SOCL 2301 Exam 1

Raffaele Garofalo

coined “criminology”

Edwin Sutherland

founding scholar

Knowledge of crime

Process: making laws, breaking laws, reacting toward breaking laws

Criminologists

collect information for study and analysis

empirical science

data that can be collected and measured

deviance

broad; behavior that violates social norms, including laws (littering, vegans)

crime

narrow; any human conduct that violates a criminal law and is subject to punishment

If you break a law, are you deviant?

No, it’s not deviant if you break a crime (speed on the road)

The difference between crime and forms of deviance is subject to constant change and may vary from state to country

can rid of crimes, vary from place (marujuana, age of driving)

consensus model view

certain acts are so threatening to society’s survival that they are designated crimes; assumes that members of a society agree on what is right and wrong

conflict = power struggle

ruling class in society, controlling classes with no power, struggle for power is basic feature of human existence than consensus

Factors that lead to lawbreaking

1) economic and social conditions

2) subcultures committed to violent or illegal activities

3) human nature

4) inability of social institutions or illegal activities

Hedonism

pleasure over pain (want a laptop, can’t get a laptop, steal laptop)

Why do people who are inclined to break laws engage in particular acts at particular times?

opportunity

results of society’s reactions to breaking laws

influence policy making and legislation aimed at crime control; irrational, emotional, counterproductive

criminology

based on European scholarship; focuses on scientific studies of crime and criminality

criminal justice system

recent American innovation; focuses on the studies of decision-making processes, operations, and justice-related concerns

global approach to breaking laws

responses beyond local and national borders; developing cross-national dialogue necessary to build a robust field remains a challenge

transnational crimes

crimes happening across the border

What does the perception of crime problems rely on?

increasing or decreasing rests on a fear of crime fueled by media (not as many school shootings as it seems

requirements to be a crime

1) act

2) legality

3) harm

4) causation

5) mens rea

6) concurrence

7) punishment

act requirement

act vs status; failure to act; some behavior has to occur (theft, assault, fraud (by lying), tax evasion or child neglect (failure to act); status-can call self a drug dealer, give drugs to kids, but does not count until sell to people

legality requirement

has to have a law that says it is illegal; no law, no crime

harm requirement

behavior has to cause harm; killing, property crime (taken things from them), public order crimes - hard to sell (drugs, gambling, sex work)

causation requirement

your actions cause that harm through own effort (shot husband in leg, he dies in the ambulance crash, not as fault for death)

mens rea requirement

strict liability; the though process; guilty mind; no one can be guilty until they had technical knowledge of being wrong

concurrence requirement

brining together the guilty mind and the action

punishment requirement

requires a punishment

Severity of Punishments

1) felonies 2) misdemeanors 3) violations (infractions)

felonies

most severe crimes, subject to punishment of a year or more

misdemeanors

less-severe crimes, max one year in jail, does not require

violations (infractions)

minor offenses, normally only fines (speeding ticket, no seatbelt)

Differences between prison and jail

prison is a sentence that is given as punishment for being found guilty for a crime; jail has a lot of reasons (driving too fast, drinking and driving) to get arrested, not really guilty or a punishment, but a holding spot until next step

defenses

1) insanity defense

2) defense of infancy

3) defense of mistake of fact

4) the legality of requirement

5) duress

6) necessity

7) defense of property

Typologies of Crime

violent crimes; crimes against property; white-collar and corporate crime; drug-, alcohol-, sex-related

reasons for measuring crime

1) researchers need to test theories about why people commit crime

2) enhance one’s knowledge of the characteristics of various types of offenses

3) criminal justice agencies depend on information to facilitate daily operations and anticipate future needs

theory

a systematic set of principles that explain how two or more phenomena are related 1) hypothesis 2) data

primary data

facts and observations researchers gather for the purpose of a particular study; own data, harder, more expensive and time

secondary data

data that were previously collected for a different investigation; saves trouble of verification; easier, cheaper, faster

What do researchers do when encountering ethical issues?

rely of standards for ethical human experimentation

Institutional review boards (IRBs) or ethical review boards (ERBs)

exist in government agencies and universities to ensure the protection of human subjects

Guidelines for human experiment ation

1) fully reporting experimental findings

2) honoring commitments made to respondents

3) not misleading respondents

4) protecting respondents’ confidentiality

5) voluntary participation (cannot force to complete the experiment)

National Incident-Based Reporting System

collected by FBI; newly placed to be major source of crime; captures more details on each single crime incident as well as on separate offenses within the same incident, info on victims, known offenders, relationships between victims and offenders, etc.

Crimes are broken down into three categories

1) crimes against persons

2) crimes against property

3) crimes against society

National Crime Victimization Survey

collected since 1930s, victimization survey, need useful info but ones that cannot take a lot of space

8 major crimes that FBI is tracking

Crimes against person/ Part I Offenses

1) criminal homicide

2) rape

3) robbery

4) aggravated assault

Crimes against property

5) burglary

6) larceny-theft (stealing)

7) motor vehicle theft

8) arson

part II crimes

21 crimes; fraud, embezzlement, weapons offenses, vandalism, and simple assaults

crime rates

(number of reporter crimes/total populations)* 100,000

-calulated number is per 100,000

ex: 7 answer (7 rate per 100,000)

self-report surveys

lots of different surveys; measure the extent of crime by interviewing individuals about their experiences as victims

