Isn't it scary to think that in the U.S. corporations are considered a "person" in law, and that they have the same rights as citizens? That is how many corporations get away with crimes such as embezzlement and murder until they are finally caught by authorities. Who is to blame in these corporations? Seeing as authorities cannot blame the entire corporation for the crime they must turn to the corporate executives to suffer the consequences. Although there is chances that just simply the workers are committing these crimes, the majority of the crimes are done by executives or people in high power. They are done by this wealthy group because they are generally the ones that go unsuspected, or can carry out the crimes without much afterthought by the corporation. Such as in cases like in New York, Warner Lambert Company and several of its officials were indicted for second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after a 1976 explosion in the company's gum-making plant killed six workers. The prosecution alleged that the blast could be traced to the failure of officials to install an adequate exhaust system. Although it did not disallow the possibility of such a prosecution under different circumstances, an appellate court dismissed the indictment, stating that the actual cause of the explosion had been unforeseeable. Even though alot of these crimes are put to the side as "accidents" or "unforseeable" they are still crimes and someone had to contribute to it in someway. Seeing as the corporation is considered a "person" and have the same rights as citizens then it should be tried in the same way another murder would be.
Unfortunately about 800,000 Canadians get hurt on the job each year but successful evidence in proving the corporations wrongdoing has been rare. Because of a new law, it is now easier to convict corporations of criminal negligence due to a workplace "accident." Companies that are manufacturing items that they KNOW are dangerous, and sell them anyways are what are contributing to killing workers or consumers. No matter what excuse is put behind it, when a company is putting a humans life in danger, no amount of money is worth that.
What is the main factor contributing to corporation crimes? Money, money and oh! More money. The profit gained from a crime that a corporation can get away with is huge yet if they are caught, that profit and more will be taken away. It's a huge price to pay and a massive risk that corporations deliberate and discuss, although some do it without the company having any idea they ever did it.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Auto Theft
When a car is stolen it generally is taken from someone whose life is lacking excitement, a connection with drugs and alcohol OR to get away from a previous crime committed (ie bank robbery) Those are generally the motivations of the offenders and are also some of the most desperate motivations. For example, if an offender has a connection with drugs or alcohol they may need a car to escape from cops or to transport the illegal goods. For a criminal whose life is lacking excitement, stealing a car provides the adrenaline rush they are searching for. Some methods used by criminals are theft with access to keys, theft without access to keys, oppurtunist theft and carjacking. The most dangerous of these methods is carjacking because it is the taking of a vehicle by force or threat of force from its owner or operator.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada's statistics for 2007, the top five most stolen cars in Canada were:
1. Honda Civic
2. Subaru Impreza
3. Acura Integra
4. Dodge Grand Caravan
5. Plymouth Voyager
In Canada, the top city that has most car thefts is Winnepeg, Manitoba with 1932 cars stolen out of a 100 000 population. However, a car can be stolen from anywhere in Canada, from a shopping mall, a park, or even your own driveway.
Auto theft is a global problem, however Canada is one of the worst in the world because according to Statistics Canada a car is stolen every three minutes, averaging about 400 cars a day. Can you imagine? 400 cars a day stolen in Canada and most of the time nobody is aware, not citizens, workers or even the police. The only time we are even close to finding out cars have been stolen are car alarms, or the "Bait Cars" the police leave at busy shopping malls. The point of the "Bait Cars" is to lure criminals and as they drive away with the car, the engine stops, and the car doors lock,leaving the offender inside to wait for the police.
How can you protect your cars? (This is a list from ICBC)
Always roll up your windows all the way when leaving your vehicle and lock it up.
Put the key in your pocket or purse as soon as you lockup. Never leave keys in your vehicle or in the ignition. It only takes a moment for someone to jump in and drive away (20% of stolen cars have keys in them.)
Keep your vehicle registration and proof of insurance on you, in a wallet or purse at all times- never leave these documents in the glove box.
Never leave a parking lot claim stub in your car when parking at an airport or other large parking lot.
Do not leave valuable items such as laptops, sports equipment or packages in clear view. Keep them in your trunk or out of sight.
Make sure to park in a well lit, busy area.
Get your car parts marked. This could deter thieves, as they resell car parts and this would make your car a less attractive target.
