Teaching Tips: Personal Criminal History Analysis Paper

Students often have difficulty visualizing the practical application of criminological theory. The following activity assists instructors to develop students‘ abilities in evaluating behaviors and determining the theoretical perspectives that potentially could be used to explain those behaviors. It also is designed to assist students in comprehending how their own experiences impact their views on law-violating behavior and its etiology. This exercise facilitates students‘ awareness of how their beliefs about the causes of law-violating behavior inevitably impact their beliefs about potential solutions or responses to this type of behavior. Eventually, students unfailingly begin to realize the artificial dichotomy between us, as the law-abiders, and them, as the law-violators, what students perceive to be the typical criminal

Do you know how your children are? International perspectives on child abuse, mistreatment, and neglect

The purpose of this article is to offer a brief overview of the state of children internationally as it pertains to their levels of abuse, neglect, and needs. The enormity of this topic is obvious, but it is hoped that a basic understanding and appreciation of the definitions, nature and extent, and myriad issues involved can be derived

Sex, Drugs, and Rock \u27n\u27 Roll: What Shall We Ban Next?

Music, literature, movies, and all forms of entertainment play an important role in the socialization of adolescents. Present everywhere and easily available, this allows children almost limitless access to questionable entertainment alone or with friends. Parents are unaware of the content of what their children are absorbing because of the use of downloaded music, videos, and literature, and the use of headphones. Research on popular culture/entertainment has explored its effects on schoolwork, social interactions, and particularly behavior. Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence over the years, particularly in certain genres. And, in turn, there have been myriad attempts to censor, ban, and block access to various materials. Justifications for such efforts has been the belief that a teenager\u27s preference for certain types of entertainment could be correlated or associated with certain behaviors. The purpose of this chapter is to offer an historical examination of the efforts to censor and/or ban what children are exposed

Mother Knows Best: A Brief Examination of the 1982- 2019 US Mass Shootings Data From Mother Jones’s Investigation

In the aftermath of the movie theater mass shooting in July of 2012 in Aurora, Colorado, Mother Jones magazine created one of the first open-source databases documenting mass shootings in the United States. They focused on documenting rampage shootings in public places which resulted in four or more victims killed by the attacker(s). Their initial database consisted of incidents between 1982 and 2012, then an additional 54 cases were added to this data base of incidents which occurred between 2013 and August 2019. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the incidents gathered in this complete database from 1982 to 2019. Special attention is given to overall trends and characteristics of types of offenders, events, and weapons used in such violent events

Interview with Commissioner of Police George Asiamah, Ghana National Police Service Interviewed by Gordon A. Crews and Angela D. Crews

In January of 2007, Drs. Gordon and Angela Crews traveled with their graduate assistant, Mr. Kofi Annor Boye-Doe, and Ghanaian Fulbright Scholar, Mr. Ken Aikins, to Ghana, West Africa, in order to conduct a research study. The original research plan was to conduct a three part examination of: 1) the blend of indigenous government (rooted in religious practices and strongly associated with spirituality and mysticism) and state government in the Ghanaian justice system; 2) the treatment of women and children within these systems; and 3) the alternative dispute resolution, restorative justice, and conflict resolution strategies within the two systems. During this trip, the researchers met with Commissioner of Police Mr. George Asiamah (who has become the driving force for the current Community Policing initiative in Ghana), other officials from the Ghana Police Service (GPS), faculty of the University of Ghana Legon and the University of Cape Coast. In the course of these meetings, the Crews’ became better informed about the practice of justice in the country and some immediate law enforcement needs related to the development of the nation, specifically the dire need for training in “community” and “intelligence-led” policing. Citizens in Ghanaian society (as well as citizens in most sub-Saharan African countries) do not trust the police, preferring to rely instead on “magico-religious” forces and traditional authority figures to settle disputes (Abotchie, 2002). When circumstances do reach severity levels such that citizens are forced to contact law enforcement, the police role is circumscribed as reactive. Unfortunately, this tends to reinforce the perception of citizens that police only exist to take away the “bad guys.” Ghana’s police force has a tradition of being used as a militaristic tool of oppression and this history, unfortunately, remains entrenched in the collective social conscience

Professional integrity in higher education: Behind the green curtain in the land of Oz

This article discusses concerns related to professional integrity in academics and to the use of collegiality as an informal criterion for employment and evaluation decisions. We question the nature of the educational enterprise and the academic environment within which both students and faculty operate. We use the AAUP Statement on Professional Ethics to guide our examination of collegiality, and the three traditional areas of faculty evaluation (teaching, scholarship, and service), as they relate to professional integrity. We discuss potential pitfalls in situations involving integrity concerns, and suggest that the use of collegiality in professional decisions is more prevalent and potentially harmful than many realize

The American Gun Culture: Potential Impact on K-12 School Violence

Most researchers insist on combining all school shootings/violence incidents into one type of act and therefore one type of actor and one type of event. However, public mass shootings, university environments, international incidents, and K-12 school shootings and violence are not the same. They have different catalysts, motivations, types of occurrence, and offenders. The research for this work is part of a comprehensive examination of 78 currently incarcerated U.S. K-12 school violence offenders and their acts between 1979 and 2011 in 33 states. Topics examined include: weapons used and injuries incurred, availability of guns, where the gun or weapon was obtained, the number of weapons used, the rounds of ammunition available, the number of potential victims, and the number of individuals killed or injured. In addition, these findings will be presented as they relate to an author developed four-category typology of K-12 school violence perpetrators: traditional school violence perpetrators, gang related school violence perpetrators, associated school violence perpetrators, and non-associated school violence perpetrators. This study intends to contribute to the national debate about American gun culture and the impact of interest in and availability of guns and other weapons on K-12 school violence in the U.S

Teaching Tips: Personal Criminal History Analysis Paper

Students often have difficulty visualizing the practical application of criminological theory. The following activity assists instructors to develop students‘ abilities in evaluating behaviors and determining the theoretical perspectives that potentially could be used to explain those behaviors. It also is designed to assist students in comprehending how their own experiences impact their views on law-violating behavior and its etiology. This exercise facilitates students‘ awareness of how their beliefs about the ―causes‖ of law-violating behavior inevitably impact their beliefs about potential ―solutions‖ or ―responses‖ to this type of behavior. Eventually, students unfailingly begin to realize the artificial dichotomy between ―us,‖ as the ―law-abiders,‖ and ―them,‖ as the law-violators, what students perceive to be the ―typical‖ criminal

Where There\u27s a Will There\u27s a Way: Examining the Possible Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Incidents of Mass Violence in the USA

“Where there’s a will there’s a way” is a proverb that simply means if someone is determined to do something, he or she will find a way to accomplish it regardless of obstacles. Unfortunately, this is very true for those who wish to commit acts of violence wish to commit acts of violence. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidents of mass and multiple victim violence in the US. More specifically, what impact did efforts such as stay-athome/shelter-in-place orders, telecommuting options for workers, school closures, cancellation of large public events, and the suspension of non-essential travel have upon the extent and characteristics of mass violence

Legend Tripping: Haunted Fun or Potential Juvenile Delinquency and Death

On August 7, 2013, one juvenile was killed and 10 others were seriously injured when their truck crashed in Clay County, West Virginia. These juveniles, after drinking heavily, were investigating the Appalachian legend of the “Haunted Chimneys around Booger Hole”. The concept of legend tripping is at least as old as Mark Twain\u27s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which contains several accounts of adolescents visiting allegedly haunted houses and caves said to be the “lairs of criminals”. This paper examines the extent and dangers of juvenile legend tripping across the United States. Many examples of cases will be given