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The Science of Criminology 05 12 2012 11 38 00 Chapter One The Theory of Relativity Ron Burgundy Example who would argue against science People who refuse to abide by rational thinking o The Politicization of Science Science is commonly used to advance claims racism sexism environmentalism fascism socialism Nearly every ism and ALL political groups attempt to claim the legitimacy of science Establishing facts is the key to winning debate o Bio Ethic Debate should or should not use these clusters of cells o Environmentalist claims global warming is a direct result of human consumption patterns o You have the right to your own opinion but you don t have the right to your own facts o The Definition of Criminology The systematic study of 1 the processes of making law 2 the breaking of law pondering why people break the law and 3 the reaction to the breaking of law Politics Theory Criminal Justice holy trinity Law is subject to change o Example Abortion alcohol and drugs Is Criminology a Science Theory explains why something happens o Hypothesis Methods Quantitative and Qualitative stories o How do we go about posing the question o How we gather evidence o Crime statistics how prevalent is robbery Statistical Methodology 1 o What leads to deviant behavior o Qualitative provides the detail o What roles the field play in shaping policy Negligible o Can we imagine legislative decisions on health policy without careful consultation of doctors insurance executives and health care administrators o How about crime legislation without criminologists o Politicians lobbyists and crime victims play an extraordinary role in advancing political claims o The state of criminology s science relatively weak We lack predictive power o We cannot predict why crime occurs o Crime decline in 1991 o However o Boot Camps o Death Penalty no appreciable decline o Three strikes legislation o DARE o Scared straight o Gun buy backs We ve been able to discredit several proposed solutions such as o Nevertheless several of these programs remain Why Ideology def a set of beliefs or values that all of us develop usually unconsciously about the way that the world is or ought to In a democracy we get to shape policy through voting This is be informed by ideology The Range of Ideology Conservative right punitive and repressive Liberal left forgiving and rehabilitative o Discussion Groups Relativity of crime mala in se and mala prohibita Conflict versus consensus assumptions The five paradigms of criminology 2 Discussion 1 9 12 11 05 12 2012 11 38 00 Relativity of Crime 1 What defines the law and where does it come from What is crime and how do we define it Divide it into two main categories o Mala in se evil in itself morally wrong regardless of government legislation Commanded because they are just inherent morality Example Murder theft and rape o Mala prohibita it is wrong because it is prohibited by the law there is no moral value to it victimless crime Just because they are commanded Example Underage drinking speed limits drug use We can t say that legal definitions are based on morality how we define the seriousness of a crime is relative Our morality can change too there are no absolutes o The problem with crime so many factors that go into whether not the crime is serious or less serious No absolutes a lot of grey areas Seriousness of a crime the status of the victim child elderly disabled population moral judgments offender characteristics and intent by accident or on purpose o Crime exists on a continuum a fluctuating like of what is more wrong Example statuary rape 25 yr old man and 16 yr old consensually having sex o Conflict vs Consensus perspective of where does the law come from Consensus Durkheim morality is central to social order Laws are integrative general consensus of what is right and wrong The law is a reflection of society Conflict Marx society is divided into groups these groups have competing ideas and values The groups with the most power make the laws and control society One group uses the law to repress others The haves and have nots The Powerful vs The Masses o Paradigm Figure 1 4 in textbook Rational Choice based on the deterrence doctrine people are rational they choose whether or not to commit crime Pro Con Assessment 2 Positivism forces that are beyond the individual s control are responsible for the criminal s behavior biological predisposed sociological Society as a whole that pushes certain people towards crime Concentrates on serious crime Interactionism crimes is revolved around the actions and reactions of individual groups acts become deviant because of the reactions of others Labeling we define crime based on our reactions Critically analyzes how the law is defined what is criminal and what Critical coming from a conflict perspective rejects state definitions of crime Why the actions of the powerful are defined as more criminal Why people commit crime Its all about power Crimes against the state crimes committed by the powerful or against the isn t powerful o Example If your poor your more likely to steal rich people on the other hand want to protect their property Integration we are assuming that optimal theories of crime can be intersected Different theories have competing assumptions Everything depends on the theories that you are integrating 3 Measuring Crime The Wind with a Sieve 11 38 00 05 12 2012 Review from Last Week o What is crime o The definition is not fixed and unchanging o 1 Legal definition nulla poena sine lege no punishment without a crime o 2 Social harm problems loss of clarity victimless crimes o The problem with applying knowledge Should the field endorse policy solutions The American Society of Criminology has issued a statement against capital punishment Is this an ideological or scientific stance Chapter Three o Research Methodology Vocabulary Independent variables IV and dependent variables DV IV cause s of DV outcome what we are attempting to explain o Does my assigning a paper produce the needless death of students grandmothers Correlation and causality not imply a casual connection mean I control the weather o Temporal i e Time Element Just because two items are consistently related correlated does Example my having an umbrella handy every time it rains doesn t Cross sectional data data collected at only 1 point in time o Definitive point in time Longitudinal data data collected at more than 1 point in time o How many times have you been a victim in


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UMD CCJS 105 - The “Science” of Criminology

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Notes

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Crime

Crime

35 pages

Names

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Notes

16 pages

Exam 2

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4 pages

Exam 2

Exam 2

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Exam 1

Exam 1

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Exam 1

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