Female Crime: The Story of Cheryl Pierson

When people think about crime, they often think about men committing the crimes.  In fact as a society we view crime as almost entirely male.  Our ideas about who is in prison are centered around men, and our fears about crime are centered around men.  In fact, when we do talk about women and crime, we often are comparing them to men.  

This is no surprise though, because men do commit more crimes and they always have.  They have always had a higher crime rate in all societies.  However, this does not meant that female crime is unimportant.  Research tends to focus on male crime, but female crime is also important to study.

When we have studied female crime, it is often seen as an anomaly.  There is usually a case study done of an extreme crime committed by a woman.  It is analyzed in a variety of ways to explain her deviance, instead of exploring the deeper root causes of female crime.  An example would be that of Cheryl Pierson.

Cheryl’s case is complicated and rare.  But it has been studied by a variety of groups, all to explain how such a sweet girl could do such a horrible thing.  But girls and women commit crimes.  It is not such an impossible thing.  We just view it as such because it is so rare.  The interesting thing about Cheryl’s case, is that she did not kill her father, a male friend did.  

We focus on the horror of her crime, and almost completely forget about the murder that the man committed.  Because men commit more crimes, it is less of a stretch to think that a male friend could do such a thing, so we do not focus on it.  Instead we focus on Cheryl’s crime, not only was it horrible, but women are not supposed to commit crimes.

Citations:

Darrell Steffensmeier and Emilie Allan, “Gender and Crime: Toward a Gendered Theory of Female Offending,” Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 22 (1996), pp. 459-487.

David J. Krajicek, “A secret turned deadly,” NYDaily News, Feb. 2009, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/02/15/2009-02-15_a_secret_turned_deadly.html     

Chicago’s New Gang Policy

In this paper I will discuss Chicago’s new gang policy; based on the article, Let’s Meet: Chicago Police’s New Approach to Gangs, by Cheryl Corley. The city of Chicago’s rising gang activity has forced police officers to find new strategies in attempt to reduce gang violence. An increase in gang violence has influence police officials to implement a new program in the west side of the city in Chicago’s 11^th police district.  This summer, superintendent Jody Weis will begin the new program that has active gang members meet with community members who are tired of their gang activity. Then the gang members are offered assistance in finding jobs as well as other social services. However, part of this new program is extremely controversial. If one gang member is suspected of a crime, officers will arrest as many other gang members they can find, for any activity they may have been involved with in the crime. They are using both community based policing and what can be called the broken windows policing theory, that incarcerating individuals for smaller crimes will make others think twice before committing a more serious crime. In theory, gang members would be less likely to continue their gang activity after witnessing rival gang members being arrested.

Although, I am pleased to see the promotion of social services through the Chicago police department, I have mixed opinions about this new policy. Through mentoring youth in Beloit, Wisconsin, I have learned that many young people join gangs because they are dealing with various social problems such as poverty, poor quality of education, and household issues. These circumstances make some gang members believe that they and do not have any alternatives to gang activity. Alleviating poverty seems to be fixing the root of the problem, so initiatives such as job training should be a focus of the Chicago police department.  However, providing job application assistance and incarcerating individuals who may not have committed a serious crime seems contradictory. While the employment programs help provide alternatives to gang activities, adding to their criminal record will make it more difficult for them to find a job later in life.  

Although this method may be beneficial to the Chicago community, there is also a sad reality when it comes to gang formation. Even if employment programs do help gang members find stable jobs, resigning from a gang completely can also be dangerous for the ex-gang member. Gangs are often formed for protection and loyalty to each other, so leaving the gang may be viewed as betrayal by other gang members. Rival gang members may recognize the individual and create violence. The ex-gang member may be in more danger because they no longer have the protection from their previous affiliates.

In order to truly reduce gang violence, investing more money into social programs should be provided for all low-income Chicagoans. Police need to get to the root of crime, which is often poverty and drug addictions. Additional services such as drug treatment and GED classes, that the new gang policy will provide will not only reduce current crime, but may prevent it.  According to Don Steman, researcher from the Center of Sentencing and Corrections, a ten percent increase in incarceration results in a 2 to four percent decrease in crime (Steman, 2007). This proves that incarceration is not always cost-effective and alternatives to incarceration need to be explored. 

