Sociology Commons^™

Photos And Field Notes From Visual Research, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

This paper describes ongoing visual field research by focusing especially on its self-reflective and auto-ethnographic constituents. The presentation relies on photographs, field notes and personal encounters from the field as the process of doing research is described. Recognizing the simbiotic order of the personal and political, the author details confrontations and emotions from ongoing efforts at recording visually.

Illegal Dumping: Large And Small Scale Littering In Rural Kentucky, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

Illegal dumping, a social problem greatly affecting some rural states, occurs at both the large and small scale as open dump sites and roadside trash. Focusing on Kentucky, a state without mandatory trash pickup and a per capita income below and a poverty rate above the national average, this photo poster, describes the dumping and littering problem. As the poster exhibit shows, legislative and executive initiatives have made some in-roads in large-scale clean up. Some local governments, however, appear apathetic about addressing illegal dumping in their own communities. Kentucky's litter problem is showing few signs of improvement and roadside littering …

Thinking Critically About Rural Gender Relations: Toward A Rural Masculinity Crisis/Male Peer Support Model Of Separation/Divorce Sexual Assault, Kenneth Tunnell, Walter Dekeseredy, Joseph Donnermeyer, Martin Schwartz, Mandy Hall

Kenneth Tunnell

After decades of neglect, a growing number of scholars have turned their attention to issues of crime and criminal justice in the rural context. Despite this improvement, rural crime research is underdeveloped theoretically, and is little informed by critical criminological perspectives. In this article, we introduce the broad tenets of a multi-level theory that links social and economic change to the reinforcement of rural patriarchy and male peer support, and in turn, how they are linked to separation/divorce sexual assault. We begin by addressing a series of misconceptions about what is rural, rural homogeneity and commonly held presumptions about the …

Photographic Observations On The Disorganization Of Rural Communities, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

Across the globe, rural communities and small towns are undergoing fundamental and at times rapid change. Within some rural areas of the US, the decline of the family farm and the housing development of the country side race along. In addition, the Wal-Marting of rural America and the demise of locally owned businesses alter the small town landscape. Once-quaint hamlets are becoming vastly different places than of only a generation ago. This photo essay, focusing especially on the central Appalachian region of the US, visually describes these vast changes effecting rural communities and small towns. Photographs of defunct independent businesses …

The Oxycontin Epidemic And Crime Panic In Rural Kentucky, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

During the late 1990s in the United States, rural Kentucky (and rural pockets of nearby states) witnessed the emergence of a new pharmaceutical drug of abuse. The powerful oxycodone OxyContin, first manufactured in 1996 and designed for time-release pain relief, found a ready population in rural hamlets and mountain communities. Intended for patients in pain associated with terminal disease, it became a drug of abuse as it was overprescribed and trafficked within newly developed black markets. This paper describes the takeoff of this new drug of abuse, its antecedents, its effects on rural communities, and coordinated efforts at containing it. …

The Social World Of Semiprofessional Bluegrass Musicians., Kenneth Tunnell, Stephen Groce

Kenneth Tunnell

Presents information on a study which focused on the occupations of bluegrass musicians. Existence and influence of norms, deviance, family, and community among the musicians; Commonalities and differences between bluegrass musicians and performers of other types of popular music.

Silence Of The Left: Reflections On Critical Criminology And Criminologists, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

Examines the lack of broader participation by critical criminologists in areas where they are knowledgeable and offers structural explanations for this absence from media and public policy formation. Academic-structural constraints; Social-structural constraints; Role of critical criminologists in the remedy of a dysfunctional society.

