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SOC 2700: Concept Assignment Ehimema Idumu 1054788 Professor Stephen Howells University of Guelph

2 Antisocial Personality Disorder The article talks about Dwayne Palmer’s second-degree murder charges, which were later overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal due to incriminating evidence that he has a mental illness. Palmer was guilty of taking the lives of Rahimullah Shahghasy, 53, and his wife, Nazifa, 52, in the parking lot of a Brampton mall in 2010, but when confronted by the police, he proceeded to repeatedly stab his throat with the murder weapon before he got arrested. Evidence showed and discovered from one of the psychiatrists, Dr. Derek Pallandi,that he has catatonic schizophrenia as well as diagnosed under antisocial personality disorder and should not be responsible for the crime that was committed. According to the article, Palmer’s actions fit under the symptoms of psychopathy, which were his impulse and reckless behaviours of attacking the couple and self-harming himself with a knife. It was no helping matter from the court to send him to a penitentiary because according to Hare (Bernard, Snipes and Gerould 2016, 85), “it does not utilize his self-interest to recover” and that putting him in incarceration with that ailment will only make it worse because his condition grew worse and now has catatonic schizophrenia. A study by William McCord has shown to prove this point, saying that “delinquents who diagnosed as psychopathic at two juvenile institutions had only slightly worse recidivism rates than others at other institutions”(Bernard, Snipes and Gerould 2016, 85). Palmer should instead be taught necessary pro-social life skills to help him stray from repeating future crimes and be able to integrate into his community. It is unjust to deny anyone the help they need just because they are automatically labelled as criminals when they are not aware of their actions. If it is that way, then that threatens the basic notion of freedom of an individual.

3 Collective Efficacy This article talks about the contribution of religious organizations on preventing crime as well as reintegrating past offender back into the community. The Keele Community Correctional Centre is a large federally run halfway house in Toronto's west end under the guidance of the chaplain, Harry Nigh. He has worked with parolees there since 1998 and in total, helped offenders adjust to life after prison for more than 40 years. The article talks about the importance of having community chaplains integrated into correctional centres. The federal government cut the majority of funding for community chaplains in 2012, resulting in the loss of dozens of parttime positions and privatization of chaplain positions in governmental institutions. He initially wanted to retire from his chaplain post but later found out the job was vacant in the correctional centre and decided to volunteer to remain there unpaid to help federal offenders adjust to life. The relationship between the chaplains and offenders should not be limited because their guidance will help offenders reintegrate into society. Former chaplains also voiced out the importance as well since most of them chose to continue to play a parochial role without compensation. It is an indication of what is known as collective efficacy, which deals with “how much action people do to exercise informal control since they are fighting for supporting past offenders in need” (Akers, Sellers, and Jennings 2017,145). It is the key to lower crime rates as well as promote mutual support and social cohesion within individuals in a community. Community chaplains aim to offer religious guidance as well as allow offenders the opportunity to find jobs, connecting them with supportive volunteers and talks them through their frustration and anger and cultivate them into respectable citizens and reducing crime rate in the process.

4 Anomie This article shares the life of Breagh Williams, who moves around from different towns to find herself. For the past three months, she slept in Allan Gardens park, leaving during the day to travel back to Pickering, familiar territory, for showers at a truck stop. She was alone in her life due to showing her true identity. As a result, she was a target of bad experiences. For example, her house got marked with graffiti; she lost most of her jobs and friends rejected her. She was even sexually and physically abused. She left home at age 17 and has been working as a journeyman ever since. The term that struck from this article comes from Durkheim’s concept of anomie. The definition of anomie is "the condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals which evolves into the breakdown of social bonds between the individual and their community”(Akers, Sellers, and Jennings 2017, 173). In terms of Williams’ initial predicament, her social bonds between herself and the community are short-lived. Her inability to make connections due to her identity as a trans woman as well as constant movement from her home are some of the reasons for her problem. She had no social support or family member to help make her feel that she belongs as well as coping mechanisms to ease her isolation. When she joined into a community group for Trans Women is when she can cope with her problems and learned to be positive about her life. According to Agnew, he proposes that Breagh will have received help initially if the community where she stayed integrated more programs that help to “increase social support for youths and adults through counseling as well as cultivate the ability to cope with negative stimuli through social skills, stress management”(Akers et al.,2017, 195). Other people will benefit from this so that one is free to express his or her identity without fear.

5 References Akers, Ronald L., Christine S. Sellers, and Wesley G. Jennings. 2017. “Social Disorganization Theory.” Pages 138-153 in the University of Guelph Custom Edition, Criminological Theory SOC 2700. New York: Oxford University Press.

Akers, Ronald L., Christine S. Sellers, and Wesley G. Jennings. 2017. “Anomie and Strain Theories.” Pages 172-197 in the University of Guelph Custom Edition, Criminological Theory SOC 2700. New York: Oxford University Press.

Andrew-Gee, Eric. "Murder Convictions Overturned Citing Severe Mental Illness: Man Suffering from Schizophrenia Not to Blame for Fatally Stabbing Brampton Couple, Court Rules." Toronto Star, May 15, 2015, ProQuest. Web. 10 Oct. 2019.

Bernard, Thomas, Jeffrey Snipes, and Alexander Gerould. 2016. “Psychological Factors and Criminal Behaviour.” Pages 75-92 at the University of Guelph Custom Edition, Criminological Theory SOC 2700. New York: Oxford University Press

Hubb, Ed. "Chaplains Keep Up Work, without Pay: Despite Funding Cuts, Religious Guides Help Parolees Adjust to Life Outside Jail." Toronto Star, Jan 24, 2015, ProQuest. Web. 10 Oct. 2019.

Sarah-Joyce Batters. "Shedding a Life Full of Isolation: Breagh Williams, 50, Shares Her Long Journey of Acceptance and Pride." Toronto Star, Jul 02, 2016, ProQuest.

6 Web. 19 Oct. 2019....