“Graduation hazing gets out of hand” – Learning Theory
Those articles deal with graduation hazing in Korea. Recently, many cases have been reported by the media. How does it relate to the learning theory of crime (chapter 6) studied in class?
The example of 17 yr-old Kim is very relevant. He was involved in graduation hazing as a victim first, and then the next year assumed the role of the torturer. In those graduation hazing cases, most bullies are model students who have never committed crimes before. Their parents would probably describe them as normal, hard-working students and good children.
In the learning theory of crime, there is nothing essentially wrong with the person committing crime; they are no different from the rest of society. The reason why they commit crimes is that they were “socialized” into it trough peer groups’ pressure. They learned how to commit crime and also the negative values that justify the crime. In graduation hazing cases, students have plenty of crime behaviors examples to follow: they can imitate the rituals that they themselves went through, or they can go on the Net to find inspiration (hence the issue about pictures spreading on the Net). They then justify the crime (rationalization) by saying it is a custom that has been going on for years, and that everybody goes through.
In order to avoid these types of crimes, students need to learn more positive values. Punishment and isolation are not the best solutions. Instead, schools need to implement positive interactions by for instance creating a dialogue between students and specially appointed mentors: together, they could discuss and organize graduation ceremonies that would benefit everyone and would be valued by all students. It is important to make them understand that graduation hazing is not an acceptable custom and to replace negative values by positive ones. The role of the media also has its importance: if more and more articles condemn those types of crime, students’ newly learned behaviors and rationalizations are more likely to be challenged.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many articles deal with the subject. Below are excerpts from different articles:
“A high school dropout surnamed Kim, 17, of Goyang, confirmed some of the worst rumors about hazing […].Kim graduated in February last year from a middle school near the school where the recent hazing took place. He said that last year he was on the receiving end of a graduation ritual organized by older students, and this year he switched roles. Kim said he was a bully, and, "It was a custom that senior bullies haze younger kids during graduation. The practice began about four years ago, so middle-school third graders expect to be stripped. "”
“With graduation hazing getting out of control across the country, the President and the Prime Minister of Korea both expressed their regret with students, the school and society in general. The statements came after dozens of naked and near naked photos surfaced on the internet of graduating middle schoolers, males and females, being hazed by older high school students. "In other footage spreading on the Web,"according to Yonhap,"some students pelt flour or hurl eggs at their peers while others, dressed only in underwear, even stride streets in group or tear the school uniforms of other students." […]The president however said it should not be a criminal case involving the police but should be resolved by students and schools.”
“The police said offenders can get criminal punishments since they will be charged with an attempted act of violence.”
3. In Korea, adultery is a criminal offense. These days, people seek to take revenge on the party who commited adultery by finance. A judge from Seoul Family Court said that it is better to talk the problem and work it out than coming to court. People usually have much worse conflicts in court therefore court should be the last step in solving the problem. In 'Labeling theory', when you label someone it is hard for that person to fit in the society again. I think heading to court with family issues would 'labeling' your family that your family can not handle the problems alone and need help. Especially in adultery case, it will be tough for the person to back to the society after having companions know that you have committed adultery.
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Korea is one of the shrinking number of countries in the world where adultery is a criminal offense, but today many of the heartbroken are opting to seek financial revenge instead.
As fewer cases end with jail time for the adulterer, more are ending in damages.
In the case above, the Seoul Family Court in January awarded the wronged husband 50 million won ($44,622) for the loss of his 10-year marriage.
Of the 1,157 people who stood in court on adultery charges last year, only 2.93 percent, or 24 people, received a prison sentence.
That figure is a drop from 4.13 percent in 2007, when 47 people out of 1,138 were sent to prison for the same charges, according to the Supreme Court.
With jail terms on the decline, fewer criminal charges are being pressed, as more people whose marriages have run aground realize that the best revenge is a claim for damages rather than adultery.
The new trend has seen the number of lawsuits seeking compensation for psychological distress jump from five cases in 2007 and nine in 2008 to 30 in 2009.
This year, the court said it handled seven cases last month alone.
But even when the plaintiffs win, experts say the award might be a little empty.
In the 2007 case, the husband had wanted to stay with his wife, and she originally said she would leave his rival and remain in the marriage.
He pressed his charges only after she left him.
“Some people file for damages against their spouse’s partner because they want to get their spouse back,” but that’s often unsuccessful, said Lee Seon-mi, a judge at the Seoul Family Court.
“Many split in the end because their conflicts between them grow deeper during the trials,” Lee said.
“If they want to keep their family, they should try to talk their problems out before taking the matter to the court.”
- Jun So-min - "7 teens arrested for robbing younger students' money and attacking in revenge" - learning theory
- This article is about 7 teenagers who were arrested for robbing about 6 younger students throughout 11 times. They also were convicted of attacking D(13) in revenge after D reported their robbery to the police. This case could be analyzed by Sutherland's Differential Association theory. These teenagers were in these robberies together and learned to rob "in a social context through interaction and communication" among themselves. And the learning of criminal behavior occured "within intimate personal groups."
----------------------------------------- The Busan Police arrested 7 teenagers for robbing and attacking in revenge younger students on Apr. 8. The total amount of money they robbed was about 1,200,000won. These teenagers also attacked a student D (13) after he reported their crime to the police.
