criminology chapter 1 - midterm 1 material

what is crime

• there is no universal definition of crime

• going against the “goodness” of the group

• “it is a violation of a criminal law”

• generic term that defines “wrong” or “anti-social”

explain how something like homelessness can be seen as both social and anti-social

social:

• being on the streets makes you highly social

anti-social:

• it goes against the cultural norm, therefore pushing the homeless away from the rest of the society

crime vs offence

crime:

• refers to any infraction of the law

offence:

• refers to a specific infraction

2 types of offence

1) summary offence:

• a LESS SERIOUS offence, such as theft under $5000, impersonating a police officer, or taking a motor vehicle without consent

• USA = misdemeanor

2) indictable:

• a SERIOUS OFFENCE, such as assault, theft over $5000, robbery (with or without a firearm), or murder

• USA = felony

what is conventional crime?

• illegal activity committed by individuals or small groups, involving some degree of DIRECT OR INDIRECT CONTACT

• ex) robbery, vehicle theft, break-and-enter

  • ex) you can buy hail insurance but it wont’ prevent it, it will only help after the fact

what is non-conventional crime?

• illegal activity that MAY NOT BE ASSOCIATED WITH CRIME and that may not be pursued by the criminal justice system

• ex) organized crime, political crime, cybercrime

• HOWEVER could be more serious than conventional

what is deviance? and what is the name given to a security flaw or bug that left many computer systems vulnerable?

• a wide range of behaviours that violate a social norm but are not necessarily prohibited by law

• ex) butting in the line at a supermarket or cutting off another drive

  • an act that that goes against the normal. if it goes so far against, it may be pushed to the left and made into a law

• “heartbleed”

what is decriminalization?

• the reduction or removal of criminal penalties attached to an act without legalizing it

• ex) cannabis

• how has it changed for people who did it before it was legal?

how is crime relative and how is crime evolutive?

1) Crime is relative

• what is defined as crime can vary with time and location. TIME + PLACE

• ex) within the society, family, who you socialize with, etc.

2) Crime is evolutive:

• the characteristics of a crime can change, taking different forms over time

consensus crimes vs. conflict crimes and what is the Hagan pyramid regarding them?

1) consensus crimes:

• activities that are generally considered very harmful for which there is strong support for sanctioning and controlling them

• ex) homicide

2) conflict crimes:

• activities that are NOT universally considered crimes, although they are legally defined as such

• ex) possessing non-medical marijuana, procuring the services of a prostitute

• these lead to social conflicts and debates in court

pyramid:

• bottom = social diversions - cussing

• social deviations - cussing out police officer - unreputable

• conflict

• consensus

what is ontology

• what exists

• ex) ghosts exist or god exists

• does crime exist?

what is epistemology

• how do we know?

• study of knowledge

• ex) because i saw it

what is criminology?

• an interdisciplinary science that studies criminal behaviour, crime causation, crime prevention, and the punishment and/or rehabilitation of offenders

what is an interdisciplinary approach?

• in criminology, an interdisciplinary approach is taken - the integration of knowledge from a variety of disciplines to formulate theories of criminal behaviour

• pulling tools from one discipline (suicide) to use or another (homelessness)

what is a criminologist?

• a behavioural scientist who specializes in the identification, classification, and description of criminal behaviour

what does the Canadian criminal Justice System (CJS) in Canada consist of?

3 institutions:

• 1) the police

• 2) the courts

• 3) the correctional/prison system

All 3 of these agencies operate under the authority of the federal and provincial/territorial governments

what are the main functions of the criminal justice system?

• investigate criminal offences as defined in the canadian criminal code (CCC) (police)

• to lay charges as defined under the CCC (police)

• to prosecute the accused in court (prosecution/”the crown”)

• to determine guilt or innocence (judge/jury)

• to sentence for those found guilty (judge)

• to administer the sentence (corrections)

define consent vs. assent vs. permission

1) consent:

• 18+ yourself

2) assent:

• ages 1-17 yourself

3) permission:

• 18+ for others aged 1-17

Problems arise when permission is not granted for someone aged 1-17 who assents themself to the same matter at hand

what are the 3 main origins of criminology in chronological order?

• the enlightenment period of the 18th century

• late 19th century

• early 20th century

how did the enlightenment period of the 18th century shape criminology?

• classical school of thought held that criminals act out of free will

• Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham argued for penal reform on humanitarian and philosophical principles

how did the late 19th century shape criminology?

