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This lesson is designed to "set you up" for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of this week's reading. In Chapters 4-5 of her book Nothing Happens to Good Girls, Esther Madriz examines the stock images that Americans have of victims and criminals and asks where those images come from and how do they compare with the reality of crime. By this point in the book, it should not surprise you that the images we hold do not always comport with reality.
The Mighty Durkheim Meets The Great Berger and Luckman. Madriz applies two sociological theories to explain the gap between imagination and experience. First, she draws upon the ideas of one of the first and greatest sociologists of all time--Emile Durkheim--to explain our compulsion to fear entire groups of people when reality does not warrant it. As you read, see if you can figure out why Durkheim believes that the fear of people not like ourselves is an essential element for the creation of community. Second, she turns to sociologists Berger and Luckman to explain how our stock of knowledge about victimization and crime is built and the various ways that it can become skewed and distorted. As you read, can you see how the various ways we obtain information about crime cause drifts from the reality of crime as it is actually committed?
Who Deserves Our Protection and Care? Implied but never overtly stated in these two chapters is a powerful insinuation with important consequences. Madriz explores the means by which we arrive at the decision to blame some victims for their plight and provide shelter and solace to others. What Madriz finds should disturb us all. As you read, can you see how some victims, through no fault of their own become "saints" and others become "sinners?" After reading these two chapters, can you explain to someone who has not read this book why so many Black and Latina women feel "damned if you do, damned if you don't" and why a white woman like Susan Smith managed to hid behind the mask of victim for months before her true identity as a child murderer was discovered?
Who Should We Fear The Most and Why? Professor Madriz uses the actual words of real women to drive home the point that most women, regardless of our age, race or station in life, fear men--specifically men of color; yet, arrest data do not support such large scale fear. As you read, can you see how men of color have become scapegoats, how that scape goating takes place, and what purpose it serves to the women and men who do it?
Where Do Criminals Come From? Finally, in Chapter 5, Madriz takes a long hard look at our common sense assumptions about criminality. She notes that deeply ingrained in the American psyche are beliefs about what types of people become criminals and what types of activities criminals engage in. Criminals are males who are born out of wedlock, to young mothers, who were the victims of divorce, who didn't have stay-at-home moms, who got into trouble with drugs and who are violent, right? Madriz uses UCR data to show that the average, run-of-the-mill criminal is none of those things. As you read, can you ascertain where these images of criminals come from and why we are so invested in keeping them?
Once you have finished this online lesson, you are ready to read Chapters 4-5 of Madriz's book.