School of Political and Social Sciences

Find an alleged or validated criminal/violent event which has featured in the news media (TV or newspapers) any time after 1 February 2017. Describe the nature of the match ie, what happened, who did what to whom, what factors (if any) were recommended as possible causes. Identify the source of your data in the Reference box on the next page. Use no greater than 300 words in your description.

In their research article, a Cranbrook student is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old woman at a Bellevue Hill party as a friend filmed the attack. Levy and Gardiner attribute that the teenagers had attended a house party in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at Bellevue Hill on March 4, 2017,where they got drunk and the 15-year-old boy sexually assaulted the girl when she was unconscious while a Rose Bay Secondary College filmed them by use of a mobile phone in their private act without consent. He later posted the child abuse material on social media, and it went viral (Levy and Gardiner 2017, pg 1).

The teenagers’ were under the influence of a drug which is alcohol; this would be one of the reasons as to why the assault took place. Two, the girl being drunk until she was unconscious would be a second reason as to why this assault took place. Three, the teenagers were holding a house party, thus after they were carried away by the drug influence, the boy would have been tempted to do the assault because the place was enclosed. Four, for the house party to take place, parents to the house in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at Bellevue Hill, were probably not in. Thus the teenagers may have done things out of control due to the freedom they had or due to lack of a supervising authority. Five, the 15-year-old girl may have worn provocative clothes that made the Elite Cranbrook boy to lack self-control and fall in the temptation of assaulting the girl. Lastly, teenagers are fond of posting their party films on social media, and this may be a reason as to why the Elite Cranbrook boy assaulted the girl and made theRose Bay secondary college boy produce thecontent material and posted it online.

For Markers Only:

Is the event relevant?

Is the event clearly described?

Is the source of the event clear?

2. Explanations

Sketch in one or more criminological theories that you consider might offer an adequate explanation for the event you have just described.
• Concentrate on why you think the theory (or theories) is relevant rather than devoting too many words to its general description.
• Provide references for your theory or theories. These can be drawn from the Reader, but reference them from their original citation. The references do not count in the word limit.
• Indicate very briefly what else you might need to know about the event for you to be confident of your causal explanation (s).
Use no more than 300 words in your discussion.

The Cognitive theory of psychopathology is atheory that describes how an individual’s perception or thought or situation may influence his or her emotional, behavioral or physiological reactions (Beck 1979, pg 11). Under this approach, anindividualwho does a sexual assault is considered to be mentally ill or chemically imbalanced (Bartol & Bartol 2014, pg 32). However, sexual assault is an action that results when men have a difficulty controlling their sexual desires, and most are the times when women are held responsible for wearing provocative clothes(Marshall, Laws & Barbaree 2013, pg 8). In our case, the theory is relevant because the 15-year-old Elite Cranbrook boy was under chemical imbalance when he sexually assaulted the girl. Two, the boy might have been unable to control himself after seeing the unconscious 15-year-old girl’s dressing code. Three, the Elite Cranbrook boy may have provoked the assault by failing to take the right steps of avoiding thearousement of his sexual desire after seeing the girl was unconscious. And lastly, the boy might have assaulted the girl for his pleasure and made the Rose Bay Secondary boy film it and post it on social media (Coker 2017, pg 5).

In this event, several things are not clear. One, before the event of the sexual assault, did the Elite Cranbrook boy, the assaulted girl, and the boy from Rose Bay Secondary College get to know each other? Two, in the house party, how did the Elite Cranbrookboy make sure that only he and the unconscious girl were left alone? Three, among all the invites in the House party at Bellevue Hill why was the boy from Rose Bay Secondary College the only one who saw the Private act and filmed it? And lastly, when the sex assault act was taking place where the 15-year-old friends?

References

Beck, J.S., 1979. Cognitive therapy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc..

Bartol, A.M. and Bartol, C.R., 2014. Criminal behavior: A psychological approach. Boston: Pearson, c2014. xxiii, 644 pages: illustrations; 24 cm..

Coker, D., 2017.Crime Logic, Campus Sexual Assault, and Restorative Justice.

Marshall, W.L., Laws, D.R. and Barbaree, H.E. eds., 2013. Handbook of sexual assault: Issues, theories, and treatment of the offender. Springer Science & Business Media.

Levy, M. $ Gardiner, S. 2017. Cranbrook student accused of sexually assaulting girl at Bellevue Hill party as friend filmed attack [Online] (Updated 4 March 2017) Available at: ‹http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/cranbrook-student-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-girl-at-bellevue-hill-party-as-friend-filmed-attack-20170321-gv2rs1.html› [Accessed 21 March 2017]

For Markers Only:
Are the explanations plausible and assessed through
a relevant criminological perspective?
Is the referencing appropriate?
Is the overall writing style satisfactory?

Comments

Grade:

Honours (≥10)

Pass (≥7.5<10)

Fail (<7.5)