1 Lecture - Crime And Criminology

-Criminology: an academic discipline that uses the scientific method to study the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior -What do Criminologists do? -Criminal Statistics/Crime Measurement: -Create valid and reliable measures of criminal behavior -formulate techniques for collecting and analyzing official measures of criminal Activities -develop survey instruments to measure unreported criminal activity -design methods that make it possible to investigate the cause of crime -Sociology of Law/Law of Society/Sociolegal Studies -investigate the role that social forces play in shaping criminal law -investigate the role of criminal law in shaping society -investigate history of legal thought -suggest legal changes to benefit society -Developing Theories of Crime causation -psychological -biological -sociological -Explaining Criminal Behavior -victim precipitated homicide: the victim is a direct, positive precipitator of the Incident -White collar crime: -illegal acts that capitalize on a person’s status in the marketplace -theft, embezzlement, fraud, market manipulation, restraint of trade, false Advertising -Penology: Punishment, Sanctions, and Corrections -Penology: the correction and control of known criminal offenders -rehabilitation using the scientific method to assess the effectiveness of criminal sanctions designed to control crime through the application of criminal punishments -social control: mandatory sentences or capital punishment -Victimology -victim surveys -victimization risk -victim culpability -services for crime victims -Criminal Statistics: gathering valid crime data, devising new research methods, measuring crime patterns and trends -sociology of law: determining the origin of law. Measuring the forces that can change laws and society -Theory construction: predicting individual behavior, understanding the cause of crime rates and trends -Victimology: studying the nature and cause of victimization. Aiding crime victims, understanding the nature and extent of victimization, developing theories of victimization risk -criminal behavior systems: determining the nature and cause of specific crime patterns. Studying violence, theft, organized crime, white-collar crime, and public order crime. -Classical Criminology: theoretical perspective suggests that people choose to commit crime, it proposes that crime can be controlled if potential criminals fear punishment -Positivist Criminology: uses the application of the scientific method, predicting and explaining social phenomena in a logical manner -Sociological Criminology: anomie, the Chicago school, individual’s socialization -Critical Criminology: crime is a product of capitalism -Complex view on developmental criminology: integration of sociological, psychological, and economic elements -Classical/choice perspective: (situational forces) crime is a function of free will and personal choice, punishment is a deterrent to crime -Biological/psychological perspective: (internal forces) crime is a function of chemical, neurological, genetic personality, intelligence, or mental traits -Structural perspective: (ecological forces) Crime rates are a function of neighborhood conditions, cultural forces, and norm conflict -Process perspective: (socialization forces) Crime is a function of upbringing, learning, and control. Peers, parents, and teachers influence behavior -Conflict perspective: (economic and political forces) crime is a function of competition for limited resources and power. Class conflict produces crime -Developmental perspective: (multiple forces) Biological, socio-psychological, economic, and political forces may combine to produce crime -Deviance includes a broad spectrum of behaviors ranging from the most socially harmful such as rape and murder to the relatively inoffensive such as joining a religious cult or cross-dressing -a deviant act becomes a crime when it is deemed socially harmful or dangerous it then will be specifically defined, prohibited, and punished under the criminal law -deviant acts are criminalized when they become crimes -deviant act are decriminalized when penalties are reduced -sometimes previously deviant acts are legalized and no longer considered crimes -the definition of crime affects how criminologists view the cause and control of illegal behavior and shapes their research orientation -Consensus view: the law defines crime, agreement exists on outlawed behavior, laws apply to all citizens equally -Conflict view: the law is tool of the ruling class, crime is apolitically defined concept, “real crimes” such as racism, sexism, and classism are not outlawed, the law is used to control the underclass -Interactionist view: moral entrepreneurs define crime, acts become crimes because society defines them that way, criminal labels are life-transforming events -A definition of crime: “crime” is a violation of societal rules of behavior as interpreted and expressed by the criminal law, which reflects public opinion, traditional values, and the viewpoint of people currently holding social and political power -Individuals who violate these rules are subject to sanctions by state authority, social stigma, and loss of status -Criminal justice system consists of government agencies charged with enforcing law, adjudicating crime, and correcting criminal behavior -the process of justice: structured and legal process from initial contact, through arrest, trial, and post-release