11 12 2012 21 24 00 Criminology the study of the process of making laws breaking laws and reacting towards the breaking of laws Paradigms 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 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 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 types of crime 2 Positivism 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 from time to another Paradigm general framework Ideology basic beliefs or values through which people filter info Relativity of crime variation in conception of what behavior is criminal 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 11 12 2012 21 24 00 11 12 2012 21 24 00
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