Exam 1 I Criminology A What is Criminology 1 Sutherland and Cressey s definition of Criminology as the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon a Crime as a social phenomenon are influenced by their environment crime and the criminal law and shows how law defines crime b Processes of making laws definition recognizes the association between states that even the most disturbed people c Of breaking laws and reacting toward the breaking of laws purpose of criminology is to understand both the onset of crime and the most effective methods for its elimination criminology is a social science and criminologist must use the scientific method when conducting research d Development of a body general and verified principles recognizes 2 Criminology explains the origin extent and nature of crime in society a Mainly concerned with identifying the suspected cause of crime 3 Criminal justice refers to the study of the agencies of social control a Concerned with effective methods of crime control B Criminology and Deviance 1 Criminology is related to the study of deviant behaviors actions that depart from social norms values and beliefs 2 Criminologists do not see all crimes as deviant behaviors that depart from the norms of society a Ex Drug use 3 Similarly many deviant acts are not criminal 4 a Ex Lying In sum criminologists are concerned with the concept of deviance and its relationship to criminality II History of Criminology A Classical Criminology 1 Jeremy Bentham s Utilitarianism people chose to act when after weighing costs and benefits they believe that their actions will bring them an increase in pleasure and reduction of pain a Criminals make a rationale choice 2 Cesare Beccaria applied these principles to criminal behavior in his treatise On crimes and Punishment a Agreed that people want to achieve pleasure and avoid pain b Suggested harsh punishments were inappropriate and excessive 3 Classical criminology follows the rational choice theorem of free will a People choose lawful or criminal solutions to meet their needs B Nineteenth Century Positivism 1 The scientific method took hold in the late nineteenth century 2 Auguste Comte applied the methods to the study of society a Argued that people pass through stages based on how people try to understand the world b Comte called the final stage where people embrace rational scientific view of the world the positive stage 3 Positivism all true knowledge is acquired through direct observation and not through conjecture or belief a Scientific method must be used if research findings are to be considered valid 4 The scientific method first took part with physiognomist people who studied facial features and their relation to anti social behavior and Phrenologists persons who studied shape of skull to determine a possible link to criminal behavior a Lombroso believed that serious offenders were born criminals who had inherited a set of primitive physical traits that he referred to as atavistic anomalies b These criminogenic traits can be acquired through indirect heredity from a degenerate family who suffered from ills such as insanity and alcoholism or direct heredity being offspring of criminal parents c Lombroso work became known as Biological Determinism and later Biosocial theory C Emerging Theories 1 Quetlelet using early crime statistics in France found many relationships between crime and social phenomena a Which still serve as that basis for criminology today 2 Durkheim s vision of positivism says that crime is part of human nature because it has existed during periods of both poverty and prosperity a Argued from the shift of an agrarian mechanical society to a modern organic one flowed anomie norm and role confusion b Which caused higher crime and suicide rates 3 The Chicago School which were urban sociologists studied social ecology a They concentrated on urban problems and environmental issues in the city that led to crime and disobedience b Found that as crime rates soared and neighborhoods become Socially disorganized unable to apply social control 4 Social psychology The study of human interactions and relationships In this view socialization is key to understanding crime a b A persons attachment to society is key to understand a person s likelihood of committing a crime D Contemporary Criminology 5 Karl Marx and Conflict theory If ur unfamiliar with this drop the class 1 Classical theory has evolved into rational choice and deterrence theories 2 Rational Choice theorists argue criminals rational and use available information to decide if crime is a worthwhile undertaking a Deterrence theory holds that this choice is structured by fear of punishment 3 Contemporary structural and social ecological theory holds that a A persons place in the social structure controls his behavioral choices b Due to ecological conditions they face those at the bottom of social structure cannot achieve success and instead experience anomie strain and frustration 4 Sociologoical psychology theories still remain influential by stating that persons learn to commit crime by interacting with and modeling behavior Why the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison Chapter 1 I The System Currently A Designed to Fail 1 Politicians play on voters fears calling for higher penalties when crime soars and taking credit when it plummets a Franklin Zimring calls this a version of heads I win tails you lose in which decreases in crime are evidence that hard line punishments work whereas increases are evidence they are needed 2 Although crime is plummeting no states are projecting an actual decrease in its number of prisoners a Between 1980 and 2007 the number of persons incarcerated quadrupled b 2 3 million behind bars today 3 Although crime is down the actual rate is high a US compared to other industrialized nations is highest 4 New York s drop in crime was greatest between 1992 1997 a period which had the second slowest growing prison population B Violent Crime and Prison 1 1 2 million nonviolent offenders are currently locked up at a cost of 24 billion annually 2 Parole officers now begin revoking paroles at a very high rate a 1 3 of incarcerations are parole violations b 2 3 of revocations were for technical violations not new felonies 3 Why the 90s decline in crime cannot be attributed to rise in Prisons according to Blumstein a Crime was still rising in the 80s when the prison population had already b Juveniles recruited into the drug trade
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