Transcript The Sand Brothers

Theories Regarding Crime and Criminal
Deviance
What is crime? Who are criminals?
The Sand Brothers
Robert (b. 1978) and Danny Sand (b. 1980)
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Albertan family
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Father (Dennis), Mother (Elaine)
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Father spent time in jail when he was young- after became a productive
law abiding citizen (runs a business, member of community groups etc…)
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As youngsters, were constantly in trouble (along with their friends)
The Sand Brothers
- only mixed-race boys in their town
- difficulty in school, frequently suspended
- at 15 Danny beat up another student- spent time in
youth custody
*see description by Staples 2002
The Sand Brothers
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1998 Robert- 7 year jail sentence for armed robbery
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Danny also spent years in jail for several crimes, all violent (attacking a
police officer)
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Danny joined Robert in the same jail after ramming a police officer with a
truck
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Danny has a tattoo on his belly that reads “Fearless, Painless, Senseless”
and on his knuckles- TCOB
The Sand Brothers
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Oct. 2001 Robert released to a halfway house- reunited with gf (Laurie
Bell), who was a heavy drug user
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Dec. 2001, Robert, Laurie and Danny, all on parole, left for the maritimes
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Initiated a crime spree: robbing banks, B+Es, theft of vehicles
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The spree led them to the town of Russell, Man.
The Sand Brothers
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Dec. 21 2001 Danny is stopped in his truck, with Robert and Laurie by RCMP
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As the constables approached the truck, Robert fired several shotgun blasts at them
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The RCMP fled to their car and attempted to get away- Danny chased them into
town
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Danny rammed the RCMP’s SUV in front of their headquarters, Robert jumped out,
and fired at one of the constables who was trapped in the SUV- killed
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RCMP tracked the trio to a motel back in Sask.- police sniper killed Danny; Robert
and Laurie were captured
The Sand Brothers
- Robert is serving a life sentence for first
degree murder (see diary entry)- he attacked
his own lawyer in the court room
- Laurie Bell was convicted of manslaughterwas heard yelling “Kill Him”
Criminology
Why did they lead such undisciplined lives?
Why did they pursue the RCMP officers instead of taking off?
Look at how Robert saw the world- “us vs them, at war”- why?
Is there anything that can be done to prevent this type of tragedy from
occurring?
That is criminology in a nutshell
Crime
Even if we could solve those questions- the
answer may not relate to other types of crimes
The case of Diego Zepeda-Cordera
The case of Conrad Black
Crime
The Sands’, Conrad Black and Zepeda-Corera have little in
common, except for their criminal convictions
Criminal behaviour is diverse and the task of criminologists,
police officers and social workers to deal with the diverse
nature is incredibly hard
And then relate to the job of legislators- deter? Punish?
Allow? Rehabilitate?
What is Criminology?
Body of knowledge regarding crime as a social
phenomenon
Includes the process of making laws, breaking laws and of
reacting to the breaking of laws
The objective is to develop a body of principles related to
the above
What is Criminology?
Criminal behaviour and society’s response to the behaviour
The USA has a much higher rate of violent crime than
Canada- they also have a much harsher justice system
Understanding crime before we reduce it
So...why is crime committed?
What is Criminology?
Study by R. Tremblay- boys whose violent behaviour did not
mitigate by 16
Almost all were sons of young mothers with low levels of
education
Government of Quebec has created programs for mothers who
fit this profile to help reduce potential criminality of their children
Ideas
Picture in your head who commits crimes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRZUMA6VhjE
What are the common characteristics of people who commit crimes?
Read page 240- 2000 National Council of Welfare- Justice and the
Poor
List the characteristics of the people who actually commit crime in
Canada
LABELLING THEORY
Labelling theory recognizes relativity of crime and deviance, and argues the
following:
Crime and deviance may be universal, but there are no universal forms of
crime and deviance
What counts as deviant or criminal behaviour varies by time and place
including…
Killing (acceptable in time of war or in line of duty)
Opiate-use in Canada (was once legal- and then 1908 happened…)
Incest (are significant variations across cultures in what constitutes incest)…*
LABELLING THEORY
Labelling theory recognizes relativity & argues the following: (cont’d)
Publicly recognizing somebody as criminal or deviant is important cause
of criminal or deviant behavior
Application of label of criminal or deviant often linked to lower social class
(e.g., the lower the status of the user, the more likely the drug will be
criminalized)* 1908 Opium laws
Think how this might relate to “thug culture”
Classical Theory
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)- Free will determines all
individual`s actions
Human beings are rational and make decisions with the
capability of understanding the consequences
Punishment should fit the crime
Positivist Theorists
Cesare Lombarso (1835 – 1909)
Italian physician and psychiatrist
Studied cadavers of executed criminals in an effort to determine scientifically
whether criminals were physically any different from non-criminals
He believed that people were born criminals and facial features of criminals
included things like enormous jaws and strong canine teeth.
