兔子先生传媒文化作品 researcher Lori Peek emphasizes that the impact of natural disasters can be multiplicative

Six-year-old Samantha鈥檚 new ballet slippers, ready for her first dance class, sat untouched as Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in 2005. Five years later, another disaster鈥攖he Deepwater Horizon oil spill鈥攃ompounded her family鈥檚 challenges.

鈥淟osing everything and having to start over, that has happened to me so many times, it just feels like I lost my childhood,鈥� she reflected when talking with Lori Peek, University of Colorado Boulder Department of Sociology professor.

Stories like Samantha鈥檚 illuminate a deeper truth: The harm caused by disasters doesn鈥檛 fade when the news cycle moves on. Hers is one of many stories Peek has heard while conducting research for more than a decade in the Gulf Coast region.

Peek, who also serves as director of 兔子先生传媒文化作品鈥檚 , has dedicated her career to understanding how disasters shape the lives of children and families.

Out of the spotlight, families across the country are fighting against systemic challenges, emotional tolls and inadequate support to get their lives back on track. Peek鈥檚 research focuses not just on immediate devastation, but also on the long road to recovery that so many disaster survivors must travel.

The compounding effects of disaster

Most natural hazards leave visible scars when they sweep across a landscape鈥攆looded homes, shattered schools and shuttered businesses. Peek鈥檚 ethnographic approach reveals the experiences of people and the hidden struggles they face while navigating the aftermath of major disasters.

Her long-term, collaborative research along the Gulf Coast, recently highlighted in a Journal of Child and Family Studies article titled 鈥�,鈥� underscores how compounded disasters can upend entire communities for decades.

鈥淥ne disaster can obviously wreak havoc on a young person鈥檚 life,鈥� Peek explains. 鈥淏ut now we are living in an age of extremes, where families and communities may be affected by multiple disasters in a relatively short period.

鈥淭he impact of these events isn鈥檛 additive鈥攊t鈥檚 multiplicative.鈥�

Peek鈥檚 longitudinal study of Gulf Coast children illustrated this phenomenon. After , countless families were just beginning to rebuild their lives when the Deepwater Horizon spill once again devastated local economies and ecosystems.

Children like Samantha, Peek notes, are particularly vulnerable in such contexts. They absorb not only the immediate chaos of a disaster but also the long-term stress of financial insecurity, familial upheaval, displacement and disrupted support systems.

Peek and her co-authors use the term 鈥渢oxic stress鈥� to describe this chronic strain. Its effects can lead to serious health and developmental challenges that persist for years鈥攐r a lifetime.

Samantha鈥檚 story isn鈥檛 isolated. Rather, it鈥檚 one of many narratives underscoring the profound sense of loss that lingers long after the immediate crisis concludes.

Peek believes these stories must be heard and addressed if communities and families are to build resilience against future disasters.

鈥淯ntil relatively recently, the recovery phase of disaster was the most understudied,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat started to change after Katrina. But now we are in a new era, where disasters are becoming more severe and intense, and communities are being hit more often.鈥�

This not only makes studying disasters more complicated, but it also can lead to recovery resources being averted just when they are needed most, she adds.

The role of support systems

Peek鈥檚 research emphasizes that recovering from a disaster cannot be an individual journey. Robust support systems are necessary. 

鈥淔or children to recover from disasters, they need support from their family members, peers, teachers and broader community. Strong institutions鈥攕uch as stable housing, quality health care and safe schools鈥攁re equally crucial,鈥� she says.

Yet many children lack these foundational supports even before disaster strikes, Peek notes. When a catastrophe does occur, it magnifies pre-existing inequalities, and vulnerable families often find themselves in even more precarious situations.

On the bright side, Peek says, 鈥渄isasters can be catalysts for change. But only if recovery funding is targeted toward the people and places that need it most.鈥�

A call to action

Peek鈥檚 findings highlight the imperative to ensure that recovery efforts reduce inequalities both before and after disasters occur. She co-created a Gulf Coast-based youth empowerment program called that was designed to make such fundamental changes in the lives of youth and their communities.

By bringing together policymakers, educators and community leaders, Peek aims to create frameworks that protect communities before the next disaster strikes.

She also emphasizes the importance of not just studying disaster recovery but acting before communities are devastated by the next hurricane, flood or wildfire. To achieve this, Peek advocates for policies that prioritize equity and resilience, emphasizing the need for long-term planning and cross-sector collaboration.

"One disaster can obviously wreak havoc on a young person鈥檚 life. But now we are living in an age of extremes, where families and communities may be affected by multiple disasters in a relatively short period."

鈥淩ecovery frameworks are still designed as if a single disaster is affecting a place, and as if recovery is occurring in a neat, stepwise fashion. That鈥檚 simply not the reality.鈥� 

Through her work, Peek hopes to reshape how communities and policymakers approach disaster recovery. As Samantha鈥檚 story reminds us, disasters leave marks that linger far beyond the headlines. The disruption of her childhood dreams reveals a profound need for systems that protect society鈥檚 most vulnerable.

With the right support, Peek notes, children like Samantha can regain their footing and even thrive in the aftermath of disaster.

Peek鈥檚 vision for the future鈥攐ne where no child鈥檚 dreams are washed away by hurricanes or tarnished by oil spills鈥� enters on resilient communities safeguarded by robust support systems and programs that address systemic issues rooted in poverty and racial inequality.

鈥淚f we can use the small windows for change opened by disasters to make progress in reducing鈥攔ather than exacerbating鈥攊nequality and suffering, that would be a real win for current and future generations.鈥�

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Nepal鈥檚 revamped truth commissions will need to go beyond 鈥榬itualism鈥� to deliver justice to civil war victims

Nepal鈥檚 attempt to deliver justice and accountability following the country鈥檚  froze more than two years ago with little progress鈥攂ut a recent development has raised hopes that it could soon be revived and revamped.

In August 2024, the country鈥檚  that sets the stage for appointing a third 鈥攁nd hopefully final鈥攔ound of truth commissions to carry out investigations into the  that have been collecting dust since the last commissions ended in July 2022.

The two main bodies involved鈥攖he  and the 鈥攚ere created by Nepal鈥檚 government in 2015 to deal with crimes that were committed during Nepal鈥檚 conflict, commonly .鈥�

Tracy Fehr (right, with a woman living in Gorkha, Nepal) is a PhD student in the 兔子先生传媒文化作品 Department of Sociology who researches Nepal's transitional justice process. (Photo: Tracy Fehr)

In 1996, Maoist rebels began an insurgency against the Nepali government in western Nepal that escalated into a 10-year civil war across the country. According to , the conflict resulted in the deaths of 13,000, with 1,300 people still missing and an unknown number of torture and conflict-related sexual violence victims.

The People鈥檚 War ended with the signing of the  that, among other obligations, required the Nepal government to create a high-level truth commission.

To date, the commissions have completed two rounds. The first, which collected the majority of the victim cases, began with a two-year mandate in 2015 that the government extended by an additional year three times. The second round, mandated from 2020 to 2022, was shut down for months due to COVID-19.

The commissions were tasked with three main objectives: to reveal the truth about gross human rights violations; to create an environment of peace, trust and reconciliation; and to make legal recommendations for victim reparations and perpetrators from the conflict.

However, despite seven years of work, little progress toward any of these objectives has been made. No case investigations have been completed, no perpetrators have been held accountable, and no victim reparations have been distributed. Reconciliation in a country that still bears the scars of conflict remains a distant thought.

