Friday, September 14. 2012

Today's schedule is C-D-A-B


C Block Criminology 12 - Today we'll start with a second look at the BC Crime trends from 1998 - 2007 and then we'll talk about the disparity (difference) between the public perception of violent crime and the actual rates of violent crime in Canada...hint take a look to the left. The crime data indicate that rates have declined significantly in the past few years and are now far less than they were a decade ago. Suspected causes for the crime rate drop include an increasing prison population, more police on the street, the end of the crack epidemic and the age structure of society. The data sources show relatively stable patterns in the crime rate. Ecological patterns show that crime varies by season and by urban versus rural environment, however there is evidence of gender patterns in the crime rate: Men commit more crime than women. Age is one of the largest influences on crime; young people commit more crime than the elderly (and there are fewer young people in society). Crime data show that people commit less crime as they age, but the significance and cause of this pattern are still not completely understood. Similarly, racial and class patterns appear in the crime rate. However, it is still unclear whether these are true differences or a function of discriminatory law enforcement. After we'll watch an episode of Criminal Minds "The Crossing" from season 3. From tv.com:
The team members try to identify a stalker before he can attack a woman who is being stalked in Silver Spring, Maryland. Meanwhile, Hotch and Rossi are called as consultants on a possible battered woman syndrome murder case in Boston.

D Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll have the block to work on the bill into law comic / cartoon that we started yesterday. Don't forget to use the Make it Law sheet we used to form ideas yesterday and the legislative process steps I outlined with you in class. If you need help look in your Counterpoints textbook and the Parliament of Canada "Follow That Bill" website.

A Block Law 12 - Today we'll start by reviewing the three sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that limit your individual rights (Reasonable Limits, Notwithstanding Clause and Where the Charter Applies). After this we'll look at the R. v. Oakes (1986) case which established the "Oakes Test" in Canadian law which allows reasonable limitations on rights and freedoms through legislation if it can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. When we finish this we'll watch an episode of Law & Order from season 9 (episode 1) called "Cherished". From tv.com:

After a baby girl is found dead, Briscoe and Curtis investigate the family and learn that her adopted family and brother were trying to keep some painful secrets. Jack gets a new partner, Abbie Carmichael, who had a 95% percent success rate in her four years with Special Narcotics. Together McCoy and Carmichael try to prove that the little girl's brother committed the crime

The episode deals with some pretty heavy stuff (child abandonment and fraud) and to see a real life example check out the Pravda news article here. The real life case surrounds a couple who adopted a child from a Russian orphanage and a decision was handed down in the case in 2008. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

A Tooele Utah mother who admitted to killing a 14-month-old boy she and her husband adopted from Russia was sentenced Friday to prison for up to 15 years. Kimberly K. Emelyantsev, 34, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree felony child-abuse homicide in the death of Nicoli Emelyantsev, offered a tearful apology in 3rd District Court.

 
B Block Geography 12 - Today we'll do a brief introduction to topographic maps and I'll show you how to identify location, estimate area, calculate slope, and determine direction on them. We'll look at large versions of the 1:50000 scale topographic maps for the Comox Valley (92F10 and 92F11). For a large copy of the Forbidden Plateau 92F11 map click on the Online - En ligne (PDF or TIFF) at the GEOSCAN Fast-Link site. Using these maps we'll try to make sense of topographic maps in partners.

Here are a few webpages to help:
Natural Resources Canada Toporama
Reading Topographic Maps
Mount Union College Reading Topo Maps
United States Geological Survey Reading Topo Maps
Idaho State University Interpreting Topo Maps
National Wildfire Coordinating Group Reading Topographic maps pdf
Natural Resources & Water Queensland Australia Interpreting Topo Maps pdf
How Stuff Works Reading a Topographic Map
How to Read Topographical Maps

Thursday, September 13. 2012

Today's schedule is D-C-B-A

D Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll spend some time looking at the Legislative Branch of the Federal government. Our focus will be on the "legislative process" - creating laws in Canada.

An idea to make a new law or to change an existing law starts out as a "bill." Each bill goes through several stages to become law.