*This article describes a conflict between two large groups of society, labor unions(mainly middle-low class people) and public force(government). About the riot that caused many injuries and broad damage to social facilities the court concluded that their actions were clearly law-breaking and they have to pay for it. According to conflict theory, a social group that feels they are alienated from a social system that excludes them, eventually solidify in a social or political movement that leads to either social change or crime. And this time, it was mostly to the latter. So, seen from more callous view, specifically, it fits into Austin Turk's idea that if subordinates don'tlearn to be deferntial to authority, their behaviors will be defined as criminaland they will be givend the status of criminals.
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Seven labor and civic organizations whose members beat up police officers during a candlelight vigil that turned into a violent anti-government protest in 2007 will have to pay the state 40 million won ($35,628), a local court ruled yesterday.
Shin Sang-ryeol, the Seoul Central District Court judge who presided over the case, said the co-organizers of the rally, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Korean Metal Workers’ Union, and Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements, failed to prevent protestors from using violence and disrupting traffic in areas around Seoul Plaza.
"The "Family Gang" Caught for the Prostitution Fraud"
This article can be related to the Classical Theory where everyone is rational and acts upon the reasonable cost-benefit analysis that would maximize their utility.
Therefore, the actors in this case were all rational and had their own reasons for breaking the law.
The men who were cheated by this gang were severe violators of law themselves because they were engaged in the prostitution involving teenage girls. According to this theory, the "victims" first violated the law because they found the cost was less than the benefit they could gain from buying teenage sex. Later, when they really became victims by the gang, they also decided to give money, thinking that giving the large amount of money to the "family" of the girls would save them from much paying much higher cost - being sent to prision, etc.
On the side of the gangs, they also thought that their benefit of taking advantage of these men was greater than the cost they would have to pay in case they were caught by the police. Especially as the teenage girls who were in this gang were girls who frequently ran away from their home and dropped out of middle/high school, and they were friends of the girl who lived with the "main player" of this gang and received money for playing parts in these frauds, they were likely to think it was their best interest to be involved in these crimes. Also, they might have thought they had nothing else to lose.
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The gang of 7 people, who lured men into buying teenage sex through the internet chatting, threatened them and extorted money and goods by threatening them, pretending to be the family of the girls, were caught. Especially one of the men in this gang took his mother in their plan.
First, teenage girls were used to tempt men to go to motels with them, and after they entered the motel rooms, the gang followed, pretending to be a brother and the mother of the girls. The "brother" pretended to call the police and intentionally let the "victims" hear the sound of the "police officer" who sounded furious. Then, they asked for the credit card from the victims. Using this method, they lured 26 men in Seoul, Suwon and Gangwon area, and extorted approximately 30.4million won from them since last February.
"Officials to offer rewards to catch corrupt teachers" - Classical Theory
In an attempt to oppose corruption within the educational sector the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it will hand out money rewards up to 100 million won to people who report improper acts by teachers. Also comanies who are caught being involved with school corruption will be banned for 5 years in doing any business with schools.
In this case the Classical theory is being used to prevent corruption. First of all as seen in class, classical theory is rational thinking, coupled with a cost-benefit choice. The government is trying to go against corruption by convincing people to step up and as such preventing corruption all the same. Now it is up to the people wether they find the money price rewarding enough to betray others, especially since there are a lot of personal connections between public servants. Also companies will have to decide if the current situation they might be in in the case of corruption support, is better than being banned from doing business for 5 years. So what will be the outcome? Will the cost outweigh the benefits or will the benefits outweigh the costs?
At the same time, altough not clearly mentioned, the hightened money price which first stood at 30 million won, should convince more people to step up. One could also almost speak of hoping for operant conditioning, where the right reward will change behavior and seeing other corrupt individuals or companies being punished, others will stop their corruption.
Before there had been similar projects like this, but there was a lack of response. This is why the hightened price should try and convince people of the higher beneficialities. --------------------------- In the wake of allegations of corruption in the education sector, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced Wednesday that it will offer a reward of up to 100 million won ($86,805) to those who report improper acts by the nation’s teachers.
Teachers who are found to have taken bribes in any form will be let go and forbidden to apply for any civil-service positions.
“We are in discussions about implementing the strongest possible policies to prevent further corruption in the local education system,” said Kim Kyung-hwoi, vice superintendent at the Seoul education office. Beginning next month, centers to take in such reports will be formed in education offices throughout the country.
Last July, the Seoul education office started a similar reward policy, offering rewards of up to 30 million won, but many teacher groups protested that the system was treating them like criminals. Since last February, when the Incheon education office started the reward policy, it has received only one civilian report. The same goes for the Busan office, which started the system in 2005. ------------------- http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915948
2. Top SAT instructor reports violence - Social Control theory
A much sought after SAT instructor was kidnapped and beaten after he tried to leave his private academy for another, according to his statement to police. The institute's president surnamed Park, 41, used violence to Jeffrey Sohn, 38, when he was going to quit the academy. Park also suggested him to obtaining unreleased SAT test papers from a broker in the U.S.
I approached this case with Control Theory. What makes him doing this unbelievable behavior? All people would break the law if they did not fear the damage and consequences of getting caught. Ties or bonds to conventional parents, school, friends, employers, and so on make crime too much of a risk for most people (p184). According to this theory, he may not think he is a socially attached man. There are many other factors which influence to him, however it is true that he lacks self-control. And there are some reasons why people lack self- control. It is because they have given low parental investment, such as child rearing, monitoring and discipling practice.
