Crime and Society Midterm (finished)

Normative Concept

One based on moral norms

Crime is a normative concept

Crime is a

socially constructed concept

Used to categorize behaviours as requiring formal control and social intervention

Crime has shifted from…

From a private matter of seeking retribution personally

To a social phenomenon needing formal criminal justice systems

Conventional Crimes

Crimes committed by individuals or small groups

With some degree of contact occurs, ex. Robbery, car theft, break-in

Non-Conventional Crimes

Illegal but difficult to pursue, ex. Organized, political, or environmental crime, white-collar and cybercrime

Deviance

Behaviour that violates a social norm but is not necessarily illegal. ex. face tattoos

Relative Crime

the idea that what is defined as crime can vary with time and location

Evolutive Crime

the idea that what comprises crime can change, taking different forms and meanings

The Crime and Deviance Hierarchy

John Hagan created a pyramid to illustrate the difference between crime and deviance.

Bottom up, it is social diversions > social deviations > conflict crimes> consensus crimes

Social Diversions

Bottom of John Hagan’s pyramid

Minor forms of deviance. ex. Unconventional dress or offensive language

Social Deviations

Behaviours considered disreputable in specific social settings. ex. Swearing at a police officer in court

Conflict Crimes

Not really seen as crimes, even though they are illegal. ex. Sex work, or not wearing a seatbelt

Consensus Crimes

At the top of John Hagan’s pyramid

Behaviours considered very harmful and deserving of sanction, ex. Homicide

Two Misconceptions about Criminology

1. Criminology is a humanitarian movement

2. Criminology is a normative discipline concerned with how our environment is socially constructed

Criminology

The study of criminal behaviour, crime causation, crime prevention, and rehabilitation

Criminology is Interdisciplinary:

because it borrows from law and ethics, psychology, sociology, anthropology and biology, economics, and political science

Criminology is an Applied Science:

because the findings of research are used to guide public policy

The Canadian Criminal Justice System consists of three institutions:

1. The police

2. The courts

3. The prison system

All three agencies operate under the federal and provincial/territorial governments

6 Functions of the Criminal Justice System

1. investigate criminal offences

2. lay charges

3. prosecute the accused in court

4. determine guilt or innocence

5. sentence those found guilty

6. administer the sentence

The term criminology entered scientific discourse in:

Europe in the late 19th century

Who coined the term criminology and when

In 1879, Paul Topinard and Raffaele Gatofalo

Who published the first journal of criminology and textbook

Journal: John Henry Wigmore

Textbook: Maurice Parmelee

The Etiology of Crime

the study of the origin or causes of criminal behaviour

Sub-Areas of Criminology: Sociology of Law

Concerned with the origins of law and legal thought

Sub-Areas of Criminology: Theory Construction-Etiology

Concerned with understanding the causes of crime, its rates and trends, and predicting behaviour

Sub-Areas of Criminology: Types of Criminal Behaviour

Attempts to explain why different types of criminals commit different crimes

Cesare Lombroso identified different typologies

Don Gibbons was the first to develop criminal typologies for both juvenile and adult offenders

Sub-Areas of Criminology: Law Enforcement, Judiciary, and Corrections

How the elements of the criminal system fulfill tasks

Sub-Areas of Criminology: Victimology

Lombroso and Garofalo recognized the importance of the victim’s relationship to the crime and to the offending individual

One pioneer of victimology, Hans Von Henting, said that victims contribute to their own victimization

One of the most powerful tools in protecting the rights of the innocent:

DNA testing

Came to Canada in 1989

6 important criminological perspectives: Biology

Wilson and Herrnstein

Biological factors play a role in criminal behaviour

6 important criminological perspectives: Economics

Karl Marx

Studies links between unemployment, economic recession, capitalism, and crime

6 important criminological perspectives: Geography and the Environment

Attempts to predict crime based on a range of environmental factors, from phases of the moon to barometric pressure

6 important criminological perspectives: Political Science

Observes how political decisions regarding criminal justice impact the community

6 important criminological perspectives: Psychology

Focuses on how individual criminal behaviour is acquired, evoked, and maintained

Looks at differences in personality and mental characteristics

6 important criminological perspectives: Sociology

Is the dominant criminological perspective in North America

The study of human interaction and how it effects behaviour

Interested in culture and social structure, deems crime a social phenomenon

General Methods of Knowing: Rationalism

René Descartes

Some kinds of knowledge are innate while others are acquired through reasoning

General Methods of Knowing: Empiricism

John Locke and David Hume

Knowledge is only acquired through experience

Immanuel Kant

Argued that we do not know reality, instead our minds form appearances of reality

5 essential means by which we acquire knowledge and gain understanding: Logical Reasoning

We form conclusions based on what we believe to be logical

This is unreliable because we may be influenced by personal biases

5 essential means by which we acquire knowledge and gain understanding: Authority

