Jack Katz, in Seductions of Crime
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Jack Katz, in Seductions of Crime, explores the evil of crime as if it were a realm, with its almost sacred aspects, starkly opposed to religion, but at the same time with startling similarities. Katz sees much criminality not as a result of economic need, which most sociologists would argue, but as something more existential, more associated with the transcendent aspect of power, as if criminals were trying to be god-like in their behavior. The author is aware of the sometimes shocking nature of his study, but he will not be deterred. He claims to seek to understand the criminal mind and personality as objectively as possible, but the reader cannot avoid feeling that Katz's objectivity verges almost on admiration at times, or at least appreciation for the criminal mind, personality and behavior. Katz sees a sort of sacredness in criminal behavior that at times crosses into the sensual, a reference which illuminates the "seductions" of the title of the book: Morally as well as sensually, it is likely that some readers will feel personally victimized by my effort to convey the offender's experience. But if guided by empathy, this text does not compel sympathy . . . A trip to "the other side" [i.e., the side of evil] does not have to be a permanent change in spiritual address (vii). Katz's book, then, is intended to correct "the neglect of the positive, often wonderful attractions within the lived experience of criminality" (3). He sees his work as unique in "its focus
. . .
almost say that Katz is exploring criminality as a religion of evil. That evil can take the form of a perverse service to their victims, in a distorted reflection of a religious individual's service of those in need.
For example, writing of the "badass" and his tendency to violence, Katz writes:
Badasses posture virtually as altruistic servants of their victims' "need" for a beating. At other times, the "need to kick ass" is more clearly their own . . . The suggestion is that of soulful chaos: of a nature governed by overwhelming, destructive forces that demand release through the instrumentality of the badass or of irresistibly seductive weaknesses in victims that compel the badass to attack, like a priestly servant who is duty bound to preserve a certain harmony of evil in the world (103).
One immediately sees the dangers as well as the opportunities presented by such a viewpoint. When Katz writes of the "irresistible" nature of the weakness of the victim who appears to the criminal as "needing" a beating, and, when he says that the criminal is "compelled" to such a crime and that the criminal is "duty bound" to commit such a beating, the clear suggestion is that little can be done to stop such criminal behavior. On the
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Seductions Crime, Thou Thou, criminal behavior, criminal mind, criminal mind personality, York BasicBooks, mind personality, justice system, seductions crime, criminals seeking, world spirit, traditional religion, duty bound, katz makes,
Approximate Word count = 1520
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Jack Katz, in Seductions of Crime
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
