Courtney Boonzaier- ST10264650

CICO5122- Take-Home exam

QUESTION 1:

According to Dunbar, (2019). Music and social media platforms are some of the biggest
influences in today’s society, so much so that it has the power to shape an individual's
perception of crimes and illegal activities. Music genres such as hip-hop and drill are extremely
popular amongst the younger generation of today's modern world, However, music such as
the genres mentioned above is known for its vulgar language and criminal tendencies. In this
essay, I will be explaining how music impacts the committing and perceptions of crimes.

According to Richardson & Scott, (2002). When influential artists such as Eminem create and
release music that contains vulgar language, and criminal techniques such as gun violence
and drug abuse, A huge portion of the world is bound to hear these types of songs, and
unfortunately, a lot of these people look up to huge influencers such as Eminem. The fans and
supporters of Eminem, start to believe that because he raps about these illegal activities, it
makes it almost okay because he is famous and has a huge fan base, Another reason is, that
many of his fans want to follow in his footsteps because he is seen as a role model, however,
this in my opinion is a perfect example as to what causes people’s perceptions about crime to
change. A role model to an individual rapping about how he shot a guy becomes an action that
is seen as cool and a valid action to do because the most well-known influential rapper in the
world has done it, therefore also influencing the committing of criminal acts. Not only violence
is portrayed in certain music but also the use of drugs which is detrimental to the youth, for
abuse of drugs in more cases than not will lead to criminal acts such as robbery, theft, and
even murder. (Richardson & Scott, 2022).

Although every individual has free will and the right to make their own choices, it becomes a
norm for individuals who listen to music that advocates violence and drug use, increasing the
overall risk of these individuals’ committing felonies and abusing drugs. Music in today’s
modern age certainly shapes the perceptions individuals have of drugs, violence, and criminal
techniques which is extremely concerning for the current generation.

Reference List:

Dunbar, A., (2019). Rap music, Race, and perceptions of crime. Sociology compass. 1-11.
[Online]. Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12732. (Accessed 01 December 2023).

Richardson, W., J., and Scott, A., K., (2002). Rap Music and its Violent progeny: America's
culture of violence in context. The journal of Negro education. 71(3), 175-192. [Online].
Available at https://doi.org/10.2307/3211235. (Accessed 01 December 2023).
QUESTION 2:
According to Herbig & Hesselink, (2009). Criminology is the study of crimes that
individuals commit and what causes them to commit these said crimes, in essence, it
is used to understand the motives behind criminal behaviour. In this essay, I will be
looking at three different theoretical perspectives that explain the reasons why
offenders conduct criminal acts and provide examples to further explain and interpret
each theoretical perspective.
According to, Sowmyya, (2014), The first theoretical perspective is the biological
perspective, within this perspective, it is believed that certain physical characteristics
play a significant role in the causation of crime being committed, for example, Positivist
criminologists will look at the physical traits, genetics, and even facial features of
convicted offenders to determine what caused this specific individual to commit a
crime. The first ever criminologist to do so was Cesare Lombroso, he measured the
skulls and facial aspects of convicts to determine the physical traits of criminals.
Although his method can be discredited in today's modern age, he played a huge role
in influencing the biological perspective of criminology.
According to Sowmyya, (2014), The social perspective examines how institutions and
social structures may influence individuals to turn toward crime and criminal activity.
For example, when specifically looking at South Africa, it is a known fact that crime
rates are extremely high and this can be explained by the multiple amount of socio-
economic issues that this country faces each day, Poverty, unemployment and
gangsterism are just a few examples of social factors that influence individuals to
commit illegal acts thus the high crime rates and overcrowding in prisons are evidence
of these social issues. According to Featherstone & Deflem, (2003)., Robert Merton
came up with the strain theory which is used to understand the causes of crime by
looking at the societal pressures and expectations individuals living in society have.
When these individuals are not able to live up to these specific expectations because
of various reasons such as unemployment, they turn to crime because they assume it
is the easier way out.
Lastly, according to Sowmyya, (2014), The psychological perspective looks at mental
disorders, personality traits, and any other cognitive factors that may play a role in
enticing criminal behaviour, an example is the classical school of criminology, these
criminologists believe that offenders commit crimes after weighing up the options and
beneficiaries of what is to come after the crime has been committed. It is believed that
every individual has free will and is aware of the consequences that come with
committing illegal acts, therefore when consequences are a harsher outcome than the
committing of the crime itself, criminals will be discouraged from committing any further
crimes and the consequences will become a form of deterrence.
There are many ways to determine what causes a criminal to commit a crime, however,
it is important to analyze every single aspect of the criminal in order to fully understand
and rule out any other reason as to why this offender would commit an illegal act.
Reference List:

Featherstone, R., and Deflem, M., (2003). Anomie and strain: Context and
consequences of Merton’s two theories. Sociological inquiry. 73(4), 471-489.
[Online]. Available at https://doi:10.1111/1475-682X.00067. (Accessed 01 December
2023).

Herbig, J., and Hesselink, E., A., (2009). The role and function of criminologists within
the criminal justice and private sector, Journal of Psychology in Africa. 19(3), 441-448.
[Online]. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2009.10820313. (Accessed
01 December 2023).

Sowmyya, T., (2014). Crime: A conceptual understanding. Indian Journal of Applied

Research. 4(3), 196-198. [Online]. Available at
https://DOI:10.15373/2249555X/MAR2014/58. (Accessed 01 December 2023).
QUESTION 3:

According to Litvak, (1998), The war between Palestine and Israel is a topic that almost every
individual in this world has been made aware of due to the recent attacks and shocking violent
rituals that have affected millions of civilians in recent times. Unfortunately, the war between
these two countries has been ongoing since World War I. Within Palestine is a political and
military organization called Hamas, which admitted to violent attacks on the Israelites on
October 7th, 2023, in this essay, I will be assessing the violent crimes committed by this
Palestinian organization, their reasons for committing these acts, and determining if this group
has taken justice into its own hands without any legal authority to do so, this is also known as
vigilante justice.

