Murder – some facts

Murder – some facts

External Restraint Theory -- • Suicide/homicide two sides of same coin – aggression • Intense frustration + weak E.R. = suicide • Intense frustration + strong E.R.= murder

Factors that mediate E.R. • Socialization via physical punishment = outward aggression • Socialization via psychological punishment = inward aggression

Murder More likely in large cities • More likely in South • Men more likely 89% • Young men more likely (18-24) • More likely intraracial

Over 90 percent of murders – by uneducated and poor

Rural rates are higher than most cities with the exceptions of large cities – simply due to proximity in large cities Rural areas – more interaction with intimates – and that’s who kills.

South – a culture of violence? • Some argue yes – gun ownership, capital punishment, and history of violence via lynchings during Jim Crow – others argue because of the rurality of south.

Methods of killing • Guns -- • 15,000 per year in U.S. versus 100 in other industrialized countries e.g., Canada, England, Japan • 5 times more successful than knives

“Warm blooded” • Family members and friends, acquaintances • 54% acquaintance or friend • 22.9% family member • 23.1 stranger

Same holds for youth violence – most likely to occur under the same conditions listed above.

Between 1970 and 2005 • U.S. Population grew by 38 percent • U.S. prison population grew by 605 percent • Today – more than 2.3 million in prison • In in 4 prisoners worldwide are U.S. citizens and imprisoned in the U.S.

Do economic trends help us understand murder…..?? In the 1960s, the national homicide rate rose by 43 percent, even though the country was in a period of great prosperity and low unemployment. The homicide rate fell in the 1980s, even as the economy was wobbling, with high interest rates and a steep rise in business bankruptcies. In the 1990s, the murder rate fell by 39 percent at a time when unemployment also was declining. Last year’s was the lowest since the mid-60s Source: National Center for Policy Analysis

Prison is expensive, demoralizing and deadening. "Increased sentencing in some communities has removed entire generations of young men" from some minority communities, says San Francisco police chief George Gascón. “ a court system that clobbers first-time offenders with mandatory sentences — sometimes for nonviolent crimes — will inevitably lock up thousands of not-so-bad guys alongside the hardened criminals. Not everyone agrees on the definition of a nonviolent criminal, but studies have estimated that as many as one-third of all U.S. prison inmates are in that category, most of them locked up on drug charges. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1963761-2,00.html#ixzz1Gft6h4fg

Could it happen to you????? If wrongfully convicted of murder, what would your chances be?? Social location --- Social class? Race? Gender? Death row inmates - African American Males make up 13 percent of population and account for 42% of death row inmates – Reasons for Wrongful convictions???? False or Forced Confessions? In 35 % of false confessions, the defendant was 18 or YOUNGER Snitches – making deals Eyewitness Misidentification – Improper forensic science Research suggests that DNA is the best evidence to date. http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Facts_on_PostConviction_DNA_Exonerations.php

Unintended Consequences • All the above strongly influence whether you’ll be given life sentence or death penalty…… • DNA evidence is strongest argument against Death Penalty but why? • Eyewitness misidentification is the single largest cause of wrongful convictions • http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05042007/watch2.html

Innocence Project Successes

Innocence Project Successes • Approximately 300 people in the United States have been exonerated in 36 states and the District of Columbia; they served a total of approximately 4,013 years.. Average time served = 13.6 years • Races of the 289 exonerees: • 187 African Americans85 Caucasians21 Latinos2 Asian American4 whose race is unknown• The true suspects and/or perpetrators have been identified in 146 of the DNA exoneration cases.

More on the Innocence Project • The average sentence served by DNA exonorees has been 13 years • 17 of the 266 people exonerated served time on Death Row • About 70 percent of those exonerated by DNA testing are members of minority groups • The average age at the time of their conviction was 27 • The first DNA exoneration took place in 1989; Just since 2000, there have been 198 exonerations

27 States do not have a compensation law Arkansas is one of them…. Life after exoneration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_sQAlIIYiM&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1OyGLWByE0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd-5HFipAqI&feature=related

Murder – some facts