However, there are many other ways to protect your car than these listed by ICBC, all it takes is one smart move to protect yourself from becoming a victim of crime.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Clifford Robert Olson Jr. (Serial) and Marc Lépine (Mass).
These two notorious murderers have both committed unforgivable crimes yet they did them in two different ways. Serial murderers tend to have a pattern of victims, or methods to kill them whereas mass murderers are not as organised and set out to just kill. For example, Marc Lepine was a mass murderer and he didnt have a pattern of killing, he decided one day he was going to show up at Montreal's École Polytechnique and shoot women who he accused of being "feminists." However, Clifford Olson planned each murder carefully and repeated it over the years killing eleven children. This is more of a pattern than a disorganised plot to attack a school, his pattern continued those eleven times until he was caught.
The differences between serial and mass murders are quite obvious yet still somewhat confusing. For example, in the case of revenge, a serial murderer if they were abused by thier mother as a child, they would kill any woman who reminded them of their mother. Whereas a mass murderer, in the case of revenge, if they were fired from their job they would show up to that workplace and shoot workers and perhaps the boss. Or what about for profit? In serial, a woman could poison a line of husbands in order to collect their life insurance money. However for mass murderers, if they were conducting a robbery, they would kill all employees so their was no witnesses.
The reason for Marc Lepins murders was not because he was "crazy" or "psycho", yes he did have some unresolved issues clearly but what he did was his way of believing he was "ridding the world" of feminists. The reason for this deep hatred of feminists was because he claimed they had taken all the jobs and made many men unemployed. How he obtained this hatred might be due to the fact that perhaps as a child his father lost a job to a woman, or maybe even he did. Most mass murders are done to take vengeance on people/ society etc.
Clifford olson however has other reasons for his murders because he wasn't setting out to better society, but to rid himself of his sexual and sadistic desires. True serial murderers have cooling off periods between murders and use this time to collect themselves and continue. Either hedonistic reasoning or power and control is what dominates over Clifford Olson and is what made him committ his crimes. For example, a hedonistic killer seeks thrills and derives pleasure from killing, seeing people as expendable means to this goal. And power and control is when their main objective for killing is to gain and exert power over their victim. Such killers are sometimes abused as children, leaving them with feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy as adults. Which is why Clifford went for children instead of woman or young men because he could control children easier which gave him a feeling of power.
To stop people like this in Canada there needs to be more strict rules, punishments, and anything else that can halt killings. Noticing warning signs would also be highly helpful because you could prevent it easily. If the guards/judges etc. noticed that Clifford was not doing well in jail, had sexually assaulted, and had many crimes on his criminal record that he should not be allowed out, then all those deaths could have been prevented. However with mass murders, sometimes they cannot be prevented because the killer has already set out to do something (Columbine or Virginia Tech) and getting in their way could result in more peiople being killed. Although standing aside and letting it happen when you've seen the warning signs is just as bad if not worse from trying to stop it. Hence why there are criminal mind agents out there that can talk to these people to control their desire to kill and even help.
The differences between serial and mass murders are quite obvious yet still somewhat confusing. For example, in the case of revenge, a serial murderer if they were abused by thier mother as a child, they would kill any woman who reminded them of their mother. Whereas a mass murderer, in the case of revenge, if they were fired from their job they would show up to that workplace and shoot workers and perhaps the boss. Or what about for profit? In serial, a woman could poison a line of husbands in order to collect their life insurance money. However for mass murderers, if they were conducting a robbery, they would kill all employees so their was no witnesses.
The reason for Marc Lepins murders was not because he was "crazy" or "psycho", yes he did have some unresolved issues clearly but what he did was his way of believing he was "ridding the world" of feminists. The reason for this deep hatred of feminists was because he claimed they had taken all the jobs and made many men unemployed. How he obtained this hatred might be due to the fact that perhaps as a child his father lost a job to a woman, or maybe even he did. Most mass murders are done to take vengeance on people/ society etc.