I am not sure whether this is a correct approach to studying this case, but I strongly believe that he really lacked his self control.
------------------------------------------------------------ 3. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating the report by Jeffrey Sohn, 38, that the institute’s president surnamed Park, 41, used violence to make him tow the line. Park, who became a major shareholder of “R” academy in 2007, is the head of a consulting firm as well as an international lawyer. Sohn has since escaped to the United States.
Police say Sohn reports being taken against his will to a villa in Gyeonggi and threatened after he tried to leave the academy last December.
Sohn was the top instructor teaching English composition for the SAT, investigators said. They said they have received confessions from two of the nine people who were allegedly involved in kidnapping Sohn. Investigators are interrogating the remaining seven. Officers are widening their investigations into the case after obtaining information leading to an allegation that more lecturers at the academy were assaulted when they also sought to leave. ------------------------------ 4. http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2916093
“1 in 5 kids could be gambling addicts” ------------------ This article tells us how a gambling addiction test conducted on 894 middle and high school students in Daejeon, showed that 5 percent displayed symptoms of gambling addiction and 15.5 percent were at risk. Experts point to the Internet as the key culprit behind the high gambling addiction rate among Korean youngsters, and the gambling culture is further reinforced by the Korean tradition of betting money on cards or other games with family members during the holidays.
There is an example of an 11-year old boy who started gambling at the stationery shop outside his school, where there was a gambling game in which he could win products if he got lucky and pulled the correct tab. However, when he ran out of money, he started to steal from his teacher and from his friends, and even brought a piggy bank he took from a friend’s house. Basically, the main problem does not lie in the gambling itself, but more of the social effects such as stealing/robbing, crime related to gambling such as abuse of family members etc.
This touches on the theory of learning. First, we can see that the youths are simultaneously socialized into the negation of those values when they simply learn and are exposed to the conventional norms in society. In this case, due to the gambling culture in Korean families (“Some 38 percent of poll respondents with gambling experience said their first encounter was with their families”), they are already exposed to the underlying norm from young. Also, since many youths regard their parents as role models, this would further strengthen the notion of gambling as a desirable act.
Also, there could be a biological theory in play. It could be that people are born with the gene to be more daring to take risks to get ahead in life, and reinforced by their environment, they may engage in various forms of behavior. In this case, the environment would be that of easily available avenues to gamble (from article: “a variety of online games in which players can win cyber money and products fans their propensity to gamble, they say. In the poll, 84 percent of respondents said they have played either the online games or gambled”). ------------------ Lee, an 11-year-old boy in Daejeon, made it a rule to run to the stationery store in front of his elementary school at the end of the school day.
He went there to play a gambling game in which he could win products if he got lucky and pulled the correct tab. But when he ran out of money, he started to steal from his teacher and from his friends.
He says he once brought a piggy bank he took from a friend’s house. As his addiction grew, he began playing similar games with his friends during school breaks. When his school counselor asked him what he liked about games, he said, “I feel like I can win a really good prize if I do it just one more time.” ---------------------------- http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2913429
1. Mai Cha Vang 2. "An unwelcome surprise" 3. This news article described a side-effect of the Split Policy. The article provided examples from two cases. The first is a 61-years-old divorced woman, Kim Ok-Kyu whose retirement pension was shared with her ex-husband (without her knowledge). He received more than 1/3 from her pension. The second case is a 66-years-old man, Choi, whose pension was almost split in half, given to his ex-wife.
Both Kim and Choi among many victims who are the same problems. Both of their grievances were also rejected by the National Pension Service. The reason is due to the Split Policy. This policy takes into consideration if both partners contributed to the system or not. If yes, the retirement pension would be split half and half. If only one person contributes to the system, that contributor would receive 60% of the pension, the rest of the 40% be given to the ex-spouse.
For the purpose of my response, I will only focus on the woman's case.
What is interesting about this policy is that it was advocated by women's advocacy groups. In the article, attorney Kim Sam-hwa provided the explanation that because "men are usually the breadwinners in Korean families," when divorced, "a woman loses her major source of income." What can be inferred from this explanation is that the Split Policy was recommended by women's advocacy groups to provide financial relief to divorced women. Furthermore, one can also infer that the Split Policy was introduced at an older time when men were usually the providers. Nowadays, society has changed to a point where in many families, both partners work and provide for the family. Other circumstances include women working as the sole provider in the family, just like Kim Ok-Kyu's situation.
At this point, I would like to refer to the theory of Liberal Feminist. Liberal feminists are concerned with gender socialization and working for equal rights for women through reform changes in levels of politics and governmental policies. However, they aren't looking for any radical changes or anything revolutionary. I chose this theory to relate to this article because Split Policy was created with the intention to ensure that a woman does not lose everything from her marriage to the man. In other words, Liberal Feminist would rationalized that this policy was meant to make things more fair and equal to the women.
I find that the Social Model would also be helpful to explain this occurrence. What took place was not through an individual's actions, but rather a collective group of people who are influenced by the context of society that continues to change with time. Evidently, this policy has its own backdrop. In modern trends, women are also working as sole providers of their family, just like men have been. When divorced, they'd have to share their retirement pension with their ex-husbands, regardless of the reasons for divorce or whether or not they are aware of the policy. Such cases beg the following question: When society changes, should policy also changes? I'm sure that when this policy was first created, it was helpful to the women of their time. However, nowadays, this policy might just prove to be unfair because the application of the Split Policy does not take into consideration of what caused the divorce, only the duration of the marriage and the how long the contributor has been paying to the system mattered in splitting the pension.
