Category: Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Sex Offender Rehabilitation via Friendship

Bob Howard of the BBC has recently published an article looking at a scheme to combat sex offender recidivism. Originating in Canada, friendship circles are ‘based on the premise that while some offenders have friends and family to return to when they come out of prison, others have not and the more isolated they are, the more likely they are to re-offend’. Throughout the article, Sarah from London talks about her experiences as a volunteer for the child protection charity...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Inequality in the Criminal Justice System Continues

People convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine receive 100 times the sentence as people convicted of crimes involving powder cocaine. Senator Richard Durbin (Democrat from Illinois) introduced a bill to eliminate the sentencing disparity for crack vs. powder cocaine. ACLU Legislative Counsel Jennifer Bellamy commented: “We finally have the political will and momentum to end this unconstitutional disparity. We should not miss this opportunity to effect real change and ensure fair sentencing for all Americans.” Senator Jefferson Sessions (Republican from...

Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Sexting turns a profit: A lesson from the pornography industry?

By Rachael Liberman Although “sexting” is certainly not an isolated phenomenon, a recent case at Chenery Middle School in Belmont, Massachusetts deserves cultural consideration. According to reports, a nude photo of an underage student was circulated between seventh and eighth graders – approximately 40 to 50 according to Bill Grubbs, the school’s assistant headmaster. Further details provide that each of those students paid $5 for access to the “sext,” which was sent by the underage student’s “boyfriend.” This situation is...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Chevron Contaminates Water Sources with Toxic Waste

Indigenous people residing in Ecuador filed an environmental lawsuit against Chevron Corporation for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Amazon rainforest between 1964 and 1990. The indigenous people argue that Chevron’s toxic waste disposal resulted in $27 billion worth of damages. For instance, evidence suggests that Chevron’s former oil drilling sites are contaminated with toxic byproducts that cause cancer. The indigenous people drink from water sources contaminated by these toxic byproducts. Chevron hired twelve public relations firms...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Organizations & Work

Fear as the Norm

Following heightened security concerns in Yemen as well as the failed Christmas Day bombing aboard a flight approaching Detroit, the Obama administration has opted to drastically increase security concerning all flights destined for the United States. According to the Washington Post, these new Transportation Security Association (TSA) measures include the physical search of all passengers who hold the passport of, are traveling from, or are traveling to a country on the Statement Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism or...

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Religion, Abortion, and the Law in the United States

  If one’s religion teaches that abortion is murder, is the believer then obligated to stop abortions from happening, by any means necessary? Today, a Kansas judge decided that this is not a viable defense strategy under the law. On May 31, Kansas resident Scott Roeder is accused of shooting and killing Dr. George Tiller. Roeder had wished to use something that has been termed the “necessity defense,” which would justify using lethal force. Although the judge’s reasoning for not...

Class & Stratification / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Dangerous Dogs Revisited

Following the recent sad news of the death of 4 year old John Paul Massey, after he had been attacked by his uncle’s American bull mastiff, media attention has refocused on the ownership of ‘dangerous’ dogs. As part of the BBC ‘Pledge Watch’ series of articles, Justin Parkinson has taken the opportunity to revisit the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. Following a spate of dog attacks on children in the early 1990s, media coverage focused on various breeds of dogs as...

Class & Stratification / Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Social Movements / Social Change / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Telling the Truth: Immigrants and their communities

Today, December 2, Maryland pastor Lennox Abrigo will be at the White House to discuss immigration reform. According to the New York Times, Abrigo and other pastors across the state have witnessed increases in the number of immigrants in their congregations as well as increases in the problems that these individuals face. Abrigo told the paper, “Members of our church have been deported… Families are disrupted.” Despite such challenges, the Times reports that immigration reform activism is on the rise...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Muslim Identity, Cultural Trauma, and the Racialized Backlash

Jeffrey Alexander writes that “cultural trauma occurs when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to a horrendous event that leaves indelible marks upon their group consciousness, marking their memories forever and changing their future identity in fundamental and irrevocable ways” (2004). With this basic definition in mind, can we call the shootings that took place at the Fort Hood army base a “cultural trauma”? In this case, the identity of the United States military may have been...

Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

Portable pornography in the public sphere: Convenient, offensive or hazardous?

By Rachael Liberman It’s one thing to experience the pornification of culture through public advertising (billboards, subway adverts), among other mediated formats. But what if someone sitting next to you on the subway is watching pornography on their iPod? In a recent Washington Post article, Staff Writer Monica Hesse questions the acceptability of portable porn, also known as “secondhand porn” to those experiencing forced exposure. Due to technological (portable) advancements, the consumption of digital pornography has moved from the domestic...

Peace, War & Social Conflict / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Media & Communication

‘Carnage’ at the War Memorial

by paulabowles Philip Laing, the 19 year old student from Sheffield Hallam University has become the latest focus for the media. Recently photographed urinating upon a poppy wreath at a Second World War Memorial, Laing has attracted an enormous amount of negative attention. Although, Laing claims he was drunk at the time, and remembers nothing of the events of that evening, he did make ‘a full and complete admission’ when confronted by the photographic evidence. Upon appearing in court this...

Gender & Sexuality / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Video Resources

Augmented Reality: Going the Way of the Dildo

by pj.rey While the term “augmented reality” uttered in a sexual context might immediately conjure the perennial problematic of the boozed, buzzed, and befuddled (commonly referred to as “beer goggles”), more nuanced analysis may prove fruitful.  Fellow Sociology Lens news editor, nathan jurgenson, recently argued in “towards theorizing an augmented reality” that we need to anticipate an ascending paradigm where “digital and material realities dialectically co-construct each other.” To anticipate this new reality, I argue that we ought to turn...

Political & Economic Sociology / Science & Technology / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance / Sociology of Organizations & Work

When Prosumption is Law, the Prosumer is King (for Now)

by pj.rey Smokers, if I told you that I could get you high-quality cigarettes for half the usual price, you’d probably smartly ask, “What’s the catch?”  “The catch,” I might respond, “is that I need five minutes of your labor-time per pack.”  This is precisely the bargain customers are making with a Brookline, New Hampshire store called Tobacco Haven – a bargain we social theorists might call prosumption.  The shop houses a roll-your-own cigarette machine into which customers feed piles...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Religion and Child Custody Cases

by NickieWild What are the limits of free expression in the United States today? Are we still living under what many would consider a theocratic state? Although the “Protestant Ethic” as defined by Weber is often thought of in terms of the realm of work, it includes other moral dimensions. The U.S. has often been mired in controversies about what role religion should play in the formation of law. Abortion, school prayer, displaying religious symbols like the 10 Commandments on...

Political & Economic Sociology / Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

When method becomes a matter of life or death

By Rachael Liberman While public school violence has been an ongoing epidemic in Chicago, the recent murder of 16-year-old Derrion Albert,  showcased on YouTube and other various Internet sources,  has repositioned its priority level to urgent. However, as weeks have passed, the public is still wondering: what and when is something going to be done? Finally, the New York Times has revealed a plan orchestrated by Ron Huberman, the new chief officer of Chicago Public Schools, that is reportedly going...

Political & Economic Sociology / Social Movements / Social Change / Social Psychology & Lifecourse / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Law, Crime and Deviance

Case Closure

by ChristinaBlunt On September 23, the Chicago Tribune reported that Christopher M. Stevens, the convicted killer of Zachary Snider, has been re-sentenced to life in prison without parole after his death sentence was overturned. Stevens was charged with sexually molesting and murdering 10-year old Snider in 1993. However, in 2007, a federal appeals court set aside the death penalty citing the defense’s insufficient presentation of Stevens’ mental illness. Although it is likely that Stevens would again be sentenced to death,...