CCJS 105 Notes The Science of Criminology The politicization of science 1 30 14 science is commonly used to advance political claims racism sexism environmentalism fascism socialism etc Nearly every ism and ALL political groups attempt to claim the legitimacy of science Establishing facts is the key to winning a debate The Definition of criminology Systematic study of 1 the process of making law 2 the breaking of law 3 the reaction to the breaking of law Politics theory criminal justice Is it a science Yes sort of Hypotheses are offered theory rich enterprise Theory explains why something happens Methods Quantitative s Qualitative stories Q What role does the field play in shaping policy A Negligible Q Why does criminology as a science lack credibility A We lack predictive power ex Crime decline of 1991 We ve been able to discredit several proposed solutions such as 1 Boot camps 2 Death penalty 3 Three strike legislation 4 DARE 5 Scared Straight 6 Gun buy backs Ideology def a set of beliefs or values that ALL of us develop usually unconsciously about the way that the world is or ought to be Range of ideology Conservative Right punitive and repressive Liberal left forgiving and rehabilitative Problem creating a science evidence the field is not science What is crime The definition is not fixed and unchanging Legal definition no punishment without the crime nulla poena sine lege 1 2 Social harm problems loss of clarity victimless crimes 2 4 14 Measuring Crime Catching the Wind with a Sieve Research Methodology Vocabulary Independent and Dependent Variables IV DV Oftentimes difficult to establish than you would anticipate reciprocal relationships Crime and poverty Ex Does my assigning a paper produce the needless deaths of student s grandmothers Correlation vs causality Correlation IS NOT causality Temporal Element Cross sectional data data collected at only 1 point in time snapshot Longitudinal data data collected at more than 1 point in time movie film Levels of analysis Macro groups Micro individual To Establish Causality 3 Criteria gangs neighborhoods states nations Correlation it is a necessary insufficient condition Temporal ordering Spuriousness must be eliminated crazy correlations The Dark Figure of Crime the element of crime that is always unknown Total Crime Rate we don t know but we try to estimate it with Official statistics Victimization surveys Self report UCR NCVS Comparison UCR arrests top of pyramid UCR reported crimes top 2 pyramid sections NCVS reported crimes top 3 pyramid sections Unknown crimes dark figure of crime Bottom strip of pyramid Don t be too concerned with specific numbers and details focus on understanding the overall scope and reality of the crime situation Don t worry about who said what FOR NOW The Distribution of Crime The Scope of the Crime Problem UCR 11 250 000 index crimes in 07 3370 per 100k Murder rate of 6 per 100k is 5X higher than the avg rate for the other 15 industrial nations heterogeneous population to blame Scope of Crime Problem NCVS 22 9M victimizations violent crime rate 5X of UCR property crime rate 4X of UCR Crime Clock UCR Violent crime every 22 seconds Murder every half hour Rape every 6 minutes Robbery every minute Burglary every 15 seconds Theft every 5 seconds More accurate crime clock Evening and nighttime hours have more crime Weekends also have higher rates Involvement of alcohol raises rates Historical trends 13th century England had crime rates 10 20 times that of today Crime rose markedly in the 60s and 70s Crime dramatically fell in 1991 Crime types Violent 13 UCR 23 NCVS Property 87 UCR 77 NCVS People overestimate violent crime due to extensive media coverage 2 18 14 TEST no NIBRS no people The Distribution of Crime Regional Disparities Southern states comprise 37 of population 41 of rapes UCR 45 of assaults UCR The South has the highest rates of homicide Why Lingering civil war mentalities Scotts Irish pop Urban phenomenon Sex Gender Race and Crime Metropolitan areas have significantly higher crime rates than rural areas Most violent crime except rape occur in public places NCVS No matter how you slice it crime is a male driven phenomenon Table 4 5 on p 121 Women s arrests is on the rise about 100 increase from 1937 2005 AA comprise 15 of pop but 39 of arrests for violent crime and 50 of homicides Criminology is beginning to look beyond black white differences and including Hispanics Self report data undermine confidence in the arrest reports Social Class and Crime Early link was well established using official records Self report data challenges some of this evidence There is an enduring connection between poverty and crime however 2 20 14 Victimization Poor more likely than affluent to be victimized Urban centers have higher rates when including property crime AA Hisp white greatest to least in personal victimization Males more victimized than females Teens have highest rates Exam covers chapter 1 4 Violent Property Crime Patterns Difficulty of Relying on the Legal Definition of Violence Some Violence is approved Executions War Self defense Vigilantism Other types are prohibited Homicide unlawful killing of one human being by another Teddy Roosevelt was a vigilante at one point The Regulators Homicide 80 of victims and 90 of perpetrators are male Most victims 18 24 50 happen in cities 100K people Most are intraracial About 85 are committed by someone other than a family member 25 are victim precipated Ex Victim is blamed guy attacks dooley and dooley kills him attacker is now victim Victim Offendor overlap arrest records Rape Sexual Assault Nearly exclusively female victim Poor young unmarried non white more likely to be victimized About 50 committed by someone known to the victim About 70 of those arrested are white Rates have been declining the last several decades Evidence to support rape is about biology Women are more likely to be raped when she s ovulating Aggravated Assault Unlawful attack with the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury Gun or knife often used but hands and feet qualify as well Chuck Norris clause Accounts for 60 of UCR violent crimes Offenders 80 male 40 under 25 65 white 33 black Robbery Taking property by force or threat of force from a person Requires face to face encounter with victim Arrested robbers 90 male 65 under 25 50 black and 40 white Described as impulsive and reckless Many target drug dealers Expanding use of credit cards serves as deterrent Those in
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