From 2022 to 2023, I conducted research in Nepal about the country鈥檚 transitional justice process. During my research, I heard people refer to Nepal鈥檚 prolonged process as 鈥渁 judicial merry-go-round,鈥� 鈥淕roundhog Day鈥� and 鈥�.鈥�

Many Nepali people I spoke to believe that the government has strategically prolonged the transitional justice process to avoid accountability, hoping that people will eventually tire of the process and forget. Indeed, a heavy cloud of hopelessness and frustration had settled over the commissions as legal and resource limitations and political biases plagued the first two rounds, severely slowing progress and impairing the commissions鈥� functionality and local trust.

Justice 鈥榓djourned鈥�

In 2022, I interviewed a conflict victim in the rolling hills of Rolpa, in the country鈥檚 west, where . She had submitted her case to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission seven years before but had heard nothing since. 鈥淚n a way, our complaints are in adjournment,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey have not ended, yet they are not being forwarded either.鈥�

She was one of approximately  who officially submitted a case of conflict-related sexual violence to the TRC.

A woman looks over the village of Thabang, Rolpa, Nepal. (Photo: Tracy Fehr)

However, a former truth commissioner told me that this number may be as high as 1,000 because some victims of sexual violence submitted their case as 鈥渢orture鈥� to distance themselves from the stigma and shame often associated with sexual violence in Nepal.

I also met leaders at several women鈥檚 organizations who have documented thousands of cases of conflict-related sexual violence in Nepal, but they have not yet submitted these cases to the TRC due to ongoing concerns of confidentiality and trust.

The lack of progress by Nepal鈥檚 truth commissions suggests that they are being used to carry out what I refer to as 鈥渢ransitional justice ritualism鈥濃�攖he act of a state creating hollow institutions designed without the support to produce actual consequences.

As part of this transitional justice ritualism, I believe that Nepal鈥檚 post-conflict coalition government has, up to this point, been using the truth commissions as a political tool to show the international community that it is upholding its obligations under the  and to avoid 鈥攖hat is, the international legal principal that allows other nations to prosecute individuals for serious human rights violations regardless of where the crimes took place.

The threat of universal jurisdiction has been a particular concern for alleged perpetrators in Nepal since 2013 when Colonel Kumar Lama, a former Royal Nepal Army commander during Nepal鈥檚 conflict, was apprehended in the United Kingdom on charges of torture and war crimes. While Lama was , the threat of universal jurisdiction for war crimes perpetrators in Nepal  for those in positions of power during the civil war.

A contested step forward

But a  and the passing of the new law, which amended the , mark an opportunity for the government to move beyond transitional justice lip service.

Under the amended law, a third round of appointed commissioners will operate for a period of four years 鈥� hopefully enough time to complete their unaccomplished mandates. A government committee is  new truth commissioners before the country鈥檚 major holiday Dashain in October 2024. The amended act also provides for creating specialized subunits within the TRC鈥攃oncerning truth-seeking and investigations, reparations, sexual violence and rape, and victims coordination鈥攖hat could potentially improve the streamlining of resources and move some of these stalled parts of the commissions forward.

Maoist victims protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2023. (Photo: Tracy Fehr)

Nonetheless, hope has been tempered by apprehension and uncertainty. Some , while  provisions they argue could undermine justice, especially by protecting perpetrators with decreased sentencing.

 have recognized positive and long-awaited amendments to the existing law, but also warn of serious accountability gaps that could undermine the transitional justice process.

U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker T眉rk  revised law was 鈥渁n important step forward鈥� but added: 鈥淚t is imperative that the legislation is interpreted and implemented in a manner that upholds victims鈥� rights, including to truth, justice and reparations, and that guarantees accountability in full compliance with international human rights standards.鈥�

Potential for international support

Although it seems the transitional justice process will still be Nepali-led, doors may be opening for international support in the form of financial or technical assistance鈥攎arking a significant shift in the process.

The 鈥� to finance the investigations process and victim reparations that will be supported by the Nepali government and is open to contributions from other national and international organizations.

Sushil Pyakurel, a former member of Nepal鈥檚 National Human Rights Commission, is among a group of human rights defenders, lawyers and victims establishing a civil monitoring committee to serve as a watchdog for the revived process. Pyakurel stressed the need for Nepali civil society, alongside the international community, to pressure the government to fulfill its promises of a victim-centric implementation.

鈥淵ou can make whatever law you want, but it is how you implement it that really matters,鈥� Pyakurel told me. 鈥淎lthough the law is different, if the mentality remains the same, then nothing will change.鈥�

The revival of Nepal鈥檚 truth commissions provides the government a chance to demonstrate a commitment to a transparent and legitimate process. But I believe it must move beyond the transitional justice ritualism of the previous two commissions to actually provide justice and acknowledgment for the country鈥檚 civil war victims.

Top image: A Nepali man looks at photographs of people 'disappeared' during Nepal's civil war in Kathmandu Aug. 30, 2017. (Photo: Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Tracy Fehr is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the .

This article is republished from  under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

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In new book, 兔子先生传媒文化作品 researcher Liam Downey argues that different forms of violence produce both consent to the social order and divisions among subordinate social groups, which helps to maintain the power and wealth of economic and political elites

Violence in America causes incalculable suffering, but it also supports the nation鈥檚 social order and helps the country鈥檚 elites maintain their control, argues Liam Downey, a University of Colorado Boulder associate professor of sociology.

Downey makes this case in a new book, , published in October by NYU Press.

In the work, Downey examines several kinds of violence: sexual and sexualized violence against women and police and political violence against Black people. He contends that these and other types of violence bolster the social order and preserve the power of elites.

兔子先生传媒文化作品 sociologist Liam Downey argues that violence in America causes incalculable suffering, but it also supports the nation鈥檚 social order and helps the country鈥檚 elites maintain their control.

Downey notes that the United States sees itself differently鈥攁s inherently peace-loving, harming others and resorting to violence only when absolutely necessary, 鈥渙ften in the name of freedom, human rights and democracy, and only when provoked or threatened by external enemies or deviant populations within its borders.鈥�

On the contrary, he contends, U.S. social order is buttressed and maintained by violence. Further, he writes, 鈥渦nless we believe that humans鈥� primary trait is a propensity for violence and that violence does not harm the psyches of those who engage in it and are victims of it, then relying on extremely high and sustained levels of violence to maintain our lifestyles and social order is alien to our innate humanity.鈥�

The role of violence

His analysis expands upon existing research and builds from his definitions of 鈥渧iolence鈥� and 鈥渟ocial order.鈥� Downey defines 鈥渧iolence鈥� as 鈥渁ny action, inaction or property of the social structure that severely harms an individual, community or society, either physically, emotionally or psychologically.鈥�

Downey underscores his interest in the role violence plays in producing a social order that benefits elites鈥攖hose who have the greatest influence in economic power networks, political power networks, military power networks and ideological power networks.

He defines 鈥渟ocial order鈥� as existing when social relations are 鈥渟table enough within that society that elites can regularly (though not necessarily always) achieve their goals and maintain or increase their advantaged position within society.鈥�

鈥淵ou can think of a social order as a set of economic, political, social and cultural rules and relationships. And these rules and relationships and the institutions that create them can produce more or less equal and violent outcomes,鈥� Downey says.

鈥淲hat I鈥檓 arguing and what the evidence demonstrates is that, along these different dimensions (economic, political etc.), we have very high levels of inequality in this country, and this inequality benefits certain groups,鈥� he adds, noting, for instance, that men benefit from patriarchy and whites benefit from racism.

