In the News
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Cops: Man killed sisters on child's birthday
Parents not home during attack that left 17- and 5-year-old girls dead
• MILTON, Mass. - A man on a rampage fatally stabbed his 17-year-old sister, decapitated his 5-year-old sister in front of a police officer and then headed toward his 9-year-old sister with a knife in his hand before officers shot him amid what their chief described as "a killing field." • There is no clear motive yet for the events that unfolded about 5 p.m. Saturday in this tony Boston suburb that is also home to Gov. Deval Patrick. But there is no doubt at the carnage wrought by 23-yearold Kerby Revelus against his three sisters in the twofamily home they shared with their parents and grandmother.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Alleged gunman's wife worked at nursing home, police say
• Alleged gunman may have been separated from wife • Lone police officer took down shooter, chief says • Police say they don't have motive in slayings • Eight people shot and killed Sunday at North Carolina nursing home
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
“empowered” Rihanna gets gun tattoo
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Aggression
• • • • Theoretical Perspectives Causes of Human Aggression Aggression in Long-Term Relationships Prevention and Control of Aggression
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Aggression
• Aggression: behavior directed toward the goal of harming another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Theoretical Perspectives
• The Role of Biological Factors
– Aggression is inherited and instinctual.
• Freud’s “death instinct” (thanatos)
– Instinct is aimed at self-destruction, but is redirected toward others
• Lorenz proposed the existence of an inherited fighting instinct that ensures that the strongest survive
– Social psychologists disagreed with the idea that aggression was unlearned
• Human aggression takes many forms • Frequency of violence varies across cultures
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Theoretical Perspectives
– The evolutionary perspective in psychology has resulted in some changes in this belief
– Males compete with other males for mates – One way to eliminate competition is through aggression – Therefore, aggressive males were more likely to pass on their genes
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Theoretical Perspectives
• Drive Theories
– Drive Theories (of aggression): suggest that aggression stems from external conditions that arouse the motive to harm or injure others
• A famous drive theory is the frustration-aggression hypothesis: the suggestion that frustration is a very powerful determinant of aggression
– This theory is not well-supported, but remains popular
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Theoretical Perspectives
• Modern Theories of Aggression
– Social learning perspective
• People learn the nuances of aggression through direct experience or by observing others, which includes:
– – – – Ways to harm others Which groups are appropriate targets What actions justify retaliation What situations permit or approve of aggression
• The display of aggressive behavior depends on past experience, current rewards, and attitudes and values
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Theoretical Perspectives
• Modern Theories of Aggression
– General Aggression Model: suggests that aggression is triggered by a wide range of input variables which influence arousal, affective stages, and cognitions
• Input variables include situational factors and personal factors
– Repeated exposure to aggression can facilitate the influence of these variables and can prime people for aggression.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Theoretical Perspectives
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Social Causes of Aggression
– Frustration
• Does not always lead to some form of aggression
– It may lead to sadness, depression
• Aggression does not always result from frustration
– People may aggress for other reasons (boxers, soldiers)
• However, it can elicit aggression when the cause of the frustration is viewed as illegitimate or unjustified
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Social Causes of Aggression
– Provocation
• Physical or verbal provocation is one of the main causes of aggression
– People tend to reciprocate with the same or slightly higher level of aggression that they receive from others – Condescension, the expression of arrogance or disdain, is a strong predictor of aggression
• Can lead to victim-blaming
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Social Causes of Aggression
– Heightened arousal
• Arousal in one situation can increase aggression in response to provocation, frustration, etc. in another, unrelated situation
– Excitation Transfer Theory: suggests that arousal produced in one situation can persist and intensify emotional reactions occurring in later situations » More likely to happen when people are not aware that they are experiencing residual arousal » Or, when people are aware of their arousal but attribute it to the present situation, rather than its original source
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Exposure to Media Violence
