CLASS ACTIVITIES

 

January 4

 

(i)                  What are your objectives for this course?

(ii)                What learning activities will facilitate the achievement of these objectives?

(iii)               What topics would you like to see in this course?

(iv)              What courses have you taken in the Criminology and Criminal Justice fields?

(v)                What criminological theories are you familiar with?

(vi)              What criminological and Criminal Justice issues are you familiar with? Please complete the following chart:

 

Topic/Theory

I have never analyzed this in class

I have had too much of this

I have analyzed it in class but I would still like to discuss it again here

I don’t know what you are talking about

Restorative Justice

 

 

 

 

Violence against woman

 

 

 

 

Corporate crimes

 

 

 

 

International crimes

 

 

 

 

State crimes

 

 

 

 

Money laundering and other financial crimes

 

 

 

 

Criminal law

 

 

 

 

Criminal procedure

 

 

 

 

Charter rights

 

 

 

 

Criminal policy

 

 

 

 

Murder

 

 

 

 

Sexual assault

 

 

 

 

Criminal defenses

 

 

 

 

Battered women

 

 

 

 

Actus reus and mens rea

 

 

 

 

Classical criminology

 

 

 

 

Social strain theories

 

 

 

 

Social control theories

 

 

 

 

Labeling theories

 

 

 

 

Left realism

 

 

 

 

Critical criminology

 

 

 

 

Marxist criminology

 

 

 

 

Feminist Criminology

 

 

 

 

 

January 11

 

a. Trading places

 

1)      What criminology view does Randolph Duke adhere to?

2)      What indications are given in the film about Randolph Duke’s criminology view?

3)      What criminology view does Mortimer Duke adhere to?

4)      What indications are given in the film about Mortimer Duke’s criminology view?

 

b. Pulp Fiction

 

What criminology view predominates in this film? Why?

 

c. Gangs of New York

 

The young kid will also end up as a gang fighter. What criminological view can best explain his future criminal career?

 

d. The Trip

 

What criminology view transpires in the police officer’s questions?

 

e. Legally Blonde

 

What criminology view transpires in the Elle Wood’s comments?

 

Killer Blames Child Porn

 

What criminology view transpires in Michael Briere’s explanation of his criminal acts?

 

New York sex offenders getting free Viagra

 

What criminology view transpires in New York Senator Charles Schumer`s comments about sex offenders?

 

Attacked

 

What criminology view transpires in Mulcahy’s mother, Merritt Morris, comments about the person that attacked her child?

 

January 11

 

January 18

 

  1. Seinfeld: Cleaning lady
    1. Is there actus reus of sexual assault? Abuse of authority

 

  1. That 70’s Show:
    1. Did Fez commit the actus reus of theft? Does giving it back mean something?

 

  1. Seinfeld: Merv Griffin Show
    1. Did Kramer commit the actus reus of theft?

 

  1. Seinfeld: Newman’s breaking into Seinfeld’s house.
    1. Did Newman commit the actus reus of breaking and entering?

 

  1. Seinfeld
    1. Kramer touches George’s mother. Is there an actus reus of assault?

 

  1. Beavis and Butthead: Feel the pain
    1. Is there an actus reus of massacre?

 

  1. Beavis and Butthead: Tired
    1. Did Beavis commit the actus reus of assault against the photographer? Homicide with respect to the train passengers?

 

  1. Dawson’s Creek
    1. Does Jen commit the actus reus of homicide when she doesn’t help Abby?

 

  1. Wonder Years
    1. Did Kevin commit the actus reus of assault? Mischief?

 

  1. Friends: The Hat
    1. Did the bullies commit the actus reus of theft?

 

  1. Seinfeld: Susan’s father’s cabin
    1. Is there arson as defined in the Canadian Criminal Code? What would Kramer have had to think for being guilty of reckless arson?
  2. Simpsons: Bart steals a car ornament

 

  1. Friends: Rosita. Is there mischief?

 

  1. Beavis and Butthead: Chicks ‘N Stuff
  1. Trading Places:
    1. Is there theft? Is there knowledge?
  2. Three Stooges:
  1. Flinstones:
  1. 90210:
  1. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  1. Freaks and Geeks:
  1. Without warning:
    1. What mens rea did John Hinckley act with?

