Criminology 02 22 2016 Chapter 1 Introduction to the Study of Crime Criminology o The study of the nature and extent of criminal behavior Edwin Sutherlands and Donald Cressey found the core interests of criminologists o Development of criminal law Why do people commit crimes o Cause of law violations Ex Incarceration era that came out of the war on drugs Started just say no campaign Mass incarceration leads to problems o Methods used to control behavior Punishments for unacceptable behavior Even criminals who get away with it become arrogant and complacent and eventually get caught Legal Definition of Crime o Any culpable action or inaction prohibited by law o Serious offenses such as murder rape and burglary Felony Misdemeanor o Jail not prison Criminal Law Civil Law o Violation against the state o Punishment death incarceration fines payable to the state o Jury o Burden of proof proof beyond a reasonable doubt o Violation against the individual o preponderance of evidence o punishment fines payable to the individual Evolution of Criminology o Prior to 1789 Demonology Some crimes specified some not Arbitrary and cruel punishment Ex Thieves are possessed by the devil Branding flogging mutilation drowning banishment and beheading Punishment Public punishment The head crusher Classical Criminology o In every society people have free will o Criminal solutions might be more attractive than the lawful ones o Criminal behavior is controlled by punishment o Punishment must be swift severe and certain o the heart wants what the heart wants o in a world with no rules would society correct itself o crime is often complex not simple Agency o Being able to make your own choices o Not being a product of your environment Immoral v Illegal o Values learned in kindergarten o Punishment is a threat for most people Classical Criminology o Assumptions about humans Hedonistic Rational Always weighing the cost o Purpose of punishment To deter crime 2 types of deterrence General offenders Specific o The effects of punishment on potential o The effect of punishment on the individual who is punished Positivist Criminology o Founded by Aguste Comte 1789 1857 Human behavior is a function of external forces that are beyond individual control Embraced the scientific method while studying crime Helps study patterns of behavior Sociological Criminology o Emile Durkhiem Views crime as necessary Helps pressure the social order Author of division of labor Mechanical Society Simple society Small rural society Organic Society State of anomie state of unrest Less concerned about the community More individualistic Suicide rates go up Certain things that are generally agreed upon Killing people is wrong This creates social cohesion Becomes a very complex culture Chicago School Park Burgess Wirth o crime is not a function of personal characteristics but rather a reaction to the environment o they challenged the assumption that criminals were biologically or sociologically impaired Critical Criminology o Karl Marx 1818 1883 o Conflict theory o Described oppressive labor conditions in industrial capitalism o Indicted capitalism for producing conditions that support high crime o Conflict is always over the surplus o Crime is an emergent quality of a society that is obsessed over material possessions Developmental Criminology o Developed by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck o Viewed criminality as a dynamic process influenced by social experiences as well as individual characteristics o Integrated biological social and psychological elements Research Methods o Survey Most common type of research methods used by sociologists 2 methods cross sectional longitudinal survey over time expensive not used very often official data sources department of corrections o Ethics in Research Researchers must get informed consent from the subjects being studied Researchers must be honest about reason and purposes Researcher must cause no harm to the subject being of the study studied Ethics committees and consent forms are common o Lord Humphry s Study Tea room trade Homosexual men living heterosexual lifestyles He became the watchman and interviewed their children and wives No one knew they were being studied Unethical legally and morally Book Notes o Criminology Scientific study of the extent nature cause and control of criminal behavior o Deviant Behavior o Criminal Justice Actions that depart from the social norms Some are considered criminal others merely harmless aberrations System made up of the agencies of social control such as police departments courts and correctional institutions that handle criminal offenders o Criminological Enterprise The various subareas included within the scholarly discipline of criminology which taken as a whole define the field of study o Valid Measure o Reliable Measure A measure that actually measures what it purports to measure A measure that is factual A measure that produces consistent results from one measurement to another o Victim of Precipitated Homicide Refers to those killings in which the victim is a direct positive precipitator to the incident Subarea of criminology that focuses on the correction and control of criminal offenders o Penology o Rehabilitation Treatment of criminal offenders that is aimed at preventing future criminal behavior o Mandatory Sentences A statutory requirement that a certain penalty shall be carried out in all causes of conviction for a specified offense of series of offenses o Capital Punishment The execution of criminal offenders The death penalty o Victimology o Classical Criminology The study of the victims role in criminal events Theoretical perspective suggesting that people choose to commit crime and that crime can be controlled if potential criminals fear punishment o Sociological Criminology Approach to criminology based on the work of Durkhiem that focuses on the relationship of the social factors and crime o Anomie A lack of norms or clean social standards because of rapidly shifting moral values the individual has few guides to what is socially acceptable o Chicago School Group of urban sociologists that studied the relationship between environmental conditions and crime Chapter 2 The Nature and Extent of Crime Measuring Crime o Official Reports Justice Departments o Victimization surveys NCVS national scale o Self Reports Sources of Official Reports o Police Statistics or UCR Run by the FBI o Court statistics and conviction data o Jail and Prison
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