Criminology: the study of the process of making laws, breaking laws, and reacting towards the breaking of lawsParadigms:Rational choice- people are rational, choose whether to commit crime [all crime]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 ChoiceBasically, 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. PositivismBasically, 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. InteractionismBasically, 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. CriticalBasically, 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. IntegrationBasically, 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 infoRelativity of crime- variation in conception of what behavior is criminal from time to anotherParadigm- general frameworkScientific method- approach to study of phenomenon that incorporates theory and observationConsensus- belief that the law reflects the interest of most peopleConflict- belief that the law disproportionally reflects the interest of minorityKey Criminologists: Hermann Mannheim, Herman Schwendinger, Julia Schwendinger, Thorsten Sellin, Edwin Sutherland, Paul TappanCriminology is a Social ScienceThe Politicization of ScienceCommonly used to advance claimsEstablishing “facts” is the key to winning debateThe Definition of CriminologySystematic study of process of making law, breaking law, and reaction of breaking of lawPolitics-Theory-Criminal JusticeIs Criminology a Science?Theory-explains why something happensMethods- quantities (#) and qualitative (Stories)Quantitative is most important, gathers a lot of evidenceQualitative is depth and understandingWhat role does the field play in shaping policy?NegligibleCan’t have crime legislation without criminologistsHelps shape policiesThe state of criminology’s science: relatively weakWe lack predictive powerCrime decline in 1991However…Criminology has been able to discredit:Boot campsDeath penaltyThree- strikes legislationDAREScared straightGun buy-backsSeveral of these still remainIdeology- beliefs that we all develop unconsciously of how the world out to beIn democracy we can shape policy through voting, this is informed by ideologyMy opinion will shape ultimate outcome: how ideology shapes what we doRange of ideologyConservative (Right): punitive and repressiveLiberal (Left): forgiving and rehabilitative2 types:Mala in se- crime by nature (commanded because just)Mala prohibita- crime just because prohbited (just because commanded)Consensus- Durkheim, MORALITY, massesConflict- Marx, powerful in control, rules are coercive, uses law to repress others, POWER, powerfulResearch MethodologyIndependent variable- causes ofDependent variable- outcome (what we are attempting to explain)Correlation and causalityJust because 2 items are correlated does NOT imply a causal connectionTemporal (Time) ElementCross-sectional date- data collected at only 1 point in timeLongitudinal data- data collected at more than 1 point in timeLevels of AnalysisMacro- societal-- nations, states, citiesMicro- individual-Establishing causality: 3 criteriaCorrelation (necessary but insufficient)Temporal ordering (cause has to proceed affect)Spuriousness must be eliminated (outside elements being the actual cause)Dark Figure of CrimeUnknown amount of crime that happens3 General Sources of Crime StatisticsOfficial ReportsVictim SurveysSelf-ReportsUniform Crime Reports- UCR: FBI Crime in the USStarted in 193018,000 law enforcement agencies reporting representing 95% of the population8 crimes listed: homicide, rape, robbery, agg assault, burglary, theft, MV theft, arson (index crimes)results calculated as a rate (# of crimes/population)(100,000)=rateincludes the Supplemental Homicide Reportadvantages:consistent definition of crimetrend datanational figures can be broken down, represent censuslimitations:subject to political manipulationhierarchy rule- only takes into account most serious, underestimatesdespite best efforts, still differences in definitionsecological fallacy- don’t guess what is contributing to crimemeasure of police activity rather than actual crimeNational Crime Victimization Survey- NCVSStarted in 1972Household survey conducted by census BureauMembers older than 12 surveyed by phone3 year inclusion/ 6 month intervalsuses sampling to produce national estimatesadvantages:eliminates reportingdesign: reduces memory decay and telescoping seen in other self-report surveys by boundingdisadvantages:rape question redesign in 1992 produced higher estimateshousehold survey excludes institutions, like jails, and businessesvictimless crimes and homicide not includedseries victimizations produces undercountingonly kids 12 and up, excludes child abuseTotal violent crime, victimizations reported to the police, crimes
View Full Document
Unlocking...