• the term criminology entered the scientific discourse (1879)

• Paul Topinard and Raffaele Garofalo studied punishment and the treatment of criminals

• more interested in the reformation of criminal law than causes of crime

how did the early 20th century shape criminology?

• Maurice Parmelee published the first criminology textbook

• Edwin H. Sutherland published Principles of Criminology, which reinforced the influence of sociologically oriented positivism on criminology

• between 1930 and 1950, an alliance was forged between criminology and sociology departments in North America

who were the main pioneers of Canadian criminology?

from east…

• Denis Szabo

• John Edwards

• Tadeusz Grygier

• Ezzat Fattah

…to west

Denis Szabo

• referred to as the “FOUNDING FATHER OF CANADIAN CRIMINOLOGY”

• launched the criminology program at the Universite de Montreal in 1960

John Edwards

• established the Centre of Criminology at the University of Toronto in 1960

Tadeusz Grygier

• started the criminology and correctional administration program at the University of Ottawa in 1967

Ezzat Fattah

• established Simon Fraser University’s criminology program in 1975

what are some sub-areas of criminology?

• 1)criminal statistics

• 2)sociology of law

• 3)THEORY CONSTRUCTION: ETIOLOGY

• 4)types of criminal behaviour

• 5)law enforcement, judiciary, and corrections

• 6)victimology

1) criminal statisitcs

• researchers rely on crime data to understand and predict criminal behaviour and to assess the impact of crime prevention or intervention programs

• scientific evidence is data that can be repeatedly observed and measured to test theories for their validity and reliability

2) sociology of law

• the sociology of law is concerned with the origins of law and legal thought and is closely aligned with critical criminology

• specialists in this area examine how various economic, political, and social forces have influenced the formalization of social control and social order

• the sociology of law is also concerned with exploring the central themes of social order, social conflict, and power relations as they pertain to law

3) theory construction: etiology

• this area of study is concerned with understanding the causes of crime, its rates and trends, and predicting behaviour, whether of groups or individuals

• the study of criminology is interdisciplinary and as such, there are a variety of criminological and theoretical orientations

• theories can be grouped according to their disciplinary orientations

• theory = seeing world through a particular lens/view

4) types of criminal behaviour

• the use of criminal typologies is a way of trying to understand and organize criminal behaviour

• with advances in theory and research methodologies, many criminologists believe that different types of crime have different casual explanations

• criminologists interested in criminal typologies often attempt to explain how and why different types of criminals commit different types of crimes

5) law enforcement, judiciary, and corrections

• the criminal justice system consists of 3 formal elements:

  • police

  • courts

  • corrections

• how these elements fulfill their tasks - detecting crime, dealing with criminals, and protecting society - has been the subject of much research

6) victimology

• the study of the relationships between criminals and their victims - write a victims statement = sociology/personal/emotional pain etc. = quantify? therapy 3 times a week for 1 hour for example

• also includes the scientific study of the relationship between the victim and the criminal justice system

• the system can also make victims of innocent people wrongfully convicted of crime: canadian wrongful conviction cases of Morin and Milgaard illustrate the power of DNA evidence

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives?

• the virtually every major discipline has contributed something to the study of crime

• ex) biology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, etc.

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives in regards to biology?

• the possibility that certain human traits are biological or “hard wired” or that certain crimes are a function of chemical, genetic, and/or neurological aberrations

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives in regards to economics?

• studies have demonstrated links between unemployment, economic recession, capitalism, and crime

• is crime a function of competition for limited resources and/or social status and power?

• do people who “have everything” commit as many crimes as those who do not?

  • ex) welfare fraud, tax evasion

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives in regards to geography?

• the bystander effect*

• theories based on wide range of environmental factors, from barometric pressure and even phases of the moon, to the physical appearance and layout of a business, residence, social area, or community

  • ex) street design - does painting a dark alleyway pink change it?

• what is unique about this is that findings can often be used to proactively PREVENT crime

  • ex) “female spaces” vs. “masculine spaces”- driving a car = more power = more masculine

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives in regards to political science?

• political decisions regarding criminal justice have a direct impact on the community at large

• ex) government funded rehab

• what are politicians trying to accomplish and in whose interest are they acting upon when they pass crime legislation

• ex) edmonton budget = 30% police and 70% elsewhere

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives in regards to psychology?

