Introduction to Criminology: Exam 1 Study GuideConcepts/TermsPoliticizationThe politicization of scienceScience is commonly used to advance political claims: racism, sexism, environmentalism, fascism…ectNearly every “ism” and ALL political groups attempt to claim the legitimacy of scienceEstablishing “facts” is the key to winning debateThe definition of criminologyThe definition of criminologyThey systematic study of (1) the processes of making law, (2) the breaking of the law, and (3) the reaction to the breaking of lawPolitics --- Theory --- Criminal Justice (study of police, courts, and corrections)Correlation and causationCorrelation and causationCorrelation Looking at how two factors move with each otherCorrelation does not mean causationFactors needed for causation1) Correlation2) Temporal order (one comes first/being drunk occurs before assault – to try to prove correlation)3) Absence of spurious relationship (can’t have some external variable dictating data)SpuriousnessSpurious relationshipX and y appear to be relatedBUT relationship is not causal Relationship is driven by some other variableSummer Certain months (summer people are out more = more crimes)IdeologyIdeology (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 ideologyConservative (right): punitive and repressiveLiberal (left): forgiving and rehabilitativeConflict and consensus theoryConsensus modelCriminal law reflects the interest of members of the society at largeThe consensus of society is something should be illegal so it is i.e. almost everyone agrees that murder should be prohibited so it isConflict ModelThe criminal justice system and criminal law operate on behalf of the rich and social elites with policies aimed at controlling the poori.e. petty street crimes often carry harsher sentences that ‘white collar’ offenses that ‘steal’ millions of dollarsi.e. crack v. cocaine 100:1 sentencing disparity The dark figure of crimeDark figure of crimeOnly record crimes known to the policeHarrow (1986) – only 35% of crimes that take place are actually reported to policeEcological fallacyEcological fallacy We cannot make inferences about INDIVIDUALS based on INFERENCES abouta groupExample:Study shows the more prison guards working in a prison WITHOUT COLLEGE DEGREES the more inmate complaints of guard brutalityCan we conclude that an individual correctional officer without a college degree is more likely to engage in brutality against inmates?NO!Index crimes8 crimes listed as index crimes1) Homicide2) Rape3) Robbery – the use of physical force or threat of physical force in order to illegally obtain property (person to person)4) Aggravated assault5) Burglary – unlawful entry into a dwelling with the intention of committing a crime inside (person to inanimate)6) Larceny-theft – take your property without force (person to person)7) Motor vehicle theft8) ArsonBounding as a way of addressing memory decay and telescopingBounding- is achieved by comparing incidents reported in an interview with incidents reported in a previous interview and deleting duplicate incidents that were reported in the current reference period.Problems with survey methodology:Memory decay – forgetfulness produces downward bias (forget the crime)Telescoping – over-inclusion produces upward bias (feels like the crime was yesterday)Solution:Bounding – first interview is thrown out, the new baseline is the second interviewIs criminology a science? Yes and no. Is criminology a science?Yes; has theory (explains why something happens) and methods (quantitative -- # and qualitative – stories)Hierarchy rule and series victimizationHierarchical ruleRobbed and raped = only rapeRobbed, rape, and murdered = only homicideSeries victimizationSix or more similar but separate crimes that the victim is unable to recall individually or describe in detail to an interviewerCounted as one eventExampleMy domestic partner physically abuses me multiple times every single dayIf I cannot accurately recall the details NCVS will not count every single incidentQuantitative and qualitative data/Cross-sectional and longitudinal dataTemporal (i.e. time) element Cross-sectional data: data collected at any one point in timeEx: snapshotLongitudinal data: data collected at more than one point in timeEx: movie/filmMacro and micro level of measurementLevels of analysis Macro groupsNeighborhoodsStatesMicro groupsIndividualItemsUniform Crime Reports (strengths & weaknesses)Uniform crime reports (UCR) – FBI crime in the United StatesAdvantages of the UCR(Mostly) consistent definition of crime across jurisdictionsTrend dataNational figures can be broken down – these are raw counts, and represents a “census”.Limitations of the UCRSubject to political manipulation (i.e. unfound crime)Hierarchy ruleDespite best efforts difference remain in definitions (ex: Illinois and rape)Ecological fallacyMeasure of police activity rather than crime – officially reported crimePolice can create more crime!National Crime Victimization Survey (strengths & weaknesses)NCVS strengthsEliminates reporting biasProblems with survey methodology:Memory decay – forgetfulness produces downward bias (forget the crime)Telescoping – over-inclusion produces upward bias (feels like the crime was yesterday)Solution:Bounding – first interview is thrown out, the new baseline is the second interviewNCVS weaknessesRape question redesign in 1992 produced much higher estimatesCannot compare pre and post statisticsHousehold survey excludes institutions, like jails, and businesses“Victimless crimes” and homicide not includedSeries victimization rule underestimates crimeAnalogous to the UCR hierarchy ruleSelf-report surveysSelf-report dataAsking people about their own criminal behavior Typically done with juvenilesi.e. national youth survet (NYS)Self-report data strengthsAnother tool to uncover the dark figure of crimeGoes straight to the source (the perpetrator)Police or political figures cannot alter SRDSelf-report data weaknessHistorically has only focused on adolescent populationsDifficult to recall events that occurred in the pastFalsification – individuals may lie about criminal past Hardt & Peterson-Hardt (1977) – self report method appears to provide valid and reliable measures of criminal activity Crime Patterns/Correlates of Offending/VictimizationAcross 1) time Historical
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