Clifford olson however has other reasons for his murders because he wasn't setting out to better society, but to rid himself of his sexual and sadistic desires. True serial murderers have cooling off periods between murders and use this time to collect themselves and continue. Either hedonistic reasoning or power and control is what dominates over Clifford Olson and is what made him committ his crimes. For example, a hedonistic killer seeks thrills and derives pleasure from killing, seeing people as expendable means to this goal. And power and control is when their main objective for killing is to gain and exert power over their victim. Such killers are sometimes abused as children, leaving them with feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy as adults. Which is why Clifford went for children instead of woman or young men because he could control children easier which gave him a feeling of power.
To stop people like this in Canada there needs to be more strict rules, punishments, and anything else that can halt killings. Noticing warning signs would also be highly helpful because you could prevent it easily. If the guards/judges etc. noticed that Clifford was not doing well in jail, had sexually assaulted, and had many crimes on his criminal record that he should not be allowed out, then all those deaths could have been prevented. However with mass murders, sometimes they cannot be prevented because the killer has already set out to do something (Columbine or Virginia Tech) and getting in their way could result in more peiople being killed. Although standing aside and letting it happen when you've seen the warning signs is just as bad if not worse from trying to stop it. Hence why there are criminal mind agents out there that can talk to these people to control their desire to kill and even help.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hypermasculinity, male socialization, and sexual assault
Question: "Explain how sexual behaviour could be socialized in males. Do you think that males who commit sexual assault are "hypermasculine"? Why and where do men learn "hypermasculine" behaviour? Is there a cultural difference between males and females who commit sexual assaults?"
Hypermasculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on strength, aggression, body hair and odor, this term also has to do with and extreme search for power. Do I think males that commit sexual assaults are hypermasculine? Absolutely. The majority of sexual assaults are due to the sense of power a male either has or is looking for when commiting that particular crime. However there are different cases where power and control are not the issue, but drugs, alcohol, loneliness are.
Men, sad to say, the majority of the time learn hypermasculine behaviour from basically everything and everyone around them. Their parents may raise them to believe they need to be strong and powerful to achieve what they want and their friends/ family/ teachers may also encourage this. They also learn from a young age that they are to be stronger, more powerful than women and need to dominate in size and strength. If a male is weaker than a female it gives the female more "power" than she should have according to the myths we hear in our everyday life. Not only are males hearing this information but they are making sense of it and applying it to everything they do, including sexual assaults.
There is absolutely, one hundred percent a cultural difference between male and female sexual assaulters. Even though both are considered wrong there is a difference in treatment and understanding that is highly noticeable. For example, when a male commits a crime such as sexual assault against a young female, the male is thought of as creepy or "messed up" whereas if a female does the same thing against a young male, the female isn't thought of as strongly because according to society, males are more "dominating." Even thought it's the same crime being committed, society judges the male more harshly just because of the "power" they have and the control they can implicate.
A story quite recent in the news is the soldier charged in sex assaults on military base in Ontario. The soldier is a seven year veteran of the Canadian forces and is being charged with four counts of sexual assault on the base. Personally I think this story reflects what was stated before about
the power and strength males feel over females. A soldier would clearly feel more control, strength and power in a situation such as a sexual assault because of the amount of power they already do have. Perhaps he felt as if it would be easier for him to get away with because for one, he is a soldier (high respect) and for two, he's a male and knew his sense of power would win in his favour, however that was not the case. Two of the victims were found alone and easily taken control over because one was in a room alone and the other was walking a path alone. Being alone is clearly one of the major factors in determining a victim which is why both of those women were chosen.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Soldier+charged+assaults+military+base/3008164/story.html#ixzz0nXxMiNjq
Hypermasculinity is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on strength, aggression, body hair and odor, this term also has to do with and extreme search for power. Do I think males that commit sexual assaults are hypermasculine? Absolutely. The majority of sexual assaults are due to the sense of power a male either has or is looking for when commiting that particular crime. However there are different cases where power and control are not the issue, but drugs, alcohol, loneliness are.
Men, sad to say, the majority of the time learn hypermasculine behaviour from basically everything and everyone around them. Their parents may raise them to believe they need to be strong and powerful to achieve what they want and their friends/ family/ teachers may also encourage this. They also learn from a young age that they are to be stronger, more powerful than women and need to dominate in size and strength. If a male is weaker than a female it gives the female more "power" than she should have according to the myths we hear in our everyday life. Not only are males hearing this information but they are making sense of it and applying it to everything they do, including sexual assaults.
