CCJS 105Introduction to Criminology01/29/13The “Science” of CriminologyThe politicization of science – used to advance claims on racism, sexism, etcCreating policies based on political affiliation“Isms” and political groups attempt to claim legitimacy of scienceMust establish facts to win debate, aim to debunk ideas, people invoke science for credibilityTo deny scientific claims is backward thinking, theology is wrongCriminologyThe systematic study of (1) the processes of making law, (2) the breaking of law, and (3) the reaction to the breaking of law. Politics – Theory – Criminal JusticeCriminologists look at crime patterns; fascinated by criminal motives Yes, Criminology is a scienceTheory (explains why something happens)Methods (quantitative/statistics (# of crimes committed in past year) – # and qualitative (race, hair color) – stories) Why does Criminology, as a science, lack credibility?Lacks predictive powerAble to discredit several proposed solutions:Boot camps (doesn’t reduce repeat offending), death penalty (doesn’t reduce homicide rate in states that have/don’t have them), three-strike legislation, DARE (aggravates drug use), scared straight (counterintuitive), gun buy-backsWhy do these programs remain?Ideology: set of beliefs/values that all of us develop, usually unconsciously, about the way that the world is or ought to be.Policy is shaped by voting in a democracy – informed by ideology/biases/presumptionsRange of ideology:Conservative (right) – punitive and repressiveLiberal (left) – forgiving and rehabilitative01/31/13The problem in creating a science – evidence the field is NOT a scienceThe definition of criminology is not fixed and unchangingTimes, geographic space, cultures, etc have different views on/expectations of criminology1. Legal definition: nulla poena sine lege (no punishment without the law)2. Social harm: problems – loss of clarity, victimless crimesShould the field endorse policy solutions?Ideological or scientific stance?Ex: American Society of Criminology issued statement against capital punishmentEx: Gun control - ?Measuring CrimeAdapted conventional methodologies (psychological approach, etc)Vocabulary (Research Methodology)Independent (IV) and Dependent Variables (DV)IV: cause(s) of (motives, ex: socioeconomic status, revenge, lack of education, biology, alcohol/drugs)DV: outcome (what we are attempting to explain) (punishment)Oftentimes more difficult to establish than you would anticipate – reciprocal relationships (crime and poverty) (poverty causes crime? could be reverse)Correlation and CausalityJust because 2 items correlate, doesn’t imply causalityEx: My having an umbrella handy every time it rains doesn’t mean I control the weatherTemporal (Time) ElementCross-sectional data: data collected at only 1 point in time (ex: snapshot)Longitudinal data: data collected at more than 1 point in time (ex: movie/film)Levels of AnalysisMacro: groupsGangs, neighborhoods, states, nationsMicro: individualGenetic explanation (height, weight, race)To establish Causality: 3 criteria – first one, then the otherCorrelation (it’s a necessary but insufficient condition)Temporal orderingSpuriousness (i.e. lying) (mirror correlation) must be eliminated, can make false conclusions based on this – no relationship between two events02/05/13The Dark Figure of CrimeOfficial statistics, victimization surveys, self-report – use these to help triangulateTotal crime rateWe don’t know this, but try to estimate itPrison numbers do a poor job of giving crime estimatesPrisons discountedSources of crime statisticsEarly source: local arrest numbers, court records, jail populationcounts, media accountsContemporary efforts: official reports, victim surveys, self-reportsUniform Crime Reports (UCR) – FBI Crime in the USBegan 193018k law enforcement agencies reporting, representing 95% of pop.Self -reportOfficial statsVictim survey8 crimes listed – Index Crimes (part 1 and part 2 offenses) (homicide, rape, robbery, agg assault, burglary, theft, MV theft, arson) kidnaping, vandalism, vagrancyBurglary – breaking into a place and stealing somethingRobbery – stolen off of somebody’s person with a threat of forceTheft/larceny – stealing without the threat of forceResults calculated as a rate (#crimes/pop.x100k) to standardizeIncludes the Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR)Advantages of the UCR(Mostly) consistent definition of crime across jurisdictions, standardized, minimize repetitionTrend data – crime has bottomed out after declining – fears that it may spikeNational figures can be broken down – these are raw count, and represent a “census”Limitations of the UCRSubject to political manipulation (unfound crime – people in power “unfind” crimes to make things look better)Hierarchy Rule – multiple offenses=only most serious offense reportedDespite best efforts difference remain in definitions (Illinois and rape)Ecological Fallacy – making inference about someone based on where they’re fromEx: because you’re from a low income, high crime area, you must be a criminalMeasure of police activity rather than crime 0 official report crime (police can create more crime) (police discretion)Only catches about 30% of actual crime – other % is called Dark Figure (calculated using UCR, NCVS, and self-report data)National Crime Victimizations Survey (NCVS)Began 1972Household survey conducted by Census BureauMembers older than 12 yrs are surveyed via telephone3 yr inclusion/6 month intervalsUses sampling to produce national estimatesAdvantages of the NCVSEliminate political manipulation/reporting biasGets at the dark figureRemoves extenuating circumstance, bounding (initial interview, throw out info, call back later and get more info since last interview) (look below)Bounding – initial interview of victimization “scrapped”, next interview compared to first interview to look for matching events so they can be reported; solution to memory decay and telescopingMemory decay – forgetfulness produces downward bias; happened long ago, can’t remember facts of incidentTelescoping – over-inclusion produces upward bias; report victimization later or before it actually happenedDisadvantages of the NCVSNo homicide/no “victimless crimes” (can’t interview dead people)No homeless because only households are interviewedExcludes institutions like jails and businessesCan’t interview anyone under 12 yrs – may
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