KIDNAPPING.   Term Paper ID:29638 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses the criminal act in terms of the sociology of deviant behavior.... More...

8 Pages / 1800 Words 11 sources, 11 Citations, OTHER Format $32.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Discusses the criminal act in terms of the sociology of deviant behavior. Growing incidence of child abductions in the U.S. Motivations for kidnapping including parental custody abduction, sexual predation/rape, profit, and homicidal intention. Reasons why kidnappers choose a deviant behavior; purposeful and conscious actions. Kidnapping as a "newsworthy" event. Paper Introduction: Sociology of Deviant Behavior Kidnapping INTRODUCTION Major categories of deviant behavior include crime, drug abuse, alcoholism, mental disorders, suicide, murder and kidnapping. As witnessed by the rapidly increasing numbers of child abductions, kidnapping is becoming a common element of deviant behavior in American society and one that is drawing widespread media coverage. A number of sociologists from Durkheim to Becker argue that social groups manifest deviance because they make rules that if transgressed constitute deviance. There are biological, psychological and sociological theories of deviance. Biological theories of deviance would posit biological characteristics or inheritance as factors influencing the kidnapper. Psycho Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. "Kidnappings put parents on alert." The Boston Globe, September 17, 2 2: 1-3.Victor, Jeffrey S. Spring 2 . The behavior crosses alllines-education, class lines. This analysis will now exploreseveral explanations into why people who kidnap do so.BODY There are countless motivations for kidnapping someone in theliterature. "Kidnapped culture." Journal of Social History 32:677-687.Cyr Commody, Diane, and Peggy S. Sexual predators must now register with local law enforcementofficials when they move into a new community. Sociologists argue that increasing pressure on thepredator to conform to norms eventually frustrates the perpetrator, causingthem to act out their repressed desires through deviant behavior to retaincontrol. Those who want sex they cannot otherwiseobtain, those who want money they cannot otherwise obtain, and those whowant fame they cannot otherwise obtain, all resort to the deviant behaviorof kidnapping to get what they desire. Beinglabeled an ex-con makes many individuals feel pressured to remain clean oract appropriately by others. Therefore,kidnappers often resort to this deviant behavior as a means of achievingsomething they feel is denied them by the powerful groups or society thatmakes the norms. CQ Weekly 6 :26 .Faulkner, Nancy. While thisplays off of a biological basis of deviant behavior, the fact is that thewealthiest parent (typically male) often has an advantage with respect tousing the groups (legal, political) that set the norms to achieve custody.Such power-relation discrepancies influence the nature of kidnappings whenthey are perpetrated by the female. As professor of abnormal psychology at Cal State Long Beach Dr.James Linden notes, "There are no demographics. We saw this in theexample of the "purposeful" ex-con and in the above example of Payne's"conscious" actions. "Extreme career criminals." American Journal of Criminal Justice 25:239-252.Dlouhy, Jennifer A. Legislators have increased such pressure over the past decadeto include Megan's Law (that make sexual predators have to register) andthe recent kidnapping prevention bill that recently passed into law. Biological theoriesof deviance would posit biological characteristics or inheritance asfactors influencing the kidnapper. Once again we see the sociologicalbasis of the kidnapper's motives. Kidnapping is a "newsworthy"event which can bring instant fame, or infamy, to the kidnapper. Those who kidnappedPatty Hearst were sending a deviant message to a government they felt wouldnot through normal channels consider their goals. In the Getty case, when Getty seniorinitially refused to pay the ransom, his grandson's ear was sent to a Romannewspaper with other parts promised to come if Getty didn't pay. These kinds of individuals often feel they are denied the promisesor rewards of the groups that make the norms and form subcultures withdeviant behaviors. 1998. Payne's wife said she was completelyunaware of his pattern of deviant behavior. 2 2. Psychologists testified that Payne suffered frommajor depression, obsessive/compulsive disorder, and childhood trauma asmotives for the act, but the prosecution portrayed him as a purposefuldeviant: "A man who made conscious choices to progress from window peeperto rapist to murderer" (Orr 2 2:1). InExtreme Career Criminals researcher Matt DeLisi concludes from his study ofcultures and norms worldwide, "Murder, rape, and kidnapping incite ire.They are condemned universally across all culture and warrant very severereactions, including capital punishment...The public view is that murder,rape, and kidnapping are loathsome, despicable, and heinous acts" (DeLisi2 1:239). "Family abductions: An examination of the role of offender gender." Gender Issues 18:58-73.DeLisi, Matt. Psychological or psychiatric theoriesof deviance would figure factors of personality as contributors tokidnapping behavior, along with the belief that the individual was wronglyor inadequately developed or socialized. Get me out of here." New Statesman 131:16.Katz, John. June 9, 1999. As Katz (2 2:3)explains, "Choosing deviant behavior at that point gives the individual anedge, meaning that it is one way of regaining self-esteem in thissituation. So, too, with kidnapping, manyindividuals kidnap someone because they seek out fame and to be recognizedas a means of self-worthy. 