To answer my own question, as a liberal feminist myself, I do believe that certain policies must change to reflect the the context of the society, as part of the process to reach the reality of equal rights for both men and women.
4. Sixty-one-year-old Kim Ok-kyu left her abusive husband and moved in with her children 16 years ago. It took her a decade, but she finally divorced him in 2004. It was the end of a long nightmare, she thought.
Then her pension checks started arriving, and she discovered just how wrong she was.
In January 2009, Kim retired and began to receive monthly benefits of 338,000 won ($302). In May, the checks suddenly shrank to 204,600 won. Since Kim had spent 14 years contributing to the retirement system and was looking forward to a comfortable old age, she was certain the National Pension Service had made a mistake.
It hadn’t. More than a third of her pension - 134,200 a month - is being paid to her ex-husband.
“My ex-husband punched me in the face, he beat me up with anything he found in his hands,” sobbed Kim, who eked out a living cleaning buildings. “I have scars on my head because he beat me with a metal stand.
Hijackers who robbed the bag of 150 million won were indicted.
The article is concerned with differential association theory. This is because the criminals have been interact with other deaf and dumb people in their shelter and it is likely that they have learned criminal behaviors within this intimate group. There is quite a possibility that deaf and dumb have frustration and dissatisfaction toward the society. In addition, they might have became delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of lwa over definition unfavorable to violation of law. -------------------------------------------------------------------- (summary) South Korean prosecutor on April 14 revealed that two persons who robbed the car which was stopping on the street of bag of 150 million won were under indictment. According to the prosecution, they knocked the car over which was carrying the one big supermarket's money when it stopped on the street and ran away with the bag on October 12 last year. They first met each other in the shelter for deaf and dumb. The prosecution is expanding investigations on their other crime cases. ---------------------------------- http://news.joins.com/article/277/4106277.html?ctg=1200&cloc=home|list|list3
This article is related to labeling theory. As a result of negative labeling and stereotyping toward runaway teenagers, these two students became criminals. It means that the society encourages these young people to commit crimes because labeling make them have delinquent self-identity and continue their violation developing the intensity of crime. -------------------------------------------------------------------- (summary) After they ran away from home, for 1 month, they knocked off the classroom and picked other people's pocket. This teen-aged couple was caught. The Ulsan police requested an arrest warrant on April 14 for the juvenile delinquents who have stolen valuables worth four million won so far. It was found that they have committed crime 12 times in total by robbing empty store, classroom and snatching bags. According to the police, the motive of their crime is considered to be family trouble. ---------------------------------- http://news.joins.com/article/878/4106878.html?ctg=-1
The murder of Korean Coast Guard by Chinese fishermen was an act of crime whereby the murderer took the risk by calculating the cost of crime over the benefit. The writer of the article examines the murder case and states that the fishermen acted on terms of relative risk. The rational choice theory looks into the motivations of the criminal and sees what circumstance affected his decision to commit the crime. In this case of coast guard murder, the fishermen decided that fishing illegally and going on to committing murder was a risk to take in order to gain fish for the livelihood of the family. The article also says that the chances of getting caught were low and even if the fishermen do get caught, they can easily fight back. Little interference by the Korean government led to continual illegal fishing the Chinese fishermen and even to murder of an innocent coast guard.
The murder last week of a Coast Guard officer by Chinese fishermen operating illegally in Korean waters is an outrage that needs to be handled with vigor and clarity.
To this end, the government must permit the Coast Guard and Navy to change their rules of engagement in such a way that both deters repeat incidents and reassures men and women in uniform that their country will do what it can to support and protect them.
The murder on Friday of Sgt. Park Gyeong-jo followed a high-speed chase as the fishing vessel sought to elude the Coast Guard patrol. As his boat approached, Sgt. Pak was seized, beaten around the head with a hammer and thrown into the water. This appalling event came just two days after four of Sgt. Park's Coast Guard colleagues were held for an hour by Chinese fishermen and thrashed with pipes and clubs.
In recent years over two dozen Korean officials have been injured in clashes with fishermen. According to Coast Guard figures, 159 Chinese ships have been seized for operating illegally in Korean waters so far this year.
The violence is neither random nor an indication of anything especially Chinese or Korean. It is best understood in terms of relative risk. When any people see their livelihood being taken away, they will weigh the relative risk of accepting that fate against fighting to retain it.
The pattern in the statistics indicates that Korea's maritime authorities are unintentionally ``incentivizing" Chinese fishermen to take the greater risk when caught fishing in Korean waters. The chances of the catch being seized may be low, and even when the authorities do appear, there's a big chance the poachers can avoid arrest and foreign jail if they fight back. In fact, there may even be a deterrent factor in making Korea's officials more reluctant to intervene......
Maëlig Le Delliou
ReplyDelete“Graduation hazing gets out of hand” – Learning Theory
Those articles deal with graduation hazing in Korea. Recently, many cases have been reported by the media. How does it relate to the learning theory of crime (chapter 6) studied in class?
The example of 17 yr-old Kim is very relevant. He was involved in graduation hazing as a victim first, and then the next year assumed the role of the torturer. In those graduation hazing cases, most bullies are model students who have never committed crimes before. Their parents would probably describe them as normal, hard-working students and good children.
