Download Document

Seminar 2
CJ350 Organized Crime
Scott Harris
Welcome!
Discussion Board
• Questions
from Unit 1
• Questions
from Unit 2
In the News

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/13/ne
w.york.feds.gotti/index.html?hpt=Sbin

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/01/16/tour
ists-peek-los-angeles-gangland/
Upcoming Writing Assignment
•
The major areas concerning the foundations and definitions of organized
crime
•
How organized crime gained a foothold in the United States
•
How organized crime groups sought to influence government
•
The organization of organized crime groups in the post-Prohibition era
•
If you need assistance, visit the KU Writing Center or review Rules for Writers
(or the Rules for Writers website).
Theories
•
•
•
•
•
Strain of Anomie – Robert K. Merton
Differential Association – Edwin Sutherland
Subcultures and Social Disorganization – Clifford Shaw
& Henry McKay
Differential Opportunity - Richard Cloward & Lloyd
Ohlin
Other Theories Social Control Theory, Ethnic
Succession, Clinical Psychology/Psychoanalytic Theory,
Behavioral Psychology/Learning Theory
Your Opinion

Can criminal behavior be unlearned, or is
rehabilitation pointless?

Most parolees return to prison

People released from prison remain largely uneducated and
unskilled and usually have little in the way of a solid family
support system.
Fully two-thirds of all parolees are rearrested within
3 years. The numbers are so high that parole failures
account for a growing proportion of all new prison
admissions. In 1980, they constituted 17 percent of
all admissions, but they now make up 35 percent.13
 http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/184253.pdf

Opinion

Is criminal behavior a learned activity
nurture versus nature (lot of debate)
 Anti-social behavior and crime may be down to
genetic make-up, scientists say.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/2168003.stm
 attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs

Your Opinion
•
Alcohol Anonymous
•
•
•
•
•
•
Alcoholism treatment is effective in many cases
Treatment outcomes for alcoholism compare favorably with outcomes for many other chronic
medical conditions. The longer one abstains from alcohol, the more likely one is to remain sober.
It is important to remember that many people relapse once or several times before achieving longterm sobriety
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/about/f/faq6.htm
Narcotics Anonymous
Drug abuse among correctional populations is a pervasive problem
affecting between 60% & 80%
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/treatment/index.html
Questions


Questions over the seminar
Questions over anything