Question One: Toxic Masculinity Crisis and Mass Shootings
The author, Ruth DeFoster, defines toxic masculinity in her paper titled, “Terrorizing the Masses: Identity, Mass Shootings, and the Media Construction of ‘Terror,'” through the media portrayal of mass shootings with the media pushing simplistic narratives focusing on the shooters (2015). Most Americans do not directly experience incidences of mass shootings outside of mainstream media coverage, which then plays a huge role in the framing of the entire concept of mass shootings. The media achieves this through adhering to local and easily explained contexts drawn from the actual event and the events leading up to it around the lives of the shooters and their targets. She uses the 1999 Columbine Shooting to demonstrate the pivotal role that mainstream media serves to justify toxic masculinity and the media construct of mass shootings (DeFoster, 2015). Defroster discusses toxic masculinity and how the media framed it by positioning the shooters as victims of a flawed peer culture seeking some form of retribution through violence. By relying on the framing of the media in contemporary society, the real problem at the root of mass shootings is often ignored and given attention. According to DeFoster, a spotlight on shooters in incidences of mass shootings suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses and the danger posed by allowing unstable individuals access to dangerous weapons. As a result, the public and the authorities avoid addressing the real root causes through changing government policies and regulations concerning the prevention of mass shootings. A solution to this would be expanding mental health service provision and changing gun control laws, which could have a positive boost on initiatives to reduce incidences of mass shootings.
Question Two: Marxism and Crime
The theoretical explanation that underlies the Marxist belief that crime and deviance in society is a tool utilized by the elite to control populations. Control over the lower classes is achieved by passing repressive laws that criminalize targeted behaviors and actions. In this way, it is clear that crime occurs as a result of inequalities of power in society caused by economic development, fuelling social and political change (Bernard, Snipes & Gerould, 2010). This empowers the elites and the wealthy in society to control criminal laws in their favor and in order to ensure their control over the general population. Marx was quoted as denying that human society collectively entered into the social contract voluntarily, instead arguing that this was caused by an unequal distribution of wealth, creating a similar unequal distribution of power in the populace. As a result of this, current statistics reveal that crime is concentrated in what is perceived as the lower classes. The Marxist theory stands true in the face of events that happen within the modern criminal justice system, such as the recent legalization of recreational marijuana with people of color still being targeted and convicted for marijuana-related offenses. This example is supported by statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau that African-Americans were 1.5 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana-related offenses than white Americans. On the other end of the spectrum, the ruling class and elites are less likely to get custodial sentences for economic and financial crimes with lower sanctions and penalties than crimes committed by targeted social classes. In this way, the Marxist perception of crime and deviance in society is still largely under the control of the ruling class and elites in government positions, which is skewed against the working class and the general population.
References
Bernard, T. J., Snipes, J. B., & Gerould, A. L. (2010). Vold’s Theoretical criminology (p. 179189). New York: Oxford University Press.
DeFoster, R. (2015). Terrorizing the Masses: Identity, Mass Shootings, and the Media Construction of” Terror.”