There is absolutely, one hundred percent a cultural difference between male and female sexual assaulters. Even though both are considered wrong there is a difference in treatment and understanding that is highly noticeable. For example, when a male commits a crime such as sexual assault against a young female, the male is thought of as creepy or "messed up" whereas if a female does the same thing against a young male, the female isn't thought of as strongly because according to society, males are more "dominating." Even thought it's the same crime being committed, society judges the male more harshly just because of the "power" they have and the control they can implicate.
A story quite recent in the news is the soldier charged in sex assaults on military base in Ontario. The soldier is a seven year veteran of the Canadian forces and is being charged with four counts of sexual assault on the base. Personally I think this story reflects what was stated before about
the power and strength males feel over females. A soldier would clearly feel more control, strength and power in a situation such as a sexual assault because of the amount of power they already do have. Perhaps he felt as if it would be easier for him to get away with because for one, he is a soldier (high respect) and for two, he's a male and knew his sense of power would win in his favour, however that was not the case. Two of the victims were found alone and easily taken control over because one was in a room alone and the other was walking a path alone. Being alone is clearly one of the major factors in determining a victim which is why both of those women were chosen.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Soldier+charged+assaults+military+base/3008164/story.html#ixzz0nXxMiNjq
Monday, May 3, 2010
Victim of Crime: Effects
Being a victim of crime results in many different devastating effects, long term and short term that may or may not affect the rest of your life. In most cases however they will affect your life and perhaps control it in other circumstances. For instance, in a rape/sexaul assault the victim will feel as if they can't go out anymore, insomnia will plague their nighttimes, or perhaps even the distrust of anyone getting close to them.
Short term effects
Short term effects
- loss of property/money
- re-victimization by justice system
- anger/resentment
Long term effects
- long term stress
- fear
- antisocial behaviour
- cycle of violence
- adjustment problems
- PTSD
- paranoia
- insomnia
The sexual assault that happened in the Law and Order episode was fiction but the pain, suffereing and trauma was quite real. This episode depicted the devastating problems during and after the investigation. A more real example of this is the Mount Cashel Orphanage incident in which a bishop was charged with sexual assault on young boys. However, these charges did not arise until approximately 40 years later in which the men finally admitted and brought up this painful event. Throughout the years after they were victimized they had problems with relationships, social behaviours etc. and they didn't know why. They had subconciously made the decision to cope with this event by blocking it out of their memory and temporairly forgetting it. Something later on in their life brought it back up however and finally one by one the men admitted what the bishop had done.
How could we soften the impacts done on individuals in crimes such as rape or sexual assault? In some cases there are small things that could be done but overall what the victimes are experiencing cannot be changed unfortunately. However, therapy and counseling may temporarily ease the pain and suffering but it will be a long road to recovery. Also, even though the revictimization by the Justice System helps solve the crime, the endless questions must be kept to a minimum to save the sanity of the individual. Any amount of careful, well planned questions can assist in not only figuring out the details but also helping stop the revictimization of the person.
Mount Cashel Incident:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100408/national/nl_lahey_accused
Monday, April 26, 2010
What is the difference between criminal behaviour and deviant behaviour?
Some crimes may be thought of as deviant but not criminal and other, criminal but not deviant. In some cases however it can be both, as in child pornography which violates social norm AND is against the law. Not all crime is deviant (marijuana use) however and not all deviance is criminal (bystander apathy) which is why there is laws for crimes and not for deviance. However crime and deviance happen from some of the same factors such as bad parenting, peer groups etc. The main difference seperating deviance from criminal behaviour is breaking the law(crime) or violating the social norm(deviance). Although deviance isn't considered as bad as crimes it can technically be just a bad there is just no law stopping it from occurring.
Deviant but not Criminal:
Criminal but not Deviant:
Deviant but not Criminal:
- picking your nose, wiping it on a wall
- bystander apathy
- abortion
Criminal but not Deviant:
- smoking in public (beaches, lakes)
- marijuana use
- drinking in public
Out of this list I believe that bystander apathy should be made into a law because your letting a crime happen before your eyes and you aren't doing anything to help. The death of someone could result in your decision not to assist. However, this would have to be a bendable law in the fact that if it puts you in harms way you should not be expected to help. If you are physically or emotionally able then I see no problem with lending a hand.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Why is crime committed?