鈥淏ut you also have a set of economic and political elites who benefit from the entire social order. 鈥� So, while men benefit from patriarchy, many men are poor. Many belong to the working class. Many are unemployed. They鈥檙e not benefitting from capitalism,鈥� Downey says.

鈥淓lites benefit from all these systems.鈥�

Liam Downey's The Violent Underpinnings of American Life examines several kinds of violence and how they and other types of violence bolster the social order and preserve the power of elites.

Gaining some benefit

Downey notes that some might wonder why subordinate groups accept a social order that harms them. One argument is that many subordinate groups consent to the social order because they gain some benefit from that order that leads them to ignore or accept the harm they experience.

Men, for instance, derive an emotional and psychological benefit from the highly sexualized and violent portrayal of women in the media. 鈥淎nd that helps non-elite men to accept the social order.鈥�

About sexual harassment and rape, which are extremely widespread in the United States, he adds, 鈥淭hese forms of violence reinforce patriarchal discourses that say, 鈥榃omen are of the body and men are of the mind and women are there to be used and objectified by men.鈥� These and other forms of violence against women also reinforce patriarchal discourses that say that women are emotional, irrational and unable to control themselves.鈥�

But, Downey points out, violence against women also reinforces 鈥渃apitalist and racist discourses that make the same arguments about working people and racial and ethnic minorities. So, when you reinforce patriarchal discourses through sexual and sexualized violence, you also reinforce capitalist and racist discourses and therefore the overall social order that these discourses justify, thereby benefitting not just men and Whites but elites, too.鈥�

Downey鈥檚 book also cites research about the extremely high prevalence of police violence against African Americans, arguing that that violence helps to reduce competition between them and White people. 鈥淚t makes it more difficult for Black people who have gone through the criminal justice system to get good jobs,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd for their children to do well in school due to lack of resources and the emotional and psychological difficulties faced by young people who have a parent in prison,鈥� adding:

鈥淭his means that many African Americans have difficulty competing with Whites for jobs and for higher-priced housing in neighborhoods with quality schools. White people benefit materially and socially from this reduced competition, leading them to support the social order more than they otherwise might.鈥�

He further notes that police violence against African Americans is 鈥渏ustified by a whole set of violent and racist political discourses that denigrate Black people and elevate White people, that say that the former are inferior in some ways, and the latter are superior.鈥�

鈥淚f White people think they鈥檙e superior, that鈥檚 a psychological benefit that increases their support of the social order. Moreover, violence against women does the same thing: it both benefits men and reinforces discourses that say that men are superior, and women are inferior.鈥�

鈥楩ully and equally human鈥�

Another way that violence supports social order is that it divides groups, Downey says. 鈥淲hite people and Black people are divided over the issue of police violence, for example, and in fact, many Whites are divided over this issue, too.鈥�

 

It is thus in the long-term interests of the vast majority of the world鈥檚 people to eradicate violence and to treat every person and group in the world as if they are what they truly are: fully and equally human, deserving of human rights and dignity, full and healthy lives, and the chance to develop their abilities, talents and creativity to their fullest.鈥�

 

So why would that matter? 鈥淲hen subordinate groups are divided, they have less power to challenge elites,鈥� Downey observes. 鈥淪o, creating divisions between African Americans and Whites, and between different groups of White people, makes it harder for these groups to achieve common goals and to weaken elite power, thereby promoting overall social order.鈥�

Similarly, men and women are divided through sexual and sexualized violence, 鈥渕aking it harder for them to work together to challenge the elite-driven social order.鈥�

In the end, Downey contends, 鈥渨e live in a world and society that depend fundamentally on violent harm being done to others and, in many cases, to ourselves.鈥� Further, he says, 鈥渧iolence is not solely a characteristic of subordinate groups and the deviant but is instead a key property of the U.S. and global social systems that helps elites oppress and exploit non-elites both in this country and around the world.鈥�

Downey concludes: 鈥淚t is thus in the long-term interests of the vast majority of the world鈥檚 people to eradicate violence and to treat every person and group in the world as if they are what they truly are: fully and equally human, deserving of human rights and dignity, full and healthy lives, and the chance to develop their abilities, talents and creativity to their fullest.

鈥淭reating people in this way is, of course, also the morally correct thing to do. It is thus time that we start doing it.鈥�

Top image: Kerem Yucel/AFP/Getty Images

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Research from 兔子先生传媒文化作品 sociology professor shows that for many prisoners, gang affiliation tends to drop off once they are released back into their communities

Nearly everyone who enters prison in the United States eventually leaves. In fact, every year about 600,000 people are released from federal and state prisons, according to

Meanwhile, other data suggest that nearly 20% of the prison population belongs to a gang, which prompts the question: Do prisoners who are gang members maintain their gang affiliations after being released?

Perhaps surprisingly, there has been very little empirical research into that topic until now, according to David C Pyrooz, a University of Colorado Boulder professor of sociology whose research focus includes gangs, incarceration and reentry, and criminal justice policy and practice.

David C Pyrooz, a University of Colorado Boulder professor of sociology, researches gangs, incarceration and reentry, as well as criminal justice policy and practice.

鈥淚n terms of gangs, it鈥檚 a harder topic to study,鈥� he explains. 鈥淔or one, there鈥檚 a lot of sensitivity around it. Information about gangs is generally treated as intelligence in the sense that it鈥檚 privileged information that law enforcement and correctional agencies don鈥檛 necessarily want to share with the general public.鈥�

Additionally, tracking an inmate after their release can be challenging because, as Pyrooz notes, 鈥渇ormer prisoners often live chaotic lives. Once they鈥檙e out, they鈥檙e worried about food insecurity, about family reunification, about jobs, about housing and all these other things. So, it鈥檚 a tough population to study. Research obviously ranks low on their list of priorities.鈥�

Convinced there was value in knowing whether people maintained their gang ties once released back into their communities, Pyrooz and his fellow researchers conducted a survey of 802 men in Texas prisons鈥攔epresenting a mix of active gang members, ex-gang members and non-gang members鈥攚ho were interviewed once prior to their release and reinterviewed twice afterward. were published in Justice Quarterly, the flagship publication of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

The study findings showed that gang activity declined for all three groups鈥攊ncluding active gang members鈥攁s the pressure to maintain gang involvement subsides, contrary to what some speculation and anecdotes would indicate, Pyrooz says.

While some active gang members do maintain their involvement after being released, 鈥渋t simply doesn鈥檛 occur in a manner that we expected鈥攊t鈥檚 not like it鈥檚 a straight line from the prison to the street. There鈥檚 something specific to the prison environment that gives rise to this sort of excess gang activity,鈥� he says.

Pyrooz recently spoke with Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine about this research. His responses have been lightly edited for style and condensed for space considerations.

Question: Why did you choose to focus on Texas prisons for your study?

Pyrooz: It鈥檚 the largest state prison system in the country. It鈥檚 large and it鈥檚 diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. The prison population is about a third Black, a third white and a third Hispanic. So, it gives a good racial ethnic representation. 鈥�

And it鈥檚 got a large gang population as well. There鈥檚 a large number of white, Black and Hispanic gangs with a lot of variation in how they鈥檙e organized and structured, which gives us an opportunity to examine whether patterns of behavior are consistent across gang types.

Question: Do you have thoughts about why prisoners were open to speaking with you, particularly when sharing details about gang activity?

Pyrooz: There was the longstanding belief going into the study that prisoners would not be open to speaking with researchers, much less telling the truth. In fact, it鈥檚 one of the major reasons that people have offered us to as to why we don鈥檛 know a lot about prison gangs, even setting aside the reentry issue.