 

 

Some definitions of crime

 

THEFT

 

322. (1) Every one commits theft who fraudulently takes anything, whether animate or inanimate, with intent (a) to deprive, temporarily or absolutely, the owner of it, or a person who has a special property or interest in it, of the thing or of his property or interest in it;

 

 

SEXUAL ASSAULT

A person commits a sexual assault when without the consent of another person he or she conducts any form of sexual activity on that other person.

No consent is obtained where the victim submits or does not resist by reason of authority or by abusing a position of trust, power or authority.

 

BREAKING AND ENTERING WITH INTENT, COMMITTING OFFENCE OR BREAKING OUT

348. (1) Every one who (a) breaks and enters a place with intent to commit an indictable offence therein,(b) breaks and enters a place and commits an indictable offence therein is guilty of an offense.

ASSAULT

A person commits an assault when without the consent of another person he or she applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly.

 

ARSON

Every person who intentionally or recklessly causes damage by fire or explosion to property, whether or not that person owns the property, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

Mischief

Every one commits mischief who willfully or recklessly destroys or damages property.

 

 

 

January 25

 

Read the following passage about Winona Ryder. Discuss why she committed theft. Is she a typical female criminal? When you think of Winona Ryder or see one of her movies, do you consider her as a criminal? Do you think that society sees her as a criminal? Why? Why not? How would the different feminist criminological schools explain her crime? Are there typical feminine crimes? Is this a typical feminine crime? Which sub-school of feminist criminology best explains this crime?

 

 

Winona Ryder convicted of theft, likely to get probation

Winona Ryder speaks with her attorney, Mark Geragos, after the verdict is read.

By Matt Bean
Court TV

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — It was no Hollywood ending for actress Winona Ryder, who was convicted Wednesday of grand theft and vandalism for stealing $5,560 of clothes and accessories from a Beverly Hills department store. The jury acquitted her of burglary.

Ryder showed little reaction as the verdict was read, but turned and whispered with her attorney, Mark Geragos.

She faces up to three years in prison for the Dec. 12, 2001, shoplifting spree, but is likely to receive probation when she is sentenced Dec. 6.

Speaking after the verdict, Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle said she was not seeking a prison sentence for the Academy Award-nominated actress.

"This case was never about jail time. We were simply asking for Ms. Ryder to be responsible for her conduct," Rundle said, noting that she would recommend community service, probation and restitution to Saks.

Having found the 31-year-old Ryder not to be a flight risk, Superior Court Judge Elden Fox excused her until the sentencing and kept intact the $20,000 bond that she posted the day of her arrest.

Ryder's attorney, Geragos, did not comment after the verdict, but during the trial he blamed the charges on a vast conspiracy orchestrated by Saks senior management and accused store security guards of concocting details about the incident.

Jurors, including former Sony Pictures head Peter Guber, disagreed. They deliberated about six hours hours before rendering their verdict.

Rundle told reporters that the panel had expressed a desire to "move on with their lives." Given the opportunity to keep their notes from the trial, however, each of the six men and six women did.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokesperson for the L.A. County district attorney's office and a witness in the trial, said outside the courthouse that the split verdict didn't surprise her. Speaking of the burglary and theft charges, she said, "Generally if you find on one, you don't find on the other," and added that to convict Ryder of burglary, jurors would have had to find that she went to Saks intending to steal.

When asked about the burglary acquittal, Rundle noted that Ryder was never seen entering the store, and was known to have made a purchase shortly afterward.

Following the verdict, a throng of more than 100 media personnel gathered on the steps of the courthouse, while a news chopper hovered overhead.

The week-long trial featured testimony from a number of security guards who detained Ryder after watching her on closed-circuit television for about 90 minutes while her bags grew steadily larger. One of the guards, Colleen Rainey, told the court she peered through the slats of a dressing room door to see Ryder on her knees removing sensor tags with a pair of orange-handled scissors.