• May be a factor that contributes to high levels of violence in countries where it is viewed by many people
– This is supported by short-term laboratory experiments and longitudinal studies
• Can prime aggressive thoughts and lead to a hostile expectation bias that others will behave aggressively, which causes individuals to act more aggressively
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Violent Pornography
• Can increase the likelihood that men will aggress against women • Can desensitize people to victims of sexual violence • Fosters belief in rape myths
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Cultural Factors in Aggression
– Cultures of Honor: cultures in which there are strong norms indicating that aggression is an appropriate response to insults to one’s honor
• May have developed due to how wealth was acquired in some regions (in assets that could be stolen easily)
– Individuals demonstrated that thefts would not be tolerated by engaging in violence » Norms condoning violence in response to threats to one’s honor then developed
• Two regions of the United States still follow this culture: the West and the South
– These areas of the country have higher rates of murders resulting from brawls and arguments
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Cultural Factors in Aggression
– Sexual Jealousy
• Is more likely to be avenged by acts of violence in cultures of honor than in other cultures
– “Crimes of passion” are condoned, at least somewhat, in cultures of honor since infidelity is viewed as a large insult to a man’s honor » Within these cultures, women who accept aggression as a response to sexual jealousy are viewed more positively than those who do not
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Personal Causes of Aggression
– Type A behavior pattern: consists of high levels of competitiveness, time urgency, and hostility
• More likely than the Type B behavior pattern to engage in hostile aggression, in which the main goal is to inflict harm on the victim (e.g., child or spousal abuse) • Equally likely as Type B’s to engage in instrumental aggression, in which the main goal is to attain valued resources
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Personal Causes of Aggression
– Hostile Attributional Bias: tendency to perceive hostile intentions or motives in others’ ambiguous acts – Narcissism (over-inflated view of oneself)
• Narcissists react with high levels of aggression when feedback from others threatens their inflated selfimage
– Sensation seeking
• People high in sensation seeking (seek new, risky experiences) show higher levels of both physical and verbal aggression compared to others
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Personal Causes of Aggression
– Gender differences
• Overall males report engaging in more aggressive behavior than do females • The extent of gender differences depends on the situation and the type of aggression
– Gender differences tend to become nonexistent in situations in which provocation is present – Males are more likely than females are to use direct forms of aggression (physical assaults, shouting) – Females are more likely than males are to use indirect forms of aggression (gossiping, spreading rumors)
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Situational Determinants of Aggression
– High temperatures and aggression
• There appears to be a curvilinear relationship
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Causes of Human Aggression
• Situational Determinants of Aggression
– Alcohol consumption
• Participants in experiments who consume alcohol (enough to be legally drunk) behave more aggressively and respond to provocations more strongly than do participants who do not drink alcohol • The effects of alcohol on aggressive behavior may be due to reduced cognitive functioning and the negative effects it has on accurate social perception – Alcohol makes it harder for people to evaluate the intentions of others and to consider the consequences of acting aggressively – Alcohol appears to alter the type of inconsistencies to which people pay attention
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Victims
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Facts of interest
• In 2003, there were 24.2 million criminal victimizations of people over the age of 12 in the United States. Of those, 5.4 million were violent victimizations and 18.6 million were property victimizations. • 48 percent of violent crime and over 38 percent of property crime was reported to the police. • Intimates perpetrated 19 percent of all violent crime against women, while men were more likely to be victimized by strangers than non-strangers. • Victims experienced 223,290 rapes and sexual assaults in 2003, and 4.6 million physical assaults.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
• Seven percent of violent crime victims faced an offender with a firearm. Those least likely to be victimized by an armed perpetrator were the victims of sexual assault and rape (11 percent), while the most likely to face an armed offender were the victims of robbery (45 percent). • Teenagers (12 to 19 years old) were victimized at rates much higher than other age groups. • In 2003, law enforcement agencies around the country recorded 11.8 million criminal offenses. Of these, 1,381,259 were violent offenses, and 10,435,523 were property offenses.
