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For each chapter, you will find one or more links to public radio shows from the NPR and PBS radio archives including "This American Life," "All Things Considered," "Talk of the Nation," "Justice Talking," "The Online Newshour," "Marketplace," and Frontline videos along with discussion questions created by Professor Norm Conti of Duquesne University. We hope you enjoy this experience and find it an effective learning tool for putting the issues discussed in Criminology into personal perspective.
To hear the radio links and view the videos, you must go to the links below to access the files. You should first make sure you have a media player on your machine. Some of the files are MP3 files that can be downloaded to iTunes or comparable MP3 players. For the files not available in MP3 format, you will need a common media player like RealPlayer, Media Player, and QuickTime. You can do a Google search to find free downloads of whichever you choose. Please note that for some of the files you will need the most recent version of RealPlayer which can be downloaded free.
Chapter 1: Criminology, Crime and Criminology
Cultural Defense for Murder
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1080980 (2:51)
The case of Narinder Virk involves a woman who attempted to drown her two children in order to save them from the shame of her impending divorce from their father. The circumstances of Ms. Virk's case are more complicated than they might seem because she was a woman brought to this country from rural India, unable to communicate with anyone other than her immediate family and kept isolated from anyone outside of that small circle. As a result she was never able to even remotely assimilate into American culture and was behaving in a manner that may have been quite normal in her homeland.
For more on the story try the following links as well as your own web search.
http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/feb/15us.htm
http://www.apiahf.org/apidvinstitute/CriticalIssues/volpp.htm
Questions:
- Do all the elements of a crime apply to Ms. Virk's behavior? Explain how each is either applicable or not.
- How might ideology affect someone's interpretation of the facts of this case?
Youth Offenders Allege Sexual Abuse in Texas
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7826453 (3:57)
Juvenile Abuse Allegations Common in the U.S.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7826456 (4:03)
These two news segments deal with the failure of juvenile justice officials to protect the children in their custody.
Questions:
- Explain the connection between crime and social harm that exists in this case.
- How might the administrator's ideology have lead to the juvenile abuse?
Frontline Online Video: American Porn
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/view/
This program examines the place of pornography in American culture and discusses the legislative response to it.
Questions:
- Do all of the elements of crime apply to what is presented in the episode?
- How might ideology affect someone's interpretation of the facts of this issue?
- How would a criminologist look at this issue?
Chapter 2: Measuring Crime and Criminal Behavior
Violent Crime Surge Hints at Troubling Trend
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6647024 (3:18)
Why Is Violent Crime on the Rise in Major Cities?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5584103 (37:45)
The above story and discussion, as well as many of the related stories listed at the bottom of the link, focuses on crime rates and their implications for daily living.
Questions:
- What is the current trend in violent crime?
- What roles do past trends in nonviolent crime and past incarceration play in the overarching public safety picture?
- According to the experts interviewed for this story what other factors impact the crime rate?
Chapter 3: The Early Schools of Criminology and Their Modern Counterparts
At Pelican Bay Prison, a Life in Solitary
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5584254 (21:16)
As Populations Swell, Prisons Rethink Supermax
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5587644 (12:45)
Making It on the Outside, After Decades in Solitary
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5589778 (8:32)
These stories focus on the criminal justice system's attempts to control deviant behavior both in and, eventually, outside of prison.
Questions:
- How would the problems and policies of criminal behavior discussed in these programs be viewed through the lenses of the various schools of criminology?
- How well does deterrence theory explain what is presented in these discussions of recidivism and solitary confinement?
Chapter 4: Social Structural Theories
Terror, Hope on the Streets of Compton, Part 1
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5247323 (8:56) Terror, Hope on the Streets of Compton, Part 2
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5248673 (7:44)
Reconsidering the 'Broken Windows' Theory
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4520866 (5:21)
These reports focus on the nexus of social structure and crime.
Questions:
- Which of the social structural theories of crime best explain the situation in Compton as it is described in the two-part report?
- Use a social structural theory to explain how crime is perpetuated in Compton?
- How does the sociological research presented in the third story fit with the theories and realities of community life in Compton?
Chapter 5: Social Process Theories
From Rubies to Blossoms: A Portrait of American Girlhood: The New Gangs of New York
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2003/feb/girl_gangs/index.html Part 1 (19:04)
Part 2 (14:30)
The story presented, and the accompanying material on the website, provides a number of interesting examples of how girls get involved with as well as quit gangs.
Questions:
- Which of the social process theories best explain how girls are drawn into gangs?
- Can the stories of girls leaving gangs be explained by any of the social process theories?
Chapter 6: Critical Theories: Marxist, Conflict, and Feminist
Tracking the Worlds Black Market: 'Illicit'
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5007177
UNDERGROUND economy
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/underground/
This special series examines the lives and careers of people generating income through criminal activities.
November 16, 2001
Illicit Market Share
"You create a good product, you market it, good customer service and relations, and you will have repeat clients. It's that simple."