There are theories as to why crime is committed all over the world but not one theory is one hundred percent accurate. The reason behind crimes varies on the background of the unsub, mental disorders, traumatic events, and many many other factors. How we form a theory is based on these factors by adding them all up and including them into our thoughts and ideas about crime. There is never just one reason for a crime because not one person in this world is exactly the same. Every individual has such different minds, looks, personalities that it is virtually impossible to detect any two people as being the same. Before modern day technologies there were different ways of determining a victim from a criminal such as if you had a bump behind your ear, or perhaps even if you were held underwater and you didnt drown. Thankfully our perspective has changed and those methods no longer exist, there are more humane ways to accomplish solving crimes.
One of the major claims of committing small crimes such as break and enter or stealing are due to boredom or lack of adrenaline in day to day life. How indivuals break this mundane lifestyle is by committing these petty crimes and look for the rush in doing so. In bigger crimes however the reasons are more scattered and lawyers have a harder time determining the reasons behind the crimes. A lot of the time the reasons for bigger crimes are both psychologically (mental disorders) and socially (lonely, bullied, traumatic events/childhood).
Overall my theory as to why crime is committed has nothing to do with drugs or alcohol, those are excuses in order to hide something bigger and deeper. Drugs, crime and alcohol are all connected yes, but in a different way than most would think. In order to escape from whatever is causing them to commit crimes, like traumatic events, they use drugs and alcohol to feel better or to 'forget'. Sadly that just makes the whole situation worse and the individual becomes even more lost and alone, that is when the major crimes happen, the most devastating ones. Serial killers and mass murderers didn't grow up thinking, "Hey you know what, I'm going to become a killer when I grow up." In fact they were just like everyone else at first, maybe they wanted to become a teacher or a fire fighter. You may ask, what went wrong? Which is where the question why is crime commited comes into play. In order to understand where these criminals are coming from we need to look back before their crime and determine possible causes.
Crime is committed when both psychological and social reasonings combine to create such intense desire to throw away any hope they have left and release their anger in a devastating way. Unfortunately this isn't something we can escape from, this is something individuals need to face and control in a safe way to stop all suffering. Whether help from professionals is needed, or just a friend, crimes can be stopped and prevented just by being you.
Example:
http://news.aol.ca/article/accused-ex-boxing-champ-kills-self-police/794756/
One of the major claims of committing small crimes such as break and enter or stealing are due to boredom or lack of adrenaline in day to day life. How indivuals break this mundane lifestyle is by committing these petty crimes and look for the rush in doing so. In bigger crimes however the reasons are more scattered and lawyers have a harder time determining the reasons behind the crimes. A lot of the time the reasons for bigger crimes are both psychologically (mental disorders) and socially (lonely, bullied, traumatic events/childhood).
Overall my theory as to why crime is committed has nothing to do with drugs or alcohol, those are excuses in order to hide something bigger and deeper. Drugs, crime and alcohol are all connected yes, but in a different way than most would think. In order to escape from whatever is causing them to commit crimes, like traumatic events, they use drugs and alcohol to feel better or to 'forget'. Sadly that just makes the whole situation worse and the individual becomes even more lost and alone, that is when the major crimes happen, the most devastating ones. Serial killers and mass murderers didn't grow up thinking, "Hey you know what, I'm going to become a killer when I grow up." In fact they were just like everyone else at first, maybe they wanted to become a teacher or a fire fighter. You may ask, what went wrong? Which is where the question why is crime commited comes into play. In order to understand where these criminals are coming from we need to look back before their crime and determine possible causes.
Crime is committed when both psychological and social reasonings combine to create such intense desire to throw away any hope they have left and release their anger in a devastating way. Unfortunately this isn't something we can escape from, this is something individuals need to face and control in a safe way to stop all suffering. Whether help from professionals is needed, or just a friend, crimes can be stopped and prevented just by being you.
Example:
http://news.aol.ca/article/accused-ex-boxing-champ-kills-self-police/794756/
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