Every year, nearly 600,000 men and women are released from state and federal prisons. Up until now, little empirical research has been done on whether prisoners who are active gang members maintain their gang affiliations after they are released. (Photo: Tom Pennington/Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

So, we treated the prison interview like an exit interview, in the sense that we tried to target a period of time where we thought ties to gangs 鈥� could be waning, such that gangs couldn鈥檛 exercise as much influence over a prisoner 鈥� as much (because prisoners are removed from the general population prior to their release). Interviewing prisoners about 48 hours prior to their release is something that we targeted. That was strategic. 鈥�

As to why they spoke with us, we鈥檙e a neutral party. It鈥檚 not like speaking with a correctional officer, where incriminating information might be used against them. It鈥檚 not like a girlfriend who is making decisions about whether she wants to stay with you, an estranged child or anything of that sort with incredible emotional baggage.

There鈥檚 no past history between us and the person. It鈥檚 like a blank slate. So, it just gives them the opportunity to be able to reflect on things that they felt comfortable sharing with us.

There were times during interviews where prisoners would say, 鈥業 haven't told anybody about this in the entire time I鈥檝e been incarcerated. It felt great to just get it off of my chest to talk to someone.鈥�

Not everybody was like that. There were some interviews that were difficult.

Question: In your paper you say, 鈥楴ot all gang members are created equal.鈥� What do you mean by that? Does it relate to what you refer to in your paper as 鈥榞ang embeddedness鈥�?

Pyrooz: A lot of people have this black or white view of, you鈥檙e a gang member or not. But that doesn鈥檛 really tell the full picture; it doesn鈥檛 really capture the different dimensions of involvement鈥�

Gang embeddedness captures immersion in gangs. In the same way that you could differentiate people who are really religious鈥攖hey鈥檙e going to church more than one time a week, they鈥檙e praying at home and they may be a church volunteer for church activities. In contrast, you have people who are sort of the Christmas and Easter crowd, or agnostic or completely atheists. These two groups aren鈥檛 the same, and there are many shades of gray between them.

There鈥檚 a belief that, just like you give religion importance, you give the gang importance, and just like people fall away from the church, people fall away from gangs.

Question: As part of your research, your team interviewed prisoners once while in prison and two separate times after their release. Why was that format important?

Pyrooz: We really wanted to get a first interview while they were inside of prison. We wanted to understand, while they were in that environment, what they were thinking.

But we also wanted to understand, for continuity and change, what spills over from the inside to the outside, versus what stays inside. So, what鈥檚 sort of this remnant of their past life, of being an incarcerated person, versus returning back to the community. 鈥�

That鈥檚 what we really were trying to understand, and then to differentiate between, the short-term changes, like within a couple of weeks of getting out, versus how did you start to settle in your life 10 months later? And what percent of them went back to prison, got arrested or were killed after their release?

Question: How does this latest paper on gang involvement in and out of prison fit in with your overall areas of research?

Pyrooz: I鈥檝e been studying gangs for upwards of 15 years, focused on the contours of gang involvement: when people join, how long they stay, when they leave and what the long-term consequences are.

There was this longstanding perception that once you join a gang, you can never get out of these groups鈥攚hich is a myth. Since I鈥檝e been doing my research, we鈥檝e found that not only does it happen, but that鈥檚 the norm鈥攁s opposed to the exception鈥攖hat people do leave.

I took my first job out of grad school at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, which is known colloquially as Prison City, USA, because there鈥檚 so many prisons within not just the city limits, but within Walker County, Texas, including one that was just about two blocks from my office.

 

There was this longstanding perception that once you join a gang, you can never get out of these groups鈥攚hich is a myth. Since I鈥檝e been doing my research, we鈥檝e found that not only does it happen, but that鈥檚 the norm鈥攁s opposed to the exception鈥攖hat people do leave."

 

And not only is that where the state conducts all of the executions, but it鈥檚 also one of the major (prisoner) release centers in the state of Texas. So, continuing with the theme on continuity and change, prisons represent this next frontier to understand whether these gang associations spill out of the prisons to the street and also, when these transitions occur, are (ex-prisoners) able to leave these associations behind when they return to the community?

It fits within a broader agenda of focusing on gangs, but also on this broader criminological interest in continuity and change in the life course.

Question: What can corrections officials and law enforcement gain from your latest research, both as it relates to felons while still in prison and once they are released?

Pyrooz: To me, what it suggests right off the bat is that the prison systems need to do something about gangs in their institutions. And by do something, I鈥檓 not just talking about housing them differently, akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. 鈥� I鈥檓 talking about actual prevention and actual intervention. In other words, blocking the onramps and widening the offramps to gang involvement. Housing might be a part of it, but it could also be work programs; it could be therapeutic interventions; it could be religion; it could be a whole host of different things that are done to keep people occupied, to change mindsets and to alter risks and threats to their livelihoods.

Given that prisons are operating as this vector of gang activity, (prison administrators) need to be doing something more than just business as usual, because that certainly hasn鈥檛 put a dent in the activity or the violence behind bars. 鈥�

You want to keep (prisoners) occupied, versus stewing and getting into trouble. It鈥檚 like the saying, 鈥業dle hands are the devil鈥檚 workshop.鈥� And behind bars, there鈥檚 a lot of idle hands. 鈥�

Once people are released, one factor that can determine gang involvement is if they go back to a gang-active neighborhood. If they do, they are more likely to be gang active. So, there鈥檚 a lot of practical relevance here that matters for parole officers and anyone involved with the supervision of people after their release.

Question: Is there anything else from your research that you would like to share?

Pyrooz: I think that for a lot of people, when it comes to prisoners, they鈥檙e sort of out of sight, out of mind. They may not have a lot of concern for people who are behind bars, in part because they believe that they鈥檝e earned that prison sentence.

But when you really start thinking about the fact that (ex-prisoners) do return home鈥攁nd we don鈥檛 want them to go back to prison鈥攊t really starts reshaping the public鈥檚 calculus with regard to the sort of humanity afforded to people in prisons.

And once you realize that they can be your neighbors, that they could go to your church and work similar jobs, for most people, it starts to give you a different meaning behind imprisonment. What are we willing and what aren鈥檛 we willing to do? And just how much we care about what happens to these people in prisons?

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The new edition of 兔子先生传媒文化作品 Professor Jill Turanovic鈥檚 book explains how and why victimization happens, as well as what can be done about it

Understanding why crime happens and how to prevent it depends on taking into account both victims and offenders, including their behaviors and decisions, and the factors that lead to increased vulnerability.

This is one of the themes highlighted in the recently released second edition of Thinking About Victimization by Jillian Turanovic, a University of Colorado Boulder associate professor of sociology, and University of Cincinnati fellow Travis Pratt. In it, they explore victimization and its study in detail, addressing how victimization is measured, the theories explaining victimization, why crime is committed, how to respond to it and myths about particular types of crime and victimization.

Measuring victimization

One of the most basic issues facing the study of crime and victimization is getting accurate data, Turanovic says. For example, police reports only tell part of the story, because only a fraction of all crimes are reported to police.

兔子先生传媒文化作品 researcher Jillian Turanovic, an associate professor of sociology, studies victimization and why crime happens.

To more accurately gauge the true amount of crime happening in society, researchers in the 1960s developed self-report victimization surveys. The prime source of survey data is the .