Ryder's star witness, Michael Shoar, testified that Rainey's boss, Kenneth Evans, told him he would "nail that rich Beverly Hills bitch at any cost." But Shoar admitted on cross-examination that he had an axe to grind with Saks and is currently engaged in a bitter legal skirmish with the company.

Other evidence the jury had to examine were the items that Ryder allegedly shoplifted. The sweaters, handbags, hats and other items were piled into boxes and delivered to the jury room by court bailiffs, along with three security tags that still bore pieces of fabric matching holes on some of the merchandise.

They were also given the surveillance videos. Although the tapes never showed Ryder removing security tags, prosecutor Rundle argued that they illustrated the actress's pattern of shoplifting: removing security tags in the privacy of the dressing room, concealing the items, and then ditching the tags throughout the store.

Alternate juror Sherman Pore told Courttv.com that jurors had to take the security guards' narration as fact, but that some of the inconsistencies disturbed him. "How far did they go? How much can we believe?" he asked. But in the end, the jurors believed enough to find the actress guilty of two felonies.

Ryder, famous for her roles in such movies as "Edward Scissorhands" and more recently "Mr. Deeds," allegedly admitted to security guards that she had been shoplifting but claimed it was to prepare for an upcoming role in a movie.

 

 

Lindsay’s story

 

·        Was that really rape?

·        When did their sexual activity turn into sexual assault?

·        Was Lindsay a typical victim?

·        Was Raymond a typical offender?

·        Is rape sex?

·        Does Raymond believe that what he did is rape?

·        What should happen to Raymond?

·        What did Lindsay want from him?

·        What did Raymond want from her?

·        What were some of the ways Raymond used to try to convince Lindsay to have sex? When does this behavior become coercive?

·        Why did Lindsay not leave when she had the chance? Does this mean she wanted to be sexually assaulted?

 

Please do a gender analysis (Liberal Feminism) of the following criminal laws:

 

RUSSIA: DEATH PENALTY

A woman may not be sentenced to the death penalty (Article 59 of the RF Criminal Code).

 

CANADA: PROSTITUTION

Section 213 of the Canadian Criminal Code asserts that any person who in a public place stops or attempts to stop any vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or communicates or attempts to communicate with any person for the purpose of engaging in prostitution, is guilty of an offence.

 

Admissibility of Victim’s Past Sexual History as Evidence: CANADA

Another contentious issue in Canadian law was the “rape shield” provided in the Criminal Code, preventing the accused to use as evidence in his case the female victim’s past sexual history. In R. v. Seaboyer [1991] 2 S.C.R. 577, the accused was charged with sexual assault of a woman and was not permitted to cross-examine the complainant on her past sexual history. The issue was whether the “rape shield” provisions s. 276 and 277 infringe the principles of fundamental justice or the right to a fair trial found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The majority of the Supreme Court held that section 277 excludes evidence which can serve no legitimate purpose in trial (evidence of sexual reputation) but does not touch evidence which may be tendered for valid purposes therefore not infringing the right to a fair trial.  Similarly, in R v. Darrach[2000] 2 S.C.R. 443, the accused unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of s. 276.  The Supreme Court held that Section 276(1) only prohibits the use of evidence of past sexual history when it is offered to support 2 specific, illegitimate inferences: (a) a complainant is more likely to have consented to the alleged assault and (b) she is less credible as a witness by virtue of her prior sexual experience. 

While the Rape Shield laws have somewhat protected a woman's past sexual history from entering the courtroom, the Supreme Court of Canada did not feel that therapeutic records were a part of this law. On December 14, 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down a ruling stating that the private therapeutic record of sexual assault victims must be turned over to the defense in situations where it is relevant in determining the accused's guilt or innocence. The court's concern was of infringing on the accused's rights to information and a fair trial. Defense lawyers state that this information is vital because the private therapeutic records could reveal if the woman consented to the sexual assault or is being coached into recalling events that didn't happen. A fear, as a result of this ruling, is that women will become more reluctant to press charges knowing that their therapy records can be accessed. Some feel that this ruling will only contribute to the already high levels of under reporting of sexual assault cases.

