Post reading the Deviance and Crime module in the Learning Materials section of this site (and the Deviance and Crime chapter) share insights and observations gleaned, as well as reactions to, and analysis of, the following facets of the module:
1. Rap on Trial: This segment of the module considers the relationship between racist perceptions and racism in the criminal justice system, who gets seen and treated as engaging in illegal behaviour, brandished with a criminal label, and more likely to face harsh incarceration consequences and unfair trial proceedings. In particular, I want students to consider the criminalization of rap music, including how the song lyrics are differentially interpreted to Country music, and the unjust, harmful implications that stem from these racist double standards where rap is not regarded as an art form and the words in rap sung by black male artists are taken as autobiographical confessions and evidence of wrongdoing and not so if the artist was white. Students can make use of the following sources to summarize what they have learned about this issue, as well as share their response (note: you can use just one, two or all three): a). The source provided in the Deviance and Crime module (Rap on Trial page) is a 56 minute NPR radio recording of a discussion regarding the case of aspiring musician Olutosin Oduwole who was initially convicted, charged, and sentenced for 5 years for what was perceived and treated as him making a terrorist threat based on rap lyrics found in his car on the tails of the Virginia Tech school shooting. He served one year in prison after which the case was thrown out. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/12/876485823/rap-on-trial-how-an-aspiring-musicians-words-led-to-prison-time b). For those students who do better with audiovisual learning, I found an interesting TED Talk on the same subject matter by the criminologist and rap scholar, Charis Kubrin, who was called on as part of the defense in Oduwole’s case – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjTIhRtFJbU and c). For those who prefer reading articles, I have also linked an interesting article on the criminalization of rap entitled ‘Rap on Trial’ written by Kubrin and Nielson (2014) – https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.humber.ca/doi/full/10.1177/2153368714525411?utm_source=summon&utm_medium=discovery-provider
2. Incarceration rates (Reflective Learning link in the Deviance and Crime module): What do you think accounts for the American propensity to imprison its citizens? Or considered from the opposite direction, why do Canada and other nations in the “Global North” have substantially lower incarceration rates? Students can draw on content here obtained from the textbook, pages 112 when prisons are discussed through to the end of the chapter, p. 117. Feel free to add your thoughts here about what you think could be done to redress this problem of imprisonment (high recidivism -reoffending- rates and “turning small time crooks into hardened criminals”p.113 evidence that prisons don’t work/deter/lower the crime rate) such as the Scandinavian rehabilitative approach described on p. 116 or the restorative justice model.
Note: For a bonus mark offer your summary/response to the Doing Nothing video clip – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgso3Y-l0h8. Try to use this as an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of what is meant by deviance – deviance is not merely the breaking/violating of rules/norms but is when engaging in these behaviours elicits a negative response in others. Alternatively, students who wish to use this bonus opportunity to test out their gained knowledge of two competing theories (Robert K. Merton’s strain theory, pp.106-7, Spitzer’s conflict theory, p. 107-8, and Hirschi’s control theory, p.108) to explain engagement in criminal or deviant behaviour, feel free to do so using examples to illustrate.
Assignments should be a minimum of 2 pages in length, but there is no maximum limit imposed.
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