––Lizzy, a Washington D.C. call girl
Real Audio | Text (4:25)
November 16, 2001
Diary of a Midwife
"After 25 years of practice, I know I'm at least as skilled in helping women give birth as many physicians, but in many parts of the country, doctors have fought to keep midwives like myself illegal -- arguing we are unskilled, unskilled, and potentially dangerous."
––Marie, the midwife
Real Audio (2:30)
November 15, 2001
Disposable People
"The price of a slave in the pre–Civil War South –– when adjusted for inflation –– was around $40,000. Today, around the world, the average price of a slave is about $90 –– disposable."
––Marketplace's Stephen Henn
Real Audio (4:22)
November 15, 2001
Diary of a Lady Bookie
"Bookmaking is a lot like Wall Street –– it's all a numbers game."
––"Lynn," the bookie
Real Audio (2:15)
November 14, 2001
Gambling Ain't What it Used to Be
"It is not like years ago –– you don't break anybody's legs anymore. You gotta be crazy, the trouble -- it's not worth the headache."
––"Tony," the bookie
Real Audio | Text (5:29)
November 14, 2001
Diary of an Entrepreneur-Prostitute
"Although I know how to run a very profitable business, and feel good about the work I did, I know that my Ivy League education and master's degree won't protect me from people's judgements."
––anonymous former prostitute
Real Audio (2:15)
November 13, 2001
Pot to Your Door, 30 Minutes or Less
"When you're delivering drugs door to door, discretion is the key. Drug–runners, with pocketfuls of cash and satchels stuffed with marijuana, need to disappear into crowds as a necessity of business."
––Marketplace's Stephen Henn
Real Audio | Text (8:01)
November 13, 2001
(Un)happiness is a Warm Gun…In Bushwick
"So many young people around here have them that I can walk a block away from my house in any direction and run into some young kid with a gun."
––Jesus Gonzalez, 16
Real Audio | Text (3:19)
November 13, 2001
Diary of a Former Abortionist
"Not in our wildest dreams did we, a group of ordinary women, think we'd be running a floating underground abortion service, and ever performing the abortions ourselves. It was women's needs that drove us."
––Laura Kaplan, former "Jane" member
Real Audio (2:42)
November 12, 2001
The Black Market Peso Exchange
"If you are smuggler in Colombia, you cannot pay through the banks. You know the banks will tell you, 'Let me see your import documents and the customs clearance process, and all the import duties that you pay.' They have no documents."
––Jesus Giraldo Botero, Colombia Customs Service
Real Audio | Text (4:16)
November 13, 2001
Diary of an Upscale Drug–Runner
"Unlike many corporate jobs, delivering pot was a rush. There's a certain thrill you can get in sucking a few thousand dollars every day out of the legitimate economy and into the invisible one coursing just beneath the surface."
––"Jody," former drug "mule"
Real Audio (2:37)
Questions:
- Use Marxist theory to explain one or more of the stories presented in this series.
- Use Conflict theory to explain one or more of the stories presented in this series.
- Use Feminist theory to explain one or more of the stories presented in this series.
Chapter 7: Psychosocial Theories: Individual Traits and Criminal Behavior
Frontline Online Video: The New Asylums
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/view/
Forensic Psychiatrist Marc Sagerman
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1912601
Authorities Target Customers to Curb Prostitution
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5064700(36:17)
Catch Me If You Can
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1116303(10:22)
Accused Soldier May Have Mental Disorder
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5539135(4:42)
These interviews, stories and discussions focus on prostitution, fraud and crimes of rape and murder. Questions:
- What psychosocial theories are most useful in explaining the criminal behavior presented in this discussion and these stories?
- How might the psychosocial theories of crime explain the later conversions from crime to either social activism or law enforcement that occur in the latter two stories?
- How might the cases be used to contradict the psychosocial theories?
Note: Other Frontline videos of related interest that can be ordered include:
Frontline: The Execution
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/
Frontline: A Crime of Insanity
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/
Chapter 8: Biosocial Approaches
Genetic Tests in The Courtroom
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4958962(12:30)
Science of a Killer
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1151826(5:27)
Theories of Rape
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1069570(47:36)
The report and two discussions present some of the more recent and controversial examples of biosocial approaches to crime.
Questions:
- How does the scientific work presented in the story and discussions fit with what was presented in this chapter?
- What kind of policy implications can you imagine resulting from these genetic findings?
Chapter 9: Developmental Theories: From Delinquency to Crime to Desistance
Littleton Shooting
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1048741(46:50)
Reforming Juvenile Justice
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4822115(30:19)
Juvenile Justice
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1010406(48:23)
Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/view/
Frontline: Son of Al Qaeda
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/khadr/view/
The combination of videos, stories and discussions presented above focus on the reality and treatment of juvenile delinquency as well as involvement in terrorism.
Questions:
- Explain each of the cases in terms of one or more of the theories detailed in this chapter.
- Are our policies for dealing with juvenile delinquency, as presented in these videos and radio programs, in line with developmental theories? Which ones work best to explain the behavior?