1. At first reading, the bill is considered read for the first time and is printed. There is no debate.
2. At second reading, Members debate the principle of a bill — is the idea behind it sound? Does it meet people's needs?
3. If a bill passes at second reading, it goes to a committee of the House. Committee members study the bill carefully. They hold hearings to gather information. They can ask for government officials and experts to come and answer questions. The committee can propose amendments, or changes, to the bill. When a committee has finished its study, it reports the bill back to the House. The entire House can then debate it. During report stage debate, Members can suggest other amendments to the bill.
4. Once report stage is over, the bill is called for third reading debate. Members who voted for the bill at second reading may sometimes change their minds at third reading after seeing what amendments have or have not been made to the bill.
5. After a bill has passed third reading in the House of Commons, it goes through a similar process in the Senate.
6. Once both Chambers pass the bill in the same form, it is given Royal Assent and becomes law.

You will have to draft a simplified bill that you would like to see made law, where you'll write the idea in a simple sentence or two and then use the Make It Law handout to organize your ideas. After this, you'll create a comic strip demonstrating the process of how a Bill becomes a Law in Canada for Monday.
 
C Block Criminology 12 - Today we will learn what Actus Reus, Mens Rea, Mala in Se and Mala Prohibitum mean along with taking a look at the differences between Indictable, Summary Conviction and Absolute Liability Offences. We'll see what defences you can use and what the goals of criminal law are for society. Today, we'll examine where we get our information about trends in crime (UCR, PRVS, Self-Reports). We'll look at the BC Crime trends from 1998 - 2007 and then we'll talk about the disparity (difference) between the public perception of violent crime and the actual rates of violent crime in Canada. This will set us up for our next blog entry on Monday.
UVIC Study on Violent, Property and Drug crime rates in BC

Some people think that since there is so much crime happening they feel the need to take on crime themselves. There are some costumed "super-hero" vigilantes in Seattle - members of the Rain City Superhero Movement. Check out the Seattle PI article on them here. You can see the article on "Phoenix" Jones with pictures here. You can check out the article and video from Good Morning America on Phoenix Jones broken nose here. You can watch the Young Turks video on the Rain City Superheroes here.

B Block Geography 12 - Today we'll finish our look at spheres in geography. Next, we'll work on time zones, latitude and longitude, GPS, and the remote sensing technology of GIS (We'll watch a Brainpop video on GPS with Tim & Moby). There are five questions in the week one handout to complete in class. Your homework yesterday was to look at figure 1.8 (p.13) and figure 1.9 (p.14) in the Geosystems book and try to interpret the relationships amongst the four spheres as a result of humans burning fossil fuels. If you're having trouble with this consider the carbon cycle (pages 634-5 in text) or look the links on yesterday's blog entry for more help.
For more on GIS check out:
USGS GIS Poster
ESRI What can I do with GIS?

A Block Law 12 - Today I'll need you to hand in the questions from page 21 of the All About Law textbook that I assigned yesterday. We'll have a discussion about rights afterword. we will have a discussion in class about your rights that you have guaranteed through various legal documents in Canada (including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms the Canadian Human Rights Act and the BC Human Rights Code). Expect to partner up and you and your partner will need to combine your lists of ten rights into one. After that your group of two will partner up with another group of two, combine your lists on a large sheet of paper, prioritize them and then we'll present these to the class.

Wednesday, September 12. 2012

Today's schedule is B-A-D-C

B Block Geography 12 - Today we'll move on to geographic spheres within the Earth system (the Lithosphere, the Atmosphere, the Biosphere and the Hydrosphere). After a few notes, you'll need to look at figure 1.8 (p.13) and figure 1.9 (p.14) in the Geosystems book and try to interpret the relationships amongst the four spheres as a result of humans burning fossil fuels. If you're having trouble with this consider the carbon cycle (pages 634-5 in text) or look at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CarbonCycle/. You could also look at Annenberg Media's "The Habitable Planet" Carbon Cycling website. For more help with positive and negative feedback loops take a look at Chapter 2 of Gerry Martin's on line Human Ecology textbook.

