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Author Archives: ricardo.ledan
Posts: 5 (archived below)
Comments: 4
Brain scans reveal the criminal mind
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41896386/ns/health-mental_health/t/brain-scans-reveal-criminal-mind/
The article starts off by stating that there is a difference (that can be seen in physical terms) between “normal” human brains and that of the illusive “Criminal Mind”. Illusive in the sense that since Lombroso, criminal theorists have tried time again, to find the necessary difference in biology that creates the propensities and recidivism in some, as well as the apparent absence in the majority (deviancy). The article uses the example of people who are diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and specifically the size and growth patterns of their amygdala. It also states that there is also differences in behavior between deviants and normal people through measuring fear response. It even goes into the ethical issues that arise, such questions as:”What to do with at-risk children and by what method”. It also affects the law, because one can easily argue that since they are compromised individuals (elements of Goffman’s stigma) they are not responsible for their actions; but we can relegate this argument to a slippery slope argument.
In the article “The Brain on the Stand” that we discussed in class, we again revisit some of Lombroso’s legacy the same search for the biological criminality, but by different methods; that of the f.M.R.I. and neuroscience. And like the article above it also ponders the question of the problem of holding people accountable for their predispositions (if the criminal biology exists in a somewhat meaningful form) rather then their actions, as codified by the Anglo-American principles of jurisprudence. Both articles echo each other in content but, the article in class gives us a much more complementary experience (incorporating Lombroso into the discussion).
Border States Deal With More Illegal Immigrant Crime Than Most, Data Suggest Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/29/border-states-dealing-illegal-immigrant-crime-data-suggests/#ixzz1VROX5drR
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/29/border-states-dealing-illegal-immigrant-crime-data-suggests/
Racist, intolerance, and downright unconstitutional, Arizona lawmakers have heard it all but they are sticking to their guns. Their new immigration enforcement law has been put in place to protect the border state of Arizona, from the rampant criminal activity that looms just over its border. Backed by studies and statistics they have come to the logical conclusion that a high number of criminals are actually in fact the illegal immigrants, bent on extending their operations. Critics argue that there is no significant correlation (or even possible to quantify accurately/beyond doubt) between criminal activity and illegal immigrants. In Illinois they found that the found illegal immigrants actually underrepresented in prison populations, but did find a significant number in Arizona and Texas (don’t even get me started on the many speculations as to why this occurs in these states). Despite the lack of evidence of a “crime wave” lawmakers are rallying behind their beliefs and waging war on the threat that illegals present. It is by no surprise that this article comes from Fox New’s brand, of “Fair and Balanced news” (I mean it in the most cynical and sarcastic way possible).
Bringing it back to our weekly discussions, we can connect this with the article “Why Homicide Has Increased in the United States” by Cesare Lombroso, and his beliefs on immigrants and their predisposition to degration, recidivism, and violence. Lombroso also presents “the State” as a guiding force that examines (identifies), and distribute their bodies (deportations, imprisonment) and we can connect that with some of the strategies that lawmakers use to aid in manipulating this group of people.
Experts: Mentally ill face criminal stigma
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051124/NEWS01/511240312/1001
Tired of persecuting and convicting the mentally ill, Thomas Testa of San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney office, has said enough is enough. Each of his cases deal with a victim dying “under heinous circumstances” as he says, with the perpetrator having to serve life sentences in a state prison or shipped off to a mental institution. At least for Testa it could have easily been avoided if either the family or a local agency made sure the perpetrator took their prescribed medicine in the proper amount. But as other attorneys and psychologists have articulated, the situation is not as simple as it seems. Despite the small population of mentally ill people that commit violent acts, they argue that there is disproportional attention in relation to the act. Evidence of this can be found in the frequency that these acts are exhibited in the narrative of the national media; as well as the fierce sentencing that occurred in response, in several of the cases they portray. Collins of the Health services alludes to the fact of the stigma that mentally ill violent offenders face: “Criminals first rather then fighting a chronic disease”.
Goffman in “Stigma and Social Identity”, gives us an inside glimpse into the sources and justification of Stigma and its effects within the framework of society. In it we can specifically classify mental illness as of the “discreditable” kind, and the notion that stigmatized individuals are constantly linked with their “defect” (in this case mental illness) in a way that is nonexistent in the traits of a normal person.
The Dangers of Using High Tech Facial Recognition Software to Catch Criminals
In light of the rioting in London, British police have been using CCTV in combination with facial-recognition software footage in order to identify and separate the criminal elements in the crowd. The article goes on to speculates on the need of creating a database for “confirmed” faces (primarily faces that can be linked to an identity). The article even illuminates the issue of quality control and some of the problems that lighting, distance, and clarity plays in distorting and inevitably making it harder to match. With facial recognition technology commonly found in television and movies unavailable, combined with the likely chance to misidentify individual (which could also be used to benefit criminals); it seems that British officials have the daunting task ahead of them. Also police fear that people who resemble rioters (solely the images) may be in danger by vigilante groups (which introduces certain notions of stigma).In the end the article alludes to the social media such as Facebook (750 million users) and its database, and the potential it may have for law enforcement if they were to be exploited.
Its relevance speaks to me in the article we read called “A means of Surveillance: The photograph as evidence in law”. It describes the insertion of the photograph gradually into institutions such as the police apparatus and its connection to power. The photograph or surveillance footage in the article’s case has the power (in conjunction with police power) to incriminate, or identify to the jury a person to the site of a “crime” or act of deviancy.
The Anonymity of African American Serial Killers
http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/Articles-Winter10/branson.html
This article illuminates the divergence in cultural assumptions of African American’s predisposition towards violent crimes and the lack of association and detection of this type of crime ( Serial predation) by authorities. According to the article, some of the sources stem from deeply held racial bias, reinforcing stereotypical imagery and the perpetuation of “static ethnocentric criminal profiling methodology” Ala the FBI. One of the examples they use are John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the DC snipers and the media and law enforcement’s response to the racial identities of these serial murderers. Though the article focuses mostly on African Americans and their relation to serial murders, it also makes the case that it may illuminate the participation of serial predation in other races unassociated with that form of crime. And finally the article also presents a link towards the portrayal of Serial killers in fiction and its contribution in constricting and impeding viable models that can effectively counter this threat.
I am drawing a similarity in the approaches of and the danger that assumptions play in rendering certain crimes invisible to the public at whole. The readings on Lafarge and the poet killer illuminated gendered and occupational assumptions held by authorities and the people on the projected innocence of those accused. Both articles warn of the very danger of assuming one’s criminality to deeply held biases rather then the universal problem it exhibits in reality (in terms of murder); Criminality such as Serial Murder cannot be contained within haphazard and simple cultural notions, which can be in turn problematic in forming an accurate picture of the issue.
