Adventures in Armchair Profiling

I thought I'd piggyback on ShockProf's post about the still-unsolved Natalie Holloway murder with a story about an unsolved murder in metro Detroit.

First, a brief history: Last year, 5-year old Neveah Buchanan was abducted from her apartment complex in Macomb, Michigan. Her body was later discovered in a shallow, concrete-covered grave along the River Raisin. Though police initially identified three "persons of interest" -- including a man named James Easter -- no suspect has ever been arrested in Neveah's slaying and her murder remains unsolved.

To commemmorate the one-year anniversary of Neveah's murder, the Detroit Free Press is running a three-part series about the case. (You can read part one and part two now; part three will appear tomorrow.)

For this series the Freep has posted a 9-minute video containing excerpts of interviews with James Easter, whom police questioned at length but who was ultimately released without being charged.

This video is generating some interesting comments from readers, many of whom are analyzing it for clues as to Easter's guilt or innocence. Particularly disturbing for many people is a passage of the video (which is transcribed in the first article) in which Easter describes in detail how Neveah's killer might have carried out her burial. A glimpse:

He suggests the killer might have needed more concrete to finish the job and cover Nevaeh's body."Maybe, you have a second bag and you get some water from the river and start mixing some more and put it," he says...

Equally unsettling for some are the...unsavory aspects of Easter's life: he was convicted of indecent exposure some years ago; from his home police confiscated X-rated videos, among other items; he has been methodically pulling out his own teeth; he collects newspaper articles about Neveah's death. If the reader comments are any indication, those facts alone are enough to convict him, but to date the police have not had enough evidence against Easter -- or anyone else, for that matter -- to make an arrest in the case.

Scrolling through the reader reactions to the video of Easter's interview, I was reminded how familiar the general public is (or thinks it is) with criminal profiling and homicide investigation. For example, some readers wondered whether Easter revealed details of the murder not publicly available in the autopsy report, while others questioned whether he removed his teeth to avoid dental record matching. Still others have speculated that by advocating for the hanging death of the perpetrator, Easter is deflecting his own guilt. All of this gleaned from a rambling, 9-minute video on a newspaper website.

Though homicide investigation -- especially of violent, unsolved child murders -- constitutes such a small percentage of police work, it captures the public imagination and invites ordinary citizens to apply what they've learned from the movies and true crime TV to real life. I guess this explains why when I tell people that I'm a criminologist, they often ask, "Do you work for the FBI?" or say, "Oh, like on CSI?" Thank you, Truman Capote.

Enabling, Lazy Parenting, or Neglect?

Last weekend, I came upon Half Ton Teen on TLC. First aired in January 2009, this documentary covered the story of Billy Robbins--an 850 pound, 18 year old man. His mother readily indicates that she catered to him and brought him anything he wanted to eat, at any time. Doctors estimate he was ingesting 30,000 calories each day. She also made sure he had his own TV and video game system (actually, I think he had two), rubbed his feet, brought him cool washcloths to clean up, and generally enabled his unhealthy lifestyle.

Half Ton Teen and the later episode, Survival of the Half Ton Teen trace Billy's weight loss journey. Because he was too heavy to undergo normal gastric bypass surgery, he needed preliminary surgeries that removed some fat and skin from his body (79 pounds worth) and must follow a regimented diet to allow him to lose enough weight to have the surgery that will allow him to lose weight.

John, another young man in this documentary, is 16 years old and weighs 572 pounds. His mother spends $200 per week on groceries for him alone. In order to slim down enough for the surgery, he had to lose 30 pounds. As indicated in the article cited above, a glimpse inside the daily life of this family is captured in this conversation between the mother and her other children:

Three young children lived in the house with John, his mother and father. In an effort to get John to lose the 30 pounds, the mother was making some announcements to John and the three young kids, presumably his siblings.

One of the things she announced to the younger kids was, "Do not give him soda. Do not give him chips. Do not give him candy."

Now here's the really disturbing part: One of the kids asked, "What will he get?"

Makes you wonder what kind of diet this obese mother was feeding the entire family, if the child, who appeared to be 10 to 12 years old, had no idea what else there was to eat besides soda, chips and candy.

Even in the brief clips of John in his bedroom indicated a serious problem in the household. Jars of candy and other treats rested atop the headboard of his bed. Anyone think he put them there himself? Or that he buys himself $200 of groceries each week?

Here's a trailer/summary of the first episode:

(Warning: this video contains images from surgery that some may find unpleasant.)



