The “Science” of CriminologyThe Politicization of ScienceScience is commonly used to advance political claims: racism, sexism, environmentalism, and fascism/socialism…Nearly every ism and ALL political groups attempt to claim the legitimacy of scienceEstablishing “facts” is the key to winning a debateCriminology: the systematic study of 1) the processes of making law, 2) the breaking of a law, 3) the reaction to the breaking of a lawPolitics-Theory-Criminal JusticeIs Criminology a Science?TheoryMethodsQuantitative and qualitativeWhat role does the field play in shaping policy?Negligible“Can we imagine major legislative decisions on health policy without careful consultation of doctors, insurance executives, and health care administrators?”Why does criminology, as a science, lack credibility?We lack predictive powerEx. Crime decline in 1991However we’ve been able to discredit several proposed solutions such asBoot campsDeath penaltyThree strikes legislationDAREScared StraightGun buy-backsSeveral of these programs remainIdeology: a set of beliefs or values that ALL of us develop, usually unconsciously, about the way that the world is or ought to beRange of ideologyConservative (right): punitive and repressiveLiberal (left): forgiving and rehabilitativeIn a democracy we get to shape policy through voting which is informed by ideologyProblem in creating a science-evidence the field is not a scienceWhat is “crime”?Definition isn’t fixed or unchanging1. Legal definition (nulla poena sine lege)2. Social harm (problems: loss of clarity, victimless crimes)The Scope of the Crime Problem/Measuring Crime (Catching the Wind with a Sieve)1970s and late 1980s America has increase in violent and property crimessince 1991 has declined steadily3 major sources of crime statisticsUniform Crime Reports (UCR)Local police departments forward info to FBINational Crime Victimization SurveysConducted by US Census Bureau and the US Department of JusticeSelf-report DataIndependent researchersMethodological Concepts to consider:Independent/dependent variables- measured in large social unitsDependent = homicide rates (outcome)Location of crimeFear of crimeImprisonment ratesIndependent = ex. Ethnic diversity or percentage of population living in poverty (causes of)Explains dependent variableRaceFamily lifeLack of educationEconomic statusGenderCorrelation and causalityJust because two items are consistently related does not imply a casual connectionEx. My having an umbrella handy every time it rains doesn’t mean I control the weatherEstablishing causalityCorrelationTemporal orderingSpuriousness must be eliminatedCross sectional and longitudinal research designsCross sectional- at one certain point in timeEx. snapshotLongitudinal- information across timeEx. Movie/filmMicro/macro level analysesMacro explains crime rates while micro explains why individuals commit a crimeSamplingResearch DesignsValidity/reliabilityThorsten SellinEarly commentator on crime figures who cautioned against the use of court and prison records“the value of a crime for index purpose decrease as the distance from the crime itself in terms of procedure increases”International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) established a Committee for Union Crime Records procedure for collecting info about the amount of crime across the nationUniform Crime Reports (UCR)- FBI Crime in the United StatesStarted in 193018000 law enforcement agencies reporting, representing 95% of population8 crimes listed (index crimes)results calculated as a rate (# crimes/ population x100,000) to standardizeIncludes the Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR)UCRPart 1Offenses include those illegal acts considered to be particularly serious that occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparisonCriminal homicideForcible rapeRobberyAggravated assaultBurglaryLarceny-theftMotor vehicle theftArsonPart 2EmbezzlementVandalismSex offensesDrunkennessStatus offenses, etc.Limitations of UCRSubject to political manipulationHierarchy ruleDespite best efforts difference remains in definitionsEcological fallacyMeasure of police activity rather than crime-officially reported crimePolice can create more crimeSources of Crime StatisticsEarlyLocal arrest numbersCourt recordsJail and prison population countsMedia accountsContemporaryOfficial reportsVictim surveysSelf reportsNational Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)Started in 1972Household survey conducted by census bureauMembers older than 12 year are surveyed via telephone3 year inclusion/ 6 month intervalsuses sampling to produce national estimatesStrengthsEliminates reporting biasProblems with survey methodologyMemory decay- forgetfulness produces downward biasTelescoping- over inclusion produces upward biasSolution: boundingWeaknessesRape question redesign in 1992 produced much higher estimatesCant compare pre and post statsHousehold survey excludes institutions (jails and businesses)“victimless crimes” and homicide not includedseries victimization rule underestimates crimeanalogous to the UCR hierarchy ruleThe Distribution of CrimeScope of the Crime Problem11,250,000 index crimes 2007 (3,370 per 100,000)murder rate of 6/100,000 is 5x the avg. rate for other 15 industrialized nations22.9 million victimizationsViolent crime rate nearly 5x that of the UCRProperty rate more than 4x that of the UCRCrime “Clock” (UCR)Violent crime every 22 secondsMurder every half hourRape every 6 minutesRobbery every minuteBurglary every 15 secondsTheft every 5 secondsEvening and nighttime hours have more crimeWeekends also have higher ratesHistorical TrendsComparisons to 13th century England reveal rates that were 10 to 20 times as great as they are todayCrime rose markedly in ‘60s and ‘70sCrime fell dramatically beginning in 1991Classical CriminologyPre-modern Understanding of CriminalityDemonic perspectiveCrime resulted from supernatural forcesCrime conceived of as sinTheological understanding of its curesRC church was THE defining agent of societyCorporal punishments for wrongdoersBurning aliveExorcisms to purge evil spiritsBrandingOstracism/banishmentThe Legal EnvironmentArbitrary and capricious justiceSentence often depended on one’s social statusCorruption was a problemJudges had wide discretion in applying as much law as would suit their interestThe Philosophy of Classical TheoryThe EnlightenmentThomas Hobbes and the social contractThe life of man, ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish,
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