As NCVS data came out, the so-called 鈥渄ark figure鈥� of crime was revealed: Nearly twice as much crime is committed than is reported by official sources.

鈥淲e are able to capture more victimization through self-report surveys than we can capture through official police records鈥攅specially for crimes like sexual assault and intimate partner violence,鈥� Turanovic says. Rape and sexual assault are less often reported to the police than any other crime, with just 21.5% of incidents recorded by the NCVS also reported to the police, according to a figure from the book. This speaks to several factors that stop people from reporting crimes: shame, fear of retaliation, and hesitance to involve law enforcement.

Even for less serious crimes, people may hesitate to involve law enforcement, which is why only 26.1% of petty thefts are reported. In many cases, Turanovic explains, filing a police report does not seem worth the effort because of the low value of the stolen goods and the slim chance of their recovery.

Competing theories

Although national crime rates of the late 1960s were not especially high in comparison to those of the 鈥�80s and 鈥�90s, Turanovic says, most forms of crime were rapidly increasing during this period. This spurred theoretical development among academics, as criminologists had previously believed that crime would go down as economic conditions improved, as they did in America after World War II. To help explain why the United States could be both rich and crime ridden, criminologists developed two new theoretical frameworks to better understand the phenomenon: lifestyle and routine activity theories.

Lifestyle theory is based on observations of demographic trends鈥攏amely, that young men victimize others and are victimized most often. Behavioral differences are one explanation, according to Turanovic, as young males expose themselves to greater risk through their activities, the situations they enter and the people they associate with than either females or older males.

Routine activity theory was established to explain why people are victimized when they aren鈥檛 doing risky things. It is based on the idea that as certain routine activities increase over time in society, people鈥檚 risk for victimization also increases. For example, it was theorized that women increasingly participating in the labor force could lead to an increase in burglaries because it left more houses empty during the day.

Both theories have limitations, Turanovic says, so both must be applied to answer the fundamental questions of criminology and victimology.

Thinking About Victimization addresses how victimization is measured, the theories explaining victimization, why crime is committed, how to respond to it and myths about particular types of crime and victimization.

Why do people commit crimes?

鈥淎 well-established fact in criminology is that a small proportion of people engage in the majority of crimes,鈥� Turanovic says. more than half of all crimes are committed by less than a tenth of the population. Recognizing the characteristics of these habitual offenders is necessary for preventing crime on both the individual and systemic levels, she says, given that the former entails avoiding dangerous people and the latter involves restraining or rehabilitating them.

So, what do criminals tend to have in common? One answer is a lack of self-control, Turanovic says.

鈥淧eople with low self-control have a hard time thinking about the long-term consequences of their actions, and they tend to react impulsively in the moment without stopping to think if what they鈥檙e doing is the best,鈥� she says, adding that it鈥檚 not hard to see how this can lead to crime. For example, most people have wanted something that wasn鈥檛 theirs at one point, and the less self-control a person has, the easier it is for common feelings like this to turn into theft or another type of crime.

In keeping with the overlap between victim and victimizer seen in demographic trends, people with low self-control are also victimized more often, according to Turanovic. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like such individuals are choosing to be victimized,鈥� she explains, but 鈥減eople with low self-control have a hard time assessing risks around themselves.鈥�

However, Turanovic says, self-control is just one factor: 鈥淭here鈥檙e a lot of other environmental, cultural, and social factors that also play a role in why people are engaging in crime or are disproportionately likely to be victimized.鈥� Low self-control is 鈥渢ypically developed in youth who are subject to dysfunctional home environments,鈥� she says, and it 鈥渋s also found to be lower in socially disorganized, disadvantaged communities, so it鈥檚 important to also take into account those factors.鈥�

How can crimes be prevented?

Considering that people of a certain age are particularly likely to commit crimes, a simple response is to avoid giving them opportunities to offend.

There is another approach to decreasing crime that doesn鈥檛 involve avoiding risky people or contexts, however: capable guardianship. This can take the form of anything from security cameras to guards. Essentially, even if someone is in a risky situation, like a mall where people in their peak offending years congregate that is located in a state where the rate of shoplifting is high, establishing defenses against crime can thwart or even prevent it, Turanovic says.

鈥淔rom a situational crime prevention standpoint, if you assume that a crime is occurring because there are motivated offenders around suitable targets with a lack of capable guardianship, you can increase guardianship and reduce target attractiveness by making crime seem more difficult, more risky, and less rewarding,鈥� she explains. She adds that this is just one example of how the same theoretical framework and evidence base can lead to different conclusions.

Another is the broken windows theory.

鈥淏roken windows theory assumes that if there are visible signs of disorder in a community, it gives a signal to would-be offenders that no one cares, and so it鈥檚 acceptable to move into that community to start engaging in crime,鈥� Turanovic says. So, if a building鈥檚 windows have been broken and remain so for a while, for example, it may seem that breaking more windows, stealing from the building, or using it for some illicit purpose would be less risky.

Despite recognizing these important criminological facts, broken windows theory has fallen out of favor, along with the aggressive policing of disorder and minor offenses that it inspired. This is partly because of new evidence suggesting that people are not very afraid of small signs of disorder and partly because of negative reactions from affected communities.

 

To best prevent crime and understand why crime happens, you have to take into account the behaviors and decisions of both parties, and the factors that lead people to be in risky situations or situations where they鈥檙e more vulnerable."

 

鈥淭here seem to be a lot of consequences of broken windows policing,鈥� Turanovic explains. 鈥淚t erodes community trust and clogs the criminal justice process. Finding and arresting people for minor things can ultimately result in more consequences for them, disrupt prosocial aspects of their lives, and even increase their future likelihood of further contact with the criminal justice system,鈥� adding that such practices may also impact community collective efficacy.

鈥淐ollective efficacy is essentially this feeling of mutual responsibility to look out for each other and to take care of the community. When that breaks down and there is no real informal social control of youth or willingness to intervene if crime is happening, that鈥檚 when crime develops in the community,鈥� Turanovic says.

Myths and misconceptions

Aside from these theoretical and systematic considerations, people need to understand how different crimes typically happen to prevent victimization, Turanovic says, adding that the public鈥檚 perception of crime is often distorted by the news and entertainment media鈥檚 tendency to focus on particular sorts of incidents. Rape and sexual assault are major examples.

鈥淭his crime is most likely to occur between people who know each other, and often both parties are involved in some form of consensual interaction prior to the assault,鈥� Turanovic says. 鈥淓specially in the news and on crime shows, we see sexual assault typically depicted as a stranger attacking a woman, maybe in a dark alley alone at night. While that can happen, it does not reflect the majority of these kinds of crimes.鈥�

Popular concepts of school violence have also been biased by the media, she says: 鈥淪chool violence in general hasn鈥檛 actually been increasing at the rate that you may expect based on what you see on the news.鈥�

The idea that school violence is completely unique from other forms of violence is another misconception, Turanovic says, noting that 鈥渁 lot of violence that starts in the community bleeds into the school context.鈥�

Understanding why crime happens

Turanovic emphasizes that 鈥渢he study of crime is almost exclusively focused on offenders鈥� behaviors and decisions, and it leaves victims out of the equation a lot of the time. As the victimization literature developed, it became highly focused on the victim, the victim鈥檚 behaviors and their risk factors or vulnerability factors, and the offender鈥檚 side of things is left out.