• psychology is the study of the mind and behaviout

• look at differences in personality and mental characteristics between criminals and other

• criminologists focus on how individual criminal behaviour is acquired, evoked, and maintained

what is the idea of disciplinary perspectives in regards to sociology?

• sociological perspective is the DOMINANT criminological perspective in North America

• sociology is the study of human interactions; it studies the effects of that interaction on human behaviour, as well as the forces (such as values, norms, mores, and laws) that underlie regularities in human behaviour

• sociologists are interested in culture and social structure

• crime is seen as a social phenomenon

• the term society = big picture = not overly used by sociologists

what are the 2 school roots of criminology?

• 1) classical

• 2) positivist

• criminologists recognize that criminal behaviour is the product of both free will and deterministic forces

why should criminology be seen as an interdisciplinary science?

• because it draws on many research disciplines in its search for explanations of criminal behaviour

puting theory into practice with criminologists?

• they must beware of unintended consequences and findings

  • ex) strawberry plant metaphor = rhizomatic

• governments rely on the theoretical guidance of criminologists when making policy decisions

• need to be able to reproduce “experiment” - it was the “common sense” of its time, but does that still hold true now?

what are some general methods of knowing?

• rationalism

• empiricism

• paradigm

• paradigm shift

what is rationalism

• the principle that some kinds of knowledge are innate, while others can be acquired through reasoning, independent of experience

• ex) Rene Descartes

what is empiricism?

• the principle that knowledge is acquired only through experience

• ex) John Locke, David Hume

what did philosopher Immanuel Kant agrue?

• that we do not know reality

• instead our minds form appearances of reality, and our ways of acquiring knowledge are simply the mental filters through which the mind processes and constructs our reality

what is paradigm?

• framework or set of underlying assumptions

• there can be no single objective truth - only multiple theories reflecting the different beliefs held by scientists - then reality can consist of various paradigms

what is the paradigm shift?

• when the prevailing model is overwhelmed by new findings, the discipline experiences a paradigm shift

• as we have gained more pragmatic knowledge about crime and criminality, we have seen such a shift towards a more interdisciplinary approach

• criminology forms a knowledge base, which becomes the foundation for formulating or testing theories, making policy recommendations, and issuing social and political responses to criminological concerns

what are the 5 basic means by which we acquire information and gain understanding?

• 1) logical reasoning

• 2) authority

• 3) consensus

• 4) observation

• 5) past experiences

• these 5 “naive” methods of acquiring information can result in misconceptions as they are not systematic in their approach

what does scientific inquiry rely on?

• the collection of measurable data from representative samples and rigorous testing of hypotheses using prescribed research methods

how does logical reasoning work?

• we often form conclusions based on what we believe to be logical speculation

• however, our reasoning may be undermined by such factors as limited knowledge, our personal biases, and our capacity to ignore contradictions in our thinking

• Heuristics* - i know what an apple is, i see an orange, i know it is not an apple, is it in the same category?

how does authority work?

• when an authority (such as a parent, a teacher, or an expert) says that something is so, we often accept it as fact

• using an expert to affirm our belief lends credibility to it

how does consensus work?

• we often rely on the wisdom of our peer group

• however, the people who make up that group are likely to be people who have come together because they share a common view

• ex) ontology = what exists

  • people who believe in ghosts vs. people who don’t

  • one is seen as right and the other as wrong?

how does observation work?

• seeing things for ourselves instead of relying on second-hand information or the opinions of others

• ex) epistemology - how do we know?

how do past experiences work?

• this is the most common source of support for our suppositions (i.e. hypotheses

• we draw on prior instances or events that confirm our assumptions and then attempt to modify incongruent elements

• studies have shown that information that is consistent with our expectations are more easily remembered than information that is not

what is meant when it is said that the scientific method of inquiry is circular?

• knowledge is a process of continually retesting and refining our understanding of a given phenomenon

what are the 4 major influences on public attitudes regarding criminal activity and behaviour?

• 1) personal knowledge

• 2) the mass media

• 3) official state knowledge

• 4) theoretical knowledge

how does personal knowledge influence the publics attitudes?

• the public has a voice in decisions about the administration of criminal justice

• ex) public opinion polls, media stories, activist groups

• since the administration of justice is seen as a crucial role of government, the government in power has a vested interest in responding to the public’s will

• as a result, public perception ca have a dramatic impact on the criminal justice system

• most canadians have limited knowledge of actual crime rates and tend to overestimate and are ill-informed about other key aspects (Sanders and Robert, 20040

• public perception of risk varies by age, gender, occupation, lifestyle, and other personal attributes

what is net-widening in terms of personal knowledge?