When an authority says something is so, we often accept it as fact

Yet we often seek out those authorities whose views already align with our own

5 essential means by which we acquire knowledge and gain understanding: Consensus

We often rely on the wisdom of our peer group

Unreliable because most people want to agree with their peers to not appear conflictual

5 essential means by which we acquire knowledge and gain understanding: Observation

What we first hand experience, it is sometimes unreliable because we don’t always remember things correctly or we exaggerate

5 essential means by which we acquire knowledge and gain understanding: Past Experience

The most common source of support for our own hypotheses

Sometimes we draw on prior instances that confirm our assumptions and might modify elements to fit our view

4 major influences on public attitudes regarding criminal activity and behaviour: Personal Knowledge

Through public opinion polls, media stories, and activist groups, the public often has a voice in decisions about the administration of criminal justice

4 major influences on public attitudes regarding criminal activity and behaviour: The Mass Media

Much of public opinion on current events comes from media

Television news anchors represent authority

4 major influences on public attitudes regarding criminal activity and behaviour: Official State Knowledge

The police, judicial system, and corrections system are required to produce information in the form of statistics

Publications summarize information and offer it to the public

4 major influences on public attitudes regarding criminal activity and behaviour: Theoretical Knowledge

Supposedly based on scientifically verifiable and reliable observations, yet the operationalization of these concepts are often subject to criticism

Social Norms

Shared convictions about patterns of behaviour, deemed appropriate or inappropriate for the members of a group

Criminal Justice

scientific study of crime, the criminal law, and the components of the criminal justice system

Moral Panic

When a condition, episode, person, or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests

Stanley Cohen

Was the first to introduce moral panic

He studied public and societal reactions to juvenile delinquency

He examined the impact that the media had on anxiety over British youth culture in the 1960s

His analysis was based on the aftermath of a minor altercation between two groups of youth (Mods and Rockers) in 1964

5 Stages of Moral Panic

1. Someone in power deems a threat

2. Media amplifies perceived danger

3. Public concern increases

4. Authorities issue a response

5. results in social change

Goode and Ben-Yehuda found 5 indicators of moral panic…

1. Concern

2. Consensus - agreement of threat

3. Hostility - towards identified group

4. Disproportionality - The perceived danger is greater than the potential; the public thinks they’re at a higher risk than the actual statistics show

5. Volatility - a peak in interest and then a dip; ebbs and flows, and is very unpredictable

What was the damage done from the Mods and Rockers (Video)

“At the most, 200 pounds ($) of damage was done”

What were some exaggerated headlines from the Mods and Rockers video

“The Reckoning”

“Let’s Kill Someone”

“I say turn the hoses on them”

“Riot Police fly to seaside”

The main idea was that the press exaggerated the effects and damage done

Criminology has its roots in two schools of thought:

1. Classical

2. Positivist

The Positivist School of Thought has two avenues:

1. Biological perspectives

2. Biosocial perspectives

Positivist School of Thought history

There was a shift from earlier ideas about crime and criminal behaviour in the late 19th century – the movement challenged the Classical school of thought

Early Pioneer of the Positivist School of Thought

Cesare Beccaria

Embraced the concept of free will

Believed potential offenders would be deterred if three basic conditions were met:

1. Certainty of punishment

2. Swiftness of justice

3. Fair penalties proportionate to the severity of the social harm done

The Positivist School: Determinism

Denies free will and says forces outside our control shape behaviour

The Positivist School: Biological Determinism

The idea that individual physical and mental characteristics are governed solely by heredity

Popularized by Lombroso

Prevailed in the “golden age” (Late 1800s and early 1900s)

Cesare Lombroso

Popularized Physiognomy: (pseudo) science of character inferences based on physical appearances

The most famous proponent of the idea that criminals can be identified by their physical attributes

Broca

Coined the term Atavistic

Atavistic

Characterizes individuals who because of specific bodily characteristics were considered throwbacks to some earlier period of human evolution

Which supposedly rendered an individual incapable of living within the norms of society

Criminal Stigmata

An asymmetric face, excessively large jaw, eye defects, large nose, large ears, receding forehead, long arms, swollen lips

Thought of to create the Atavistic Criminal

Early Theories of Physical Appearance: Phrenology

Coined by Franz Joseph Gall

Criminal tendencies and other characteristics were reflected in the irregular surface of the skull

As science developed, phrenology was discredited

Early Theories of Physical Appearance: Somatotyping

William Herbert Sheldon attempted to draw connections between a person’s behaviour or temperament and body type or physique

Sheldon’s Body Types

1. Endomorphic - your temperament as Viscertonic - extraverted

2. Mesomorphic - your temperament is Somotonic - assertive and power hungry

3. Ectomorphic -  your temperament is Cerebrotonic - introverted complainers

Genetic Research & Crime

Invested a possible link between criminal behaviour and an abnormal number of gender/sex chromosomes

Richard Speck

The first case to draw public and academic attention to a link between an extra Y chromosome and violent behaviour