鈥淭o best prevent crime and understand why crime happens, you have to take into account the behaviors and decisions of both parties, and the factors that lead people to be in risky situations or situations where they鈥檙e more vulnerable,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can better understand and study the situations and contexts by which victimization happens, and who鈥檚 most vulnerable, without engaging in victim blaming. Although broad social and cultural changes may be needed to eliminate crime, there are also things that we can learn or do in our daily lives that make it less likely that we may be targeted. It is important to keep in mind those things as well to best prevent victimization.鈥� 

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German historian Paul Nolte discusses what populist movements in the United States and Europe mean for liberal democracies during 兔子先生传媒文化作品 colloquium

Is democracy in crisis?

It鈥檚 a question Paul Nolte, an eminent German historian, has been ruminating on for more than a decade.

鈥淚鈥檝e been concerned with the history of democracy since about 2010. And it was about that time when (I had) the first idea that something was going in the wrong direction,鈥� Nolte noted Tuesday afternoon in a research colloquium titled 鈥淐risis or Transformation? From Good-old Democracy to Rough Democracy, ca. 1970-2020.鈥�

Nolte was the invited scholar for the event that was jointly organized by the University of Colorado Boulder Program in Jewish Studies, the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History and the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the . His visit was co-sponsored by the 兔子先生传媒文化作品 Center for Humanities and the Arts; the International Affairs Program; and the Departments of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, History and Sociology.

At a Tuesday colloquium, attendees listen to German historian Paul Nolte discuss the outlook for liberal democracy in the 21st century. (Photo: Bradley Worrell)

As one of Germany鈥檚 leading contemporary historians, Nolte holds a chair in modern history with a special emphasis on contemporary history and international relations at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of the Freie Universit盲t Berlin. His research areas include the social, intellectual and political history of the 18th to 20th centuries, especially post-1945 Germany and the United States as a transatlantic history of democracy.

During the colloquium, Nolte noted that while it鈥檚 not possible to predict the future, it seems unlikely that democracies will return to what some might call the 鈥済ood-old democracy鈥� days of the 1970s through 2020鈥攚hat could be called the Liberal Age for democracies in Europe and the United States.

鈥淭he good old times for many European countries, in which there were just three or four political parties, center left and center right 鈥� the classical Westminster model, they鈥檙e probably gone for good. It鈥檚 not a very likely expectation that this will return,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a broad understanding (among historians) that we鈥檝e entered a new period of history where things are not as they were in the 1970s.鈥�

Specifically noting democracy in the United States, Nolte cited the work of author Daniel Rogers, who wrote the 2011 book Age of Fracture, detailing the disintegration of shared American values.

鈥淭he (book) title speaks volumes,鈥� Nolte noted. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e in an age of fracture economically, and also in social rifts, and the old working class does not exist, why would we expect anything else for the state of democracy?鈥�

Nolte also said people need to understand previous developments in 鈥渞ough politics鈥� in Europe and the United States during the late 18th and 19th centuries and the 鈥渘ew roughness鈥� in recent years as politicians on both the political right and left have embraced populism. 

鈥淲ill we spend two more decades lamenting a persistent crisis, or even conjuring up the imminent downfall of democracy, somehow yearning for the good old days that never return?鈥� Nolte asked in a paper shared ahead of the colloquium. 鈥淥r will we take up the challenge, academically and politically, of democracy not being steady-state, but changing in larger historical contexts? Welcome, then, to the old-new rough democracy.鈥�

Top image: Paul Nolte (left) and Thomas Kaplan, the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History and interim director of the 兔子先生传媒文化作品 Program in Jewish Studies (Photo: Bradley Worrell) 

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Eminent German historian Paul Nolte will discuss whether the golden age of democracy is over or whether it can escape collapse and recover

One of Germany鈥檚 leading contemporary historians will present a research colloquium addressing the stage of crisis that liberal democracy has entered in the early 21st century鈥攁sking whether the golden age of democracy over and is on course for eventual collapse, or whether it can recover.

Historian will present the colloquium, titled 鈥淐risis or Transformation? From Good-old Democracy to Rough Democracy, ca. 1970-2020,鈥� which is jointly organized by the University of Colorado Boulder Program in Jewish Studies, the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History and the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the .

Historian Paul Nolte will discuss the crisis in liberal democracy at a research colloquium Tuesday.

It will be from 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) E422. To receive the pre-circulated text on which the discussions will be based, please RSVP by email to cujewishstudies@colorado.edu.

At 兔子先生传媒文化作品, the visit is co-sponsored by the Center for Humanities and the Arts; the International Affairs Program; and the Departments of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, History and Sociology.

As one of Germany鈥檚 leading contemporary historians, Nolte holds a chair in modern history with a special emphasis on contemporary history and international relations at the . His research areas include social, intellectual and political history of the 18th to 20th centuries, especially post-1945 Germany and the United States; transatlantic history of democracy; public intellectuals and social, economic and political concepts and mentalities; urban history and metropolitan cultures; religion and civil society in Western societies; and public history and cultures of memory. 

   What: Crisis or Transformation? From Good-old Democracy to Rough Democracy, ca. 1970-2020

  When: 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13

  Where: CASE E422

Nolte has written more than a dozen books and has served as a fellow or guest professor at Oxford University, Harvard University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Among his many transatlantic undertakings is chairing the academic advisory committee of the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, which brings American PhD candidates to Germany.

His colloquium will focus on the current state of crisis in which liberal democracy exists, when they are under attack from neo-authoritarian ideas, movements and regimes, externally as well as from within. He will address what a potential recovery could look like, asking, 鈥淲hat if we were not witnesses to a crisis of democracy, but rather to its transformation, with the current predicaments being the new normal?鈥�

Nolte will discuss how, from a historical point of view, 鈥減re-crisis鈥� democracy corresponded to social structures, cultural milieus and technological environments that will never return. Further, this longing often projects a relatively short period in the trajectory of democracy, participation and liberal society as an ideal state, while it was in itself full of shortcomings, rigid structures and privileges for the few.

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兔子先生传媒文化作品 PhD candidate Tracy Fehr鈥檚 research examines the intersecting identities limiting Nepali women鈥檚 access to disaster relief funds following the devastating 2015 earthquakes

The devastating 2015 earthquakes in Nepal affected nearly 30% of the country鈥檚 population, causing an estimated 9,000 deaths, displacing 2.8 million people and destroying or severely damaging more than 800,000 homes.

In the years following the disaster, entrenched cultural, political and economic inequalities and social practices meant post-disaster recovery did not happen uniformly among those affected. Nepal鈥檚 National Planning Commission even acknowledged in a 2015 report following the earthquakes that differentiated gender norms and divisions of labor for women in Nepal鈥攊ncluding a narrow asset base, the burden of domestic labor, limited access to economic resources and a lack of alternative livelihoods鈥攃ould lead to a longer and more difficult recovery.

For many widows, or single women, in Nepal鈥檚 mid-hill region, existing social stigmas were often exacerbated following the earthquakes.

兔子先生传媒文化作品 researcher Tracy Fehr (right) with a single woman who lives in Gorkha, Nepal.

However, by Tracy Fehr, a University of Colorado Boulder PhD candidate in sociology, shows that the complexities and contradictions of post-earthquake recovery for single women in Nepal is only part of the story. With more than 125 caste and indigenous nationality groups, Nepal is one of the most diverse countries on earth. And the widows鈥� experiences reflect that heterogeneity.

Despite housing reconstruction relief often being predicated on citizenship and property ownership, precluding many single women, the post-earthquake development context 鈥減rovided an opportunity to create local women鈥檚 centers that provided space for single women to unite in a collective identity, facilitating a shift of longstanding stigma and an emerging renegotiation of what it means to 鈥榖e a widow鈥� in Nepal,鈥� Fehr wrote.