Catalano, Shannan. (2004). Criminal Victimization, 2003.Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department ofJustice. Online: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cv03.htm.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
VICTIMIZATION BY RACE/ETHNICITY
• Approximately 805,513 African-Americans experienced violent victimization during 2002, at a rate of 28 per 1,000, higher than any other racial group. • In 2002, approximately 637,000 Hispanics were victims of violent crime. • The percentage of African-America men (48 percent) and women (62 percent) who reported their violent victimization to the police is higher than for any other racial/ethnic group. • Of reported hate crimes, 49 percent were motivated by race. • Almost half (48 percent) of all murder victims were AfricanAmerican.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
COST OF CRIME
• Nearly 18 million violent and non-violent crime victimizations (77 percent of all victimizations) resulted in economic losses in 2002. • Crime is estimated to create $105 billion in medical expenses, lost earnings, and costs for victim services. Factoring in the intangible costs, such as pain and suffering and a reduced quality of life, brings the total estimated cost of crime to $450 billion annually.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Cost of Crime
• Victims of violent crime and their families received benefits totaling $442.3 billion in federal fiscal year 2003. While California (the largest victim compensation program in the nation) experienced a drop of close to $43 million in fiscal year 2003, compensation in the other 51 jurisdictions (including Washington, DC, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico) grew by $26 million. • Medical expenses were 48 percent of all victim compensation payments in 2003; economic support for lost wages for injured victims and for lost support in homicides comprised 21 percent of the total; and 12 percent went toward mental health counseling for crime victims.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
• In 2003, total monetary loss due to telemarketing fraud was $1,764,433, for an average of $1,504 for each case. • Reported burglaries resulted in an estimated monetary loss of $3.5 billion, with an estimated average of $1,626 per burglary. • In 2003, the average value of property stolen due to larcenytheft was $698. Cumulatively, $4.9 billion in property was stolen. • The average monetary value of motor vehicles stolen in 2003 was $6,797. The total value of stolen motor vehicles was $8.6 billion. • The average dollar loss due to arson offenses was $11,942 per offense in 2003. • Correctional authorities spend more than $38 billion to maintain the nation's correctional systems in one year.30
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
What makes a “good” victim?
• Research shows that some are more likely than others to be believed as a victim
– Battered women who fight back – Heterosexist relationship dyad
• What about “ripple-effect” victims?
– Family and friends of victim – Family and friends of offender – Public at large
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
What crimes are more “victim-worthy”?
• Rapes vs. identity theft • Involvement in crime
– Kids on the internet – Prostitution and rape?
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Hate Crimes
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Definition
• The US Congress defined in 1992 a hate crime as a crime in which "the defendant's conduct was motivated by hatred, bias, or prejudice, based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity of another individual or group of individuals" (HR 4797). • In 1994, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act added disabilities to the above list
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1998
• sought to expand federal jurisdiction over hate crimes by: • (1) allowing federal authorities to investigate all possible hate crimes, not only those where the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity such as voting, going to school, or crossing state lines; and • (2) expanding the categories that are currently covered by hate crimes legislation to include gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Why do Hate Crime Occur?
• Dr. Jack McDevitt, a criminologist, stated, "Hate crimes are message crimes. They are different from other crimes in that the offender is sending a message to members of a certain group that they are unwelcome."
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Who commits hate crimes?
• Many people perceive hate crime perpetrators as crazed, hate-filled neo-Nazis or "skinheads". • Research by Dunbar, reveals that of 1,459 hate crimes committed in the Los Angeles area in the period 1994 to 1995, fewer than 5% of the offenders were members of organized hate groups. • Most hate crimes are carried out by otherwise lawabiding young people who see little wrong with their actions.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
the economy
• racial and ethnic tensions are thought to increase during economic downswings
– New York City Police Department : High unemployment does not give rise to hate crimes "regardless of whether we speak of black, Latino, Jewish, Asian, gay and lesbian, or white victims," according to Green.