In the learning theory of crime, there is nothing essentially wrong with the person committing crime; they are no different from the rest of society. The reason why they commit crimes is that they were “socialized” into it trough peer groups’ pressure. They learned how to commit crime and also the negative values that justify the crime. In graduation hazing cases, students have plenty of crime behaviors examples to follow: they can imitate the rituals that they themselves went through, or they can go on the Net to find inspiration (hence the issue about pictures spreading on the Net). They then justify the crime (rationalization) by saying it is a custom that has been going on for years, and that everybody goes through.
In order to avoid these types of crimes, students need to learn more positive values. Punishment and isolation are not the best solutions. Instead, schools need to implement positive interactions by for instance creating a dialogue between students and specially appointed mentors: together, they could discuss and organize graduation ceremonies that would benefit everyone and would be valued by all students. It is important to make them understand that graduation hazing is not an acceptable custom and to replace negative values by positive ones. The role of the media also has its importance: if more and more articles condemn those types of crime, students’ newly learned behaviors and rationalizations are more likely to be challenged.
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ReplyDeleteMany articles deal with the subject. Below are excerpts from different articles:
“A high school dropout surnamed Kim, 17, of Goyang, confirmed some of the worst rumors about hazing […].Kim graduated in February last year from a middle school near the school where the recent hazing took place. He said that last year he was on the receiving end of a graduation ritual organized by older students, and this year he switched roles.
Kim said he was a bully, and, "It was a custom that senior bullies haze younger kids during graduation. The practice began about four years ago, so middle-school third graders expect to be stripped. "”
“With graduation hazing getting out of control across the country, the President and the Prime Minister of Korea both expressed their regret with students, the school and society in general.
The statements came after dozens of naked and near naked photos surfaced on the internet of graduating middle schoolers, males and females, being hazed by older high school students. "In other footage spreading on the Web,"according to Yonhap,"some students pelt flour or hurl eggs at their peers while others, dressed only in underwear, even stride streets in group or tear the school uniforms of other students."
[…]The president however said it should not be a criminal case involving the police but should be resolved by students and schools.”
“The police said offenders can get criminal punishments since they will be charged with an attempted act of violence.”
-------------------------------------
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100223-200392.html
http://hanopolis.com/?articleNo=17261&story/Graduation-hazing-gets-out-of-hand-and-both-the-President-and-PM-express-their-regrets
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/03/117_60931.html
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2916763
1. Ye Eun Cho
ReplyDelete2. Damages can be the best revenge
3. In Korea, adultery is a criminal offense. These days, people seek to take revenge on the party who commited adultery by finance. A judge from Seoul Family Court said that it is better to talk the problem and work it out than coming to court. People usually have much worse conflicts in court therefore court should be the last step in solving the problem. In 'Labeling theory', when you label someone it is hard for that person to fit in the society again. I think heading to court with family issues would 'labeling' your family that your family can not handle the problems alone and need help. Especially in adultery case, it will be tough for the person to back to the society after having companions know that you have committed adultery.
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Korea is one of the shrinking number of countries in the world where adultery is a criminal offense, but today many of the heartbroken are opting to seek financial revenge instead.
As fewer cases end with jail time for the adulterer, more are ending in damages.
In the case above, the Seoul Family Court in January awarded the wronged husband 50 million won ($44,622) for the loss of his 10-year marriage.
Of the 1,157 people who stood in court on adultery charges last year, only 2.93 percent, or 24 people, received a prison sentence.
That figure is a drop from 4.13 percent in 2007, when 47 people out of 1,138 were sent to prison for the same charges, according to the Supreme Court.
With jail terms on the decline, fewer criminal charges are being pressed, as more people whose marriages have run aground realize that the best revenge is a claim for damages rather than adultery.
The new trend has seen the number of lawsuits seeking compensation for psychological distress jump from five cases in 2007 and nine in 2008 to 30 in 2009.
This year, the court said it handled seven cases last month alone.
But even when the plaintiffs win, experts say the award might be a little empty.
In the 2007 case, the husband had wanted to stay with his wife, and she originally said she would leave his rival and remain in the marriage.
He pressed his charges only after she left him.
“Some people file for damages against their spouse’s partner because they want to get their spouse back,” but that’s often unsuccessful, said Lee Seon-mi, a judge at the Seoul Family Court.
“Many split in the end because their conflicts between them grow deeper during the trials,” Lee said.
“If they want to keep their family, they should try to talk their problems out before taking the matter to the court.”
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http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918922
- Jun So-min
ReplyDelete- "7 teens arrested for robbing younger students' money and attacking in revenge" - learning theory
- This article is about 7 teenagers who were arrested for robbing about 6 younger students throughout 11 times. They also were convicted of attacking D(13) in revenge after D reported their robbery to the police.
This case could be analyzed by Sutherland's Differential Association theory. These teenagers were in these robberies together and learned to rob "in a social context through interaction and communication" among themselves. And the learning of criminal behavior occured "within intimate personal groups."
-----------------------------------------
The Busan Police arrested 7 teenagers for robbing and attacking in revenge younger students on Apr. 8. The total amount of money they robbed was about 1,200,000won. These teenagers also attacked a student D (13) after he reported their crime to the police.
