Criminology - readings

Criminology

The scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior.

Criminal Justice

The study of describing, analyzing, and explaining the agencies of justice (police, courts, corrections).

The 6 areas of the criminological enterprise

Criminal statistics, sociology of law, theory construction, criminal behavior, penology, and victimology.

Prescriptive norms

Societal expectations that dictate what behavior a member should do.

Proscriptive norms

Societal expectations that dictate what behavior a member should not do.

Mores

Sumner's term for social norms that govern right and wrong behavior.

Folkways

Sumner's term for social norms that govern right and rude behavior.

Legalistic definition of crime

An intentional act or omission violating criminal law, without defense, sanctioned by the state.

Labeling definition of crime

Crime defined by the label attached to an act, rather than the act itself.

Deviance

Behavior that violates social norms, which may or may not be criminal.

John Hagan's three variables of deviance

Evaluation of social harm, agreement about the norm, and severity of societal response.

Consensus crimes

Acts with strong agreement on their harm and wrongness, like murder and rape.

Conflict crimes

Acts with disagreement regarding their legality and morality, like drug use and prostitution.

Saints and Roughnecks study (Chambliss)

Showed society treated lower-class delinquents more harshly than middle-class delinquents for similar behavior.

Consensus view of crime

The belief that citizens agree on what is repugnant and laws apply fairly.

Conflict view of crime

The belief that laws are tools used by the ruling class to control others.

Interactionist view of crime

The belief that laws constantly change through interactions and efforts of moral entrepreneurs.

Critical approach to crime

Views crime as a product of political and economic inequalities within capitalism.

The State

An institution claiming the exclusive right to exercise force in a given territory.

Chambliss's analysis of historical Vagrancy Laws

Laws designed to provide cheap labor to England's elite when serfdom was collapsing.

Opium Act of 1908 origins

Sparked by racial conflict, anti-Asiatic riots, and cultural stereotypes in Canada.

Social construction of drug addiction (historical shift)

Strict laws created false scarcity, forcing users to steal and framing them as predators.

Crown's role in the transition to capitalism

Created commercial laws benefiting merchants in exchange for taxes and loans.

State legitimacy crisis causes

Failure to regulate corporate harms, extreme inequality, and environmental destruction.

Political crime

Force, terror, or fraud used to maintain or challenge power to others' detriment.

BNA Act (1867) criminal law authority

Grants the Canadian federal government exclusive power to make criminal laws.

Civil law

All law except criminal law, including property, contract, and tort law.

Tort law

Civil law where an individual seeks financial compensation for personal harm.

Standard of proof in criminal law

Guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Standard of proof in tort law

Liability is based on the balance of probabilities.

Summary offences

Minor crimes with a six-month prosecution limit and maximum six-month sentence.

Indictable offences

Serious crimes with no prosecution time limit and potential for jury trials.

Mala in se

Acts that are bad in and of themselves, such as murder.

Mala prohibitum

Acts that are bad only because they are legally banned, like obscenity.

General deterrence

Aiming to prevent crime by making an example of offenders to the public.

Specific deterrence

Aiming to prevent a specific offender from reoffending through punishment.

Mistake of fact defence

An ignorance defence where the accused misunderstood a crucial fact, negating intent.

M'Naghten Rule (1843)

Insanity defence standard requiring proof the accused did not know the act's nature or wrongness.

Voluntary intoxication defence limit

Only applies if the crime requires specific intent and the accused could not form it.

Duress defence requirements

An immediate threat of death or bodily harm, excluding murder and sexual assault.

Necessity defence

An excuse to avoid a greater evil caused by natural forces; excludes homicide.

Self-defence limits

Requires reasonable belief of imminent danger and force no greater than necessary.

Entrapment

Police inducing a person to commit a crime through trickery or persuasion.

Decriminalization of drugs

Eliminating criminal penalties for personal possession while keeping manufacturing and sale illegal.

Harm reduction

Treating drug use as a medical issue to reduce physical and social harms.