Political Crime And Pedagogy: A Content Analysis Of Criminology And Criminal Justice Texts, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

A study examines the quantity and quality of coverage given by introductory criminology and criminal justice texts to political crime and criminals. Data were derived from a content analysis of 49 recent introductory textbooks. Criminal justice texts devoted only 7.83 pages of 15,112 total text pages (.051%) to political crime. Criminology texts devoted only 250.5 of 9,081 total pages (2.758%) and 6 of 305 chapters (1.96%) to this issue. The differences between criminology and criminal justice texts were statistically significant. Qualitatively, the most common form of political crime to appear in introductory texts was international terrorism. Assassinations and government corruption …

Inside The Drug Trade: Trafficking From The Dealer's Perspective, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

Over the past decade drug laws have increased in number and in punishment severity. Prison sentences for drug trafficking have increased in length and greater numbers of individuals have been incarcerated for violating new, "get tough" drug policies. Yet, we know little about once-active drug traffickers who presently receive longer prison sentences than at any time previously. We know little about their trafficking networks, their modes of connecting with buyers and sellers of drugs, and how their drug use contributes to their dealing. To address these issues, a sample of incarcerated drug traffickers was selected and interviewed. The major findings …

Film At Eleven: Recent Developments In The Commodification Of Crime, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

Recent increases in the number of crime-related commodities (e.g., burglar alarms, security systems, private security forces, and crime-related television news programs) are critically examined in relation to mildly fluctuating national crime rates. Increasing sales of crime-related and target-hardening products during the time when crime oscillated only slightly are explained as capitalism's ability to create commodities from both social problems and unfounded needs. Using secondary data, I describe these crime trends and the consumption of crime-prevention goods. Although the media apparently contributed to increasing concerns about victimization while crime was fairly stable, the process of commodity exchange for crime goods is …

Political Pressures And Influences On Police Executives: A Descriptive Analysis., Kenneth Tunnell, Larry Gaines

Kenneth Tunnell

A study seeks to determine the degree, location and impact of political interference or pressure exerted on police chief executives by public and private officials. Questionnaire data were gathered from 115 Kentucky police chiefs in 1989. Respondents reported having to cope with varying levels of political pressure and interference, some legitimate and some illegitimate. Pressure was exerted in the following areas: (1) hiring officers; (2) promoting or demoting officers; (3) arresting offenders or enforcing specific laws; (4) making unnecessary changes in personnel assignments, such as transfers to and from specialized units; and (5) providing special or unusual services to individuals …

99 Years Is Almost For Life: Punishment For Violent Crime In Bluegrass Music, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

The roots of Southern American music are located in the music of the eighteenth-century English, Irish and lowland Scots who migrated to North America. As they settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Cumberland Gap of Appalachia, they brought their songs that had been a part of their oral histories and cultures for at least two centuries. The commonly shared ways of life and social class among Appalachian mountain-dwellers not only inform about the early formative stages of bluegrass music but its growing popularity. As bluegrass music was removed from its insular setting and exposed to a wide variety …

Choosing Crime: The Criminal Calculus Of Property Offenders, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

How people make decisions to commit criminal acts is a growing area of research and theory. This area of criminology is usually labeled "rational choice".

Sexually Aggressive Murder: A Case Study, Kenneth Tunnell, Terry Cox

Kenneth Tunnell

This paper, from research of a larger qualitative case study, describes a random abduction and murder that involved both sexual and aggressive components. The social-psychological and psychiatric history of the of fender and the interactive effects associated with the murder episode are described. This study reveals the complexities of a capital case involving an offender with overt psychiatric and psychological disorders. Further more, we demonstrate the complexity of a capital case with the components of sex and aggression and situate this offender as one who potentially could have become a serial murderer.

DOI: 10.1177/104398629100700404

Choosing Crime: Close Your Eyes And Take Your Chances, Kenneth Tunnell

Kenneth Tunnell

A study examines the failure of punishment to deter repeat offenders. Data were obtained from interviews with 60 incarcerated repeat property offenders. The most common responses explaining the lack of deterrent effects on their actions were: (1) They thought they would not get caught. (2) They thought that if they were caught they would be incapacitated for a relatively short time. (3) They considered prison a nonthreatening environment.