Criminology Examples Policeman\'s Working Personality

Criminology Examples

Policeman's working personality

An example of the "Policeman's working personality" might be when a policeman hears that another member of the force planted evidence to secure the conviction of a known criminal. Rather than question his colleague's behavior, the policeman tacitly approves of the action, as clearly the criminal deserved to be punished, if not for the specific crime he was convicted for during the trial, than for another crime the criminal surely committed in the past.

Generalized punishment

Rather than inflict generalized punishment such as incarceration upon juvenile offenders, it is better to attempt to stress the rehabilitative function of justice by forcing them to make amends for their crimes, like cleaning up areas they have defaced.

Prisonization

The process of becoming socialized into the life of a prison often makes minor offenders even worse, as they grow hardened and learn from the crimes of others and grow embittered with a system that forces them to endure abuse at the hands of other prisoners.

Crimes of economic domination

Although they might not realize it, some criminologists might argue that affluent Americans are unconsciously perpetrating crimes of economic domination upon the underclass, even while these wealthier Americans fear that they will become the victims of violent crimes if they wander into certain areas of the city. However, the more affluent Americans do not see their wealth as a crime, but as a justifiable reward regardless of the historical circumstances behind how such wealth was acquired.

Criminalizing girls' survival

Girls, who have become part of the sex trade to survive economically, or out of fear of a dominant male figure like a 'pimp,' ironically are more likely to become convicted and labeled as criminals than the men who use their bodies to make money through the sex trade.

The function of the police

Ideally, the function of the police should be proactive, as a presence in the community to deter crime, rather than to punish crime, and merely increasing the visible presence of police in a crime-ridden neighborhood can have a positive deterrent effect.

Order-maintenance

Intensified policing of disorder or incivilities took place during the aftermath of 9/11 regarding potential terrorist threats.

Inmate code

An inmate code is a social system that often results in the brutal treatment of certain prisoners in a sexually, physically, and emotionally fashion. This brutal treatment can occur because of the crimes the inmates have committed, their new or low ranking on the inmate social hierarchy, or because of the perception that they are a weaker member of the prison population, due to age, sexual preference, or 'toughness.'

Pathology of power

Even an ordinary person, when placed in the role of a prison guard can exhibit the pathology or tendency to abuse of power, if not subject to rules on how to treat inmates, such as when during a fraternity hazing a brother might force an underage recruit to drink alcohol to excess, an action he would not feel motivated to try had he not been placed in a dominant position over the new member.

Chivalry hypothesis

Female delinquency and crime statistics are lower and will be detected less frequently because men are more reluctant to report that they are the victims of crimes perpetrated by women. The shame of domestic abuse of a man would be far greater and less apt to be believed, the victim might assume.

Question

In the minds of too many members of the general public, criminal = young Black male. Evaluate this viewpoint using the ideas of radical and feminist criminologists, citing specific concepts, theories, and theorists.

Imagine these scenarios. A young, casually dressed Black man, wandering down 5th Avenue at lunchtime notices that many of the young, White female tourists cross to the other side of the street as he passes. A professional African-American man driving a Mercedes is stopped while driving at the speed limit in an all-White neighborhood at night. These situations, even in the heart of a non-criminal, create a sense of anger and resentment within the Black community.

Along similar lines, Merton's 'labeling theory' posits that society needs individuals to fulfill the roles of deviancy, to validate its standards of normal behavior and values. American society, a radical criminologist might note, was based upon the crime of enslavement. By demonizing young, Black males as inherently deviant, White Americans can justify or rationalize the persistence of inequality of American society. Young Black men are seen as 'obviously' deserving of their status and marginalized role because they are 'obviously' criminals. Occupying such a deviant role, moreover, becomes a desirable goal for many African-American males, as occupying a non-deviant role and successfully participating in the financial and social mainstream is seen as impossible, or even as thwarting to their sense of group and cultural identity.

Thus Becker's analysis of "outsiders" or persons on the margins of society who self-consciously assume the role of deviant might be seen today in the embracing of 'gangster culture' whereby the deviant role of the outsider becomes perversely empowering, while a young, Black man innocent of any crime might be less likely to be hired for a managerial position -- or even allowed to drive through a suburb unmolested by a local policeman. The status of outsider is self-perpetuating in society and within the minds of the marginalized outsider and the persons responsible for the outsider's marginal status. Finally, the media perpetuates this association of Blackness with crime as it often uses Black actors to play petty criminals in television docudramas, or films young Black men being arrested on the nightly news.

Any type of labeling is hurtful. Even the presumption that women may be less likely to commit crimes is not necessarily an advantage, as female juvenile delinquents may slip through the cracks, and fall into an entrenched life of crime because their criminal existence is not immediately identified as deviant by society. Also, certain crimes such as prostitution may actually victimize women more, as they are more likely to be prosecuted than the men who send them onto the streets. Finally, simply because women are less likely to commit crimes than males, a feminist criminologist might add, women who suffer might be less likely to receive media attention. A Black woman struggling to pay her bills because she had to drop out of high school to support her family does less visible harm to the lives of the privileged class than, say, her African-American brother who becomes a member of a street gang, to protect his family against violent onslaughts by a rival gang.

But even young Black men, who might be the foot soldiers in some areas of certain cities in the 'drug trade' but do not necessarily fuel the trade, do not justify all of the common associations of Blackness with crime. The organized crime bosses behind these activities may profit far more from their criminal activities and serve no jail time at all, unlike the desperate Black young men selling drugs. The race and the image of the criminal is only a very small part of the story behind the images of media criminality.

Many less visible crimes of persons not identified, as 'outsiders' are more likely to wear a White face than a Black face. The executive of a major chemical company that kills millions of persons because he dumps waste into a stream might do far more societal harm, but also might receive a lesser sentence than a Black street criminal convicted under the 'three strikes and you're out' rule for life sentencing. Also, another White man in the gray suit is less likely to be feared and stopped by the police than the young, Black innocent man who seems, in the eyes of White America, to wear the same face as the Black criminal they see on television at night.

Question

Compare and contrast the way social structures and social forces shape policemen and prisoners, citing specific examples from the articles you read in Classics. How are these groups similar? Different? How do they resemble, and differ from, other types of people?'

One of the most frightening examples of how perverse a prison culture can become is evident in the example of "Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison," as noted by Craig Haney, Curtis Banks, and Philip Zimbardo, who describe an experiment that illustrated that simply placing persons in the role of prison guards caused these persons to abuse their power. These persons were aware that the individuals whom they were overseeing were innocent and that the authoritarian roles were temporary and assumed, and part of an experiment. How much more open to abuse might the attempt to make use of the power given by the role of policeman, after proceeding through the education of the everyday patrolman, and becoming inculcated in the norms of police culture, where every person is a potential suspect, as delineated in the "Sketch of the Policeman's Working Personality" of Jerome H. Skolnick.

In a prison, or on the streets, both the police and criminals live in a state of constant suspicion and fear of their lives. This fear is intensified in the close quarters of prisons. Also, as noted in "Police Control of Juveniles" of Donald J. Black and Albert J. Reiss, Jr. both groups use techniques of fear and intimidation to deal with such a hostile environment. The police use their authority to intimidate prisoners or potential convicts on the street, while convicts use their potential menace and the real or threatened use of violence to assert authority against one another.