Criminology EX2 Criminology as a science 10 04 2012 Edwin Sutherland first widely know criminologist defined criminology as the making of laws the breaking of laws and societies reaction to the breaking of laws Criminology is what studies these things Statements that are made in a scientific way are made to be falsifiable Things are not scientific if they can not be contradicted by evidence o Key of falsifiable is evidence Not beliefs or hypotheses But what evidence shows o Accumulation of evidence is important in criminology o Evidence about what Criminals Characteristics about criminals Circumstances in which criminals find themselves o Attempt to access what is what was what is changing what First is description patterns are their o Describe what s out there o Observation Second explanation o Attempt to answer the question why as it relates to how it has been described o Explain what has been observed o Explanation is theory o Explain Why what we have observed in the real world is what it is o What is being described is not crime or criminal behavior o But the patterns relating to crime and criminal behavior what we observe to be true about crime and criminals is a humanly constructed truth as much as we try to scientific as possible in describing the reality of crime before we explain it is a humanly mediated and therefore socially constructed meaning Is what appears to be We never prove anything We support with evidence but the point of science is to be available to evidence to falsify SCIENCE FALSIFIABILITY EVIDENCE Ways of knowing Direct observation Uniform crime reports Victim surveys Self reports o First thought that poor people are the ones who commit crime o Saw that kids at all social strata were pretty much doing the same things Criminology EX2 Criminology as science evidence as Key o Description o Explanation Ways of knowing description Direct observation 10 04 2012 occurs when people with varies experiences describe those experiences Whether they are victims of crime police officers defense attorneys journalists criminals themselves No data no statistics no numbers More insight than you cant get from statistics or charts details and meaningful things that can only come from people who were there Unforgettable o Books o Alex Kotlowitz There are no Children here o The other side of the river o Eliza Anderson code of the street o Cody Scott Monster Status reputation identity and power uniform crime reports Strengths intimately and immediacy of detail Richness vitality Limitations different perceptions Not falsifiable particular to the experience of the person expressing it Literally impossible to falsify what s been observed distortion and selective insight Can be biased single most important and consistently used and sighted material Publicized in Crime in the United State and a parallel in Crime in Florida 1 Crimes known to the police o part 1 offenses murderer aggravated assault rape robbery burglary larceny o Total crime index violent crime index property crime index o Frequency of crimes known to the police per 100 000 o basic arrest data that shows the characteristics of people who 2 Crime Cleared by Arrest were arrested race age sex 3 Supplemental crime report o includes detailed information on the events characteristics of the victims relationship between victim and criminal 4 Law enforcement employees statistics data is collected from agency s are voluntary report to the FBI is so compelling because for urban areas 95 of the area is surrounded by agencies who are collective this data suburban areas 90 covered tries to be comprehensive and representative volume and rate of arrest strength Strengths the dollar cost of crime strength o It tells us a fair amount about the what of some kinds of crime o Its been done consistently for decades o Covers most places and is therefore representative o Provides insights to the volume and rate of crime rate is per 100 000 people so you can compare Miami to Tallahassee Even when talking about a rate in a state like Florida its misleading because we have so many tourists 2 million people don t get counted that s how many people are here at any given day that don t live here Does not address the who of crime o Not directly Limitations o Closest the UCR gets to the who of crime are the characteristics of the people arrested 100 victim experience of crime 58 of violent crime gets known to the police 27 level 39 of property crimes become known to the police arrest missing 73 of reality 07 level arrest 93 of reality we are missing the actual who of crime substantial undercount of crimes known to the police The Dark figure of crime o diminished victim reporting o about 40 of index crimes become known to the police undercount of crime by the UCR o 1 victim one crime rule if three people assault one person it will count 1 crime even though 3 people get arrested if a person breaks into a house kills someone and takes their car the only crime that will be recorded is the most serious one has to do due diligence the police wont take your word for it They go out and see if what you said is true some police departments don t have the man power to always send someone out so this will show some variance in crime reporting Objective measure also affects the arrest rate Manipulation of crime know to the police by the police different departments have different units for different crimes May establish a specialized burglary unit or rape unit o More people might report rapes if they know there is a unit that is victim friendly o Shocap talking to kids in Tallahassee who are habitual offenders specialized unit looking for certain kinds of behavior they are going to find more of it o Community policing law enforcement literally on the ground on the ground walking around being on the street in the neighborhood Could affect the counting of crime victim surveys self report crime surveys what makes statements scientific is they are open to evidence and falsification What we think we know is a social construction is not holding a mirror up to reality It is a human construction Limited because it is a social construction Criminology EX2 Victim Surveys 10 04 2012 1973 bureau of senses in 2010 the bureau of senses interviewed 73 000 individuals in 40 000 household 12 years or older Done over 3 years First interview in person subsequent interviews are done by phone Likelihood that crime will be reported 51 39 83 59 58 50 47 32 o Violent crimes Property
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