state level designed to provide compensation to victims after crime

cvc is used

for medical bills, moving costs, funeral costs, lost wages as a result of crime, property damages, etc.

needs for cvc

1. legit crime

2. need lots of receipts

3. retroactive

in general

• rate of violence in homes women higher

• rate of violence in homicide men higher

• black men and boys most at risk for homicide victimization

• status of victimhood establish politically

one more bit on victimization and (domestic) violence

“…characterized by social and economic isolation…use of race as an oversimplified proxy”

the patterns hold for other forms of violence and…

“clearly substantiate[s] Sampson and Wilson’s contention that the sources of crime are invariant across race and are rooted largely in the structural differences among communities” (Krivo & Peterson, 1996, p. 642).”

victimizations and domestic violence: perception of whose a victim/criminal

racial: blk women suffer more such while women

financial: closer when it comes to income levels (rate of violence goes down when incomes goes up)

policing: front door or “engine”

• reported and observed crime

• investigation

• unsolved or not arrested

• arrest