Theoretical explanations of crime

Theoretical explanations of crime
I choose the crime of murder. There is a shootout at two churches based in Colorado. The number of death has grown to five, inclusive of the gunman responsible for the atrocities. Two sisters die in this incident, in 11th November 2007. The black-clad shooter was gunned down by a young female security officer when he entered the church building. She is quickly branded as “real hero…having saved probably 100 lives,” says senior pastor Brady Boyd of New Life, Colorado. There were approximately 7000 persons present in the “mega church” at the time the shooting began.
Using social control theory, we discover that a fellow would commit the same crimes were it not for the societal controls on persons through institutions like churches. The gunman took life of four people in the church and perceived a bad person. The security female guard, while in her duty of protecting the church, succeeds in gunning down the shooter and then proclaimed a heroine, despite committing the same thing. The church perceives those who take innocent life as demanding death, at the hand of whomever faithful churchgoer.
References
Truecrimelibrary.com, ‘True Crime News: Church Shooting In Colorado 11/12/2007.’ N.p., 2015. Web. 3 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.truecrimelibrary.com/crime_series_show.php?series_number=7&id=1227 Wiatrowski, Michael D., David B. Griswold, and Mary K. Roberts. “Social control theory and delinquency.” American Sociological Review (1981): 525-541.

Question 2
McDonaldization of Society
What role might Ritzer’s concept of McDonaldization play a part in neocolonialism?
Neocolonialism is all about indirect ruling over weaker ones by those powerful. In Ritzer’s concept of McDonaldization, I’m tempted to perceive it in terms of employer and employee. One is irrationality where one is just trained on a line of work that may cause them to burnout. Second is deskilling which means that it becomes so easy to hire and fire any unwanted worker. The third is the consumer, workers. It entails how the consumers are tricked into becoming easily unpaid by the boss. A common example is that of diners that move with their trash from the food restaurant to receptacles marked “thank you.”
Structural functionalists encourage cooperation, interdependence and sharing of goals. This will somehow harm McDonaldization in terms of efficiency as it discourages interdependence or individuality. It will be positive on predictability as the shared goal will lead to uniform product and standardized results.
Symbolic integrationists in McDonaldization may mean that a big task is taken and then broken down into smaller tasks. These smaller tasks are accessed if they could be divided further or not. Then it is efficiently performed with lots of high skill.
Conflict theorists see McDonaldization as a place to compete for wealth as well as influence. In fact, automated control, for instance, is aimed at maximizing wealth for the bosses. Considering the food taken, they consider the influence of the Big Mac rather than that of the Good Mac. Thus, it is evidently calculated to add money to the pockets of the rich “bosses” and manipulation on the employees’ side.
References
Mcdonaldization.com, ‘Mcdonaldization.Com – What Is It?’ N.p., 2015. Web. 3 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.mcdonaldization.com/whatisit.shtmlStolley, Kathy S. The basics of sociology. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005.
Question 3
Social class in the US
Social classes I saw represented include lower, working, middle and upper. Ms. Goulart, a low class due to self-description, declares that she worked hard for that entire she had; none was an inheritance from the parents. Her nature of work also betrays her to this class; working in sewage company and coal as well. She went on to lament that the rich, meaning is disqualified here, obtain more benefits and receive tax relief while the poor like her wouldn’t. She even recalled that just being raising was hard.
Working class Mitchell to the present manages the family septic tank; at least having something for a start. He even owns a home and can possess the type of vehicle that he wants. He can comfortably raise his two kids in a manner to evade being scorned at in school. His belief is that one can begin with nothing, work hard and attain some good place in life. To affirm that he is in the working class, he declares that working to get wealthy is almost a nightmare if your family wasn’t.
As a middle-class individual, Mr. Schoeneck is a manager in an electrical firm earning $85000 per year. His wife and he are both college graduates. He says that in his state he still has challenges with moving forward financially. To him, the American dream is nothing but to have quality time with your family and the communal friends that care. He exclaims that so far, he has attained this dream.
This upper-class woman, Ms. Freeborn is both a marketing executive and business owner that garners above $150000 per year. In her state, she says that being in this class there is always preferential treatment so that they don’t have to pay. She observes numerous money making opportunities in terms of technology, health care, as well as finance. Unlike her parents’ generation, she possess house furnished with a porch, spend dinner hours in her home.
Other elements or realities of social class I noticed include incomes, wealth, fame and power, prestigious occupation, education, health, family ties, gender, consumption patterns, as well as social mobility. These among others are important as they point out the social class of the individual. For example, using income we categorize the individuals: Ms. Freeborn ($150000/year) falls in upper class; Mr. Schoeneck ($85000/year) is in middle class; Mr. Mitchell (at most $75000/year); and Ms. Goulart whose earns nothing at the moment serves as a lower class example. Education is also attached to wealth creation whether it forms part of the family’s habit to raise their asset column or not for their future generation.
As regards social stratification of the U.S. in the 1950s, it is presented that riches were most featuring in many of the American Society. This eventually led to increased consumption levels and that of a population boom. While prosperity was on the forefront, there was a great outcry of deepened poverty forgiven Americans so much that the rich-poor gad did grow. As compared to the today’s American social stratification, it would be quick to notice increased complexity in social- class classification. Nevertheless, it becomes quite clear that tier-structure model persists which entails the upper, middle and lower class. There is an upcoming class already identified as the working class. Like the former social class of post-World War II, of rich and the poor, there was added the middle class, and this was on the basis of wealth, occupation type, and income.