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URL:http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/04/08/2010040800441.html
*Yujung Kim
ReplyDelete*Groups fined for violent 2007 rally
*This article describes a conflict between two large groups of society, labor unions(mainly middle-low class people) and public force(government). About the riot that caused many injuries and broad damage to social facilities the court concluded that their actions were clearly law-breaking and they have to pay for it. According to conflict theory, a social group that feels they are alienated from a social system that excludes them, eventually solidify in a social or political movement that leads to either social change or crime. And this time, it was mostly to the latter. So, seen from more callous view, specifically, it fits into Austin Turk's idea that if subordinates don'tlearn to be deferntial to authority, their behaviors will be defined as criminaland they will be givend the status of criminals.
----------------------------------------
Seven labor and civic organizations whose members beat up police officers during a candlelight vigil that turned into a violent anti-government protest in 2007 will have to pay the state 40 million won ($35,628), a local court ruled yesterday.
Shin Sang-ryeol, the Seoul Central District Court judge who presided over the case, said the co-organizers of the rally, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Korean Metal Workers’ Union, and Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements, failed to prevent protestors from using violence and disrupting traffic in areas around Seoul Plaza.
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*URL: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918869
Yoon Young Kang
ReplyDelete"The "Family Gang" Caught for the Prostitution Fraud"
This article can be related to the Classical Theory where everyone is rational and acts upon the reasonable cost-benefit analysis that would maximize their utility.
Therefore, the actors in this case were all rational and had their own reasons for breaking the law.
The men who were cheated by this gang were severe violators of law themselves because they were engaged in the prostitution involving teenage girls. According to this theory, the "victims" first violated the law because they found the cost was less than the benefit they could gain from buying teenage sex. Later, when they really became victims by the gang, they also decided to give money, thinking that giving the large amount of money to the "family" of the girls would save them from much paying much higher cost - being sent to prision, etc.
On the side of the gangs, they also thought that their benefit of taking advantage of these men was greater than the cost they would have to pay in case they were caught by the police. Especially as the teenage girls who were in this gang were girls who frequently ran away from their home and dropped out of middle/high school, and they were friends of the girl who lived with the "main player" of this gang and received money for playing parts in these frauds, they were likely to think it was their best interest to be involved in these crimes. Also, they might have thought they had nothing else to lose.
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The gang of 7 people, who lured men into buying teenage sex through the internet chatting, threatened them and extorted money and goods by threatening them, pretending to be the family of the girls, were caught. Especially one of the men in this gang took his mother in their plan.
First, teenage girls were used to tempt men to go to motels with them, and after they entered the motel rooms, the gang followed, pretending to be a brother and the mother of the girls. The "brother" pretended to call the police and intentionally let the "victims" hear the sound of the "police officer" who sounded furious. Then, they asked for the credit card from the victims. Using this method, they lured 26 men in Seoul, Suwon and Gangwon area, and extorted approximately 30.4million won from them since last February.
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http://news.nate.com/view/20100331n20784?mid=n0402
Valerie Raeymaekers
ReplyDelete"Officials to offer rewards to catch corrupt teachers" - Classical Theory
In an attempt to oppose corruption within the educational sector the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it will hand out money rewards up to 100 million won to people who report improper acts by teachers.
Also comanies who are caught being involved with school corruption will be banned for 5 years in doing any business with schools.
In this case the Classical theory is being used to prevent corruption. First of all as seen in class, classical theory is rational thinking, coupled with a cost-benefit choice. The government is trying to go against corruption by convincing people to step up and as such preventing corruption all the same. Now it is up to the people wether they find the money price rewarding enough to betray others, especially since there are a lot of personal connections between public servants. Also companies will have to decide if the current situation they might be in in the case of corruption support, is better than being banned from doing business for 5 years. So what will be the outcome? Will the cost outweigh the benefits or will the benefits outweigh the costs?
At the same time, altough not clearly mentioned, the hightened money price which first stood at 30 million won, should convince more people to step up. One could also almost speak of hoping for operant conditioning, where the right reward will change behavior and seeing other corrupt individuals or companies being punished, others will stop their corruption.
Before there had been similar projects like this, but there was a lack of response. This is why the hightened price should try and convince people of the higher beneficialities.
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In the wake of allegations of corruption in the education sector, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced Wednesday that it will offer a reward of up to 100 million won ($86,805) to those who report improper acts by the nation’s teachers.
Teachers who are found to have taken bribes in any form will be let go and forbidden to apply for any civil-service positions.
“We are in discussions about implementing the strongest possible policies to prevent further corruption in the local education system,” said Kim Kyung-hwoi, vice superintendent at the Seoul education office. Beginning next month, centers to take in such reports will be formed in education offices throughout the country.
Last July, the Seoul education office started a similar reward policy, offering rewards of up to 30 million won, but many teacher groups protested that the system was treating them like criminals. Since last February, when the Incheon education office started the reward policy, it has received only one civilian report. The same goes for the Busan office, which started the system in 2005.
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http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915948
1. Hye sung So
ReplyDelete2. Top SAT instructor reports violence - Social Control theory
A much sought after SAT instructor was kidnapped and beaten after he tried to leave his private academy for another, according to his statement to police.
The institute's president surnamed Park, 41, used violence to Jeffrey Sohn, 38, when he was going to quit the academy. Park also suggested him to obtaining unreleased SAT test papers from a broker in the U.S.
I approached this case with Control Theory. What makes him doing this unbelievable behavior? All people would break the law if they did not fear the damage and consequences of getting caught. Ties or bonds to conventional parents, school, friends, employers, and so on make crime too much of a risk for most people (p184). According to this theory, he may not think he is a socially attached man. There are many other factors which influence to him, however it is true that he lacks self-control. And there are some reasons why people lack self- control.