• when minorities first move into an ethnically homogeneous area
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Incidents, Offenses, Victims, and Known Offenders by Bias Motivation, 2004
Bias motivation Total Single-Bias Incidents Race: Anti-White Anti-Black Incidents 7,649 7,642 4,042 829 2,731 83 217 182 Offenses 9,035 9,021 4,863 998 3,281 97 252 235 Victims1 9,528 9,514 5,119 1,027 3,475 100 266 251 Known offenders2 7,145 7,136 4,173 1,085 2,694 97 188 109
Anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native
Anti-Asian/Pacific Islander Anti-Multiple Races, Group
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Bias motivation
Incidents
Offenses
Victims1
Known offenders2
Religion: Anti-Jewish Anti-Catholic Anti-Protestant Anti-Islamic Anti-Other Religion Anti-Multiple Religions, Group AntiAtheism/Agnosticism/ etc.
1,374 954 57 38 156 128 35
1,480 1,003 57 43 193 140 37
1,586 1,076 68 48 201 147 39
604 330 37 28 124 68 14
6
7
7
3
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Bias motivation Sexual Orientation: Anti-Male Homosexual Anti-Female Homosexual Anti-Homosexual Anti-Heterosexual Anti-Bisexual
Incidents 1,197 738 164 245 33 17
Offenses 1,406 855 201 297 35 18
Victims1 1,482 902 212 314 36 18
Known offende rs2 1,258 832 163 224 22 17
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Bias motivation
Incidents
Offenses
Victims1
Known offende rs2
Ethnicity/National Origin: Anti-Hispanic Anti-Other Ethnicity/National Origin
972 475
1,201 611
1,254 646
1,047 585
497
590
608
462
Disability: Anti-Physical
Anti-Mental
57 23
34
71 23
48
73 24
49
54 16
38
Multiple-Bias Incidents3
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
7
14
14
9
Offenses: Known Offender's Race by Offense Type, 2004
Known offender's race Asian/ Pa cif ic Isl an de r 61 55 0 0 6 19 30 0 Multipl e ra ce s, gr ou p 190 159 0 0 37 76 46 0 Unkno w n of fe n de r 3,103 880 0 0 69 96 715 0
Offense type Total Crimes against persons:
Total of fe ns es 9,035 5,642 5 4 1,040 1,750 2,827 16
White 3,720 3,117 3 2 613 1,078 1,412 9
Black 1,068 913 2 1 258 376 272 4
American Indian/ Alaskan Native
41 35 0 0 5 12 18 0
Unkno wn ra ce
852 483 0 1 52 93 334 3
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
Forcible rape Aggravated assault Simple assault Intimidation Other1
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Crimes against persons Murder and nonne gligen t mansl aught er 5 5 3 2 1 0 0 0
Bias motivation Total Single-Bias Incidents Race: Anti-White Anti-Black Anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native Anti-Asian/Pacific Islander Anti-Multiple Races, Group
Total offe nses 9,035 9,021 4,863 998 3,281 97 252 235
Forcible rape 4 4 4 3 1 0 0 0
Aggravat ed assa ult 1,040 1,038 623 151 407 16 25 24
Simple assa ult 1,750 1,745 1,019 316 602 30 43 28
Intimidatio n 2,827 2,823 1,618 228 1,209 22 80 79
Other
1
16 16 6 4 1 1 0 0
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Crimes against persons
Bias motivation
Total off en ses
1,480
Murder and non negl igen t man Forcib slau le ghte ra r pe
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aggra vat ed Simple ass ass aul aul t t
21 10 2 3 4 2 0 0 71 32 4 5 22 6 1 1
Oth Intimi e dat r 1 ion
380 255 5 3 88 23 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Anti-Jewish Anti-Catholic Anti-Protestant Anti-Islamic Anti-Other Religion Anti-Multiple Religions, Group Anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.
