The theory most applicable to guiding this research is the rational choice theory. Prisoners are already confined. They have committed their crimes, and they are paying for them. That is to assume that they are actually guilty. Committing crimes in prison typically outweigh the punishments. Sexual abuse is an example of benefits outweighing the end results. The criminal will weigh the chances of being caught, the severity of the penalty, and the consequences before committing a crime. The rational choice theory implies that criminals select specific targets based on their vulnerability. Examples of vulnerable victims or opportunities include the elderly, those of a lower status, and unguarded premises. They commit their crimes according to such factors. The accessibility of the target can affect how often a crime against them may occur. The desire to commit crime typically is because it causes the perpetrator to feel some sense of fulfillment or happiness. It is believed according to this theory that by intensifying the fear of punishment, the tendency for the criminal to commit crime will lesson (Myers, 2010). When it comes to sexual abuse in prison, such fear of punishment does not exist. This is because little is being done to prevent the abuse from happening. If abuse is also being conducted by prison stuff, the chances of punishment for sexual abuse may potentially be slim. This constitutes the thought process of perpetrators of sexual abuse in prison. The chances of being punished for the crime is unlikely. In order to conduct this research, it is necessary to understand the process of thought of the abusers. By understanding their thought process, it is easier to identify potential targets of abuse. This theory also backs u...
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...the internet. By publishing the data on the internet, it can be seen by other researchers, and people from many organizations who may be interested in my findings. Distributing the information through the community may also help to inform people of my research findings. By finding people interested in my research, I could create a mailing list. Through the mailing list, I could recommend that the information be passed along to other people who may be interested. An important journal I would want to publish my findings in would be The Prison Journal. This journal is published quarterly, and it focuses on juvenile and adult confinement, programs, reviews, surveys, and legal analysis (Reuters, 2013,). Publishing in this journal would be a successful way to report my findings to other people interested in the current studies and ideas centered around the prison system.
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
Throughout his novel, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, author and professor Robert Perkinson outlines the three current dominant purposes of prison. The first, punishment, is the act of disciplining offenders in an effort to prevent them from recommitting a particular crime. Harsh punishment encourages prisoners to behave because many will not want to face the consequences of further incarceration. While the purpose of punishment is often denounced, many do agree that prison should continue to be used as a means of protecting law-abiding citizens from violent offenders. The isolation of inmates, prison’s second purpose, exists to protect the public. Rehabilitation is currently the third purpose of prison. Rehabilitation is considered successful when a prisoner does n...
The vast amount of research has provided several explanations to account for the behavior of the offenders and the low rate in which sexual assault cases initiate criminal proceedings through a variety of theoretical perspectives. These include the classical approaches that focus on the individual who has committed sexual assault and the positivist approaches that aim to explain the social factors that influence the prosecution rates th...
The acceptance that the court system often treats female offenders differently than male offenders is an accurate statement; however, it comes with many caveats. Generally, the public views women as nurturers, motherly and incapable of harming a child. Research indicates that female sex offenders capable of committing such acts have serious psychiatric and psychological problems. In comparison, research indicates male sex offenders are more callous, more antisocial, and promiscuous, involved in the criminal justice system, and have more victims (Miccio-Fenseca, 2012, slide 7). The consensus is that men commit their acts for sexual pleasure while women commit their acts due to psychiatric and psychological problems. Law enforcement, juries, and judges tend to empathize more when there are additional mitigating factors such as emotional or psychological problems. Due to these mitigating factors, it appears treatment of female sex offenders is more lenient than male if their crimes are similar in nature. Research by Miccio-Fenseca (2012) indicates that in comparison to their male counterparts, “female sex offenders rarely use force or violence far less than often…rarely use threats of violence to silence victims…rarely use threats o...
It is a common stereotype that all sex offenders have some form of psychopathy, and therefore they cannot be treated, however most sexual offenders do not have major mental illness or psychological maladjustment (Ward, Polaschek and Busch, 2006), therefore it is not impossible to treat them. Finkelhor’s (1984) precondition model was made with the assumption that the psychopathology of an individual will only take us so far in explaining sexually abusive behaviour, Finkelhor states that 4 stages of preconditions must exist before sexual abuse can take place, these are; Primary motivation to abuse a child sexually, overcoming of internal and external inhibitions and dealing with a child’s resistance to sexual abuse, for each subsequent precondition to occur the previous one must be achieved. Finkelhor argues th...
...lacks, and men. Furthermore, the competing paradigms influence public policy. Those that maintain acts as voluntary are more inclined to punish the individual or group, however those that are seen to act under determined forces, judge treatment to be more suitable. Even though these theories contrast, they still contain similarities which are shared in the new penology. Aspects are taken from all to create a new perspective on crime that centres on the management of offenders.
