CCJS 105 Cumulative Study Guide The dark figure of crime unreported and undiscovered crime that questions reliability of crime statistics UCR law enforcement reports crime of crime population x 100 000 to standardize o 8 Index crimes listed homicide rape robbery aggregated assault burglary theft MV theft arson o Advantages o Limitations activity more than crime differences still remain in definitions trend data consistent definition of crime national figure political manipulation hierarchy rule ecological fallacy measure police NCVS household survey of whose involved in crime o Advantages o Limitations jail victimless crimes not reported eliminates reporting bias memory decay telescoping fixed w bounding cannot compare pre and post statistics household survey so excludes those in e g hierarchy rule if someone commits multiple crimes in one session only the most serious is noted Series victimization underestimates crime etc o Reports 5x more violent crimes and 4x more property crime than UCR NCVS reports 2x more crimes but dark figure still remains Quantitative data is numbers Qualitative data is stories The 3 part definition of criminology o Making the law o Breaking of law o Reaction to breaking of law Crime patterns o Age highest between ages 18 22 o Gender male driven phenomenon more men commit crimes o Geographic south has a higher crime rate than north o Neighborhoods urban areas have higher crimes than rural o Race higher arrest rates for AA o Class enduring connection between poverty and crime Conflict theory law disproportionately represents interests of the most powerful people Consensus theory law reflects the most people overall interests Mala in se evil in itself Mala prohibita against law Actus reus guilty act Mens rea guilty mind Victim offender overlap positively correlated often time offenders have also been victims The science of criminology o 3 criteria required establishing causal relationship correlation temporal ordering and spuriousness must be eliminated The role of ideology and politics ideology is a set of beliefs and values we all develop unconsciously about how the world works Conservative ideology punitive and repressive Liberal ideology forgiving and rehabilitative We shape policy through voting which is informed by ideology Independent causes of Dependent variables outcomes what we are trying to explain Cross sectional snapshot of data collected only at one time Longitudinal data data collected at more than one point in time Macro groups gangs neighborhoods states nations Micro individuals Relative rates of crimes and crime numbers produced by UCR and NCVS Self report data ask people to report if they have ever been involved in a crime Strength gets closer to dark figure Weakness memory decay telescoping honesty Important figures Emile Durkheim Major figure in social criminology Anomie strain theory Control theory Two thing in society o Social appetite o Social controls norms o Says crime happens when social control are ineffective o People commit because society is not controlling their behavior o Anomie is normlessness taking place amid social or economic upheaval Sociological insight the sum is greater than the tally of the parts o Group dynamics are essential to understanding behavior individual characteristics are only part of the story Crime can help unify people and bring them together for common good 9 11 Criticisms Cesare Beccaria o Durkheim s research is based off a suicide how can he generalize o Crime is based on societal inequality not change Major figure in classical criminology Wrote Essays on Crimes and Punishments 1764 Was a revolutionary document and informed the US constitution First scientific approach to criminology Said measure of crime is the damage it does to society said laws need to be clearer Focused on individuals choice to commit the crime Ideas are the foundation to nearly ALL modern criminal justice 3 key element to punishment o Swiftness of punishment o Certainty of punishment o Severity of punishment should equal or outweigh benefits of the crime Cesare Lombroso Idea of the born criminal Major figure in Biological influences on crime Believed in atavism Measured numerous physical attributes that he believed were the reasons these people Wrote The Criminal Man and focused on biological and evolutionary factors that lead to commit crime crime Four types of criminals o Born criminal o Insane Criminal o Occasional criminal commit because opportunity o Criminals of passion commit because anger or love Contemporary biological criminality is evolutionary psychology and says crime is adaptive r K selection r quantity K quality Also now looking at the physical makeup Gene based theories and biosocial criminology looking at social triggers that activate genes Travis Hirschi Believes in social control theory and emphasizes bonds with family school and peers o Elements of the bond Attachment emotional affective bond sensitivity to opinions of others Begins with parents and throughout life include school and peers Commitment rational component consequences those with nothing to lose deviate people are rational and think before they commit a crime if they have commitments to others they will not want to lose this respect a common sense that abiding the law maintains status Involvement idle hands if they have no things to do with time they will commit more involved in conventional activities the less time someone has to commit deviant acts Belief people are socialized to common set of beliefs and the stronger their beliefs in conventional order less likely they are to offend Crime is based on lack of self control Self control is establish in childhood and parents install it in 3 stages o Supervision o Recognition o Punishment When there is low self control o Impulsivity o Unstable relationships o Self centered o Pursue immediate pleasures o Minimal tolerance for frustration of factories High crime occurs here because 3 main factors o Physical dilapidation o Poverty o Heterogeneity high cultural mix Shaw McKay zone II Zone II in neighborhoods is a transitional zone from residential industrial due to invasion Transient population where people were constantly moving in and out leads to low social bonds and connection to community more crime Poverty heterogeneity and physical dilapidation social disorganization crime Younger generations are influenced by older ones and continue to commit crime Ruth Kornhauser Figure in neighborhood
View Full Document
Unlocking...