References
Herrnstein, Richard J., and Charles Murray. Bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. Simon and Schuster, 2010.
Nytimes.com, ‘Class Matters – Social Class In The United States Of America – The New York Times.’ N.p., 2015. Web. 4 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/class/index.htmlQuestion 4
Gender Stratification and Sex Slavery
Reasons offered, as revealed through “Escaping ISIS” why women had to become involved in these realities, are many. Religiously, women had to marry ISIS fighters to sustain their generation. The hot war led to the killing of their husbands or forceful conversion of yielding one to Islam, to add to their numbers. Some, exactly 34 in number, after one year period, reunited with their long-separated families due to wars. The women in these territories must culturally have a thick layer of the veil to cover every body part except their eyes. If they abide not to this rule, it’s a must death penalty, some even hasten by own women fathers. Also, culturally the women have no say and in such war zones they either yield to be raped, or commit suicide, whichever is easier of the two.
Social conflict theory best explains the situation of sex slavery happening in this context. The reason is that first of all the culture allows the disobedient woman to face death, and sometimes steered by their fathers. The want of the women and the want of the family are conflicting in a way. In fact, those women presented to relate their escape story attach it with abandonment by the family. This theory, taken ideally, might expound the religious, cultural, war; some even hasten by biased media, and so on.
References
Eggert, Jessica. ”Escaping ISIS’: Stories Of The Women And Children Who Escaped’. Mashable. N.p., 2015. Web. 4 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2015/07/15/escaping-isis-documentary/
Ward, Jeanne, and Mendy Marsh. “Sexual violence against women and girls in war and its Aftermath: Realities, Responses and required resources.” Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond. Vol. 21. 2006.
Question 5
Brown eyes/blue eyes
Having watched the video posted in Unit 12 titled Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes: A Frontline Special, an immediately understood how racist and discriminatory attitudes and behaviors develop in the society. On the first day, those blue-eyed children were recommended as “better” compared to the brown-eyed follows that in this day were “lesser.” On the next day, the statement was vice versa to the same population of the school children. Despite the fact that every group had both statements told them, it was interesting that the “better” fellows undermined the “lesser” fellows. Those “better” children or adults would behave similarly as they would discourage the other group, showing racism and unwanted discrimination, experimentally revealed.
Different from the adults, the school children were even affected in their class performance. It was just amazing how in a span of fifteen minutes the good, thoughtful children would turn out to be nasty and discriminating, as revealed by Elliot. This was a lesson the children would never forget as they later on learned that they needed one another more than they discriminated each other.
References
Bellamy, Carol. The state of the world’s children 1999. Unicef, 1999.
Peters, William. A class divided: Then and now. Vol. 14021. Yale University Press, 1987. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/
Question 6End of life issues1. Do you think the film reflected death as a process? Why/why not? What makes this type of death different from the typical way people die?
Indeed, I think the film reflected death as a process, not an instant happening. This is because Craig Ewert uses the continuous tense to refer to his condition “I am dying…” This type of death is different from the typical way people die because he struggles about his predetermined suicide, which is, struggling to live but deciding when to die.
2. Did you see any evidence of Kubler-Ross’ stages in the documentary? If so, by whom?
Yes, I saw some evidence of Kubler-Ross’ stages in the documentary. First I saw the aspect of second stage anger that Craig declares against the ventilator that he says, God. If anything, should he be living with no access to technology he would be long dead at the moment, he proclaims. Also, the third stage of Kubler-Ross-stages bargaining is demonstrated when Craig wishes to live longer years but have the disease not weary him. Otherwise, death becomes sweeter than life, he believes. There is stage 5 of acceptance where he openly declares, especially after being diagnosed with ALS, he concludes that dying he is, and at the moment he must now not try denying the fact anymore. He must cherish this truth even if it means what.
Reference
Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On death and dying: What the dying have to teach doctors, nurses, clergy and their families. Taylor & Francis, 2009. Retrieved from psychcentral.com/lib/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief/
3. Which theory/theories of aging discussed in the chapter did you see reflected here (activity, continuity, disengagement, conflict, etc.)?
Theory of aging I see reflected in the tourist suicide is that of activity theory. The activity theory is based on the psychosocial aging process that it attached to the progressing activities. Craig is psychosocially tormented because we see no person close to him to encourage him. It is possible that he is left to survive between him and his God. Family ties are hardly mentioned. Then, his speech is a mere expression of his dissatisfaction with people’s ignorance of the truth. That a ventilator will serve to add him life is one thing he bows out to; he cannot entertain the “fact.” He must suffer as a man and decide when to do it, so-called “tourism suicide.”
Reference
Gavrilov, Leonid A., and Natalia S. Gavrilova. “The reliability theory of aging and longevity.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 213.4 (2001): 527-545.
4. Did this film change any of your thoughts related to views on the right to die/euthanasia? Why or why not?
In truth, this film of “The Suicide Tourist” changed my thought related to views on the right to die/euthanasia. I have always been emphasizing that any person must have a right to live. At this moment, I realize that a person must also not be denied his/her right to die. As I have learned from the story that knowledge that one has a terminal disease can destroy the individual quicker than the disease itself. Therefore, the victim must, first of all, accept his situation and be assisted, if possible, to make an end of his life. To me, this serves only to the terminally ill and a disease touching on the sensitive body part of nerves, heart, and so on.
Reference
Higginbotham, Gregory. “Assisted-suicide Tourism: is it tourism.” Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism 6.2 (2011): 177-185. Retrieved from pbs.org. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/suicidetourist/