It is because they have given low parental investment, such as child rearing, monitoring and discipling practice.
I am not sure whether this is a correct approach to studying this case, but I strongly believe that he really lacked his self control.
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3. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is investigating the report by Jeffrey Sohn, 38, that the institute’s president surnamed Park, 41, used violence to make him tow the line. Park, who became a major shareholder of “R” academy in 2007, is the head of a consulting firm as well as an international lawyer. Sohn has since escaped to the United States.
Police say Sohn reports being taken against his will to a villa in Gyeonggi and threatened after he tried to leave the academy last December.
Sohn was the top instructor teaching English composition for the SAT, investigators said. They said they have received confessions from two of the nine people who were allegedly involved in kidnapping Sohn. Investigators are interrogating the remaining seven. Officers are widening their investigations into the case after obtaining information leading to an allegation that more lecturers at the academy were assaulted when they also sought to leave.
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4. http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2916093
Elizabeth Tang
ReplyDelete“1 in 5 kids could be gambling addicts”
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This article tells us how a gambling addiction test conducted on 894 middle and high school students in Daejeon, showed that 5 percent displayed symptoms of gambling addiction and 15.5 percent were at risk. Experts point to the Internet as the key culprit behind the high gambling addiction rate among Korean youngsters, and the gambling culture is further reinforced by the Korean tradition of betting money on cards or other games with family members during the holidays.
There is an example of an 11-year old boy who started gambling at the stationery shop outside his school, where there was a gambling game in which he could win products if he got lucky and pulled the correct tab. However, when he ran out of money, he started to steal from his teacher and from his friends, and even brought a piggy bank he took from a friend’s house. Basically, the main problem does not lie in the gambling itself, but more of the social effects such as stealing/robbing, crime related to gambling such as abuse of family members etc.
This touches on the theory of learning. First, we can see that the youths are simultaneously socialized into the negation of those values when they simply learn and are exposed to the conventional norms in society. In this case, due to the gambling culture in Korean families (“Some 38 percent of poll respondents with gambling experience said their first encounter was with their families”), they are already exposed to the underlying norm from young. Also, since many youths regard their parents as role models, this would further strengthen the notion of gambling as a desirable act.
Also, there could be a biological theory in play. It could be that people are born with the gene to be more daring to take risks to get ahead in life, and reinforced by their environment, they may engage in various forms of behavior. In this case, the environment would be that of easily available avenues to gamble (from article: “a variety of online games in which players can win cyber money and products fans their propensity to gamble, they say. In the poll, 84 percent of respondents said they have played either the online games or gambled”).
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Lee, an 11-year-old boy in Daejeon, made it a rule to run to the stationery store in front of his elementary school at the end of the school day.
He went there to play a gambling game in which he could win products if he got lucky and pulled the correct tab. But when he ran out of money, he started to steal from his teacher and from his friends.
He says he once brought a piggy bank he took from a friend’s house. As his addiction grew, he began playing similar games with his friends during school breaks. When his school counselor asked him what he liked about games, he said, “I feel like I can win a really good prize if I do it just one more time.”
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http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2913429
1. Mai Cha Vang
ReplyDelete2. "An unwelcome surprise"
3. This news article described a side-effect of the Split Policy. The article provided examples from two cases. The first is a 61-years-old divorced woman, Kim Ok-Kyu whose retirement pension was shared with her ex-husband (without her knowledge). He received more than 1/3 from her pension. The second case is a 66-years-old man, Choi, whose pension was almost split in half, given to his ex-wife.
Both Kim and Choi among many victims who are the same problems. Both of their grievances were also rejected by the National Pension Service. The reason is due to the Split Policy. This policy takes into consideration if both partners contributed to the system or not. If yes, the retirement pension would be split half and half. If only one person contributes to the system, that contributor would receive 60% of the pension, the rest of the 40% be given to the ex-spouse.
For the purpose of my response, I will only focus on the woman's case.
What is interesting about this policy is that it was advocated by women's advocacy groups. In the article, attorney Kim Sam-hwa provided the explanation that because "men are usually the breadwinners in Korean families," when divorced, "a woman loses her major source of income." What can be inferred from this explanation is that the Split Policy was recommended by women's advocacy groups to provide financial relief to divorced women. Furthermore, one can also infer that the Split Policy was introduced at an older time when men were usually the providers. Nowadays, society has changed to a point where in many families, both partners work and provide for the family. Other circumstances include women working as the sole provider in the family, just like Kim Ok-Kyu's situation.
At this point, I would like to refer to the theory of Liberal Feminist. Liberal feminists are concerned with gender socialization and working for equal rights for women through reform changes in levels of politics and governmental policies. However, they aren't looking for any radical changes or anything revolutionary. I chose this theory to relate to this article because Split Policy was created with the intention to ensure that a woman does not lose everything from her marriage to the man. In other words, Liberal Feminist would rationalized that this policy was meant to make things more fair and equal to the women.
I find that the Social Model would also be helpful to explain this occurrence. What took place was not through an individual's actions, but rather a collective group of people who are influenced by the context of society that continues to change with time. Evidently, this policy has its own backdrop. In modern trends, women are also working as sole providers of their family, just like men have been. When divorced, they'd have to share their retirement pension with their ex-husbands, regardless of the reasons for divorce or whether or not they are aware of the policy. Such cases beg the following question: When society changes, should policy also changes? I'm sure that when this policy was first created, it was helpful to the women of their time. However, nowadays, this policy might just prove to be unfair because the application of the Split Policy does not take into consideration of what caused the divorce, only the duration of the marriage and the how long the contributor has been paying to the system mattered in splitting the pension.
