Chapter 1 Crime and Criminology

Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology 1. Criminology - an academic discipline that uses the scientific method to study the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior 2. Criminological Enterprise - the collection of several subareas within criminology a. Criminal Statistics/Crime Measurement - measures involving calculations of the amounts and trends of criminal activity i. Valid Measure - measure that actually measures what it purports to measure; a measure that is factual ii. Reliable Measure - measure that produces consistent results from one measurement to another iii. Examples (5) and purposes of valid and reliable measures b. Sociology of Law/Law and Society/Sociolegal Studies - subarea concerned with the role that social forces play in shaping criminal law and the role of criminal law in shaping society i. How criminal acts evolved to their current form ii. Analyze effects of proposed laws or changes in the law c. Developing Theories of Crime Causation iii. Psychological view - crime is a function of personality, development, social learning, and cognition iv. Biological view - study of biochemical, genetic, and neurological linkages to crime v. Sociological view - social forces that influence behavior such as neighborhood conditions, poverty, socialization, and groups vi. Hard to pin down one true cause of crime vii. Use MRIs to compare healthy vs criminal brain a. Understanding and Describing Criminal Behavior - Studies criminal types and patterns, such as violent, theft, and organized crime i. Patterns in Criminal Homicide 1958 Marvin Wolfgang 1. Victim precipitated homicide - killings in which the victim is a direct, positive precipitator (causes) of the incident ii. Edwin Sutherland - analyzed business related crime 1. White-collar crime - illegal acts that capitalize on a person’s status in the marketplace 2. Examples (7) of findings b. Penology - involves efforts to control crime through correction of criminal offenders i. Application of rehabilitation services to treat ( Ex community service instead of jail time) ii. Mandatory Sentences - statutory requirement that a certain penalty should be carried out in all cases of conviction for a certain offense iii. Capital Punishment - death penalty iv. Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) - classifies people on probation ands orders the placement of anger management and cognitive-behavioral therapy programs c. Victimology - study of a victim’s role in crime i. Calculate actual cost of crime to its victims ii. Probabilities of crime risk iii. Study perceptibility of victims in crime iv. Services for crime victims v. Criminals more likely to become victims than non-criminals 2. Brief History of Criminology a. Classical Criminology - theoretical perspective suggesting people choose to commit crime and only controlled if offenders fear punishment i. Mid 1800s philosophers argue for rational punishment (balanced and fair) ii. Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) - one of first scholars to design systematic reasoning for why people commit crime 1. People act in self-interest even if criminal 2. Punishment must be suitable to deter crime (no chance of “is it worth it?”) iii. Elements 1. People choose to fulfill needs by either being criminal or lawful 2. Crime is attractive when worth>cost 3. Fear of punishment (severe, certain, swift) controls crime b. Positivist Criminology i. Positivism - social science that uses the scientific method and suggests that human behavior is a product of social, biological, psychological or economic forces that can be measured ii. Auguste Comte (1798-1857) - considered founder of sociology; societies pass through stages that can be grouped on the basis of how people try to understand the world in which they live iii. Elements 1. Scientific method (hypothesis, data, observation) 2. Predicts and explains social phenomena in a logical manner 3. Empirical (very real, tangible) measurement 4. Objective c. Sociological Criminology i. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) - crime is normal because it is virtually impossible to imagine a world without crime 1. Crime is inevitable because everyone is so incredibly different 2. Crime can be useful because it can promote social changes Example (11) ii. Anomie - lack of social norms or standards 1. People like this have moral uncertainty d. Conflict Criminology - human behavior is shaped by interpersonal conflict and that crime is a product of human conflict i. Karl Marx (1818-1883) - conduct of civilizations is based on their market (development and productivity) ii. Not until 1960s criminologist began to study that social conditions promote class conflict and crime iii. Critical Criminology - the economic system produces conditions that support a high crime rate e. Developmental Criminology i. Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck (1940s and 50s) - conducted numerous studies of delinquent and criminal behavior by combining sociological, psychological, and economic elements f. Contemporary Criminology i. Classical Theory = Rational Choice Theory - criminals are rational thinkers and outweigh positives and negatives of crime ii. Positivism = Trait Theory - crime is byproduct of abnormal biological or psychological traits 1. Biological factors in combination with environmental factors influence criminality iii. Chicago School Sociological Vision = Social Structure Theory one’s environment and place in the social structure controls behavior 1. At the bottom people believe it is hard to find success and become anomie, strain, frustration and failure iv. Socialization = Social Process Theory - children learn to commit crime by observing and interacting with others whom they admire v. Conflict Criminology = Critical Criminology - crime is because of unfair economic structure