A Block Law 12 - Today we will continue our Introduction to Law unit by quickly reviewing Hammurabi, Mosaic law, Common law, Precedent and Case law. We'll work on understanding case citations (R. v. Kerr, 2004, and Grant v. Dempsey, 2001). We'll discuss the "rule of law" and quickly review the Social Studies 11 topics of our constitution and how laws are made. I'll have you work on questions from page 21 of the All About Law textbook: Question 2 How did the English common law system develop? Question 3 How is the rule of precedent used in today’s system of law? and Question 5 Explain the significance of statute law as a source of law? For more on how to read case studies check out:
 Reading a Legal Citation Queens University
Intro to reading and Briefing a Case University of British Columbia
Scroll down to Case Citation on this PowerPoint from New Learner


D Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll look at the Legislative Branch of the Federal government in Canada starting with the House of Commons. You'll draw a simple form of the diagram below in your notebook and then I'll have three questions for you to answer:

1. What is "Caucus" and what does it do?
2. What is "Cabinet", what is "Cabinet Solidarity", what happens when you break "cabinet solidarity", how do you get to be a cabinet member, and identify three ministries covered in the federal cabinet?
3. What is the "Official Opposition" and what do they do?

Here are some websites to help:
Current Canadian Ministry (Cabinet)
Privy Council Office: About Cabinet
NDP Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Parliament Of Canada Members of the Cabinet and Opposition Critics

C Block Criminology 12 - Today we'll get to the stuff we didn't get to yesterday...dealing with important people in Criminology (Beccaria & Utilitarianism; Lombroso & biological positivism; Durkheim and social structures; and Marx and conflict) and then we'll look at the three perspectives of how criminologists view crime:
 
Consensus = the belief that the majority of citizens in society share common values and agree on what behaviours should be defined as criminal.
Conflict = the belief that criminal behaviour is defined by those in a position of power to protect and advance their own self-interest.
Interactionist = the belief that those with social power are able to impose their values on society as a whole, and these values then define criminal behaviour.

Once this is done we'll turn our focus to the history of crime and law (looking at Hammurabi, the Mosaic Code and the development of Common Law in England). We'll learn what Actus Reus, Mens Rea, Mala in Se and Mala Prohibitum mean along with taking a look at the differences between Indictable, Summary Conviction and Absolute Liability Offences. We'll see what defences you can use and what the goals of criminal law are for society. You'll need to work on question at the end of class and then tomorrow we'll discuss crime trends and how we tabulate crime statistics (UCR, PRVS, Self-Reports). The question at the end of the class is...

In order to stay safe from crime, would you want to live in a country that has harsh penalties that are swift, certain, and severe or would you be willing to risk crime being done to you and not have harsh penalties for criminals that are swift, certain, and severe? Why?

Tuesday, September 11. 2012

Today's schedule is C-D-A-B

C Block Criminology 12 - Today we'll start by looking at the work from yesterday - the difference between deviance and criminal behaviour (acts that are criminal but not deviant and deviant but not criminal). I'll have you share your ideas together as a class and then give you some time to choose one and decide whether we should "criminalize" or "decriminalize" that behaviour. After a bit, you can hand in your work on deviance and criminality.

D Block Social Studies 11 - Yesterday we continued our look at the government structure by focusing on our Federal system of governance. We'll start today by going through your definitions from the end of yesterday's class, then we'll begin looking at the "Division of Powers" and then we'll finish our look at Federalism with challenges to it (think regionalism from yesterday). We'll take a diagram down about the structure of our government and then we'll look at the legislative branch of government. No homework tonight! For more information on the Federal system of governance (Federal, Provincial, and Municipal division of powers check out the following websites:
Governor General of Canada
The Federal Government
The Constitution Act 1982

A Block Law 12 - Yesterday we looked at the divisions of Public (criminal, constitutional, and administrative) and Private law (tort, family, contract, property, and labour law). We didn't get to the assignment I wanted to work though yesterday so...Your assignment will be to look up the penalties for a law (in the Canadian Criminal Code) that you disagree with and explain why we should have stronger or lighter penalties for this law. Look at yesterday's blog site for more information on the example of "Mischief" C.C. 430. (1)This will need to be submitted to me for marks after we share as a class.

