Criminology Blog
True Crime and Canadian/American Differences: Russell Williams
It’s not often that the American media will take interest in Canadian current events, but in the case of Russell Williams, they did. Williams was a high-ranking military officer in the Canadian Air Force, held in high regard by those around him. His job came with immense responsibility and with that, intense psychological screening, perhaps…
True Crime and Fame: Casey Anthony
Casey Anthony was a young mother accused of murdering her two year old daughter, Caylee. The circumstances around Caylee’s disappearance were suspicious enough to spark public interest in the investigation and trial. The proceedings were highly publicized, with cameras in the courtroom as well as reporters tweeting the details. The public became increasingly involved in…
Sociology, True Crime, and Fame: Colton Harris-Moore
Colton Harris-Moore, or “The Barefoot Bandit” ran away from a halfway house when he was 19, beginning a crime spree of thefts and break-ins that included multiple planes, boats, and cars. As his crimes escalated and he continued to evade the police, the media coverage of his story increased and he began to garner a…
Media Coverage of True Crime: Stranger Danger
My Kid Would Never Do That: Stranger Danger, was meant to demonstrate just how vulnerable kids are to ploys from strangers that could lead them to harm. In the show, an actor was hired to play the role of a man who was working on a reality TV show who took their picture and asked…
Media Coverage of True Crime: Highway of Tears
The ‘Highway of Tears’ is a stretch of highway in northern BC, famous for the many women that have gone missing in its vicinity. Officially, the RCMP report 18 victims, however, locals suspect there are many, many more, the majority being of aboriginal heritage. Although aboriginal communities have been trying to being more attention to…
Media Literacy and Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is a children’s cartoon about a gang of ambiguously aged, amateur mystery solvers. While travelling around in their brightly coloured van, they stumble upon mysteries— usually involving evil spirits, curses, and monsters— that they take upon themselves to solve. The gang is made up of five characters: Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley, Daphne…
Tracking and Analyzing My Daily Media Consumption
I decided to track the media that I would consume from 10:00 am on April 21 to 10:00 am on April 22. I estimated that I would consume 8 hours of media— which I thought was high, but I was surprised to find that I actually consumed 9 and a half hours of media. Most…
Serial and Mass Murder in Canada
Murder is not common in Canada. In 2018, there were only 651 murders nationwide. Compared to a whopping 16,214 in America, the likelihood of being a murder victim in Canada is very low. However, uncommon as it is, there have been 20 serial killers and 52 incidents of mass murder in Canada. One such serial…
How does male socialization affect their sexual behaviour?
How can sexual behaviour be socialized in males. Are males who commit sexual assault are “hyper-masculine”? Why and where do men learn “hyper-masculine” behaviour? Statistically, men are far more likely than women to commit sexual assault, and an influencing factor on this is the way they are raised. Males are often taught to be strong,…
The Short and Long-term Impacts on Victims of Crime
In the Law and Order episode we watched, the effects that the assault had on Harper were illustrated right after it had taken place, and six months later. There is a great difference in Harper’s character six months after the attack takes place. When the police try to find her six months after her attack,…
Is School One of the Most Dangerous Places for Young People?
Based on many of the crime and victimization theories we have looked at, it makes sense that the rate of crimes committed in school would be high. There is a large number of youth (who are the most likely age group to commit crime) in a small area. As well, there is usually good motive…
Crime Trends in BC
Why has British Columbia consistently had high rates of police-reported drug offenses? British Columbia has, for the past 30 years, had one of the highest rates of drug offenses in the country. In BC, Vancouver and Victoria are the cities with particularly high rates. Part of the reason for BC’s high involvement in drug related…
Why Do People Commit Crimes?
I don’t believe that there is one singular reason that people commit crimes. Rather, I agree with the integrated perspective on criminology: that a combination of biological, ecological, social, economical, and political factors work to cause crime. The biological perspective on why crime happens, the Trait Theory, shows how criminality can be influenced by diet,…
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