 

CANADA: INFANTICIDE

 233. A female person commits infanticide when by a wilful act or omission she causes the death of her newly-born child, if at the time of the act or omission she is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child and by reason thereof or of the effect of lactation consequent on the birth of the child her mind is then disturbed.

 

January 25

 

Scenario 1

Waitress, Flo Delaney, reports that she is having trouble with a regular customer. Delaney states that an older gentleman, Leo Bryan, has been coming into the restaurant everyday and has been proposing marriage to her for the past three months. At first, she felt it was kind of sweet, and hadn't taken him seriously. Leo is over twice her age (he is about 70 years old), and she has been living in a common law arrangement for the past four years. Despite telling him firmly that she was already married, Bryan remained persistent. For the last two weeks, he offered her presents, which she politely refused. Finally, his presence began to bother her and she had the manager throw him out of the restaurant. For the past two nights, he has been parked across the street from her apartment all night.

 

Scenario 2

George Stults, the 7th Heaven star, complains to the police that he is being constantly bothered by a persistent fan. Stults reports that no matter how many times he changes his phone number or location, this woman somehow locates him. Stults feels that she must have some connection with the telephone company. He has received over a hundred telephone calls with message left on his answering machine at all hours of the day and night from this woman, known only to him as "Deborah". The calls are frequently obscene, and very suggestive. With the assistance of the telephone company, the police are able to trace the telephone calls to a Deborah Dorey, a recently fired employee, responsible for handling applications for unlisted telephone numbers.

 

Scenario 3

Professor Gomez, a newly recruited English Literature Assistant Professor at the University of California, is madly in love with one his students –Alyssa. He thinks that she may love him because he noticed that when he is lecturing she looks at him. He repeatedly asked her to go to his office during his office hours with any sort of excuse (share his class notes with her, explain new theories and even reveal the questions of the test). The student went to his office but when she realized the meetings didn’t have an academic purpose she stopped going.

 

Professor Gomez went crazy and engaged in a bizarre and obsessive pattern of behavior that included relentless e-mail messages, phone calls, “love” poems, and numerous communications that spread lies about her to other professors at the University of California. She felt afraid, vulnerable and helpless.

Alyssa and her boyfriend asked Professor Gomez to stop all this. But this did not stop the Professor, who continued to pursue the student through other means, such as posting poems about her on his Web site, engaging in incidents of watching her in the library, and sending indirect communications through her colleagues.

Professor Gomez confessed to an undercover police officer –who pretended to be a new faculty member- virtually all the alleged incidents, and admitted that an obsessive love of the student had evolved into an obsessive hatred.

 

Scenario 4

 

Johnny is a popular junior who dates a lot of girls on campus. Last week, after he broke up with Maria, she started spreading a rumor that he was "lousy in bed".

 

Scenario 5

 

Chester Walters advises you that for the past forty years, he has received a Christmas card from his brother Arthur. Chester hasn't spoken to his brother since the Korean war when Arthur married his sweet heart while he was overseas fighting. Chester states that he never opens the cards, and sees his brother's behavior as harassment.

 

 

Scenario 6

Dr. Diane Lane states that she is being bothered by the janitor at the clinic where she does volunteer work, in her neighbourhood. Dr. Lane remarks that she works late often until 9 or 10 in the evening. "Chuckie", insists on walking her home. She politely refused, but he persisted anyways. After speaking more firmly to him, she noticed that he followed her home the next night from a distance. She is now fearful of his intentions.

 

Scenario 7:

Andrea Reebok reports that her parents are being intimidated by her former boyfriend. After a short, but abusive relationship, Andrea left Keith McLean and moved to another community. Andrea feared Keith McLean would harm her when he discovered she had left him, so she left no forwarding address. This evening McLean went over to her parent's home and demanded to know where she had moved. Her parents refused to provide him with the address. McLean threatened to "make their life a living hell" until they told him. He smashed several family heirloom vases, kicked in their grandfather clock, and stormed out the door stating he would return and they would be sorry. He told them he would " kick the crap out of the both of them next time."

