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Care to provide topic idea's for a criminology paper?

M

Meractik

Golden Member
Lets put our heads together Anandtech OT, I need some good idea's for a subject to do a 12 page criminology paper. The class is Criminal Behavior Issues so the paper will focus on the psychology of the criminal why they did what they did... etc... I have a pretty broad range of subjects which I can choose from. I do not wish to do the paper on the normal charles manson, zodiac killer, or jeffrey daumers, I would like your input with some less well known psycho's that you think would be interesting to research and do the paper on...

So.... if you would like, feel free to comment. The paper can be on a specific person, event (such as 9/11) or a terrorist group. If I select a terrorist group I must focus specifically on one of their attacks... aside from that, I appreciate any and all input to give me ideas, the topic is due Wednesday April 11th.
 
here is a boring one

why do criminals take dumb risks for low rewards. most criminals don't make that much money and they take on the risk of prison for a long time. all the effort they put into crime, they can get a regular job for about the same pay
 
motivation for black-on white crime? It's prevelant so you should have plenty of material to draw from. I was going to suggest black/black, but the majority of that seems gang/drug related
 
You ever heard of the murder committed by OJ Simpson? It's a pretty obscure topic professor should be impressed.
 
Do harsher punishments for specific classes of crimes prevent them? In particular, you could look at hate crimes legislation or mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.

The question is, if your primary goal in judicial policy is (as I believe it should be) the reduction in crime, how effective are increased punishments in reducing said instances. This has a lot to do with the social status of the criminal, the perceived risk of getting caught, the severity of the punishment compared to their lives outside prison, and the ability of the potential criminal to act as a rational player when deciding whether to commit a crime.

I don't know the answer to this one, but I'm sure substantial research has been done about crime statistics before and after such laws have been enacted.
 
How about some of the ponzi scheme guys, like Madoff. I suspect a lot of them know they're going to get caught eventually but sort of deny it even to themselves.

Lenny Dykstra might fill up 12 pages. A completely manic pathological liar, for starters.
 
alent1234 said:
here is a boring one

why do criminals take dumb risks for low rewards. most criminals don't make that much money and they take on the risk of prison for a long time. all the effort they put into crime, they can get a regular job for about the same pay
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Because American prisons are nicer than some peoples lives.
 
This is a more obscure case unless you live in Maryland, but look up John Thanos on Google. His courtroom behavior was pretty off the wall (mocked the families of his victims, insulted judges, prosecutors & his defense attorneys, demanded that he get the death penalty & refused to file any appeals.)

For a less obscure but still not that well known case (considering its horrific brutality) you should read about the Hi-Fi Murders in Ogden, Utah. I don't know what would cause two human beings to behave with that level of sadism and depravity. What's even more mind-boggling is that the loathsome NAACP whined about the killers being victims of racism.
 
Andrea Yates - drowned her five kids and was found not guilty due to insanity on appeal.

Angel Maturino Resendiz - killed as many as 15 people across the South in the late '90s. Was known as the railroad killer.

Edit - one more:

Dean Corll - abducted, tortured, and killed a minimum of 28 boys in the '70s. Used two teens to help him abduct or bring him his victims.
 
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why not avoid the run of the miller serial killer, and focus on a serial bank robber? Well over 90% of bank robbers are caught, and many of them commit additional bank robberies in the future. It would be interesting to discuss why bank robbers continue to rob in the face of almost certain capture.
 
Serial killers bore me...

Can you do anything about cyber crime?

I would think that Anonymous and "does legal deterrence work in cyberspace?" could be interesting.

A case study of Anonymous vs H.B. Gary could also be interesting.

Anyway, best of luck with your class.

Uno
 
What about serial child molester. Its been my experience many of these guys victimize multiple children, i.e. Jerry Sandusky
 
The Titanic. First write an article about how it was an inside job, and it was actually a large murder, publish it online. Then make your paper on that. I think you'd get extra points just for creativity. :awe:
 
These are all some pretty good ideas, I like the ones out of the box with names I haven't heard of... The teacher is pretty relaxed on the topics he just does not want repeat topics among the 13 students. So far I like the sounds of the Wichita Massacre and the railroad killer person.... I haven't heard of either of those two until now. Keep em' coming guys if any of you have some more ideas that are not mainstream well known cases. Cyber crime is not out of the question but I would need to be able to formulate a outline to fill up 12 pages on the subject, which might be a little hard...
 
IronWing said:
People who steal "free" refills at fast food joints.
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Red Squirrel said:
The Titanic. First write an article about how it was an inside job, and it was actually a large murder, publish it online. Then make your paper on that. I think you'd get extra points just for creativity. :awe:
Click to expand...



lol! A big part of my grade will rely on this paper, I do not believe it would be wise to take the chance... although it would be funny to do either of those two ideas, you could go pretty crazy with the Titanic...
 
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