1,003 57 43 193 140 37 7
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Crimes against persons Murder and non negl igen t man Forcib slau le ghte ra r pe
1 0 0 0 0 0
Bias motivation
Sexual Orientation: Anti-Male Homosexual Anti-Female Homosexual
Total off en ses
1,406 855 201
Aggra vat ed Simple ass ass aul aul t t
208 113 34 372 253 49
Oth Intimi e dat r 1 ion
389 252 61 9 6 1
Anti-Homosexual
Anti-Heterosexual Anti-Bisexual
297
35 18
1
0 0
0
0 0
51
7 3
58
7 5
69
4 3
1
1 0
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Impact of Hate Crime
• Research by UC Davis psychologists (1999) indicates that hate crimes based on sexual orientation have more serious psychological effects than other crimes • The data show that lesbian and gay hate crimes survivors manifested more symptoms of psychological distress than lesbian and gay survivors of "random" assaults in the same time period
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
• In R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, the Supreme Court evaluated for the first time a free speech challenge to a hate crime statute. In that case, the defendant had burned a cross "inside the fenced yard of a black family that lived across the street from the house where the [defendant] was staying." • The ordinance before the Court, as interpreted by the Minnesota Supreme Court, criminalized so-called "fighting words" which "one knows or has reasonable grounds to know arouse anger, alarm or resentment in others on the basis of race, color, creed, religion or gender." • Fighting words are words which will provoke the person to whom they are directed to violence; more than 50 years ago, in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, U.S. Supreme court ruled fighting words were not protected
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
R.A.V cont.
• Therefore, in R.A.V., the state of Minnesota argued that because all so-called "fighting words" are outside first amendment protection, race-based fighting words could be criminalized. • The Supreme Court disagreed and struck down the statute. • The Court held that because Minnesota had not in fact criminalized all fighting words, the statute isolated certain words based on their content or viewpoint and therefore violated the First Amendment.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Wisconsin v. Mitchell
• The defendant in Mitchell had incited a group of young Black men who had just finished watching the movie "Mississippi Burning" to assault a young white man by asking,
– "Do you all feel hyped up to move on some white people," – "You all want to fuck somebody up? – There goes a white boy; go get him."
• The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a Wisconsin statute which provides for an enhanced sentence where the defendant "intentionally selects the person against whom the crime [is committed] because of the race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry of that person."
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
State Hate Crimes / Statutory Provisions
• Washington
• North Dakota
– Bias-Motivated Violence and Intimidation – Criminal Penalty – Race, Religion, Ethnicity – Gender – Bias-Motivated Violence and Intimidation – Civil Action – Race, Religion, Ethnicity – Sexual Orientation – Gender – Disability – Institutional Vandalism – Data Collection – Training for Law Enforcement Personnel – Anti-clan law against cross burning Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
The Debate
• In regards to hate crime laws, are we punishing the act, or the beliefs?
– Is there a difference?
• Is this different from other crimes?
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
In other words…
Do hate crimes express values that are more reprehensible than those expressed by other types of violent crimes?
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
The over-view
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Why do we focus on the offender?
• What happens to the victims? • What resources are available? • Does our CJ system help in the recovery of these individuals?
– Ex: does the death penalty serve justice?
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Parallel Justice Project
• The Parallel Justice Project was established by the National Center for Victims of Crime to advance a new vision of justice for victims of crime. • For every reported crime, our society spends enormous resources on apprehending, prosecuting, punishing, and rehabilitating the offender. • The concept of Parallel Justice elevates the goal of helping victims rebuild their lives to a fundamental component of justice. • Parallel Justice requires us to decouple the pursuit of justice for victims from the administration of justice for offenders. • Under a system of Parallel Justice the societal message to victims would be, "What happened to you is wrong and we will help you rebuild your life."
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College
Virginia Resilience Project Post-9/11
• The Virginia Resilience Project Post 9/11, a strength-based public health initiative of the National Center for Victims of Crime, aims to promote the resilience of 9/11 victims, their families, and first responders by helping them cope with the ongoing trauma of the 2001 terrorist attack. • Through a public awareness and outreach campaign, self-help resources, community-based forums, links to services, and other support, the project will help Virginia victims mobilize their own strengths, identify and share strategies to cope with adversity, and strengthen bonds to others affected by the attack. • The project's youth-led public health initiative will help affected middle- and high-school students address their 9/11 experiences, develop coping strategies, and provide resilience-building messages and resources to other adolescent 9/11 victims.
Betsi Little, Ph.D. Trinity Lutheran College