Crime and Criminology 07 09 2011 06 45 00 Criminology the study of the process of making laws breaking laws and reacting towards the breaking of laws Paradigms crime all crime Rational choice people are rational choose whether to commit Positivistism forces beyond person s control is responsible biological sociological serious crime Interactionism only becomes crime when people react person then becomes criminal due to labeling all crime Critical criminology power elite defines crimes on own preserving their social position powerless more criminals crimes against state crimes committed by or against powerful Integration optimal is combo of 2 or more not just one all crime 1 Rational Choice Basically the argument here is that human beings are rational and they choose whether or not to commit crime Where benefits of crime outweigh the costs crime will occur This type of paradigm addresses offending behavior only not law definitions and can be applied to many types of crime 2 Positivism Basically the argument here is that crime is not a choice certain forces drive people toward criminality These forces can includes biology sociology etc Again this paradigm addresses offending not law definitions and can be applied to many types of crime but is most often used to explain serious crime 3 Interactionism Basically this paradigm argues that reactions of people or groups to certain types of behavior like say criminal behavior result in behaviors and persons being labeled as criminal These labels are then internalized and can contribute to further offenses This type of paradigm really looks closely at how the law is defined and how the state reacts to crime 4 Critical Basically this paradigm argues that the powerful define crimes and engage in social control This paradigm looks closely at state definitions of crime and attempts to get at why certain behavior is criminalized It is most often used to explain crimes committed by the powerful 5 Integration Basically the argument here is that the best explanation of crime can be found by combining two or more perspectives What aspect of criminal justice i e offending behavior law definitions etc it seeks to explain depends on the theories being combined and the types of crimes to which it can apply also varies Ideology basic beliefs or values through which people filter info Relativity of crime variation in conception of what behavior is criminal from time to another Paradigm general framework Scientific method approach to study of phenomenon that incorporates theory and observation Consensus belief that the law reflects the interest of most people Conflict belief that the law disproportionally reflects the interest of minority Key Criminologists Hermann Mannheim Herman Schwendinger Julia Schwendinger Thorsten Sellin Edwin Sutherland Paul Tappan The Science of Criminology Criminology is a Social Science The Politicization of Science Commonly used to advance claims Establishing facts is the key to winning debate The Definition of Criminology Systematic study of process of making law breaking law and reaction of breaking of law Politics Theory Criminal Justice Is Criminology a Science Theory explains why something happens Methods quantities and qualitative Stories o Quantitative is most important gathers a lot of evidence o Qualitative is depth and understanding What role does the field play in shaping policy Negligible Can t have crime legislation without criminologists Helps shape policies The state of criminology s science relatively weak We lack predictive power Crime decline in 1991 However Criminology has been able to discredit Boot camps Death penalty Three strikes legislation DARE Scared straight Gun buy backs Several of these still remain Ideology beliefs that we all develop unconsciously of how the world In democracy we can shape policy through voting this is informed out to be by ideology o My opinion will shape ultimate outcome how ideology shapes what we do Range of ideology Conservative Right punitive and repressive Liberal Left forgiving and rehabilitative 2 types o Mala in se crime by nature commanded because just o Mala prohibita crime just because prohbited just because commanded Consensus Durkheim MORALITY masses Conflict Marx powerful in control rules are coercive uses law to repress others POWER powerful Measuring Crime Catching the Wind with a Sieve Independent variable causes of Dependent variable outcome what we are attempting to explain Just because 2 items are correlated does NOT imply a causal Research Methodology Correlation and causality connection Temporal Time Element Cross sectional date data collected at only 1 point in time Longitudinal data data collected at more than 1 point in time Levels of Analysis Macro societal nations states cities Micro individual Establishing causality 3 criteria Correlation necessary but insufficient Temporal ordering cause has to proceed affect Spuriousness must be eliminated outside elements being the Unknown amount of crime that happens 3 General Sources of Crime Statistics actual cause Dark Figure of Crime Official Reports Victim Surveys Self Reports Uniform Crime Reports UCR FBI Crime in the US Started in 1930 18 000 law enforcement agencies reporting representing 95 of the population 8 crimes listed homicide rape robbery agg assault burglary theft MV theft arson index crimes results calculated as a rate of crimes population 100 000 rate includes the Supplemental Homicide Report advantages o consistent definition of crime o trend data o national figures can be broken down represent census limitations o subject to political manipulation o hierarchy rule only takes into account most serious underestimates o despite best efforts still differences in definitions o ecological fallacy don t guess what is contributing to crime o measure of police activity rather than actual crime National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS Started in 1972 Household survey conducted by census Bureau Members older than 12 surveyed by phone 3 year inclusion 6 month intervals uses sampling to produce national estimates advantages o eliminates reporting o design reduces memory decay and telescoping seen in other self report surveys by bounding disadvantages o rape question redesign in 1992 produced higher estimates o household survey excludes institutions like jails and businesses o victimless crimes and homicide not included o series victimizations produces undercounting o only kids 12 and up excludes child
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