fandomhigh | Criminology : November 7

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sociology

Criminology : November 7

Grissom greets each student as they arrive, and asks for them to pass in their midterm. He hands out Holiday Revelry and Legal Control of Fireworks: A Study of Neutralization in Two Normative Contexts by Timothy Buzzell for students to read and review in class.

Discussion: In the paper above, a study is done surrounding the use of fireworks to support the theory that that holidays create "circumstances" of "periodic anomie" in which adherence to the law may be suspended by otherwise conventional persons. Why do you believe this is so?

Homework: Read this chapter on the Psychatric Aspects of Rick Assessment in preparation for Thursday's discussion.

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The Essay: In our second class (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/85645.html), you each ranked types of crime from the worst type of crime to the least. Would you still rank them in the same way? Why or why not? Please use your fellow students' thoughts, and outside opinions in your work.

Please share your thoughts.

Maia comes, hands in the midterm and sits quietly at the back of room.

((OOC: do i have to like actually do something or is that good because the MUN is really not ok with FH at the moment))

John passes in his well researched, thought out midterm.

[

((if i was not so damn pissed right now you know Maia would as she usually does do everything asked of her in Grissoms class ~~and outside as well~~ ))

John taps his pencil for a few moments. "Perhaps those in authority knows that these days are infrequent and therefore allow a stretching of the rules because of that fact?"

"With the example of fireworks specifically, in some places, they're legal and some they're not. Even in the places where they'e against the law, people still set off fireworks and they're rarely arrested or charged with any offense. I can see this happening because authorities would rather monitor to make sure nothing happens that causes injury rather then attempting to arrest a plethora of rule breakers."

Angela hands in her midterm. She has substantially reordered her list, placing crimes against the state and the administration of justice fourth and fifth and pushing all others down. In her essay, she writes that the class had made her more aware of the importance of the legal structure.

"I think that is a valid thought, and is true in a lot of cases. Although, for more serious crimes like Drunk Driving, when police set up checkpoints, they are looking to arrest criminals as well as looking to prevent injury. Do you have any thoughts on where that line should be drawn? What crimes are harmless enough to ignore momentarily and which should be tracked down and arrested?"

Grissom nods, skimming her paper when she turns it in and giving her a small smile as she takes her seat.

"See, sir, I don't see drunk driving as just a holiday activity. It happens all the time and, like you said, checkpoints are set up to catch and prevent."

John taps his pencil again. "I think things that only happen on holidays, for instance fireworks, certain Halloween tricks, that do not happen but once a year should be mostly ignored. If they escalate to the point of injuring themselves of someone around them, then the authorities should definitely become involved then."

Cameron hands in his paper. He seems to have kept the order from his first assignment, but he draws extra attention to how crimes against the state and against persons can be considered as important. He also further develops his point at how complex the system is and how each crime needs to be evaluated seperately.

Maia raised her hand. "I agree with John, but maybe can we extend that to include damage to property as well? I mean people egg other peoples cars on Halloween and I dunno but I heard that can damage the paint. And I think that is a trick from Halloween and maybe it is something that should be addressed by the police if the property damage is significant enough..." Maia tilted her head "Or I can just keep my opinion to myself if it offendes someone." Maia said looking at her desk top unsure of herself in a class that she usually was very bold in.

"I think it's out of knowledge that while something is illegal, it will happen anyway. Fireworks could potentially harm people, but they're normally not aimed to do harm. So like John suggested, it's better to have control over the act and prevent harm from happening, than letting it take place illegally with much more risk."

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Criminology : November 7

Pass in Midterm

Class Discussion

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