Introduction to Criminology: Exam 1 Study GuideConcepts/TermsPoliticizationScience is commonly used to advance political claimsRacism, sexism, environmentalism, etc.Establishing “facts” is the key to winning debateUsing legal or economic pressure to influence the findings of scientific research or the way it is disseminated, reported, or interpretedThe definition of criminologyThe systematic study of the processes of making law, the breaking of the law, & the reaction to the breaking of the lawCorrelation and causationCorrelation does NOT equal causationTo establish causalityCorrelationTemporal orderingMust eliminate spuriousnessThe potential for a third elementIdeologyBasic beliefs or values, usually formed early in life, & through which people filter informationConflict and consensus theoryConflict: a belief that the law disproportionally reflects the interest of a powerful minority within societyConsensus: a belief that the law reflects the interest of most people in societyThe dark figure of crimeThe amount of crime that goes unreportedEcological fallacyLogical 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 which those individuals belongLimitation of the UCR- only including arrest data, only comes from crimes that are reportedCannot assume anything outside of the statisticsIf a person commits a crime in a city, it does not necessarily mean that they live there, but they will influence crime ratesIndex crimesPart I of the UCRCrimes known to the police, reported & foundHomicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft, arsonBounding as a way of addressing memory decay and telescopingMemory decay: forgetfulness, produces downward biasTelescoping: over inclusion, produces upward biasMay ask to recall something within a year but may remember things before then & include themBoundingAsk people multiple times the same question or a similar question and their answers should be similar across the questions to show consistencyPut a time limitIs criminology a science? Yes and no.YesUses scientific method to create theoriesNoLacks predictive powerNeed for research is justified by its importance in informing policy solutionsDefinition of crime is not fixed & unchangingMoral imperativeHierarchy rule and series victimizationHierarchy rule: if one person commits more than 1 crime at the same time, only the most serious crime gets documentedUCRSeries 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 crimeNCVSSeries of robberies, only recorded as oneQuantitative and qualitative dataQuantitative: numerical dataQualitative: understanding behind numerical data, insightCross-sectional and longitudinal dataCross-sectional: data collected at only 1 point in timeLongitudinal: data collected over timeMacro and micro level of measurementMacro: groupsGangs, neighborhoods, states, nationsMicro: individualBackground, psychological, etc.ItemsNCVS estimates are double that of the UCRUniform Crime Reports (strengths & weaknesses)StrengthsMost consistent definition of crime across jurisdictionsCan track trends in dataNational figures can be broken downThese are raw counts & represent a censusWeaknessesSubject to political manipulation- unfound crimeHierarchy ruleDespite best efforts, differences remain in definitionsEcological fallacyMeasure of police activity rather than crimeBased on officially reported (official reports are drawn from law enforcement agency records)Police can create more crimeNational Crime Victimization Survey (strengths & weaknesses)StrengthsEliminates reporting biasEliminates memory decay & telescoping with boundingWeaknessesRape question redesign in 1992 produced much higher estimatesWith changing definitions we cannot compare pre & post statisticsHousehold survey excludes institutions like jails & businessesVictimless crimes & homicide not includedSeries victimization rule underestimates crimeSelf-report surveysBased on offender behaviorCan customize surveysPeople may be dishonest or not know how to answerCloser to “source” of the crimeEarly criticism is that it was focused on adolescent populationsNIBRSMore detail than UCRRepresents a smaller proportion of the populationWill eventually replace UCR as nation’s source for official crime dataBroader range of offense categories than UCRCrime Patterns/Correlates of Offending/VictimizationCrime patternsTimeHighest rates between 6 pm and 6 amGeographical areaHighest rates in urban areasAgeMost likely to commit crimes at 16-24Most likely to be victimized at 18-24RaceAfrican Americans are overrepresented in violent crimes & homicidesWhites are overrepresented in drug abuse & white collar crime16-24 year olds are overrepresented in terms of committing crimeAfrican Americans Hispanics whites – greatest to least in victimizationAfrican Americans are more likely to be victimized with a personal crimeGenderMales commit more crimesFemale offender rates are increasingMales are victimized more oftenFemales are more fearfulMales commit more crimes & typically pick other males to victimizeHomicideUnlawful killing of one human being by anotherRate in US is 5 times that of the other 15 industrialized nationsSouthern subcultureHighest rates of homicidesGun cultureVictim precipitationWhen offender who planned homicide ends up being killedSelf-defenseVictim/offender overlapIn homicide there tends to be an overlap in their characteristicsIntraracial, similar age, similar socioeconomic status4 different typesMurderPremeditatedManslaughterDeath results from conditions under which a fatality might reasonably have been anticipatedDying after an altercation, knife fightExcusable homicideA death that occurs as a consequence of an accident perpetrated by a person performing a lawful act with ordinary cautionBoxing accidents, safe driver and person runs into the streetJustifiable homicideA legal actDeath penalty, self-defenseSexual assaultNearly exclusively to femalesPoor, young, unmarried, non-white most likely to be victimized½ committed by someone they know½ reportedMostly white offendersRates have been declining over last several decadesAssaultA threat or an attempt to do bodily harm to anotherAggravated accounts for greater than 60% of UCR violent crimesRobberyTaking
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