National Crime Victimization Survey

measures the extent of victimization of Part I offenses, except criminal homicide, arson; kids do not count; asking people to report their own criminal acts in a confidential interview, or anonymous questionnaire

crime trends

data on how often a crime is committed determines the increases and decreases of crime over time; crime often in urban areas; often at night sexual assaults; personal thefts in the day; higher in summer

What age is accountable for half of arrests?

under 25

aging-out phenomenon

decline in criminal activities with age

criminal careers

concept that describes the onset of criminal activity, the types and amount of crime committed, and the termination of such activity

longitudinal studies

property crime arrests peak at age 16, drop in half by 20; violent crimes arrest at age 18; young = 15-24

crimes women typically commit?

property crimes (shoplifting, fraud, embezzlement, white collar)

how much more does men commit crime than females?

three males per female (80-90%)

classical school

individuals choose to commit crimes after weighing the consequences of their actions

positivist school

human behavior is determined by forces beyond individual control

Cesare Beccaria

author of On Crimes and Punishments; enlightened criminal justice system that was to serve the people rather than the monarchy; people have free will to choose their behavior; father of modern criminology

Beccaria’s Principles

1) laws should be used to maintain the social contract

2) only legislators should create laws

3) judges should impose punishment only in accordance with the law

4) punishment should be based on the act, not on the actor

5) punishment should be prompt and effectiv e

6) all people should be treated equally

7) captial punishment should be abolished

8) use of torture to gain confessions should be abolished

9) better to prevent crimes than to punish them

Jermey Bentham

-law exists in order to create happiness for the community

-punishment creates unhappiness, justified only if it prevents greater evil

-certainty of punishment outweighs its severity as a deterrent against crime

Classical approach weaknesses

-the proposition that human beings had the capacity to choose freely between good and evil was accepted without question

-no need to ask why people the way they do, seek a motive,

August Comte

positivist criminology; argued real knowledge of social phenomena is based on positivist approach

positivist

scientific

physiognomy

study of facial features and their relation to human behavior

phrenology

posited that bumps on the head were indications of psychological propensities

Cesare Lombroso

“born criminal” states that criminals are a lower form of life

atavistic stigmata

physical features of creatures at an earlier stage of development, before htey became fully human

born criminal

an individual born with a ny five of the stigmata; accounts for about 1/3 of offenders

Ernest Hooten

reawakened an interest in biologically determined criminality; proves they are inheriting biology; physical characteristics —> intelligence; believes people are both physically and mentally inferior

somatotype school

related body build to behavior; people with mesomorph traits are more likely to be involved in illegal behavior (close to eugenics)

inherited criminality

criminality was inherited trait passed on in the genes

Issac Ray

The Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity; America’s first forensic psychiatrist; defends concept of moral insanity

moral insanity

people who were normal except that something was wrong with the part of the brain that regulates affective responses; questioned if legally responsible for actions

intelligence tests seemed to provide an objective basis for differentiating criminals

brings out stupid, feeble minded = criminal behavior

Quetelet and Guerry

among the first to repudiate the classicists’ free-will doctrine; believed patterns not random; argued society was responsible for criminal behavior

Gabriel Tarde

one of the earliest sociological theorist of human behavior; formulated laws of imitation; stated individuals emulate behavior patterns

laws of imitation

principles that governed the process by which people became criminals

Durkeim

one of the founders of sociology

Points made by Durkheim

1) crime is a normal part of society as birth and death

2) some crime is necessary if a society is to progress

3) all societies have crimes and sanctions

4) anomie leads to increased crime, but once social order is re-established, crime will decrease

anomie

breakdown of social order as a result of loss of standards and values c

classical criminologists

free will/choice

Solutions to crime through classical view

1) limitations on governmental power

2) abolition of brutality

3) creation of a more equitable system of justice

4) argued that punishment should fit the crime

Positivist school

within the individual; influenced judges to give greater consideration to the offender than to the gravity of the crime; searched biological, psychological, and social factors

biocriminology

study of the physical aspects of psychological disorders

XYY Syndrome

male receives two Y-chromosomes; extra Y lead to crime? - can’t control environment so not sure

Twin Studies

discover whether crime is genetically predetermined, researchers have compared identical and fraternal twins; some genetic influences increase risk of criminality

adoption studies

study infants separated at births in random homes; criminality of biological parents influences the child more

Risk factors related to violence

1) hyperactivity

2) poor early grades

3) Low IQ

4) fearlessness

5) inability to defer gratification (impulsivity, impatience)

IQ Debate

debate if IQ and crime has its roots (suggest an indirect link)

Biochemical Factors Influencing Criminality

Food allergies, diet, hypoglycemia, hormones

Minimal brain dysfunction

classified as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; produces asocial behavioral patterns

Criticisms of biocriminology

deny the existence of individual free will which fosters a sense of hopelessness; racist undertone suggesting minorities are predisposed to crime

Is human behavior the product of nature (genetics) or nurture (environment)?

Both

attributes to delinquent and criminal behavior

1) a conscience so overbearing that it arouses feelings of guilt

2) (most significant) a conscience so weak that it cannot control the individual’s impulses

3) the need for immediate gratification

Criticism of psychoanalytic theory of criminality

inability to test

Principles of Psychologists Who Study Crime

1) actions and behavior of an adult are understood in terms of childhood development

2) behavior and unconscious motives are intertwined, and their interaction must be unraveled to understand criminality

3) criminality is a representation of psychological conflict

Lawrence Kohlberg

Moral Developmental Theory

Three phases of moral reasoning

Preconventional, conventional, postconventional