Monday, October 19. 2020

Today's classes are: 

9:15 - 11:50 A Block Criminology 

12:30 - 3:05 D Block Social and Environmental Sciences 

A Block Criminology - Today we are off to the learning commons / library for our next blog assignment for the term and I'd like you to answer the following:

What characteristics must a good burglar have? What theory of criminal behaviour best predicts the development of a good burglar? If a good burglar is a professional thief then is their career path similar to other professionals like lawyers or doctors? 

Look at Neil Shover's explanation on page 234-237 in the CRIM textbook.... Neal Shover studied the careers of professional burglars and uncovered the existence of a particularly successful type--the good burglar. Shover also discovered that a person becomes a good burglar through learning the techniques of the trade from older, more experienced burglars. Also try to answer:

What can you do to reduce the chances of being victimized by a good burglar?

To help check out:

We asked 86 burglars how they broke into homes

Burglary Deterrents: What Works and What Doesn’t?

Burglars Reveal What Makes Certain People Easy Targets

After, back in the class, we'll start our look at white collar crime. We will begin by learning how to identify a pyramid / ponzi scam (for more take a look at How Stuff Works). Next, we'll look at individual exploitation of an institutional position, influence peddling & bribery, theft and employee fraud, client fraud and corporate crime. I'll introduce to Edwin H. Sutherland's Differential Association Theory (he introduced the concept "white collar crime").  A great example of embezzlement and swindling was presented by John Oliver on Last Week Tonight



Another really good example of a text message scam can be found in a CBC news story...where bad cheques are forged and passed on to unsuspecting victims.
We'll also see what we can find on the Internet about white collar crime....spoil alert LOTS!
National Check Fraud Center
Robert O. Keel White Collar Crime
Canadian Encyclopedia White Collar Crime
Federal Bureau of Investigation White Collar Crime Division
Understanding White Collar Crime
News Stories of White Collar Crime

D Block Social and Environmental Sciences - Learning Commons/Library for our last day to work on research and compilation of your water conflict poster. If you think...I'm done, ask yourself "did I answer all the questions Benton and Young asked of me?" Look at last week's blog post to check out the questions. Now if you think...yes I answered them, ask yourself is there anything I missed in answering the questions?" Will Benton and Young say, "Did you think of this?" Like in point 1 where you're asked what happens as a result of water disputes you need to look at the area in question and see if political instability, social unrest, economic downturn, heavy unemployment, or civil warfare is connected to the water crisis. Be specific...what are the effects of a water conflict besides a lack of clean fresh water. Did you do that? Remember that your answers to solutions for the conflict (point 6) need to be concrete (doable) and need to address all stakeholders. Did you consider that? Don't forget a sources cited section on the back of your poster. Did you do that? So really check to see that you're actually done, right?