B Block Geography 12 - Today we'll finish the 5 Themes and then we'll move on to systems and spheres. This is an important class as everything we look at in geography will be through the lens of systems science. We'll look at systems, feedback, equilibrium, and thresholds.You'll have four questions to work on tonight (What is a System; Define and give examples of Open and Closed Systems; Explain with examples what Positive and Negative Feedback is; and Explain in terms of systems what Dynamic Equilibrium, Thresholds, and Metastable Equilibrium are).

Theories for the Criminology Family

So to help you build your own theories about why crime happens - which is your first blog entry next week and an activity that I asked you to work on for a rough draft today - below you'll find some notes on Choice, Trait, Social Structure, Social Learning, and Conflict theories:

Choice Theory (Chapter 4 in the Criminology: The Core textbook)

Choice theories assume that criminals carefully choose whether to commit criminal acts. People are influenced by their fear of the criminal penalties associated with being caught and convicted for law violations.The choice approach is rooted in the classical criminology of Cesare Beccaria, who argued that punishment should be certain, swift, and severe enough to deter crime.

Today, choice theorists view crime as offense- and offender-specific. Offense-specific means that the characteristics of the crime control whether it occurs. For example, carefully protecting a home makes it less likely to be a target of crime. Offender-specific refers to the personal characteristics of potential criminals. People with specific skills and needs may be more likely to commit crime than others. Research shows that offenders consider their targets carefully before deciding on a course of action. Even violent criminals and drug addicts show signs of rationality.

Trait Theory (Chapter 5 in the Criminology: The Core textbook)

One area of interest is biochemical factors, such as diet, allergies, hormonal imbalances, and environmental contaminants (such as lead). The conclusion is that crime, especially violence, is a function of diet, vitamin intake, hormonal imbalance, or food allergies. Neurophysiological factors, such as brain disorders, ADHD, EEG abnormalities, tumors, and head injuries have been linked to crime. Criminals and delinquents often suffer brain impairment, as measured by the EEG. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and minimal brain dysfunction are related to antisocial behavior.

An evolutionary branch holds that changes in the human condition, which have taken millions of years to evolve, may help explain crime rate differences. As the human race evolved, traits and characteristics have become ingrained. Cognitive psychology is concerned with human development and how people perceive the world. Criminality is viewed as a function of improper information processing. Individual reasoning processes influence behavior. Reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive their environment. Psychological traits such as personality and intelligence have been linked to criminality. One important area of study has been the antisocial personality, a person who lacks emotion and concern for others.

Social Structure Theories (Chapter 6 in the Criminology: The Core textbook)

Social structure theories suggest that people’s place in the socioeconomic structure influences their chances of becoming criminals. Poor people are more likely to commit crimes because they are unable to achieve monetary or social success in any other way. Social structure theory includes three schools of thought: social disorganization, strain, and cultural deviance theories. Social disorganization theory suggests that the urban poor violate the law because they live in areas in which social control has broken down. Strain theories view crime as resulting from the anger people experience over their inability to achieve legitimate social and economic success. Cultural deviance theories hold that a unique value system develops in lower-class areas. Lower-class values approve of behaviors such as being tough, never showing fear, and defying authority. People perceiving strain will bond together in their own groups or subcultures for support and recognition.

Social Process Theories (Chapter 7 in the Criminology: The Core textbook)

Social learning theory stresses that people learn how to commit crimes. Social control theory analyzes the failure of society to control criminal tendencies. Labeling theory maintains that negative labels produce criminal careers. Social learning theory suggests that people learn criminal behaviors much as they learn conventional behavior. Control theory maintains that all people have the potential to become criminals, but their bonds to conventional society prevent them from violating the law. This view suggests that a person’s self-concept aids his or her commitment to conventional action. Social reaction or labeling theory holds that criminality is promoted by becoming negatively labeled by significant others. Such labels as “criminal,” “ex-con,” and “junkie” isolate people from society and lock them into lives of crime.