• the process by which the state (not the people) expands its control over behaviour through changes to sentencing laws and administrative policies

how does mass media influence the publics attitudes?

• most of what people come to think about current events comes from media reports rather than from direct experiences

• media reports reflect our conventional methods of knowing

• the medias presentation of crime and violence may affect public perceptions as well as behaviours

• researchers suggest that media reporting is NOT REFLECTIVE OF ACTUAL CRIME RATES

• many tv programs and games contain violence so it is natural to believe that violent media content has some influence on our perception of violence which has led to solicited public support for more police officers, better funding, ect.

what is moral panic in regards to mass media?

• a sociological term used to describe a widespread, exaggerated public concern over issues associated with morality

• ex) news media have sometimes been accused of causing moral panic by publishing sensationalistic accounts of certain issues

  • ex) prostitution or pornography

  • ex) kids listening to rock music = “the devils music”

what did social psychologist Albert Bandura demonstrate a link between in regards to mas media?

• a link between watching and performing violence through a process is known as vicarious reinforcement

what is conflict theory in regards to mass media?

• a theoretical perspective that views crime as a natural product of a society that promotes competition and, hance, social and economic disparity

• principles of conflict theory have been used to argue that the media were responsible for conveying an image of rapidly increasing crime rates

• ex) critic of capitalism

• ex) crime = natural property

• ex) rich and poor - especially after WW2, classes became more stratified

• Conflict theories are perspectives in political philosophy and sociology which argue that individuals and groups within society interact on the basis of conflict rather than agreement,

• holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than by consensus and conformity

what is left-realism in regards to mass media?

• a theoretical perspective that aims to better understand the implications of crime control policies rather than the causes of crime

• the media plays a significant role in society in crime control policy because they decide what is worthy of public consumptions

• ex) freelancers vice video

what are the 3 primary sources of official data in regards to an official state of knowledge?

• within the criminal justice system there are 3 primary sources of official data:

  • 1) the police

  • 2) the judicial system

  • 3) the corrections system

  • these 3 institutions are required by law to produce information, typically in the form of statistics and mainly to measure their performance

how does an official state of knowledge influence the publics attitudes?

• the collection and disseminations of this information are thus a form of public accountability

• much of the statistical and general information used by the media and criminologists comes from these sources

what is juristat in regards to an official state of knowledge?

• a regular publication of the canadian centre for justice statistics, considered the most authoritative source of criminal justice statistics in canada

what are the 6 limitations of official data in regards to an official state of knowledge?

• 1) reliability

• 2) validity

• 3) sampling

• 4) random error

• 5) systematic error

• 6) crime funnel

what is reliability in regards to the limitations of official data?

• the likelihood that an observed relationship between 2 or more variables can or will be observed in a consistent manner

what is validity in regards to the limitations of official data?

• the likelihood that the relationships observed and measured are real

what is sampling in regards to the limitations of official data?

• the process of selecting a group of research subjects that is representative of the entire population under investigation

what is random error in regards to the limitations of official data?

• refers to unintentional or unexpected mistakes during the data collection process

what is a systematic error in regards to the limitations of official data?

• refers to predictable errors made during the data collection process

what is a crime funnel in regards to the limitations of official data?

• a metaphor referring to the decreasing number of crimes processed at successive levels of the CJS

how does theoretical knowledge and crime influence public attitudes

• theoretical concepts are supposedly based on scientifically verifiable and reliable observations

what is operationalization in regards to theoretical knowledge and crime?

• the definition of criminological concepts or phenomena in such a way that can be observed and measured scientifically

describe the situation of the ethical dilemmas in criminological research

• research endeavors rely on funding that comes, increasingly, from government sources

• the paradigm shift in criminology has influenced not just what criminologists study, but the angle of criminological inquiry

• criminologists must not only be aware of the ethical implications of sharing their findings, but they must also be prepared to defend their work in the light of public scrutiny

in USA why can’t one study gun violence?

• because laws have been made by NRA because they “don’t need that data”

what are the 5 key purposes on why criminologists need data

• 1) description - describing criminal phenomena

• 2) explanation - explaining crime patterns and trends

• 3) evaluation - determining how the CJS is working

• 4) risk assessment - calculating relative risk of being victimized

• 5) prediction - preventing crime

• DEER P

what are the 3 most common measures of crime that are officials statistics collected primarily by the various elements of the CJS

• 1) police statistics

• 2) judicial statistics

• 3) correctional statistics

explain how police stats are reported

• police reports are the most frequent source of official crime data

what are the 2 main sources of police stats?

