Quotes

"HE WHO ANGERS YOU CONQUERS YOU" -- ELIZABETH KENNY

"NONVIOLENCE IS THE FIRST ARTICLE OFMY FAITH AND IT IS THE LAST ARTICLE OF MY CREED“

-- MAHATMA GANDHI

"YOU CANNOT SIMULTANEOUSLY PREVENT AND PREPARE FOR WAR“

-- EINSTEIN

“ANGER IS NEVER WITHOUT A REASON, BUT SELDOM WITH A GOOD ONE" -- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

"IF YOU ARE PATIENT IN ONE MOMENT OF ANGER, YOU WILL ESCAPE 100 DAYS OF SORROW“

‑‑CHINESE PROVERB

• OVER 20,000 HOMICIDES AND 90,000 FORCIBLE RAPES/YEAR

• OVER 1 MILLION CASES OF CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT PER YEAR

• IF MARRIED, 1/3 CHANCE OF HUSBAND OR WIFE WILL HIT YOU

• THE NUMBER OF WARS IN RECORDED HISTORY -- 14,531 OR 2.6 EVERY YEAR

Aggression/Violence --- Some Statistics

DefinitionAGGRESSION: BEHAVIOR AGAINST ANOTHER LIVING BEING THAT IS INTENDED TO HARM OF INJURE.

Gender: • Males are most often the victims and the perpetrators in homicides• Males were 10 times more likely than females to commit murder

Additional statistics (from the U.S. Department of Justice --- 2000)

Race:• Blacks were 6 times more likely to be homicide victims and 7 times more likely than whites to commit homicides in 2000

Guns: For 1987-96, on average, 65% of homicides in the U.S. involved firearms, compared to 32% for Canada

Juvenile homicides:

In 1999, about 1,800 juveniles (a rate of 3.0 per 100,000) were victims of homicide in the United States. This rate is substantially higher than that of any other developed country.

Columbine High School: 14 students and 1 teacher killed

Depressed Mother Kills Her Children

Jun. 21, 2001 (CBS)  Andrea Yates of Houston, Texas, a mother suffering from postpartum depression, went on a killing spree. The victims were none other than her own five children, all between 7 years and 6 months old.

Los Angeles Dealing with Gang Murder Wave11/22/2002

Los Angeles, Calif., may be on its way to earning the title of murder capital of America as a result of a spasm of 14 homicides in the past five days, the Washington Post reported Nov. 20.

YearHomicide

rate1950 4.6

1951 4.4

1952 4.6

1953 4.5

1954 4.2

1955 4.1

1956 4.1

1957 4.0

1958 4.8

1959 4.9

1960 5.1

1961 4.8

1962 4.6

1963 4.6

1964 4.9

1965 5.1

1966 5.6

1967 6.2

1968 6.9

1969 7.3

YearHomicide

rate1970 7.9

1971 8.6

1972 9.0

1973 9.4

1974 9.8

1975 9.6

1976 8.8

1977 8.8

1978 9.0

1979 9.7

1980 10.2

1981 9.8

1982 9.1

1983 8.3

1984 7.9

1985 7.9

1986 8.6

1987 8.3

1988 8.4

1989 8.7

YearHomicide

rate1990 9.4

1991 9.8

1992 9.3

1993 9.5

1994 9.0

1995 8.2

1996 7.4

1997 6.8

1998 6.3

1999 5.7

2000 5.5

What cultural factors influence the rate of crime?

What are some examples of violent behavior?

Men tend to favor the death penalty more than women; whites are much more apt to favor it than blacks; those with higher incomes are more likely to support it

• 178 black people have been executed for killing a white person; 12 white people have been executed for killing a black person.    

• The U.S. is one of only 6 countries in the world to sentence children to death.

• In 2002, 81 percent of all known executions took place in China, Iran and the USA

• 109 innocent men have been sentenced to death in the last 20 years.

• Between 1973-200, 17 juvenile offenders have been executed in the U.S.