Conflict Theory (Chapter 8 in the Criminology: The Core textbook)

Social conflict theorists view crime as a function of the conflict that exists in society. Conflict theorists suggest that crime in any society is caused by class conflict. Laws are created by those in power to protect their rights and interests. Marxist criminology views the competitive nature of the capitalist system as a major cause of crime. The poor commit crimes because of their frustration, anger, and need. The wealthy engage in illegal acts because they are used to competition and because they must do so to keep their positions in society.

Monday, September 10. 2012

Today's schedule is A-B-C-D

A Block Law 12 - So since we didn't get to it on Friday...today we'll get into our Introduction to Law unit by taking down a few notes on the five functions of law and the divisions of Public (criminal, constitutional, and administrative) and Private law (tort, family, contract, property, and labour law). Lastly we'll take a look at the differences between Substantive and Procedural Law. Your assignment will be to look up the penalties for a law (in the Canadian Criminal Code) that you disagree with and explain why we should have stronger or lighter penalties for this law. Consider "Mischief"

C.C. 430. (1) Every one commits mischief who wilfully
(a) destroys or damages property;
(b) renders property dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective;
(c) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property; or
(d) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with any person in the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property.

Punishment

(2) Every one who commits mischief that causes actual danger to life is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for life.

So if you are protesting the removal of old growth trees in a location and hammer spikes into trees then you are endangering the life of fallers (who would use chainsaws and chainsaws don't mix well with metal spikes)...that means you're eligible for life in prison much the same as if you tampered with someone's break lines in their car. Is that sentence too harsh or too light? Why? that's an example of what I'd like you to consider. You may use the pocket criminal codes in class or may use the computer to check the statutes on line.

B Block Geography 12 - Today we'll continue our work on the foundations of Geography starting with the Five Themes. In order to understand the increasingly complex and interconnected world we live in we need to find a way to make sense of information in a way that doesn't overwhelm us. The Five Themes (Location, Place, Human-Environment Interactions, Movement, and Regions) are a framework for making sense of geographic data. Friday saw us look at the first two themes and hopefully today we'll cover the remaining themes and our Geography I.D. assignment. Tomorrow we'll move on to systems and spheres.

C Block Criminology 12 - Today I want to continue with our look at the nature vs. nurture debate that we started last Friday, again focusing on the history of psychological and sociological criminology. We'll look at the difference between deviance and criminal behaviour (acts that are criminal but not deviant and deviant but not criminal). What is deviant behaviour? A simple explanation of deviant behaviour could be any action that violates cultural norms (formal norms like laws - or informal norms like nose picking). This is a difficult concept because what an individual or sub culture in society defines as deviant is contextually situated (meaning what I think is deviant may be different for you; it is subjective - influenced by personal considerations).

Take smoking in public. You may think that this behaviour is acceptable because an individual has the choice to consume a cigarette and they are merely harming themselves...no problem right? You may, however, think this behaviour is unacceptable. Second-hand smoke is hurtful to others because they could be harmed by someone else's behaviour. So what is deviant in many cases is subjective. What is criminal is the codification of what a society as a whole deems as deviant. Homicide is criminal because as a society we believe that taking another life is unacceptable and deviates from the accepted cultural norm that we wish our country to be like.

So using the text and your brains you need to come up with a list of things that are deviant but not criminal and a list of things that are criminal but not deviant. After you'll need to take one act from either list and explain why it should be criminalized or why it should be decriminalized.

Don't forget you need to create your own theory of why crime happens. You need to use the brainstormed list we did in class along with the notes you took today on the history of Criminology.

D Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll spend some time finishing our look at the regions of Canada (there'll be some quick notes here). This relates to "regionalism" and how it causes challenges to Canada as a country (NOTE: This will be a common and recurring theme throughout the course and we'll first identify it in the "rep by pop" section in our government unit). Next we'll begin our look at the government structure we have here in Canada. We'll take a few notes on Democracy (direct and representative) and see what a Constitutional Monarchy is (these are the building blocks of understanding our government structure).