Observing inequality

Following the devastating earthquakes in spring 2015, Fehr volunteered with (WHR), an non-governmental organization (NGO) helping single Nepali women鈥攊ncluding widows and women who are separated, divorced, are unmarried after the age of 35, or whose husbands are disappeared鈥攇ain socio-cultural, economic and political rights. The organization also provided post-disaster relief and support for single women across the country.

During her time in Nepal, Fehr observed how difficult it was for many single women to get relief funds. And she noticed that their access to resources often depended on the intersection of various aspects of their identities.

Motivated, in part, by what she learned and observed volunteering with WHR, Fehr returned to Nepal in 2018 as a graduate student and researcher to formally study how social factors intersect to inform Nepali widows鈥� post-earthquake experiences.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 this monolithic story of widows in Nepal as victimized and non-agentic,鈥� she says. But through 33 interviews and three focus groups, Fehr鈥檚 research told a different story鈥攐ne that was more nuanced and more accurate. 鈥淚n fact, each woman鈥檚 experience is dependent on so many different intersecting identities and social factors beyond marital status,鈥� she explains. 

Social factors influencing women鈥檚 experiences

In response to the earthquake鈥檚 widespread destruction, the government of Nepal created an 鈥渙wner-driven鈥� housing reconstruction (OHDR) program to offer financial assistance to those who had to rebuild their homes. Under the program, only Nepali people with citizenship and documentation of property ownership were eligible for assistance.

But while the law stipulates that widows have the right to their deceased husbands鈥� property, many women have found it difficult or impossible to take ownership of it鈥攚hich cut off their access to the government assistance that they desperately needed. 鈥淭here鈥檚 statutory law, which is what鈥檚 on the books, and then there鈥檚 customary law, which is what鈥檚 actually happening,鈥� says Fehr.

Factors like education and location played major roles in women鈥檚 access to relief resources. 鈥淓ducation allowed women to understand more about what their rights were and how to access them,鈥� Fehr says. Meanwhile, the farther women lived from the district center, the harder it was to access services. For example, government services and NGOs had difficulty reaching rural communities, which often lacked roads, says Fehr.

 

The hope is that with a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of legal and cultural forces on women鈥檚 lived experiences, government relief programs can become more effective and inclusive, now and into the future.鈥�

 

At the same time, Fehr found that women鈥檚 experience in the public sphere鈥攐r lack thereof鈥攁lso impacted their access to aid. Women who worked, whether as teachers, merchants, or manual laborers, were generally more comfortable navigating social spaces, a skill that helped them go through the appropriate channels to utilize relief funding.

Complicating matters further were women鈥檚 relationship with their in-laws, says Fehr. Because Nepali women typically live with their husband鈥檚 family, many widows were socially and financially dependent on their in-laws. Some experienced conflict with their in-laws in relinquishing the deceased husband鈥檚 property鈥攅specially if they were young enough to remarry. Meanwhile, many higher-caste families adhere to stricter gender norms, which in some cases made it more difficult, if not impossible, to assert their rights or challenge their in-laws for property, says Fehr.

Implications for children

While Nepali social norms have shifted significantly over the past two decades鈥攚omen can now inherit property without the consent of involvement of a male relative, and they can document their citizenship without requiring permission from a male鈥攖here is still progress to be made, Fehr says. 鈥淥ne of the most pressing concerns at the moment for single women is the legal right for Nepali women to confer citizenship to their children, which is a legal right for men in Nepal.鈥�

This issue came up in several interviews during her research, because citizenship will significantly affect access for single women鈥檚 children to future post-disaster relief and government services.

鈥淎lthough legal changes are slow to be reflected in day-to-day life, having laws in place does provide some legal and political leverage for single women,鈥� says Fehr. 鈥淭he hope is that with a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of legal and cultural forces on women鈥檚 lived experiences, government relief programs can become more effective and inclusive, now and into the future.鈥�

Top image and images below by Tracy Fehr

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兔子先生传媒文化作品 sociology instructor Laura Patterson details how feminism is influencing female roles in horror films, expanding them far beyond the 鈥榙amsel in distress鈥� trope

Halloween may be over, but it鈥檚 still not safe to return to Camp Crystal Lake.

Even as we put away the costumes and pack up the skeleton decorations, things are still going bump in the night. It鈥檚 a spooky time of year and a scary time to be at the movie theater, with It鈥檚 a Wonderful Knife opening last Friday and Thanksgiving opening Friday (don鈥檛 be fooled by the title鈥攊t involves a brutal murderer dressed as a pilgrim).

And what about the women in horror circa 2023? Are they still tripping through the woods in impractical shoes, screaming for the help that may or may not come? Whimpering behind flimsy doors and hoping to be saved by a man? Or has horror finally discovered feminism?

In recent years, the genre has become a place to explore feminist themes and redefine the roles of women within its narratives, revealing its potential to challenge, reinforce or even redefine traditional gender roles, says University of Colorado Boulder researcher Laura Patterson.

兔子先生传媒文化作品 sociology instructor Laura Patterson studies the sociology of horror and co-hosts a podcast focusing on the genre's sociological implications.

It is this potential that has fascinated Patterson, an instructor in the Department of Sociology who has long been interested in the sociology of horror. She even co-hosts a podcast examining the sociological implications of horror films called .

Patterson recently spoke with Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine about feminist tropes in horror movies, how female characters have evolved beyond screaming and crying for help and the recent uptick in feminist representation throughout the genre.

Question: What got you into horror movies?

Patterson: I've loved horror as far back as I can remember, but my favorite thing about horror films, and why I really like to watch them, is because it's an art form that's devoted to looking at how we as a collective navigate the worst parts of our lives. I think there's a need for a space to artistically express the worst things that happen to us.

We have plenty of movies about happy, wonderful things, but that doesn't do a whole lot to help us deal with the deepest, darkest things that we must face in our lives. Horror is a great place to play around with these ideas, and to give us some place for cultural conversation about some of the hardest stuff that we must face. Through looking at these issues, horror movies can do a really great job of making us feel empathy and realize what it's like for people going through situations that are very difficult.

On that same note, the visceral reaction that the genre evokes in us can be helpful for making moral arguments. If we watch something and we're aghast at what's happening on the screen, that can really be a good emotional place to come from if you're trying to have a conversation about actual injustice that鈥檚 happening in our society.

Question: Does this make horror movies controversial?

Patterson: Horror often skirts the boundaries of what we find acceptable to talk about. There鈥檚 this dual idea that we're aghast at seeing something, and yet at the same time it's a very real problem that we鈥檙e facing in our society, is what makes horror sit at an interesting place in being able to address those sensitive issues.

Rape-revenge is a really great example of a corner of the genre because it鈥檚 a very prevalent cultural problem that we face. In some cases, rape-revenge horror films can be done well and make strong moral arguments to try and shine a light on a situation that's negatively impacting our society on a vast scale, but it's also something that can be done as exploitation.

By digging into topics that are the types of things we like to tend to look away from in our society, there's a lot of room for very meaningful conversation, but there's also room for very harmful conversation as well.

Question: How has feminism influenced the evolution of female portrayal in horror?

Patterson: We can look at two female character tropes: the victim-turned-final-girl and the villain.

When you're looking at gender, according to , the character you're watching in the film doesn't cry and cower and run because they鈥檙e a woman鈥攂ut rather, because the character is going to cry and cower and run, that character is made a woman. Gender gets imposed in certain roles. If you're watching a film where you've got a victim and the victim is going to be fleeing the monster, our society is more comfortable seeing a woman in that role because we don't want to see a man crying and cowering and running.

