Going into the courtroom, I had no idea what to expect. Sitting in on a double murder trial isn't an everyday thing. When the police man was called to the stand is when it really struck me that this was real. He raised his right hand and then sat down. Many of the questions asked were repetitive, just wanting to get the whole story with ALL of the details. The man up for trial allegedly murdered his mother and then, allegedly, proceeded to murder a prostitute he called to his house. Double murder. The whole time the class was in there, the police man was on the stand and another man was asking him all sorts of questions. They gave a mental picture of the house, told what it was like once arriving on the scene, and then they started to show pictures. They started with exterior. "Was there any forced entry here?", "Was there any forced entry here?" I was sure that I heard that question over a hundred times. After that was finished, they moved to interior. Dents in the drywall, blood splattered everywhere, sheets trying to cover things, and two stabbed bodies laying in the middle of the house.
This case would definitely be counted as a criminal case, cateorigized under felony. This is a way more serious case than traffic tickets, or drug abuse. The accused was of a white race. When asked what theory would apply to this case the first one that comes to mind is the labeling theory. I think of this one because he has now been labeled and talked about and put on trial for being a murderer. That name NEVER goes away. It doesn't matter if he doesn't have to do jail time, if he gets out of jail, or if he wasn't in a good mental state; he will still be associated with murder. His record will have it on there, the media has caught glimpses of it, etc. He set himself up for a very unappealing reputation.
After sitting in on the trial for a couple hours, we went over to the jail. The subculture of the jail was very intense. They are people; real, living, breathing people. And when you're in a place like jail, it's very hard to remember that. They hit the walls, and yell inappropriate things. They are individualized, wearing the same outfits as everyone else there. They are locked up for the majority of their day, depending on their situation. There are murderers, rapists, drug abusers, child abusers; and it is absolutely unreal. They are apart of society but they aren't. It's a really weird feeling. From what I could see the majority of the men I saw at the jail were of white or african american race. Rehabilitation was happening right in front of our faces. They were locked up, not able to do what they want, see what they want. They are being taught how to be better in society. I think there are two main theories of deviance that go along with the jail. The first one being, strain theory because the sheriff told us that there has been more fighting in the past few years than ever before. And I believe that this is happening because they all feel like they are less fortunate than each other and so they need to up their social status to gain people's respect in the jail. In my opinion, why would you want to impress anyone who has done something so wrong they are locked up for it..? The second theory I would choose is shaming theory because they get locked up, given a specific outfit to wear, given only the food the jail provides, given no privacy at all, and are always being watched. I think that is enough to make the deviant (or prisoners) feel bad and uncomfortable there. I think that jail is one of the only ways to really maintain society at a tolerable level. Prevention of deviance is never really going to happen. There is always someone who doesn't care about the rules and is, therefore, willing to break them. I thought that walking around in the jail that I was always being watched. Not just by the cameras, but by the prisoners. And it was awkward. It was a very intense atmosphere and being in there for only a tour made me never want to go back there.
Great analysis!
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