Sociology: Criminology and Death and Dying

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Criminology
The following students have been removed from class for non-participation: darkchylde_
The following students are in good standing: maias_notebook, whitedeathpod, call_me_red_ac, cameronmitchell, lauraholt, chloe_sullivan
The following students have excused absences, but must make up coursework: rosefern_todd, emo_knight

Your quizzes have been graded, you all did exceptionally well.


Death and Dying
The following students are in good standing: marieann_d, allie_cameron, chosenslayer_, oatmanspatient, actingltcrumpet, susan_death_, conathon, psycho_barbie, banikslaveboy, sumeragi_13
The following students have not attended in more than a week, and will be removed if they do not join discussion today. (If they are still students at all, the professor hasn't kept the best track of these things.): harried_potter, cyloninyourhead, _farmboy_, notashepard, emo_knight


DISCUSION TOPIC FOR BOTH CLASSES:
Women and Violent Crime

Women are statistically less likely to commit violent crimes, including homicide. Why do you feel this is true, or do you feel that we are studying these numbers in the wrong way?

[OOC: Class meetings may become sporadic as I am leaving the game. If a new Grissom takes over (which may happen if I puppy dog eye it correctly), please play with them. If not, classes will conclude at the end of this week, unless I hear back from the mods as to when new enrollment will be occuring, and then I will leave classes open until then. Thanks.]

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/susan_death_/]

The argument could be made that men have some sort of primal instinct that makes them more prone to violence, or that women simply have more sense. In my experience, though, humans in general have really no sense at all. I think it's because women tend to be better at coping with things- I have seen men when they get sick, so it's probably just an extreme version of that mentality. Or maybe we just have better things to do with our time.

[whitedeathpod.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...

I can't help feeling this is true but that the gap between men and women committing violent crimes is narrowing. In society, most seem to "view" women as the victim's not the people committing the crimes. That in itself could almost make it easier for a woman to commit a violent crime and not immediately get noticed or have suspicion thrust upon them.

I also think the manner of physical build could be brought up here. Now, I'm not saying women aren't stronger then men but, in some cases, if a women attempts to physically attack a man, the man may be able to prevent that because of the strength difference (if the woman didn't have a weapon). This really becomes clear in cases of rape (unless, again, a woman drugs or has a weapon) because a man could, in most cases, overpower a woman attempting to rape him.

[psycho-barbie.livejournal.com]

Considering that in many societies a woman is lucky to hold status higher than brood mare or chattel, it could be argued that women merely have less opportunities to commit violent crimes, or a woman who does commit such a crime may be overlooked as a potential perpetrator due merely to belonging to the "weaker sex".

Women may also be less inclined to turn to physical violence as a first resort, not because of any actual lack in their capacity to consider or commit it, but because they are taught to distrust in their own strength, be it physical or mental.

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

Does the reason have to be that women distrust their own strength? It's been shown that women mature emotionally more than men do. If we are talking about violence being related to an emotional response maybe women are more mature in their emotional state and have less of a need to resort to violence.

[psycho-barbie.livejournal.com]

No, it doesn't have to be the only reason, and I have met women who were more than secure in their strength who would prefer diplomacy to violence, but by the same token, I've also met more than enough women who have been broken like horses to belive that it is a valid reason.

[actingltcrumpet.livejournal.com]

Archie nods. "I would agree with what Callisto says, based on what I know from my own time period. Compared to what I've seen so far of the culture here," he adds with a dry laugh, "my own is probably far from enlightened with regard to women. We consider it a disgrace, in time of war, to subject the enemy's womenfolk to the same treatment as their men, but I am beginning to question whether this is truly a gesture of valor, or rather gross condescension of a sort."

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

I think it probably has to do with the roles women play in our society. We might say that everyone is equal, but the traditional roles are still very present even today and it's a new attitude that is pretty unique for the "western" society as well. When you get right back down to it, we still expect the girls to be nice and the boys to be "boys" and rough it up. And as much as we all like to be individuals, we still end up behaving to how we are expected to behave - with exceptions of course. This probably reflects in those statistics as well.

That being said? I don't think these people have ever been to fandomhigh, because most girls around here can beat the crap out of me any guy.

[chasingangela]

Angela is leaning back in her chair and staring up at the ceiling, trying to come up with something halfway-intelligent to contribute.

"I think I agree with cameronmitchell. Women are still raised to be less violent -- at least physically -- and that might mean some women rely less on violence than a man would in the same situation, simply because it's not a familiar concept. Also, I do think men tend to be ... not more competitive, exactly, but ... I can't think of a word besides macho. Which is kind of circular."

[maias-notebook.livejournal.com]

I think that we are studying the numbers just fine. I think women are less likely to commit crimes because they are more likely to have empathy towards the victim then a man would.

((OOC: I am really gonna miss the way you play Grissom. I hope the new Grissom is as awesome as you. I am still getting tickled about that Hat icon of yours))

[stykera]

Numbers, numbers, numbers don't mean anything.
Everyone's violent. Women are violent. We're all violent.

Maybe they just know better.

[sumeragi-13.livejournal.com]

"I think... um," Subaru pauses, listening to cameronmitchell and call_me_red_ac's comments, "... Yeah."

[lauraholt.livejournal.com]

I think it's a combination of both Trait & Socialisation Approaches. The lesser ability to commit and a lesser instinct to react violently. The same logic can be used to defend a perpetrator as 'learnt' behaviour.

I agree with pretty much what everyone else said too. That it's just part of history or tradition and a baser instinct.