An interesting video of a similar program in Los Angeles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57mYfM9R5AI&feature=related

Sources

Steman, Don, “Reconsidering Incarceration: New Directions for Reducing Crime,” Vera Institute of Justice, January 2007.

Corley, Cheryl, “Let’s Meet: Chicago Police’s New Approach to Gangs,” National Public Radio,  December 2010. http://www.npr.org/2010/12/03/131357393/let-s-meet-chicago-police-s- new-approach-to-gangs (Accessed December 4, 2010).

Criminals or Victims?

As the early as the 1950s, immigration officials have been strictly involved in decreasing the amount of Mexicans crossing the border in the United States. This U. S. Border Patrol placed action in “Operation Wetback”. This campaign would decrease the amount of illegal crossings in the United States. About eight hundred Border Patrol officers went into the Southwestern part of the United States and operated raids, deportations, road blocks, and many deportations (Hernandez 421). About six decades later, there has not been a change. Many immigrants are getting deported for having the proper documentation and they are being deported for the lack of not having these documents. Many of them are getting deported for small misdemeanors, which should not result in deportations.  Individuals who are “brown” are required to show proof that they are a citizen, which is unfair because “brown” people are not the only immigrants going into the Unites States. The Latino community is one of the largest growing minorities. Many individuals have targeted only this group as being a threat to the United States. Should individuals having the “American Dream” be a crime?

The immigration reform has been a controversial debate. Are illegal immigrants criminals? The desire of wanting the “American Dream” has cost many illegal immigrants their jobs and the separation of their families.  With new immigration laws such as in the state of Arizona that make not having the proper documentation a misdemeanor and allows police officers to verify a an individual’s immigration status if they believe that someone is an undocumented immigrant . National Security and the anti-immigrant have been linked to justify the immigration policies because of attacks after September 11, 2001. National Security is not the only factor, but the threat of societal security (Doty 3). Anti-immigrant movements show illegal immigrants as enemies in which are a threat to social order. This conclusion comes from signs showed at rallies promoting policies such as slogans such as ‘Take and illegal down’, ‘ Just say no to Wetback Breeders’,  and ‘If It’s Brown Flush it Down’(Doty 5). These are only a few examples that can be found in the media as illegal immigrants as enemies. There have been conflicts in regards to the DREAM Act, which would grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants with completing two years college or military service. There has been an increase of hate crimes against migrants which may be linked to the increase of harsh immigration policies. These policies are militarization of the United States border in which results in deaths due to border crossing. The increase anti immigrant legislation had led to racial profiling because of this; there has been an increase of detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants. A new law in Arizona, SB1070 legalizes racial profiling in Arizona (Doty 6). It is difficult to determine the factors that determine such laws. Race and class obviously play an important role. The “other” can be identified as a threat to the United States’ population.

References:

Kelly Lytle Hernadez, “The Crimes and Consequences of Illegal Immigration: A Cross-Border Examination of Operation Wetback”,The Western Historical Quarterly,Vol. 37, No. 4 (Winter, 2006), pp. 421-444 Published by: Western Historical Quarterly, Utah State University on behalf of the The Western History Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25443415.

Roxanne Lynn Doty, “The Anti-Immigrant Movement and the Politics of Exceptionalisn”,Immigration Policy Center:American Immigration Council, The Law Into Their Own Hands-Immigration and the Politics of Excaptionalism, Published by: University of Arizona Press,2010.

           

Two-Faces Too Many

            One sees the criminal justice system in action quite frequently when you grow up the way I did. Therefore my perception of the men in blue or black, aka the police, is a little more complex than others. If I approach them with my white girl voice from a politically correct standpoint, as a college student, I get the upmost respect. I see someone who is proud of their job. I see someone who studied the handbook the night before because they knew I would be documenting out encounter. Clearly, they present themselves as people who uphold the law, no biases, no questions asked. However, I do believe that they do not realize, I am that same girl that watched them harass people for standing on the corner waiting to cross the street. I am the same girl who heard them say racist things and look at her people with pure disdain. I am the same girl who witnessed them exert sheer brutality and force on innocent people, not because they deserved it, but simply because they could.