If you look at some of the early final girls, such as Laurie Strode in Halloween, there's a very classic ending to that film in that she can't quite save herself. She's the last one standing; she鈥檚 fighting and taking on this monster but in the last second needs a man to step in to kill the villain.

When slasher films really started to emerge in the late 鈥�70s and early 鈥�80s, you see the final girl shift from that to someone who can save herself. She doesn't need a man to step in and save her. Carol Clover, who coined the notion of the final girl, made a point to say that the final girl is not some sort of feminist icon. The final girl came at a time when our society was ready to see a woman taking care of herself in film, and that is at least somewhat a result of feminist movements. To some extent, the final girl represents a society that鈥檚 able to see a woman as a self-savior.

Question: You mentioned women as villains; can feminism inform that role, too?

Patterson: I think the way that we villainize women is important to look at. Women tend to be villainized in horror films in very stereotypical ways that usually revolves around their sexuality, puberty or reproductive functioning.

Among the modern horror films influenced by feminsm are a growing number directed by female filmmakers.

You could think about something like Monster, where Charlize Theron plays a serial killer. It's done differently because you don't just take what would have been a male serial killer and put a woman there. I think that film presents her differently; it doesn't just recreate that old trope, but also, it's not this sort of monstrous feminine portrayal that we see.

On some level, you can look at female villains as some kind of feminist progress. At the same time, the way that's done, it's often been done very stereotypically and that reflects problematic aspects of the patriarchy. For more on this, see 鈥檚 notion of the monstrous feminine.

Question: Should people continue watching these movies that perpetuate a patriarchal perspective?

Patterson: I don't think it means we shouldn't watch them, but I think it means we should watch them with our eyes open. Horror films in general give us a space to talk about the bad things that are going on in our society. Horror serves, at some level, as a mirror; it reflects to us what our society thinks is good and bad, and how our society characterizes people as victims and villains. That can be useful to think about. If we look in that mirror and we see something that we don鈥檛 like鈥攚e see that monstrous feminine portrayal, or women being victimized in a way that feels like exploitation鈥擨 think that it鈥檚 important that we look at our society and think about how we could do this differently.

I think it can be problematic when these films are consumed without thought going into that, because this messaging is getting into your brain whether you鈥檙e paying attention to it or not. You鈥檝e got to be careful and think about what sort of messaging is being sent, and what does that say in the broader sense.

Oftentimes students in my class who don't like horror films but are interested in the topic, sometimes they come back to me and say that they鈥檙e no longer scared of the villain of the film but instead fear what the film is telling us about the society we live in.

Question: Now more than ever we've been seeing more filmmakers on the forefront of this feminist movement; what would be some names or recommendations of movies to keep an eye out for?

Patterson: Here鈥檚 a short list of recommendations for you:

Promising Young Woman鈥揈merald Fennell

Fresh鈥揗imi Cave

Black Christmas (2019)鈥揝ophia Takal

Swallow鈥揅arlo Mirabella-Davis

Unsane鈥揝teven Soderbergh

Raw鈥揓ulia Ducournau

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How PhD student Brigid Mark joined the fight for environmental justice after spending four years battling a pipeline that she says taints clean water, worsens climate change and erodes native treaty rights

In 2017, Brigid Mark felt an anger like she had never experienced before. 

She was at a U.N. climate conference in Bonn, Germany, listening to Pacific Islanders describe how sea-level rise threatened their islands and lives. 

She recalls Marshall Islands poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner reading her poem, called 鈥�,鈥� which places blame for rising sea levels on fossil fuel companies, explaining the dramatic cultural and physical losses of her island, and calling for action: 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 save this (island). But you鈥檝e gotta save the rest.鈥� 

鈥淚 felt angry at the injustice that, though the elite in the Global North are largely responsible for global climate emissions, the marginalized in the Global South are affected first and worst,鈥� says Mark, now a University of Colorado Boulder PhD student studying sociology. 鈥淚 felt inspired by Pacific Islands鈥� call to action.鈥� 

Top of page: Brigid Mark (right) joins friends at the Treaty People Gathering in Northern Minnesota in June 2021. Photo courtesy of Brigid Mark. Above: 兔子先生传媒文化作品 PhD student Mark (left) joins a protest at a Gichi-Gami gathering to stop Line 3 in September 2019. Photo courtesy of Brigid Mark.

Mark says she knew she needed an outlet for her anger. And she found it at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota. There, she joined a climate action club and took a class where a professor, Corrie Grosse, explained that the marginalized often lead the fight against environmental harms that disproportionately affect them. 

Grosse also introduced her to a movement resisting a tar sands pipeline, Line 3, right in her backyard. This pipeline carries more than 750,000 barrels of oil a day from the Alberta tar sands in Canada through northern Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin.  

鈥淚 care about the pipeline because Line 3 threatens clean water and worsens climate change,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut the reason I care the most is that it violates native treaty rights. The pipeline . . . crosses Anishinaabe treaty territory, jeopardizing their ability to exercise rights to hunt, fish and gather wild rice; a spill could demolish the parts of the land that hold cultural and material importance to Anishinaabe people.鈥�

Mark learned from Anishinaabe leaders that the movement against Line 3 is part of a continuing effort to confront colonization. 

鈥淲e prohibit this (pipeline) from going through our homelands. . . . We want to heal and live in peace; we want to create a better world. . . . The time is now to honor those treaties,鈥� Mark recalls Dawn Goodwin, an Anishinaabe leader, explaining. 鈥淥ur Earth cannot take any more. This (pipeline) is a risk for spills, and, we all know, water is life.鈥�

Inspired, Mark joined the Minnesota chapter of 350.org, a climate-justice nonprofit, and began collaborating with many others to organize resistance events against Line 3, some attended by nearly 2,500 people. She also co-published an article on the pipeline鈥檚 injustices in an international journal.  

Mark attributes much of her passion and achievements to the mentorship and teachings of strong women, beginning with her mom. She says during her childhood in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, her mom instilled in her 鈥渁 deep understanding of and dissatisfaction with鈥� injustice.

鈥淪he would often read the newspaper aloud to me and the broken parts of our world would bring her to tears. She passed along her confidence that the brokenness in the world can and must be addressed.鈥� 

It was also during her childhood that Mark fell in love with the environment.

鈥淲hen I was a kid, you would find me climbing the two gnarled willow trees in my backyard and catching roly polies from underneath rocks. Everything in the more-than-human world amazed me.鈥� 

 

My understanding of environmental issues began as saving the trees and the polar bears. But climate justice scholars and activists shifted my view to see environmental issues as social, where environmental problems are deeply entangled with injustices like racism and colonialism.鈥�

Mark adds, 鈥淢y understanding of environmental issues began as saving the trees and the polar bears. But climate justice scholars and activists shifted my view to see environmental issues as social, where environmental problems are deeply entangled with injustices like racism and colonialism.鈥�

Despite resistance to the pipeline, it began operating in October 2021. Mark says she鈥檒l continue to fight to shut it down. 

鈥淧resident Biden could shut it down,鈥� Mark says. 鈥淏ut also, the work would not be finished. The goal of the movement to stop Line 3鈥攁nd also my goal鈥攊s to see a just transition away from all fossil fuel infrastructure, to a socially just, renewable energy future. That kind of transition requires simultaneously addressing the root causes of climate crisis and social injustice.鈥� 

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