To fully understand the reasons for this war, the history of these two countries is important to
recognize. ABC News asserts that two areas within the country of Israel are the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip, these parts of land belong to the Palestinians, the majority being Arabic
and Muslim religion, whereas the rest of the country belongs to Israelis. During the end of
World War 1, The Holocaust forced millions of Jews to flee their country due to the nazi regime,
thus many Jews ended up in Israel, and the ongoing increase of Jewish people into the land
with Arabs as a majority caused tension between Palestine and Israel. The United Nations, an
organization designed to keep international peace among countries agreed to make Israel a
Jewish state and Palestine would remain an Arab state, however, over the years Israel took
over more land than what was agreed upon. The United Nations also states that the building
of properties in Palestine territory is an illegal act that understandably caused major conflict
between the two sides, The Palestinians were forcefully removed from their homes to
accommodate Israelis and Jews into the illegal buildings that were built. Unfortunately, this
conflict has escalated dramatically throughout this year (see the origins of the Hamas- Israel
war explained- ABC News Australia, 2023).

I believe it is understandable for Palestinians to be upset about being forcefully removed from
their own homes to accommodate individuals who come from different countries, however,
there comes a point where the retaliation shown becomes a violent and illegal act of taking
justice into their own hands. Realistically if every individual who felt they were treated wrongly
decided to create their own form of justice, the world we live in would become absolute chaos,
and this is what has happened in this war between Palestine and Israel. According to Filiu,
(2020). Hamas is a Palestinian political group that was voted into power by the people of
Palestine in 1987, They gained the trust of the Palestinians by providing citizens with
foodbanks and other resources during the war, their main mission is to take back the
Palestinian land that was forcefully taken over by Israel. In recent times, however, the way in
which Hamas approached this mission created worldwide news and a deadly war that killed
millions and continues to kill civilians to this day.

Global news asserts On October 7th of this year, Hamas initiated an attack by invading Israeli
territories, attacking army bases, firing rockets, and taking Israelis hostage in extremely violent
ways. This was the first attack that started this violent war between Palestine and Israel.
Unfortunately, many civilians have been killed since. To understand the depth of violence that
this political organization has brought upon Israel, it is essential to know what happened on
October 7th. (see Global National: Oct 7, 2023, | Over 250 Israelis, 230 Palestine’s dead as
conflict escalates- Global News, 2023). Channel 4 news asserts the first responders who were
on the scene on that dreadful Saturday speak of the terror that was found after Hamas had
attacked. Israelis were brutally slaughtered in front of their families, children and babies were
tied up by their hands and burnt most likely alive, and pregnant women were shot and left for
dead. The first responder in this video is traumatized from what he had witnessed, suggesting
just how gruesome and violent these attacks on the Israelis were. Although Hamas started
with the brutality, Israel's army has fought back fiercely, killing thousands of Palestinians.
Overall, this war has become a great concern and brings a huge amount of sadness to the
victim's families, changing their lives forever. (see What Israeli first responders discovered
after Hamas attack- Channel 4 news, 2023)

Although Hamas is a political party, fighting for the rightful land of the Palestinians, there is a
line that needs to be drawn between violent criminal behaviour and vigilante justice. In the
case of this war, it is evident that violent crimes are what Hamas uses as a scare tactic to
achieve the taking back of the lands rightfully owed to them. According to Felson, (2009).
Examples of violent crimes are homicide, murder torture, rape, etc, so far these are the types
of crimes Hamas has committed. From an outside perspective, personally speaking, the
thought of what Hamas is capable of is absurd and inhumane. I believe the barbarous and
savage violent acts brought upon by Hamas should not be justified for any reason, especially
in today's modernized world; However, Hamas is using the fact that they have not received
justice for the land that they’ve lost, therefore they are essentially taking justice into their own
hands by committing these crimes and starting this war, therefore vigilante justice is being
used to justify the gruesome acts that have been committed on Israelis in the past few months.

My analysis of the current war in the Middle East has proved that Hamas is certainly using the
excuse of trying to obtain justice for stolen land by committing heinous acts and violent crimes
toward the people of Israel and in return Israelis have defended themselves by sending in their
troops, causing even more pain, and suffering for the civilians caught in between this war.
Reference List:
Felson, B., R., (2009). Violence, Crime, and Violent Crime. International journal of
conflict and violence. 3(1). 2-16. [Online]. Available at https://doi.org/10.4119.ijcv-
2791. (Accessed 01 December 2023).

Filiu, P., J., (2020). The origins of Hamas: Militant legacy or Israeli tool? Journal of
Palestine studies. 54-70. [Online]. Available at
https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2012.XLI.3.54. (Accessed 01 December 2023).

Global National: Oct. 7, 2023. | Over 250 Israelis, 230 Palestinians dead as conflict
escalates- Global News, 2023. YouTube Video, added by Global News. [Online].
Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xVZ0w7SGkY. (Accessed 01
December 2023).

Litvak, M., (1998). The Islamization of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict: the case of
Hamas. Middle Eastern Studies. 34(1), 149-163. [Online]. Available at
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4283922. (Accessed 01 December 2023).

The origins of the Hamas- Israel war explained – ABC News, 2023. YouTube video, added
by ABC News Australia. [Online]. Available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsNj8DiJv-A (Accessed 01 December 2023).

What Israeli first responders discovered after Hamas attack – Channel 4 News, 2023.
YouTube video, added by Channel 4 News. [Online]. Available at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v-oLdsVNHvy2w. (Accessed 01 December 2023).