Criminology 304 Thursday January 22, 2015 - The first book we need will be on electronic reserve within the next few days and is on the annex 4th floor - Part 1: Definitions and perspectives - Lecture outlineo Crime and the media o Crime as legal categoryo Sociological Definitions of Crime (Beirne and Messerschmidt, 2000)o Hagan (1985): 7 approaches + pyramid approach - Crime and the Media o What are some of the typical images routinely conveyed about crime in the mass media?  1/3 of media deals with crime related information (Law and Order, CSI, news, etc). o Amount of crimeo Types of crime: Violence  Property crime is the most common type of crime in society o In whose interests? Want to provide stories to maintain interest from the audience.  Politicians are involved to get their name out and the beliefo Perceptions of crime shaped by media The perceptions are different than the representationo Crime myths: false beliefs about crime Affects African American young men in the idea that they abusedrugs when in actuality it is white me whos stats are highero Media contributes to crime myths:  Select people to be interviewed  Use value-laden language  Presenting data that are misleading (numbers vs. rates)  Emphasizing violent crime  Failing to provide the social and or historical context. - Fear of Crime o Structural correlates: concern the social and physical characteristics oflocations in which people live. o Structural correlates can also refer to socio-demographic factors Gender  Race/ ethnicity  Population size.o In studies it has shown that African Americans are more fearful they are. - Sociological Criminology o Emphasizes the social roots of crimeo If we can change time we can change sociology o Structural Criminology  (Hagan 1905)o Structural criminology emphasized the role of communities, and influence of social location (elements of that social structure o Major Distinction  Consensus VS> Conflict o Consensus Approaches  Durkheim - Agreement in opinion on social agreement - When crime occurs, this constitutes a norm violation and punishment of the behavior is necessary to endure social stability (maintains social order)- Marx and Engels o Disagreement on norms of society reflecting tradition in social structure based on inequality in wealth and power o Crime definition’s are more problematic; why do some acts become defined legal, while others are going out - History of Crime as a concept o Debate among criminologists about the proper definitions of crime can be traced to (1933) report by Michael(the phi delt) and Adlero “The most precise and the least ambiguous definition of crime is that which defines it as criminal foa. o Tappan followed Michael and Agler’s argument and claimed that crimeis an intentional violations of the criminal law, committed without defense or excuse and penalized but the star felony or misdemeanoro Crime is a legal mist provide a punishment for the crime ando Legalistic defining of crime holding is that when triedo Criminal law most provide punishment from- Crime as Legal Category o To constitute the behavior must be prohibited by law o Criminal Law categorized Mala en se - Acts that are universally considered evil Mlaa prohibita- List of changes over time, they are acts prohibited ny statute- Criminal law distinguishes between felonies and misdemeanorso Felony- a serious offense punishable by a prison term of more than one year, also punishable by death o Misdemeanor: a relatively minor criminal c offense punishable by less than one year in prison, or a fine. - Crime as a legal category o To constitute a crime, the behavior must be a voluntary act or omission  Omission- failing to file a tax texture with the IRS o Culpability for a crime depends on how a defenders mental state  Criminal intent or mens rea is the guilty hando When is a crime not a crime? Defenses:  Justification: dures (self-defense), necessity, duty Entrapment (one lacks criminal responsibility)  Insanity (no mans rea) o Criminalization: process by which law is selectively applied to social behavior  The enactment of legislation hat outlaws certain types of behavior  Surveillance and policing of that behavior  If detected, the punishment of that behavior. - Crime as a violation of conduct norms o Sellin (1938) Culture Conflict and Crime o Definition moves beyond the realm of the law o Basic Units of criminological research should be conduct norms o Based on conducting norms, there are right and wrong ways of acting. - Crime as a social harm o Sutherland (1949) White Collar Crimeo Analogous social injury (Michalowski 1985): applies to “legally permissible acts or sets of conditions whose consequences are similar to illegal acts. - Crime as a violation of human rights o Crime as any behavior that violates human rights o View that all people have certain natural and inalienable human rights(life, liberty and happiness) - Crime as a form of Deviance o Deviance: any social behavior or social characteristic that departs from the conventional norms and standards of a community or societyfor which the deviant is sanctioned. o (mental illness is a form of deviance but it is not illegal) o Pyramid or Continuous approach 1st axis is evaluation of social harm  The bottom layer is relatively harmless somewhat harmfulvery harmful 2nd axis is Severity of Social response- Mild Moderatesevere 3rd axis Agreement about the norm - Confusion or ApathyHigh DisagreementHigh Agreement  Bottom section is social diversions  Second tier is social deviations  Third tier is conflict crimes  4th tier is consensus crimes Tuesday January 27, 2015Definitions and perspectives- Topics in Crime Measurement - Lecture Outline o Definitions and Perspectives on Crime  Crime as Informational Social Control (D. Black, 1983) o Unofficial data: Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) or Official Datao Victimization data o Self-Reports Classroom and ask on a survey questions Used with student samples (usually high school)o Other Sources of Unofficial Data  Ethnography- look at people’s experiences- Form of information that is not quantitative - Crime as Informal Social Control o Self-help- refers to the expression of a grievance by unilateral aggression…” (Black 1983) o Crime=self-help. Crime is used to express a grievance o Relationship between law (formal social control) and