Sociology of Crime

Link to article here.

In the article, a young girl’s body is found in a suitcase after a massive search. There are signs of sexual assault. A woman, Melissa Huckaby, has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering the young victim. The article proceeds by interviewing the girl’s family and establishing her innocence and the shock and despair of her family upon learning of her death and possible sexual mistreatment. Huckaby’s history of financial instability, criminal record, and morality (i.e. pregnant and unmarried at 22, married and divorced shortly thereafter) are laid out, too. Though the details tying Huckaby are not explained or even hinted at, her name has evidently been released to the police, and given the shocking nature of the crime, articles such as these might turn the tide against Huckaby EVEN IF she has a solid defense and is not responsible for the crime. The focus on children as targets of crime – especially those of sexual or violent nature – serves to heighten the climate of fear for people (especially parents) that surrounds children in America. Huckaby was a school teacher, furthering the idea of helplessness and spontaneity of such crimes. The background sketched of Huckaby portrays her as working-class, reaffirming the commonly held belief that the dregs of society are constantly to blame for the corruption of and disruption into polite society. Huckaby’s defense – which may not be good, given her reported financial straits – may not be equipped to win her an acquittal. Even if she deserves one, articles such as these serve to reaffirm the reader of the danger of the lower class, and it also reinforces the sense of helplessness and fear we feel as a society when we imagine our most vulnerable persons as victims of crime.