Some facts about the death penalty

"Because the Illinois death penalty system is arbitrary and capricious - and therefore immoral - I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death"Outgoing Illinois Gov. George Ryan Chicago, Jan. 11, 2003

On June 20, 2002 the Supreme Court issued a ruling, in Atkins v. Virginia, that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel unusual punishment to execute death row inmates with mental retardation

In 1989, the Court ruled in Penry v. Lynaugh ), in a 5-4 decision, that executing persons with mental retardation was not a violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Executions by State (partial list)

Texas 304 Virginia 88

Oklahoma 63 Missouri 60 Florida 56 Georgia 33

South Carolina 28 Alabama 27 Louisiana 27 Arkansas 24

North Carolina 23 Arizona 22 Delaware 13 Illinois 12

California 10 Indiana 10 Nevada 9

Ohio 7 Mississippi 6

Utah 6 Washington 4

Maryland 3 Nebraska 3

Pennsylvania 3 Total executions since 1976 = 855

Crime on Television

• WHAT TYPE OF CRIME MOST COMMON ON TV?

VIOLENT CRIME (HOMICIDE, ARMED ROBBERY, ASSAULT)

• INFORMATION PRESENTED ON WHY CRIME WAS COMMITTED?

DISPOSITIONAL REASONS FOR CRIME (E.G., PATHOLOGY, GREED)- [CRIMINALS NOT MORE EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED] LITTLE BACKGROUND INFO ON CRIMINAL (EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS)

• DEPICTION OF POLICE(ILLUSION OF CERTAINTY) PERCEPTION OF ARREST = GUILTYSMALL % OF INNOCENT PEOPLE ARRESTED ON TV

• BEST PREDICTOR OF CRIME?

INCOME LEVELS BELOW THE POVERTY RATE

“HEAVY” VERSUS “LIGHT” TV VIEWERS

HEAVY VIEWERS:

A) DISPOSITIONAL ATTRIBUTIONS FOR CRIME (ABNORMALITY)

B) DISCOUNT SITUATIONAL FACTORS ($, UNEMPLOYMENT)

C) UNABLE TO IDENTIFY CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS BY POLICE

IMPLICATIONS?

A) VOTING

B) JURY SELECTION (IMPLICIT PERSONALITY THEORIES)

C) LAWYERS (PLEA BARGIN--HOW JURY WILL RESPOND)

D) CHILDREN

E) PRISON REFORM

Aggression Factors

• BIOLOGY AND GENETICS

• PHYSIOLOGY --- LIMBIC SYSTEM, HORMONES (TESTOSTERONE)

• PAIN – DISCOMFORT (E.G., HEAT, FRUSTRATION, STRESS)

• SOCIAL LEARNING --- MODELING (E.G., MEDIA INFLUENCE)

51-53 61-65 71-75 81-85 91-95 101-105

24

20

16

12

8

4

0

# Riots

Temperature (Fahrenheit)

Temperature and Aggression

40

35

30

25

20

15

Violent Crime Ratio

40-57 69-72 78-80 85-88 93-95

Temperature (Fahrenheit)

Temperature and Aggression (cont.)

< 70 70-79 80-89 90 and above

Temperature (Fahrenheit)

HBP per game

.6

.5

.4

.3

Temperature and Aggression (cont.)

Low aggressors High aggressors

Shock intensity

5.5

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

Sober

Intoxicated

Alcohol and Aggression

Aggression Levels

High

Medium

Low

Low aggressors High aggressors

Neutral film

Violent film

Catharsis -- Venting, Discharging, Expressing One’s Emotions

(e.g., hitting a punching bag, watching a violent movie or sport)

Venting one’s emotions by displacing aggression, watching an aggressive film, or playing an aggressive video game can increase the likelihood of behaving violently.