These stories were certainly on my mind when I came across this news story today:

"Authorities Arrest Mom for Medical Neglect of 500 Pound Teen"

A South Carolina mother was charged with neglect of her son, and she fled the state to avoid a hearing in family court. They were found in Baltimore, Maryland. Every national report I've seen implies the mother was arrested because of her son's weight. However, the Baltimore News reports:

Marilyn Matheus, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Social Services, said, "This agency doesn't get involved in such cases based on a child's weight alone, but will take action in cases where health care professionals believe the child is at risk due to the parent's possible neglect in providing medical care."

The local authorities aren't talking, so perhaps she failed to take him to the doctor on a regular basis. It's difficult to believe that would fit the definition of neglect, but there's a good chance that he has developed medical problems (such as diabetes) as a result of his weight.

So, here's my question: when does spoiling a child become child neglect? Are social service agencies overstepping their bounds when investigating these cases? Are these parents truly neglecting their children, or are they relying on a constant diet of fast food and candy because it's the easiest solution (it is, after all, more difficult to cook a healthy meal than hit the drive thru)?

Whatever the answer, it's certainly sad to see young people deal with serious health issues that could have been avoided with a responsible parent.

Friday CJ Funnies: A Muppetized Munch!

I can only imagine how much all of you have longed to see a muppetized version of Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch. Good news, folks -- your wait is over. Please enjoy this great Sesame Street spoof, "Law & Order: Special Letters Unit":

Good News Indeed

Via Feministing and the ACLU:

The Bureau of Prisons reportedly has revised its policy and now bars the practice of shackling pregnant women incarcerated in federal prisons during labor and delivery. Though this practice still may be common in various state institutions, the BOP policy change is an important victory for the humane (and common-sense) treatment of women prisoners. (I guarantee you that any woman who has experienced childbirth will confirm that laboring inmates pose absolutely zero flight risk.)

One step at a time, right?

Early Onset Criminality

A student sent me this video today and I just loved it. Because this kid is from Pap's neck of the woods, I sent it to him and we have been laughing and talking about it so I thought I would share with the rest of you. This would be a great video to show during a discussion about age and crime or developmental theory. I always tell my students that early onset of developmentally inappropriate behaviors are a strong risk factor for future deviant behavior. Stealing a car at age 7 is a good example...

The U.S. Prison Population: Mothers in Prison

NPR calls them "Driveway Moments": times when you are so riveted by a story that you sit in your car and keep listening, even after reaching your destination. This morning on my way into the office I had a double whammy -- a driveway moment that had me in tears.

Today NPR began a three-part series examining our nation's prison population. Today's entry focused on women inmates, specifically those in Ohio. (Click here to listen to the story.)

I was particularly moved hearing about a program at the Ohio Reformatory for Women -- one of only a handful such programs in the nation -- that allows infants of incarcerated women to live with their mothers in a prison nursery:

The Achieving Baby Care Success program began in June 2001. The 12 mothers currently participating live in a special wing of the prison. The babies sleep in identical cribs in their mothers' cells. Between prison roll calls, mothers take their children to the in-house nursery for scheduled activities.

The ultimate goal, says warden Sheri Duffey, is to reduce recidivism and keep the next generation out of prison.

While some people undoubtedly will bristle at the thought of such "preferential treatment" for women who admittedly have made poor choices and have broken the law, I couldn't help but think that this arrangement is far preferable to exacerbating already broken families by keeping babies away from their mothers. Of course, it remains to be seen whether that assumption is borne out by empirical research. The NPR story mentioned "a small study in another state" which suggests that live-in nursery programs can reduce recidivism, which I assume is this 2001 study published by Joseph Carlson in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. Results from a 5-year review of the live-in nursery program at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women reveal that, compared to their counterparts who gave birth in prison and had to give up their babies, mothers whose babies lived with them in the prison nursery had a much lower recidivism rate (33% vs. 9%). Additionally, women who participated in the nursery program had fewer misconducts, presumably because they did not want to lose the privilege of living with their infants.

It is difficult to imagine how agonizing it is for women to be forced apart from their newborn children, regardless of whatever decisions they made that landed them in prison and subsequently resulted in that separation. Listening to audio of incarcerated mothers singing silly children's songs with their babies during one of the regularly-held music sessions, I was overcome by how universal that mothering experience is: but for the prison uniforms and concrete walls, the image of a group of women singing, laughing, and cuddling with their infants could have been taken from any suburban Music Together or Kindermusic class across the country. Though they may be many things -- thieves, prostitutes, often victims themselves, frequently addicts -- at their core these women are mothers who love their kids and want to do right by them, however enormously the odds might be stacked against them. And that just makes me cry.