            However, I do not blame them for what they do. I know this sounds bad, but I don’t. I cannot blame them for working for a system that has failed, and continues to fail them also. “Individuals are assimilated into a police force by formal training, supervision, and informal peer socialization….It is the police system not the personality of the candidate that is the more powerful determinant of behavior and ideology.” (Binder and Scharf, 113)  If corruption and unpreparedness were detected inside the system, then it would never reach the streets. If these officers were monitored not only as officers, but also as civilians, stereotyping and biases would not reach the streets or be passed down like sacred rules from chief to captain to lieutenant to sergeant to detective, to the officers on the beats, and the ones working at the desks.  I was asked to observe the criminal justice department in a formal approach in which the officers knew I was present. I did and it is so different from when you are just another nobody and they do not notice a person only a face. So I combined my experiences in order to give you my interpretation. Neither one person nor one thing is perfect. However, some things need to change in order to encompass an entire community, in order for the community to trust and believe in the criminal justice system as a whole. Until then “Snitches get stitches” and “F*** the police” will continue to be a motto that tons of Americans live by.

References:

Arnold Binder, Peter Scharf.  “The Violent Police-Citizen Encounter” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol. 452, The Police and Violence (Nov., 1980), pp. 111-121 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1042765

The Overturning of Warren Jeffs’ Convictions: Accurate Process or Injustice?

Warren Jeffs, leader of the religious church, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or FLDS, was convicted in 2007 of two counts of rape as an accomplice. He was accused of using his religious influence to coerce a fourteen-year-old girl, Elissa Wall, into marrying her nineteen-year-old cousin, Allen Steed. At the trial Elissa testified that she did not want to be married and repeatedly told Jeffs that she was uncomfortable with her husbands sexual advances. She also alleged that Warren Jeffs refused to let her out of marriage. The victim expressed a lack of consent and was underage, so why did the Utah Supreme Court overturn the convictions?

            The overturning was due to a scrutiny of another aspect of the law defining non-consensual sex in where "the actor" must be in a position of special trust in relation to the victim. Jeff’s defense said that the jury was not properly instructed on who was in the position of special trust. They claimed that Steed also needed to be included to be in a position of special trust and the jury needed to be properly instructed in this manner. In less legal jargon, the defense claimed that Jeffs did not intend for Steed to rape Elissa Wall by encouraging their marriage. The prosecutors made the obvious rebuttal to this; stating that by presiding over the marriage, Jeffs knew that sex was going to take place.

            I side with the prosecution in that the overturning of these convictions, not by determination of guilt or innocence, rather by a mere wording technicality is a practice of injustice. This is not the first controversy Jeffs has faced as leader of the intensely secluded church. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff stated in a speech, “Warren Jeffs started to really push the fact that wives don’t belong to their husbands. Instead, they belong to Jeffs… Jeffs would tell them who their next husband was going to be, and if need be, move them from house to house” (Shurtleff). This is overturning is also concerning considering the rising public accusations of domestic and child abuse within the FLDS, including books by escaped victim Carolyn Jessop, and esteemed author John Krakauer. The state of Utah estimates that there are as many as 750 runaway youths from polygamist communities, the vast majority of them homeless (Wharton, 2008). I believe that considering Jeffs God-like authoritarian status in his community, he was aware of and encouraged acts of domestic and child abuse and should be held accountable as such. Warren Jeffs defense is currently attempting to halt Jeffs extradition to Texas.

           

Work Cited

Shurtleff, M. (2009, February). Religion and non-state governance: Warren Jeffs and the FLDS. Speech presented at University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Wharton, T. C. (2008). Deserted in Deseret: how utah's emancipation statute is saving polygamist runaways and queer homeless youths. Journal of Law and Family Studies, 10, 213-221.