To answer my own question, as a liberal feminist myself, I do believe that certain policies must change to reflect the the context of the society, as part of the process to reach the reality of equal rights for both men and women.
To be continued from the previous post...
ReplyDelete-------------------------------------------------------
4. Sixty-one-year-old Kim Ok-kyu left her abusive husband and moved in with her children 16 years ago. It took her a decade, but she finally divorced him in 2004. It was the end of a long nightmare, she thought.
Then her pension checks started arriving, and she discovered just how wrong she was.
In January 2009, Kim retired and began to receive monthly benefits of 338,000 won ($302). In May, the checks suddenly shrank to 204,600 won. Since Kim had spent 14 years contributing to the retirement system and was looking forward to a comfortable old age, she was certain the National Pension Service had made a mistake.
It hadn’t. More than a third of her pension - 134,200 a month - is being paid to her ex-husband.
“My ex-husband punched me in the face, he beat me up with anything he found in his hands,” sobbed Kim, who eked out a living cleaning buildings. “I have scars on my head because he beat me with a metal stand.
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http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2919012
-Mai Cha Vang
Sejin Jung
ReplyDeleteHijackers who robbed the bag of 150 million won were indicted.
The article is concerned with differential association theory. This is because the criminals have been interact with other deaf and dumb people in their shelter and it is likely that they have learned criminal behaviors within this intimate group. There is quite a possibility that deaf and dumb have frustration and dissatisfaction toward the society. In addition, they might have became delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of lwa over definition unfavorable to violation of law.
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(summary)
South Korean prosecutor on April 14 revealed that two persons who robbed the car which was stopping on the street of bag of 150 million won were under indictment. According to the prosecution, they knocked the car over which was carrying the one big supermarket's money when it stopped on the street and ran away with the bag on October 12 last year. They first met each other in the shelter for deaf and dumb. The prosecution is expanding investigations on their other crime cases.
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http://news.joins.com/article/277/4106277.html?ctg=1200&cloc=home|list|list3
Sejin Jung
ReplyDeleteCrime committing, juvenile couple was caught.
This article is related to labeling theory. As a result of negative labeling and stereotyping toward runaway teenagers, these two students became criminals. It means that the society encourages these young people to commit crimes because labeling make them have delinquent self-identity and continue their violation developing the intensity of crime.
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(summary)
After they ran away from home, for 1 month, they knocked off the classroom and picked other people's pocket. This teen-aged couple was caught. The Ulsan police requested an arrest warrant on April 14 for the juvenile delinquents who have stolen valuables worth four million won so far. It was found that they have committed crime 12 times in total by robbing empty store, classroom and snatching bags. According to the police, the motive of their crime is considered to be family trouble.
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http://news.joins.com/article/878/4106878.html?ctg=-1
EunBin Suk
ReplyDelete"Coast Guard Murder" - Rational Choice Theory
The murder of Korean Coast Guard by Chinese fishermen was an act of crime whereby the murderer took the risk by calculating the cost of crime over the benefit. The writer of the article examines the murder case and states that the fishermen acted on terms of relative risk. The rational choice theory looks into the motivations of the criminal and sees what circumstance affected his decision to commit the crime. In this case of coast guard murder, the fishermen decided that fishing illegally and going on to committing murder was a risk to take in order to gain fish for the livelihood of the family. The article also says that the chances of getting caught were low and even if the fishermen do get caught, they can easily fight back. Little interference by the Korean government led to continual illegal fishing the Chinese fishermen and even to murder of an innocent coast guard.
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10-02-2008 18:06
Coast Guard Murder
By Michael Breen
The murder last week of a Coast Guard officer by Chinese fishermen operating illegally in Korean waters is an outrage that needs to be handled with vigor and clarity.
To this end, the government must permit the Coast Guard and Navy to change their rules of engagement in such a way that both deters repeat incidents and reassures men and women in uniform that their country will do what it can to support and protect them.
The murder on Friday of Sgt. Park Gyeong-jo followed a high-speed chase as the fishing vessel sought to elude the Coast Guard patrol. As his boat approached, Sgt. Pak was seized, beaten around the head with a hammer and thrown into the water. This appalling event came just two days after four of Sgt. Park's Coast Guard colleagues were held for an hour by Chinese fishermen and thrashed with pipes and clubs.
In recent years over two dozen Korean officials have been injured in clashes with fishermen. According to Coast Guard figures, 159 Chinese ships have been seized for operating illegally in Korean waters so far this year.
The violence is neither random nor an indication of anything especially Chinese or Korean. It is best understood in terms of relative risk. When any people see their livelihood being taken away, they will weigh the relative risk of accepting that fate against fighting to retain it.
The pattern in the statistics indicates that Korea's maritime authorities are unintentionally ``incentivizing" Chinese fishermen to take the greater risk when caught fishing in Korean waters. The chances of the catch being seized may be low, and even when the authorities do appear, there's a big chance the poachers can avoid arrest and foreign jail if they fight back. In fact, there may even be a deterrent factor in making Korea's officials more reluctant to intervene......
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2010/04/170_32058.html