 

Scenario 8

At Tim’s work it is common for everyone to send emails to each other. One of his co-workers sent Tim an email with pornographic pictures in it, Tim sees it and feels uncomfortable.

 

Scenario 9

A man moved to a small community to work. He met a woman who worked in a local store but lived in an isolated farmhouse 20 minutes from town. He commented on their first meeting how frightening it must be to live as a woman alone, but that she shouldn’t worry, as he was not a stalker. A few days later, he appeared at her side while she was working at the store.

He met her days later at a community event that she attended with friends. Later, he arrived at her house while she was alone, preparing to go out for the evening. She invited him in but told him she had to leave soon. He talked about his repeated visits to the farmhouse when she was not there, and how glad he was to have found her at home. He spoke again of her isolated setting, and her vulnerability to attack. He accurately described her activities with her friends that day. She eased him out of her house and fled to her friends.

 

A mutual friend told the suspect that the woman was upset by his visit. The following morning, the suspect arrived at her door because he had left his coat at her house the night before. She did not answer. The suspect began to depart, then stopped and parked his vehicle so that it blocked her car. Then he returned to bang loudly on the door. Police were called.

 

The suspect gave a statement to the police indicating he was new in town, single and lonely, and the woman was friendly. He had run into her accidentally at the store, and later at a community event. When he came to visit, she invited him in for a drink, and he forgot to take his coat when he left. Later he heard that she was upset with him. He visited her house the next day to find out why, but no one was at home. As he was leaving, he saw a curtain moving, so he stopped his vehicle and ran back to see if she was, in fact, at home.

Scenario 10

Amber is the new exchange student from Europe and all the guys are asking her out. Sally is very jealous and spreads the rumor that Amber is "easy" and a "slut".

February 1

 

 

The Apprentice

 

  1. Choose a name for your team.
  2. Select a project manager.
  3. Make a website about sociological criminology theories, particularly Differential Association, Social Control, Strain, and Labeling.
  4. For this purpose, develop a typology of these theoretical efforts. Please include their historical context, major assumptions, exemplary theories/theorists, and explanatory strengths and weaknesses.
  5. Find a newspaper article about a crime –or a film plot- and try to explain it from the perspective of one or more of these schools.
  6. Write two or three questions about these theories for the test bank.

 

February 1

 

Is drug use a crime, a health problem or a social problem? Is it all these?

What can we do to prevent it?

Does drug use cause crime? Is there some intrinsic property associated with certain drugs that leads the user to engage in criminal behavior?

Do drugs (drug use) cause violence?

Do drugs (drug use) destroy the human community?

Does crime or criminal behavior, perhaps, lead people into drug use?

 

 

February 9

 

 

Prepare a list of true or real crimes according to conflict theory and a list of existing crimes that should be abolished.

 

March 1

 

Write an advisory opinion on how to implement measures to prevent money laundering without endangering the banks’ relationships with their customers. Please propose specific measures.

 

March 1

 

City of God

 

(i)                  Analyze the different types of violence that contribute to the suffering of the City of God residents;

(ii)                What is the government’s response to violence in the City of God?

(iii)               What are family relations like in the City of God?

(iv)              What is the rest of Rio de Janeiro’s societal attitude towards the City of God?

(v)                Do the kids from the City of God have any future?

(vi)              What is the value of life in the City of God? What are their most likely avenues?

(vii)             As a peacemaking criminologist, how can you end the cycle of violence and crime in the City of God? Propose specific criminal justice and non specific measures;

(viii)           Do you agree with peacemaking criminology principles?

(ix)              Would another school of criminology be better to deal with the kinds of criminal problems existing in the City of God?

 

 

March 8

 

Prepare a list of problems that a victim of sexual assault may face in the criminal justice system.