Note: Other Frontline shows of related interest that can be ordered include:
Frontline: The Killer at Thurston High
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kinkel/
Frontline: Juvenile Justice
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/
Chapter 10: Altered Minds and Crime
Frontline Online Video: The Meth Epidemic
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/view/
How Bad Is the U.S. Meth Problem?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5485134(36:46)
Heroin in America
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1688762
Rehab or Prison, Distorted Priorities?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1151446(8:17)
States Try Out Courts Tailored for Mentally Ill
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5685265(6:50)
These links address the drug problem and our response to it as well as mental illness.
Questions:
- Based upon what you have read in this chapter, does it seem that our society is responding correctly to crime related to addiction or mental illness?
- What policies might be more effective in dealing with these problems?
Chapter 11: Crimes of Violence
Going Undercover with the 'Mongols'
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4618645 (26:03)
NPR's Justice Talking – Murder: Beyond the Blood and Gore
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=551
Crime Increases in New Orleans as the City Recovers from Hurricane Katrina
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/jan-june06/neworleans_06-26.html(9:13)
Criminologist and Author David Klinger on police shootings
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1846926
As their titles indicate, these reports explain violent crime in very specific environments. Questions:
- What types of violent crime are most prevalent in these environments?
- What theories can be used to explain the crimes?
Chapter 12: Serial, Mass and Spree Murder
Discussion: Sniper Attacks
http://vvi.onstreammedia.com:80/cgi-bin/visearch?user=pbs-
newshour&template=template.html&squery=%2BVideoAsset:pbsnh101002
Revising Serial Killer Profile After Sniper Verdict
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1510599(8:17)
These links explore mass murder and serial killing as they occur and after their perpetrators have been brought to justice.
Questions:
- How was profiling presented prior to the arrest of the killers as opposed to after?
- How would you explain the disjuncture between the profile and the actual killers in this case?
Chapter 13: Terrorism and Terrorists
Frontline Online Video: The Enemy Within
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/enemywithin/view/
Frontline Online Video: Al Qaeda's New Front
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/
Habeas Schmabeas Podcast
3/10/06
Episode 310 (59:58)
http://www.thislife.org
The New Role of Neighborhood Watch
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3844320(41:32)
These programs examine the key elements of terrorism and America's response to its threat.
Questions:
- How do these programs about terrorism fit with the material presented in this chapter?
- Explain the changes in policy discussed in these programs. Do they seem to be effective?
Note: Other Frontline shows of related interest that can be ordered include
Frontline: Campaign Against Terror
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/campaign/
Frontline: Inside the Terror Network
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/network/
Frontline: Trail of a Terrorist
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/trail/
Chapter 14: Property and Public Order Crime
Frontline Online Video: CyberWar
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cyberwar/view/
Frontline: Hackers
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/hackers/
NPR: Justice Talking – Identity Theft
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=535
IBM and the Future of Crime
http://www.ibm.com/investor/viewpoint/podcast/20-01-06-1.phtml
Pimp Anthropology
4/16/99
Episode 127 (59:19)
http://www.thislife.org
How Bad is Bad?
10/3/97
Episode 78
Act 1 and Act 5 (59:08)
http://www.thislife.org
These programs tell stories of people engaged in cybercrime and prostitution.
Questions:
- How do the profiles of the pimps and hackers fit with the general expectations?
- How do these types of crimes affect the individual criminal and the larger society?
Chapter 15: White-Collar and Organized Crime
Frontline Online Video: Bigger Than Enron
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/regulation/view/
Frontline Online Video: A Dangerous Business
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/workplace/view/
'Wall Street Journal' Reporters Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1386256
NPR: Justice Talking – Organized Crime in the 21st Century
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=579
White Collar Crime
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1139943(47:07)
The discussions presented in these programs detail the mechanisms for and reaction to white–collar crime. Questions:
- What are the aspects of the criminal justice system that allow for the double standard for white-collar crime benefit the perpetrator?
- How has opinion and treatment of white collar criminals changed over the years?
Note: Other related Frontline shows that can be ordered include:
Frontline: Inside the Tobacco Deal
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/settlement/
Frontline: Dot Con
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dotcon/
Chapter 16: Victimology: Exploring the Experience of Victimization
The Amish Culture of Forgiveness
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6225726(9:33)
Psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=925361
These programs consider the role of forgiveness in the society.
Questions:
- What is the Amish stance on forgiveness? How does that fit with what we hear in the interview with Pulma Gobodo-Madikizela?
- How does this perspective fit with the discussion from the chapter and our criminal justice system?
Frontline Online Video: Hand of God
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/handofgod/view/
This episode tells the story of child sexual abuse in the 1960's
Questions:
- What were the circumstances that facilitated the young boys' victimization?
- How did the victimization affect them later in life?
Frontline Online Video: Burden of Innocence
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/burden/view/
This program examines the social circumstances of a number of men who were falsely convicted of crimes, served time in prison, and were eventually exonerated.
Questions:
- Do you consider these men to be victims? Why or why not?
- How do these stories fit with our conceptions of victimization?
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