403 - Introduction

crime

an intentional act in violation of the criminal law committed without defense or excuse, and penalized by the state as a felony or misdemeanour

crime is largely a _____ ______

social construct

criminal behaviour (Ullman & Krasner)

antisocial acts that place the actor at risk of becoming a focus of the attention of criminal and juvenile justice professionals

4 approaches to crime

1. legal

2. moral

3. social

4. psychological

legal approach

crime is an act prohibited by law, and punishable by law

moral approach

a religious principle is violated. Punishment may be exacted by a supernatural being, or it’s Earthly representatives (ex., religious police)

social approach

community norms and customs are violated, the community applies the punishment

psychological appraoch

crime is an act that is agreeable to the actor, but painful to the victim. It is punished by individuals

• issues with this, as crime may not always be agreeable (ex. Sask dad assisting in suicide of daughter)

official statistics

jurisdictions records of aggregate crime rates

• most credible source

• underestimate

• tell little about individual offenders

victim reports

complaints made to police, but without formal charges being laid, or without conviction where charges are laid

• higher crime estimates

• may be false

• correlate well

surveys

ask target group of individuals about their offending history, usually with assurances of anonymity

• allow systematic data like age, gender, SES

• can under or overreport

longitudinal studies

examine the group or cohort of individuals at several developmentally relevant points in their lives

• allows for more precise identification

  • of risk factors and age onset

youngest criminal age

12

criminogenic factors

factors in offender’s life related to recidivism

risk factor

increases the probability of an adverse outcome

• can be specific or general

protective factor

when exposed to it, less likely to develop adverse outcomes

dark figure

unreported crime, don’t know the victims or the crimes

• aware of this via drug paraphernalia, vandalism, gang tagging, etc.

most (lay) people like ____ one-dimensional explanations.( ex., lock em up and throw away the key)

simple

explanations of why poeple commit crime offered by experts are highly _____

complex

integrative therapy

thoughtful combination of proven techniques with evidence based proof

three views of humans about criminality

1. conformity

2. non-conformity

3. social learning / neutrality

conformity

people are inherently good by nature, but can stray for a variety of reasons

• inability for some individuals to achieve these things sets up a discrepancy (or strain) between expectation and reality

  • ex., Merton’s strain theory

Merton’s strain theory

agreement between people on what is worth doing and having, but some are more capable of getting these things than others

• example of conformity

non-conformity

we’re born as hedonistic, undisciplined barbarians. Only rules and regulations separate us from antisocial behaviour

• ex., HIrschi’s social control theory

hirschi’s social control theory

crime occurs when the individual refuses to be bound by those rules

• ex., of non-conformity

social learning / neutrality

we’re neither good nor bad by nature, we do what we have learned

• those around you are key

• ex., Watson’s social learning theory, sutherland’s differential association theory

psychological criminology

concerned with the behavioural and mental processes of those that commit crime