laboratory

D getting started

In this section you are going to discuss deviance, crime, and types of crime. You will also listen to some news reports about different types of crime.

READING AND THINKING ABOUT THE TOPIC

1 Read the following passage.

In all societies, some behaviors conform to what is expected while other behaviors are thought of as deviant – that is, they are viewed as unacceptable. Some deviant behavior is illegal. A crime is a deviant act that is prohibited by the law.

The U. S. legal system recognizes two main categories of crime. Felonies are serious crimes; misdemeanors are less serious. Crime can be violent or nonviolent. White-collar crime refers to illegal business transactions. Blue-collar crime refers to small crimes such as shoplifting and also to serious crimes such as robbery and murder. There are also

"modem” crimes that have been made possible by technology, such as crimes connected with the Internet.

It is difficult to know how many crimes are committed because most crimes are not reported, and most criminals are not caught.

Answer the following questions according to the information in the passage.

1 What is deviant behavior? Is deviant behavior always a crime?

2 What are two categories of crime?

3 What makes it difficuh to know how many crimes are committed?

З і Read these questions and share your answers with a partner.

1 What different types of crime do you know about?

2 How is crime punished in your community?

Read the list of deviant behaviors below. Number them in order of how wrong or unacceptable they are: 1 = most unacceptable;

10 = most acceptable.

Getting into the bus or subway without paying a fare

Paying for one movie ticket in a multiplex theater, and then going into a second movie without paying

Taking paper or office supplies from your school or workplace

Receiving too much change from a cashier for a purchase and not returning it Buying counterfeit goods, such as a homemade CD

Making a copy of a CD and giving it to your friends

Damaging someone’s parked car and not leaving your contact information

Buying something that you know was stolen Keeping an item that was delivered to you by mistake

Asking your doctor to help you get treatment that your insurance doesn’t normally pay for

Discuss with your group whether you would consider any of the behaviors in step 2 to be ciimes.

his unit examines crime and punishment. In Chapter 7, you will hear interviews with parents who are concerned about crime, and with two crime victims. You will also hear a lecture on types of crime and methods of solving crime. In Chapter 8, you will hear two perspectives on how society should try to keep crime rates low, including ways to prevent crime and punish criminals. The lecture is on one of the most controversial topics in the United States today – the death penalty.

1 Look at the following map. It is a map for all of Part One of the lecture. Notice that you already know some of the missing information because you listened to excerpts from Part One in the note-taking Lask on page 92. Copy your answers from that task on to the appropriate lines in this map.

Pedra Snoirh:. Panfry of the Mass Media Pt 1: Issues of dolenee, } and

– Sutwa^ booth:

2 I Now listen to Part One of the lecture and complete the map.

3

Compare your map with a parLner.

LECTURE, PART TWO: Issues of Advertising and Invasion of Privacy

GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT

1 The following items contain important vocabulary from Part One of the lecture. Work with a partner. Using the context and vour knowledge of related words, take turns trying to guess the meanings of the words in bold.

1 The content is just an excuse, or a kind of wrapping, for the advertising.

2 There is an essential marketing relationship between the media, the advertiser, and the user.

3 Even print media has a high percentage of ads.

4 We are used to being bombarded by endless commercials.

5 Many of us use our remote controls to zap out the advertising with the mute button.

6 The media is invading our privacy.

7 Advertisers gather statistical data about people like you – potential consumers.

8 Information about you can be compiled and sold to other companies.

____ 9 you can be tracked if you make a few’ v isits to any Web site.

Work with your partner. Match the vocabulary terms w’ith their definitions by writing the letter of each definition below in the blank next to the sentence containing the correct term in step 1. Check your answers in a dictionary’ if necessary’.

a cover b get rid of c gathered d attacked, bothered e newspapers and magazines f followed

g getting into our private lives h buying and selling і people who might buy something

1 Look at the following notes from Part Two of the lecture. The note taker has just written down the words that he or she heard, without taking the time to organize them clearly. Think about the best way to organize this information in a map.

T

Now listen to the lecture and take notes on your own paper.