Pictures of murderers
that Lambarso believed
carried facial features
tied to criminal activity.
Murderer
Sean Penn
See any similarities!?
Does this mean Sean Penn is a Criminal?
Biological Theory
In the 1960s, positivist criminologists argued that criminal behaviour
lies in abnormal chromosomes
The XYY theory argued that violent male criminals have an
abnormal XYY chromosome (XY is the normal pattern in males)
However, researchers soon found out that this was not true and
that criminals had normal chromosomes and that non-criminals also
had abnormal chromosomes.
The Positivist theory of criminals being born rather than made died
out. There were moral implications with this.
Philippe Rushton
Modern Day Example
University of Western Ontario psychology
professor
Rushton's book Race, Evolution, and
Behavior (1995) tries to show that East
Asians and their descendants average a
larger brain size, greater intelligence, more
sexual restraint, slower rates of maturation,
and greater law abidingness and social
organization than do Europeans and their
descendants, who average higher scores
on these dimensions than Africans and
their descendants.
Strain Theory (Sociological):
Theory of Anomie
Sociological Theorist: Emile Durkheim (18581917)
People who live in cities feel more anonymous and
isolated (as compared to rural life).
No longer restrained by the strict norms of society
(in rural life) and given the anonymity in a big city
certain individuals turned to crime.
Kitty Genovese
Anomie cont…
Young woman stabbed to death on a street in New York City -1964
As many as 37 neighbours and bystanders all heard her screams for help.
No one called the police because they all thought someone else would take
action.
Sociologists call this Diffusion of Responsibility
Kitty Genovese Article
Strain Theory (Sociology)
Current societies stress the goals of acquiring wealth, success, and
power.
However, the means to achieve these goals require education and
economic resources.
These means are frequently denied or unavailable to those who are
economically disadvantaged or have little opportunity for formal
education.
Therefore those who do not see any value in abiding by the laws of
society will act outside of it to achieve the things societies expects
Control Theory
Control theory (Travis Hirschi)
Holds that a set of ties bind young people to the conventional world, and
when those ties are weak, deviance & crime occur
No special motivation is required because we all have natural inclination for
rule breaking that is only kept in check because of our (i) attachments to
family and friends; (ii) commitments to conventional ambitions and
activities in school and work; (iii) prosocial values & beliefs; and (iv)
conventional activities at school and work*
Control Theory
Variant of control theory  General Theory of Crime
Argues that all deviance has a common cause in low self-control
Personality characteristics of individuals with low self-control include
impulsivity, a taste for risk, an action orientation, and short-term thinking
Low self-control presumably originates in early socialization because of
lack of parental involvement or attention to deviant behaviour*
Cont…
According to Sigelman and Rider (2009), children who are
raised in abusive environments can grow up to become
abusers and to learn that violence is an integral part of human
relationships.
Furthermore, abusers are often insecure individuals with low
self-esteem. Abusers can form negative internal working
models of themselves and others, which are most likely rooted
in unhappy experiences in insecure relationships with parents
and negative experiences in romantic relationships.
Psychological Theory
Social psychology is the study of the relations between
individuals and people.
They are interested in how ‘regular’ people can commit
atrocious crimes.
Stanley Milgram was specifically interested in how Nazi’s
were able to commit horrible acts of genocide – he focused on
how people could do this just by following orders.
Milgram Experiment
Psychological- Psychoanalytical
Theory
Sigmund Freud believed that all humans have criminal tendencies.
It is through socialization that these tendencies are controlled during
childhood.
If a child has an identity problem with his/her parent, this problem may
cause the child to direct its antisocial tendencies outward and thus become
a criminal.
Application
Criminology Theories will help determine types
of punishments/rehabilitation but also help
develop deterrence mechanisms
Possible help change legislation to determine
what crimes are actually crimes