2 2. In many instances those who do not have custody resort to deviantbehavior to acquire what social institutions have denied them. Getty was a wealthy oil billionaire, so the kidnappersresorted to deviance to get what they felt could not be gotten via thenorms. When the pressure becomes too great, they actbad to prove to others they cannot be controlled. "Moral panics and the social construction of deviant behavior: A theory and application to the case of ritual child abuse." Sociological Perspectives 1-18. has fueled anothersociological phenomenon with respect to kidnapping, parental abduction.The high number of divorces has created two subcultures of ex-spouses inthis country, those who have custody of their children and those who donot. Intense mediascrutiny accompanies kidnappings, especially when the one kidnapped is achild, college student, politician, celebrity, athlete, or wealthyindividual. The high number of divorces in the U.S. In some communities thereare even warning signs posted at the residences where these convictedsexual predators live. The Idaho Statesman, March 16, 2 2, 1-2.Quesada, Therese. Fall 1998. Such a sexual predator may resort to the deviant behavior ofkidnapping as a means of getting around the strict scrutiny by those whomaintain the norms that prevent him from carrying out his intended deviantbehavior of sexual molestation or rape. April 13, A1-A3.Robertson, Tatsha. Many sociologists blame the mediafor creating a furor over abduction cases in an effort to increase ratings,when actual child abductions have high odds of occurring. To the sociologist deviant behaviorlike kidnapping is the product of group or social definitions that label itdeviant and always relative to the norms of those groups or society. This creates amoral panic that Victor (1998:1) explains is "a form of collective behaviorcharacterized by widely circulating rumor stories disseminated by the massmedia, which exaggerated the threat posed by some newly identified type ofmoral deviants." With respect to parental abductions, Carmody and Plass (2 ) arguethat gender is a key issue for understanding the abductions. Getty II's grandson'skidnappings all demonstrate the intense media coverage focusing on thisform of deviance, as do the widely publicized large number of childabductions the past two years. Forexample, many kidnappers have a long history of criminal activity. In a recent kidnapping case, Darrell Payne, by all accounts theperfect family man, was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of 22-year-old Samantha Maher. The conscious and purposeful choice to kidnapunderlies another sociological theory about its cause. United Nations Convention on Child Rights 1-3.Hari, Johann. For example, many peoplesell drugs to make income they feel is denied them in a marketplace thatdemands more credentials than they possess. Sociology of Deviant Behavior KidnappingINTRODUCTION Major categories of deviant behavior include crime, drug abuse,alcoholism, mental disorders, suicide, murder and kidnapping. "I'm neurotic. Plass. A number of sociologists fromDurkheim to Becker argue that social groups manifest deviance because theymake rules that if transgressed constitute deviance. As Carmody (et al 2 :58) explains,"Female perpetrated abductions were more likely to involve concealment ofthe child, and were of longer duration." This might point to women fearingthey will lose via the normal channels of obtaining their children, sotheir kidnapping has a higher degree of concealment and longer duration aspart of its deviance.CONCLUSION The widespread condemnation and the growing number of kidnappingsprove that deviance is a product of social groups define the norms and whatis in opposition to those norms is considered deviant. Such attempts to sociologically explain the formation of thekidnapper demonstrate that deviance theories in sociology argue individualchoice is a key factor in acting out deviant behavior. We can see a Durkheim effect of deviant behavior if we look atone motive for kidnappers. Thisshows the deliberate act by kidnappers is often motivated by a refusal toaccept the powerful norms of groups they cannot control but that they feelcontrolled by. October 5, 2 2. Cohen(1999:677) argues that an "increasing secularism, hedonism and faddishmaterialism" alienate many in society who resort to deviant means toachieve their aims when they feel denied. The Lindbergh, Patty Hearst, and John P. In one way kidnappers are able to get backcontrol or get back at those who label them in society by acting. He has learned that theboundaries between adults and children are not sacred" (Quesada 1998:A3). Kidnappers is one such subculture. Likewise when fivekidnappings of children in Southern California occurred last year the mediaran wild. As witnessedby the rapidly increasing numbers of child abductions, kidnapping isbecoming a common element of deviant behavior in American society and onethat is drawing widespread media coverage. Sexual predation (rape), parental