Use your notes to help you make a complete map of the lecture. You can either copy the map of Part 1 on page 93 on your own paper and add to it, or make another map in your own style.

4 Compare your map with a partner.

In this section you will hear and Lake notes on a two-part lecture given by Dedra Smith, a media expert who conducts workshops about media and society. The title of the lecture is Dangers of the Mass Media. Ms. Smith will describe what she believes are some harmful effects of the media today.

BEFORE THE LECTURE

PERSONALIZING THE TOPIC

1 Read the following information from the New York Times 2002 Almanac.

A great majority of American households have two or more televisions. According to the A. C. Nielsen Company, which monitors television viewership, at least one of these televisions was on in each household for 7 hours and 37 minutes per day during the 1998-99 television season. That’s 1 hour and 18 minutes more than in 1971, when the average was just over 6 hours and 19 minutes, but 3 minutes less than in 1997-98.

Average daily viewing per person is still much higher than the 1970s levels, but down slightly from the year before. Women over the age of 18 watched longest: they averaged 4 hours and 51 minutes per day, while men over 18 watched for 4 hours and 16 minutes. Children aged 12-17 watched an average of 2 hours and 54 minutes.

For each of the forms of media in the following chart, write how many hours you spend using it per day and per week. Then compare vour chart with a partner.

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

1 For what purposes do you use each of the forms of media in the chart?

2 Do you think you spend too much time using any of these forms of media? Why or why not?

One way of taking notes is called mapping. In this method, you write the main idea on your paper and draw lines out to related points. As you take notes, you can show connections between different parts of the lecture by adding lines.

Look at the following map of excerpts from Part One of Ms. Smith’s lecture.

LECTURE, PART ONE: Issues of Violence, Passivity, and Addiction

GUESSING VOCABULARY FROM CONTEXT

1 The following items contain important vocabulary from Part One of the lecture. Work with a partner. Using the context and your knowledge of related words, take turns trying to guess the meanings of the words in bold.

1 These new advances bring us dangers that we should be aware of.

2 Many people are afraid that children and adolescents are especially susceptible to this violence.

3 Kids set a subway booth on fire.

4 Tragically, the man working at the booth died.

5 TV can make us passive.

6 Using the media can become very addictive.

7 Most of us wander through cyberspace. . . wasting a lot of time.

Work with your partner. Match the vocabulary terms with their definitions by writing the letter of each definition below in the blank next to the sentence containing the correct term in step 1. Check your answers in a dictionary if necessary.

a hard to stop or give up b office that sells metro cards or tokens c informed about d likely to be affected by e sadly

f move with no clear direction or purpose g not wanting to do anything; inactive

In this section you will conduct an experiment about television that was designed by the sociologist Bernard McGrane of Chapman University. It is called "The Un-TV Experiment.”

CONDUCTING AND PRESENTING YOUR OWN RESEARCH

1 Read about how to conduct "The Un-TV Experiment.”

The Un-TV’ Experiment

You are going to watch TV for three ten-minute periods. In each of these periods, you will watch a different TV program and do a different task. You will take notes about the tasks. You should sit very quietly and concentrate completely on what you are doing so that you do not make a mistake as you record your data. Make sure that you have everything you need: a comfortable place to sit and write, a pencil or pen, and enough paper.

The Tasks

1 Watch any TV program for ten minutes. Count how many times you see a technical manipulation (that is, a change) on the screen, including:

• a cut (the picture changes to another picture, like a slide show)

• a fade-in or fade-out (one picture slowly changes into another picture)

• a zoom (the camera moves from a wide view to a close-up view, or from a close-up view to a wide view)

• a voice-over (a voice explains or comments on what you are watching)

• another technical change (describe it)

2 Watch a news program for ten minutes.

• Count the number of positive images that you see.

• Count the number of negative images that you see.

Make notes about any images that you particularly remember.

3 Watch any TV program for ten minutes. Do not turn on the sound. As you watch, make notes about these two questions:

• How interesting is the program?

• How easy is it to distinguish between the program itself and the commercials?

Now conduct the experiment yourself. A good way to record your results is to use a chart. Your chart should be similar to the one at the top of page 90.