For my research proposal, I wish to discuss the involvement of the LDS church, known as the Mormon Church, within the Indian removal that took place during the 1830’s. The Indian Removal Act was passed approximately one month after the initial organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The founder of the LDS church, Joseph Smith, received a revelation that he was to preach his gospel in Indian Territory. In September of 1830, roughly 6 months after the founding of the church, he gave a mission calling to one of his church members who held the Mormon priesthood, his name was Oliver Cowdery. This calling was given to Oliver Cowdery in New York State where he then commenced his mission in October of 1830. The interesting part of Oliver Cowdery’s missionary calling was that he was supposed to proceed on a 1,500 trek across the known country in Western Indian territory where he to then preach to the Indians. Instead of simply teaching to a local tribe, the order was given to preach in the same area where at nearly the same time, southern Indian tribes would also be relocating to as a result of the Indian Removal Act. Oliver Cowdery and his companions began their mission in October and the first Indians they were able to teach were the Cattaraugus Indians in Buffalo, New York who accepted two copies of their Book of Mormon.
... middle of paper ... ... Understanding psychological theories helps criminologists to design appropriate correctional strategies to mitigate crime. Works Cited Eysenck, H.J., & Gudjonsson, G.H. d. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a The causes and cures of criminality.
In fact, one of the most leading violence in the prison setting is sexual victimization. It involves different behaviors from sexually abusive contact to nonconsensual sexual assault. These assaults present bigger issues within the prison such as being exposed to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, causing the inmate to retaliate, depression and suicidal gestures. (Wolf, N, 2006) In 2011, a random sample of not less than 10% of all federal, state prisons, county prisons, and municipal prisons in America was drawn. At the end of the annual sample, 8,763 allegations of sexual victimization were reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Roberts, N., 2014) As stated, this only included 10% percent of the prison excluding the other 90 % of prisons in America. In 2009, 7,855 allegations were filed and in 2010, 8,404 with 51 percent involving nonconsensual sex acts or abusive contact amongst inmates. The other 49% involved prison staff that resulted in sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. In 2012, the Department of Justice estimated that about 1 in 10 inmates were sexually assaulted by officers with high expectation that it would only continue to increase. (Roberts, N.,
Evidence-based corrections advocates for the use of empirically sound data to determine effective correctional policies and practices and is important for many reasons (Cullen, & Jonson, 2012, p. 4). For example, growing prison populations are consuming resources at an alarming rate (MacKenzie, 2000, pp 457). As such, budget cuts must be made in other areas (Cullen, & Jonson, 2012, p. 4). However, most significant is the fact t...
This research paper is based on individual case study related to “Male Rape Victims.” Male rape is a crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse (LongMan Dictionary, p1169). In general, male rape has occurred as often as every year from the age of twelve and above. Frequently, males and females had common experiences in same situations. An attacker could victimize males as well as females, who can be an attacker, only a small number of rapes or assaults, about twenty percent, are committed by complete strangers (The Rape of Males, p1). The best known locations where rape occurs are at parties, allies, and secretive streets. Nearly everyone, who has consumed alcohol ot taken drugs of any kind has had their sexual hormones increase. The purpose of sexual intercourse is accomplished with a person, not the spouse of the perpetrator. In addition, men and women hackneyed sexual intercourse from pornographic publications. Despite, the pornographic industry's tremendous size and growth, sexually explicit materials continue to engender much political, legal, moral, and scientific debate (Malamuth, et.al, p26). It has beneficial effects of desires for pornography. Conducting a case study will help students determine whether or not their experiences of rape influence their life. Rape can be an impact on medications and health. The effects of rape are mental, physical, and social healths which are strongly influenced on health outcomes. Moreover, it has some affinity with the colloquial notion of "reverse psychology," which is based on the idea that telling people that they may not do something makes them want to do it more (Baumeister, et.al, p6).
In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal
Imprisonment is to keep those non-violent offenders from becoming violent. To the contrary, non-violent offenders often become violent once imprisoned, because of the sense of hierarchy and masculinity sustained in the prison system. There are many aspects of life in prison that might cause non-violent offenders to become violent. The fear and stigma that surrounds being a man in prison can cause violence, as well. In Manhood & Violence: Fatal Peril, inmates at a federal prison were invited to be immersed in a program called ‘manalive.’ The program required men to examine their personal beliefs of what it meant to be a man and how that led to their violence. Although all of the men involved in the program were violent offenders, the program was designed to help them realize why their masculinity became a determining factor in their violent acts. (Manhood & Violence: Fatal
Prison settings may harden an individual and in turn challenge those people who have never been incarcerated or who already have a predisposed fear about being behind prison walls. Physical and mental hardships may await a large majority of convicts due to serve their sentence. Consequently, among those unpleasant experiences lies the issue of same-sex rape.
In order to answer these two research questions, the following factors will be discussed: relational violence in women’s prison, a comparison of sexual coercion experiences reported by men and women in prison, prisoner confrontations and the search for respect, and the rates of victimization.