Prepare a list of rights of victims of crimes in Nova Scotia to be called Victim’s Bill of Rights.

 

 

The Accused

 

 

 

Ø      Was it rape? Why?

Ø      Who raped her?

Ø      What was the participation of the people watching the rape?

Ø      What is your opinion of the plea bargain? Was it fair?

Ø      Should Sarah have been given the chance to have a say in the plea bargain? Did the prosecutor sell Sarah out?

Ø      Did Sarah have a chance to express her feelings within the formal criminal trial process? Is this relevant?

Ø      Is this a good case for victim offender mediation or another form of Restorative Justice?

Ø      Do you think that the criminal justice system victimized Sarah again?

Ø      Can any of the victimization criminological theories explain what happened to Sarah? Would they be relevant or useful to help Sarah?

Ø      Is her prior record relevant? Should it be protected?

 

 

March 8

 

The public attitude toward crime and punishment has changed in recent years. For example, even if the US has the harshest and most punitive imprisonment system in the world, many, if not most Americans believe it when politicians and media figures claim that most criminals receive only a slap on the wrist.

In both Canada and the US many politicians who want to win voter approval push for sharp reductions in the government budget but big increases in government expenditures for policing and prisons.

 

Analyze any federal or provincial political party’s platform and write specific measures to deal with criminal problems from the perspective of Left or Right Realism. Please also answer these questions:

 

What, if any, is the party’s conception of crime? Do you see the predominance of a criminological theory?

What, if any, is the party’s conception of crime control?

 

 

You can find the following political parties’ platforms here. You can also choose others.

 

Liberal Party of Canada

Bloc Quebecois

NDP

Conservative Party of Canada

Communist Party of Canada

Nova Scotia Liberal Party

 

 

March 15

 

Prepare a brief outline for a restorative justice program. This outline should address, at least the following issues:

 

 

March 15


Two kids from the community harass an older couple (Mr. & Mrs. Polinski) over a long period of time. The couple is afraid to tell the police because they are older and do not speak English very well. On Halloween evening the two boys (Barry & John) go to the Polinskis’ house to trick or treat, but the older couple (being from Poland and unfamiliar with the custom) did not come to the door. The boys got angry at the couple for not answering the door and threw rocks at the house to get their attention. Barry’s rock went on the roof but John’s went through the window. The boy’s admitted to their act. For the most part, the boys are good kids and liked in the community, but are unfamiliar with the history of the elderly couple and believe they are just mean. The Polinskis want to know why they are being targeted? They are afraid and upset about the smashed window. Mrs. Polinski is a diabetic and Mr. Polinski suffers from a heart condition. They do not want to call the police but are convinced by their daughter and a friend to call. Barry’s sister (Tamara) is not happy with his brother Barry and his friend. Their parents don’t care and don’t want to be involved. Tamara is Barry’s disciplinarian. She believes they should be punished for their disrespectful behavior.

 

·        As a criminology and criminal justice expert, you are hired to give opinion on what to do with this case.

 

 

 

March 22

 

Homicides and integrated theories

 

Homicides

 

1)      Shannon Doherty movie:

2)      Fargo:

a.       What kind of homicide did the passenger commit?

3)      What kind of homicide did the driver commit?

4)      Cape Fear

5)      7th Heaven

6)      The Jenny Jones case

7)      Dead Man Walking

8)      Execution without warning

9)      September 11

10)   The Three Stooges

 

March 22

 

You have to develop your own theoretical perspective. Your theory may be an integration of theories, but it does not have to be. The model can be drawn upon either Western or non-Western philosophical traditions, and include ideas from biology, psychology, sociology, religious thought, etc. Your model must include the following core components:

 

·        An explanation of the major cause(s) of crime

·        Programs to prevent and control crime based upon your model.

·        Types of punishment or treatment programs that would do the most to lower crime.

·        Role of police, courts, and corrections in a society in which crime is explained by your model.

·        Types of studies that would need to be carried out to prove or disprove your model; including populations to be studied, research techniques employed, and expected findings.