Class notes exam 2 10 30 2012 Criminology as a science Criminology scientific study of making breaking and the reactions to laws The key to falseablitiy is evidence the accumulation of evidence is key Evidence in Criminology trends types criminals 1st step Description attempt to access what is or what was 2nd step Explanation attempt to explain why or what has been observed or described Theory Both always has the real world in it s focus The key to science is it s access to evidence to falseability Evidence Description Observation Explanation Ways of knowing about evidence Direct Observation Uniform Crime Report UCR Victim Surveys Self Reports Crime is a socially constructed thing the reality of crime and what we know about it even the most objective form is socially constructed and is not a mirror to reality Direct observation people describing their experience with crime These contain no data no stats just a detailed look at crime that can not come from data Example There are no children here book Author lived in projects in Chicago two young boys in family One kid could make it the other boy clearly wasn t going to make it Worst project in Chicago constant gun fire and drug dealing Example The other side of the river book One side of the river rich and white and the other side of the river poor and black Black kid drowned in the river Black side thought he was pushed in while the white side thought he fell Both sides were committed to their stories Example Monster book Gang member autobiography killed people just for turf had nothing to do with drugs If he hadn t killed in a while he felt useless 1st time killing someone he was in the 7th or 8th grade Direct observations Strengths rich in detail that can not come from data Direct observation Weakness not falseifiable Uniform Crime Reports UCR Single most important used information descriptive knowledge on crime Yearly publicized in crime in crime in the U S Published by the U S dept of Justice through the F B I UCR contains 1 Crimes known to police Part 1 offenses Murder Assault Rape Robbery Burglary Larceny Auto theft total crime index violent and property per 100 000 2 Crimes cleared by arrest Shows race age and sex 3 Supplemental Crime Reports details on murders 4 Law enforcement employee stats UCR strengths Tells us a fair amount on the What of crime Done annually well representatives the volume and rate of crime volume and rate of arrest characteristics of arrested and the cost of crimes UCR weakness Not directly addresses the who of crime substantial undercount of crimes known to police dark figure of crime Diminished victim reporting 40 of index become known to police A One victim one crime B One operation one crime A One victim multiple attackers only accounts for one crime B Multiple crimes happens only worse counts Police can manipulate data cooking the books affecting the crime rate arrest rates etc Different departments have different specialized units S O C A P specialized unit in tally to be on look out for kids with multiple passed offenses they have pictures and offenses of everyone Victim Surveys Gets at the dark figure of crime In 2010 41 000 homes 73 000 people 12yrs old or older participated First interview is in person to acquire trust Percent of victimization reported to police 51 violent 39 property 83 motor vehicle theft 59 house hold burglary 58 robbery 56 rape 47 simple assault 32 property theft Trends are similar to FBI s UCR victimization and patterned NCVS Limitation People may forget very extensive question people may not think it s a crime over and or under report doesn t report business crime or the who of property crime Self Report Studies SRS Least often used had the most influence on criminology as a discipline First done in late 1950 s early 1960 s with high school students SRS created the question of power Monitoring The Future a SRS done annually 50 000 kids 8th 10th and 12th grade focuses on drugs and alcohol Crime and Age Peaks 17 19 and or 20 depending on the crime Declines as we age Control theory explains what keeps people from doing crime self concept how you view your life positive or negative Travis Hershi Attachment theory There are people in their life they don t want to hurt or mess up Having something to lose Stake in conformity Despite changes in sex in crimes Males still account for 75 all arrests 81 index violent arrests 63 index property arrest using sex as a variable on crime you will make fewer errors then any other factors Crime as a choice professor s favorite Choice Alternatives Values of alternatives benefits cost Utility max of benefits Rationality Constraints on choice A problem with media and crime media emphasizes and dwells on violent crime Ex Orlando news 75 80 of the news was violent crime Ex average kid in DC watching tv by the 8th grade will have seen 8 000 murders and 100 000 acts of violence Most criminals are not violent and are more like us Criminals motives Maximize Utility Our motives to do what we do To maximize utility is the most shared value in western culture Utility balance of Benefit cost Reward punishment Pleasure pain Profit loss Property crime has material benefit Benefits of crime income reputation status identity power fun Cost of crime loss of freedom loss of income loss of reputation loss of power loss of identity death or injury Choice can be rationale Rationality universal standard accessing of evidence for the basis of making choice relative directions of access of evidence and processing evidence making choices that benefit reasoning for doing something weighing benefits and cost These are the norm of efficiency The bases of choice come from evidence belief habit tradition authority passion The alternative to crime is non crime If crime has benefits and cost just like non crime and we take the benefits away of committing crimes this will increase the cost of crimes This is a rationale choice if crime is a choice The only way to appreciate choice is to out weigh your choices to your alternatives Crime Alternative Work and income Benefit of work same as crime Cost of work childcare etc status reputation identity power The higher the alternatives values are the less powerful the crime values are Cost of choosing crime what the C J S is for Changing the benefit of the alternatives the cost of crime become smaller Value of work increased since 1946 end of WWII plateau out in 1972 declined till the 1990 s and made a small raise since Why
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