• 1) uniform crime reporting (UCR)

• 2) canadian centre for justice statistics (CCJS)

what is the dark figure of crime (or shadow population) in regards to police stats

• crime that goes undetected, unreported, or unrecorded, and that is thus not included in official sources

what 3 categories are police stats divided into?

• 1) summary offences

  • carry a maximum penalty of 6 months in jail and/or a fine not exceeding $5000 (unless a different penalty is specified)

• 2) indictable offences

  • carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and no maximum fine

• 3) hybrid offences

  • consists of crimes such as impaired driving and theft under $5000 (note: it recently changed from 2000-5000), which the Crown may choose to prosecute as either summary or indictable

how do judicial stats work?

• historically court records were the first type of official crime stats to be collected

• beginning in the early 19th century, information was gathered on the number of charges and convictions that appeared before the courts, as well as the offenders sex, income, education and occupation

• now, in recent years, CCJS reports have tended to focus on themes such as hate crime, homicide, young offenders, family violence, and home invasion, rather than provide general summaries of crime across canada

how do correctional stats work?

• data on people held in federal and provincial correction facilities, including age, sex, offence, and prior conviction

• in 1856, correctional stats became a standard component of criminal stats

how do the indigenous population tie into correctional stats?

• in 1876 the indian act by John A Macdonals and Duncan Campbell Scott was put into action. the act was intended to “kill the indian problem”

• the correctional facilities are nearly 34% indigenous men and nearly 50% for women

what do official data measure?

• from a social constructionist perspective, official stats are collected primarily to meet the collectors own needs and thus tend to reflect the collectors attitudes regarding what is important

• while crime data offer interesting descriptive information, they do not explain why changes occur. this is where scientific inquiry and theoretical knowledge come to play

• this often dehumanizes people by placing them in jail, giving them a title of criminal

what is a constructionist perspective?

• seeing the world through a particular view

• we must work together to see this

• individual mentally constructs the world of experience through cognitive processes while social constructionism has a social rather than an individual focus

what are the 3 major factors that affect crime data?

• official crime counts are subject to fluctuation due to various factors that influence the collecting and processing of crime data

• 1) media coverage

• 2) the dark figure of crime

• 3) changes in recording procedures

how does media coverage affect crime data?

• media coverage of crime can influence crime counts

• focusing certain crimes or crises draws public attention and affects to reporting rates

how does the dark figure of crime affect crime data?

• the portion of crime that goes undetected, unreported, or unrecorded may fluctuate over time and even within settings because of changes in variables such as:

  • police enforcement practices

  • victims willingness to report their victimization

  • public attitudes towards the criminal justice system

describe the 2 types of public attitudes in regards to faith

• 1) good faith

  • sit around and calmy disagree with a genuine thought to try and solve the problem

• 2) bad faith

  • before even talking, they will not change their minds and carry no means of trying to solve the problem

how do changes in recording procedures affect crime data?

• reasons for under-or-over reporting are:

  • changes in the number of police forces/officers

  • changes in police/court administration

  • changes in the legal definition of crime

  • changes in population base

  • changes in public reporting pattern

describe what the Canadain Centre for Justice Statisitcs (CCJS) is about

• the CCJS opened in and set out to reorganize national data collection methods to meet both federal and provincial needs

• these data are now gathered by the CCJS and published in the Juristat bulletins

what issues have the CCJS recently covered?

• family violence in canada

• homicide in canada

• police-reported cybercrime crime

• verdicts of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in adult criminal courts

• police-reported hate crimes

• family law cases in the civil courts

• police resources in canada

• shelters for abused women in canada

what are some of the limitations of the CCJS?

• there is no national information on court decisions

  • no follow-up level

• there are inconsistencies in the way provinces report, as well as count, their crime incidents

• data on crime incidents, arrests, charges, convictions, and dispositions lack depth

• reports provide little insight into crime and criminal behaviour

• there are no reports on white-collared (ex. tax evasion) crime, organized crime. victimless crime, or other types of non-convectional crime

• ex) welfare fraud vs. tax evasion

what is unofficial crime data?

• crime data not collected by official criminal justice agencies, usually to elucidate existing official data and verify the validity of official sources

  • victimization data

  • self-reported data

  • observational methods