CHARACTERISTICS OF VIOLENT STIMULI

A) BEHAVIOR IS REWARDED

B) EXITING (EMOTIONALLY AROUSING)

C) REALISTIC

D) BEHAVIOR IS JUSTIFIED

E) BEHAVIOR IS NOT CRITISIZED

F) INTENT TO INJURE

Association Between Aggressive Behavior and:

• Media Violence (e.g., TV, Movies, Video Games)

• Sports (e.g., Boxing)

• War

Modeling Explanation --

• Publicity Effect• Victim Similarity (i.e., race of loser)

War and Homicide Rates --- Pre and Post war rates

• Dose of war

• Labeling Issue

% of characters

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Violent characters

Victims of violence

Perpetrators or victims of violence

Children’s shows

Prime-time shows

AGGRESSIVE CUES AND VIOLENCE

TV SHOW

NEUTRAL VIOLENT (SWAT TEAM AND USE OF WALKIE-TALKIE)

INTERVIEW BEFORE HOCKEY GAME

TAPE RECORDER WALKIE-TALKIE

PLAYED IN HOCKEY GAME

• THOSE WHO WATCHED THE VIOLENT TV SHOW AND WERE INTERVIEWED WITH A WALKIE-TALKIE (AGGRESSIVE CUE) BEHAVED MORE AGGRESSIVELY

Violence Against Women --- Pornography

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE PORNOGRAPHY? (ANY EXAMPLES?)

SUPREME COURT

• EXPLICIT SEX

• COMMUNITY STANDARDS

• DOES NOT POSSESS REDEEMING SOCIAL VALUE

Goya, FranciscoThe Nude Maja1800Oil on canvas97 x 190 cm

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Ingres, Jean Auguste DominiqueThe Turkish Bath1862Oil on canvas on woodDiameter 42 1/2" (108 cm)Musee du Louvre, Paris

Nude in the Sunlight, 1876, 81x64,5cm. Paris, Musee d'Orsay.

Michelangelo's statue of "David."

Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio1489?-1534Venus, Satyr and Cupidc. 1525

Jean-Jacques, known as James Pradier1790-1852Satyr and BacchanteDated 1834Marble

SOME STATISTICS

A) HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU: "USED STRONG PHYSICAL FORCE TO TRY TO ENGAGE IN A SEX ACT AGAINST ANOTHER’S WILL", OR "USED VIOLENCETO TRY TO ENGAGE IN A SEX ACT AGAINST ANOTHER’S WILL"?

MALES = 12% FEMALES = 2%

B) HOW LIKELY WOULD YOU RAPE A WOMEN IF YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU WOULD NOT BE CAUGHT? (COLLEGE MEN)

35% SOME POSSIBILITY (MALAMUTH, 1981)

C) 15% COLLEGE MEN REPORTED HAVING FORCED INTERCOURSE ONCE OR TWICE (RAPAPORT & BURKHART, 1984)

Violence Against Women --- Pornography

Definition: EROTIC MATERIAL THAT COMBINES ELEMENTS OF SEXUALITY AND AGGRESSION, AND IN WHICH FORCE OR COERSION IS USED TO ACCOMPLISH THE SEXUAL ACT

Film Type:

• Sexually explicit (e.g., X-rated)

• Violence (e.g., murder, assault)

• “Teen sex” films

• Neutral

Effects on:

Aggressive behavior and attitudes towards women (e.g., mock rape trial)

Greek definition – “writing about prostitutes”

PARTICIPANTS VIEWED 1 FILM PER DAY FOR FIVE DAYS, THEN SERVED AS JURORS IN A MOCK RAPE TRIAL

RESULTS:

ATTITUDES – FEMALES AS:

A) MORE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTACK B) PUTTING FORTH LESS RESISTANCE C) BEING INJURED LESS SEVERELY D) LESS SYMPATHETIC

REACTIONS TO FILMS:

A) LESS OFFENSIVEB) LESS VIOLENTC) GREATER ENJOYMENTD) LESS ANXIETY

Desensitization