custody abduction, slavery(in many countries), profit, and homicidal intention are all causativefactors that can motivate the individual to kidnap another person orpersons. Forexample, we all consider certain heinous acts like rape, murder, andkidnapping deviant, but this does not provide us with an understanding ofwhy individuals who kidnap people do so. There are biological,psychological and sociological theories of deviance. Such widespread condemnation of kidnapping creates pressure on thosewho cannot achieve success via the norms of the status quo to keep fromachieving it through kidnapping. With the growing incidence of kidnapping in thiscountry, it is likely the future will delve much further into thesociological underpinnings of kidnapping as a means of more fullyunderstanding the behavior. Spring 2 1. While the behavior is conscious, it isalways an attempt to get around the norms maintained by the status quo. Spring 1999. "Payne to be sentence in May: Convicted killer's wife 'had no idea' of his deviance. "Strange in the next seat." Forty-Niner. In helps the individual to think he is putting one over onthose who are stifling his life." Many times rape is carried out as a means of sexual abuse. Thekidnapping bill includes measures to strengthen AMBER (America's Missing:Broadcast Emergency Response System) that helps notify people of abductedchildren in 38 states and 35 local jurisdictions (Dlouhy 2 2). They feel they have slighted, ignored or abusedby the powerful groups in society and once they recognize they will neverget what they want by following the norms, they resort to deviant methodsof achieving it via acts like kidnapping. As Robertson (2 2:1) notes, "Even beyond California the childabductions have had a lingering impact because of intense media coverage." Indeed, many individuals who cannot achieve their goals via thenorms of society or various groups in society, they exhibit deviantbehavior as a means of getting what they want. Parentalabduction is a growing phenomenon in society, one that has a severe impacton the child, "Often the operating strategy is to frighten the child intobelieving that the only way to exist is to escape some ambiguous harm thatis to be inflicted upon the parent, child or both of them by the targetparent" (Faulkner 1999:1). "Cold-blooded senseless murder." Seduction. October 21, 2 2. ReferencesCohen, Daniel A. "Kidnapping prevention bill goes to House. Manykidnapped children and adults are typically sexually abused, rape ormurdered. New laws on sexual predators might be responsible for the increasingnumber of kidnappings, especially of those who are sexually abused andraped. Typically the perpetrator has been a victimof either physical abuse or sexual abuse. It is this concept ofsocialization and the individual's relationship to it that sociologists fitinto their perspective on kidnapping. We also see thatwhatever is considered deviant is considered so with respect to the norms.While there are many sociological considerations to suicide, we see that nomatter what motivates the kidnapper the act is a means of achieving thedesired end without achieving it through normal channels. "Parental alienation and the overburdened child." (Speech). Retrieved November 24, 2 2 (http://www.crimonology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/week14.htm).Orr, Patrick. Kidnapping then occurs in an effort to achieve those endsas well as making a power statement to society or the groups that haveinstituted the norms. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

Many of our Papers can be Downloaded From This Site!

PLEASE READ THIS, IT IS IMPORTANT!

Office hours are Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). You may place orders for custom research over the phone during office hours. E-mail requests can be made to our graduate and undergraduate department any time, and will be reviewed during office hours. You may also contact customer service any time through e-mail, and we will review your message during business hours. A great many papers can be downloaded right from this site, but not all of them. If you would like to know if a particular paper is downloadable, just look in the description for: "Available for Internet Download: Y" or "Available for Internet Download: N" If you wish to purchase a paper which is NOT available for immediate download, you will need to make other shipping arrangements. Also, please be aware that these orders are processed Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm (PST). If you place your order after 4:45pm on Friday, it will not be processed until the following Monday morning. We charge $8 per page for all of our pre-written reports, plus shipping (and tax for California residents). However, the highest cost of any ONE report is $136, or 17 pages. Please, take a moment. Make sure you have chosen the report you want or need BEFORE you complete your order. If you are not sure, allow us to help you. We do not offer refunds or exchanges, so it is important for you to let us answer your questions during office hours. Reports which are e-mailed or downloaded are in Microsoft Word format. We are making more reports available for e-mail delivery faster than we can update our listings. Please call to check on the status of particular reports. There are many other shipping options which are listed on the Checkout page.