09 22 2013 Introduction to Criminology Exam 1 Study Guide Concepts Terms Politicization Science is commonly used to advance political claims o Racism sexism environmentalism etc Establishing facts is the key to winning debate Using legal or economic pressure to influence the findings of scientific research or the way it is disseminated reported or interpreted The definition of criminology Correlation and causation The systematic study of the processes of making law the breaking of the law the reaction to the breaking of the law Correlation does NOT equal causation To establish causality o Correlation o Temporal ordering o Must eliminate spuriousness The potential for a third element Basic beliefs or values usually formed early in life through which Ideology people filter information Conflict and consensus theory Conflict a belief that the law disproportionally reflects the interest of a powerful minority within society Consensus a belief that the law reflects the interest of most people in society The dark figure of crime Ecological fallacy The amount of crime that goes unreported Logical fallacy in the interpretation of statistical data in an ecological study whereby inferences about the nature of specific individuals are based solely on aggregate statistics for the group to Limitation of the UCR only including arrest data only comes from which those individuals belong crimes that are reported o Cannot assume anything outside of the statistics If a person commits a crime in a city it does not necessarily mean that they live there but they will influence crime rates Index crimes Part I of the UCR Crimes known to the police reported found Homicide rape robbery aggravated assault burglary larceny theft motor vehicle theft arson Bounding as a way of addressing memory decay and telescoping Memory decay forgetfulness produces downward bias Telescoping over inclusion produces upward bias o May ask to recall something within a year but may remember things before then include them Bounding o Ask people multiple times the same question or a similar question and their answers should be similar across the questions to show consistency o Put a time limit Is criminology a science Yes and no Yes No o Uses scientific method to create theories o Lacks predictive power Need for research is justified by its importance in informing policy solutions o Definition of crime is not fixed unchanging o Moral imperative Hierarchy rule and series victimization Hierarchy rule if one person commits more than 1 crime at the same time only the most serious crime gets documented o UCR Series victimization if there are a series of the same crime occurring it s all committed by the same person it is considered only as one crime o NCVS o Series of robberies only recorded as one Quantitative and qualitative data Quantitative numerical data Qualitative understanding behind numerical data insight Cross sectional and longitudinal data Cross sectional data collected at only 1 point in time Longitudinal data collected over time Macro and micro level of measurement Macro groups o Gangs neighborhoods states nations Micro individual o Background psychological etc Items NCVS estimates are double that of the UCR Uniform Crime Reports strengths weaknesses Strengths o Most consistent definition of crime across jurisdictions o Can track trends in data o National figures can be broken down These are raw counts represent a census Weaknesses o Subject to political manipulation unfound crime o Hierarchy rule o Despite best efforts differences remain in definitions o Ecological fallacy o Measure of police activity rather than crime Based on officially reported official reports are drawn from law enforcement agency records Police can create more crime National Crime Victimization Survey strengths weaknesses Strengths Weaknesses estimates o Eliminates reporting bias o Eliminates memory decay telescoping with bounding o Rape question redesign in 1992 produced much higher With changing definitions we cannot compare pre post statistics o Household survey excludes institutions like jails businesses o Victimless crimes homicide not included o Series victimization rule underestimates crime Self report surveys Based on offender behavior Can customize surveys People may be dishonest or not know how to answer Closer to source of the crime Early criticism is that it was focused on adolescent populations NIBRS More detail than UCR Represents a smaller proportion of the population Will eventually replace UCR as nation s source for official crime data Broader range of offense categories than UCR Crime Patterns Correlates of Offending Victimization Crime patterns Time o Highest rates between 6 pm and 6 am Geographical area o Highest rates in urban areas o Most likely to commit crimes at 16 24 o Most likely to be victimized at 18 24 Age Race o African Americans are overrepresented in violent crimes o Whites are overrepresented in drug abuse white collar o 16 24 year olds are overrepresented in terms of committing o African Americans Hispanics whites greatest to least in African Americans are more likely to be victimized with homicides crime crime victimization a personal crime Gender o Males commit more crimes o Female offender rates are increasing o Males are victimized more often Females are more fearful Males commit more crimes typically pick other males to victimize Homicide Unlawful killing of one human being by another Rate in US is 5 times that of the other 15 industrialized nations Southern subculture o Highest rates of homicides o Gun culture Victim precipitation o When offender who planned homicide ends up being killed o Self defense Victim offender overlap o In homicide there tends to be an overlap in their characteristics o Intraracial similar age similar socioeconomic status 4 different types o Murder Premeditated o Manslaughter Death results from conditions under which a fatality might reasonably have been anticipated Dying after an altercation knife fight o Excusable homicide A death that occurs as a consequence of an accident perpetrated by a person performing a lawful act with Boxing accidents safe driver and person runs into the ordinary caution street o Justifiable homicide A legal act Death penalty self defense Sexual assault Nearly exclusively to females Poor young unmarried non white most likely to be victimized committed by someone they know reported Mostly white offenders Rates have been declining over last several decades A
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