(XYY: a male condition generally referred to as the “super- male syndrome”)

Richard Speck was convicted of killing eight nursing students. He was suspected of having an extra Y chromosome because of his height, thin stature, and emotional instability

Hans Eysenck’s Three Dimensions of Personality

1. Psychoticism

2. Introversion

3. Neuroticism

Ernst Kretschmer

Argues that criminals fall into two groups

Cycloids - manic-depressive, made up 10-20% of the criminal population

Schizoids - tall, thin, and weak, made up 50-90% of the criminal population

Kretschmer’s 3 body types

1. Asthenic - LANKY - SCHIZOID schizoids

2. Pyknic - ROUND - CYCLOID

3. Athletic - STRONG

In order to study the impact of biology versus nature on a person’s behaviour, researchers study which two lines of inquiry:

Twins and adoption

“Twinkie Defence”:

Dan White used the criminal defence of eating too much junk food high in sugar, which aggravated a chemical imbalance. The argument was known as the twinkie defence

Alexander Schauss

Said delinquent behaviour might be related to bioenvironmental factors - specifically dietary factors that produce chemical imbalance

He found that juvenile offenders consumed 32 percent more sugar than other youths

Sociobiology

A branch of evolutionary biology, the study of the biological basis of all social behaviour

Sarnoff Mednick’s Biosocial Theory

We are all prone to violate norms, but we learn to control them as part of our socialization process.

We are law abiding because we learn to fear punishment.

Those whose autonomic nervous system recovers slowly have trouble learning to control behaviour

Eysenck’s Biosocial Theory

Introverts were more prone to anti-social behaviour.

Combined with autonomic and central nervous system characteristics, these biological factors affect the individual’s responsiveness to punishment

Moffit’s Biosocial Theory

Moffit proposed that the biological roots of antisocial behaviour are present before or soon after birth.

Manifests itself as poor motor skills or poor memory or temperamental difficulties

Auguste Comte

Recognized as the founder of sociology

Prescriptive and Proscriptive Norms

Prescriptive (telling us what we should do)

Proscriptive (telling us what we should not do)

Structural functionalism

Émile Durkheim asserts that social structures work together to promote a stable and harmonious society

Theories of social order can be classified in terms of two paradigms:

1. Consensus - follows Durkheim’s understanding of society as a set of interrelated parts, each of which contributes to the overall functioning of the whole (functionalist)

2. Conflict - follows Karl Marx, sees society as an assortment of disparate groups competing for power and resources

Social-Structural Theories

The oldest and most fundamental of the main sociological perspectives

Looks for the root causes of crime in social institutions such as the family, religion, education, and political systems

Concentric-circle theory

(Social-Structural Theory)

Park and Burgess developed this theory. It divided the city into five zones, each characterized by different social and organizational elements.

Argues cities develop from the inner city to the suburbs in a predictable series of concentric rings

Park and Burgess’ 5 zones

Zone 1: The central business district, characterized by manufacturing, retail, and commercial recreation

Zone 2: Just outside the central, a zone in transition from residential to industrial/commercial use. An area of cheap rental housing and growing number of factories

Zone 3: Working-class

Zone 4: Middle-class residential

Zone 5: Commuter area

Social Disorganization Theory

(Social-Structural Theory)

Shaw and Mckay examined the spatial distribution of crime. They found a pattern consistent with the concentric-circle model.

They found the highest crime rate was in zone 2

They built on the work of Burgess and Park to theorize that rates of crime could be attributed to differences in the physical and social environment across the geographic area.

The more homogenous the area was, the greater likelihood to be stable

Social disorganization theory Sees crime as consequences of

A breakdown of social control in environments with social and economic instability

Four elements contribute to social disorganization

Low economic status

Ethnic diversity

High mobility (residents moving in and out)

Family disruption

Cultural transmission theory

(Social-Structural Theory)

Shaw and Mckay

Sees deviance as a socially learned behaviour transmitted through generations, especially in disorganized urban settings

Anomie/Strain Theory

Centers on the concept of anomie

Anomie

Durkheim’s term for a state of deregulation, breakdown, or normlessness in society; is usually attributed to decreased homogeneity; an anomic social environment is conducive to crime

Anomie has been identified as one of the defining characteristics of the “precariat” class

Durkheim recognized two types of criminals in an anomic society

Altruistic criminals (unable to integrate, is offended by the rules of society)

Common criminals (rejects the norms)

Merton’s Strain Theory

(Social-Structural Theory)

Sees emotional turmoil as a result from an individual's inability to use legitimate means to achieve socially approved goals

Merton’s theory asserts that the lower classes should be highly criminal because they have limited opportunities to reach their goals legitimately

Merton’s Strain Theory is based on 4 assumptions

1. All modern societies have a core of common values, referred to as “social solidarity”

2. Members have internalized these values and failure to achieve them results in frustration

3. The most significant values channel energy towards the achievement of certain success goals (ex. Financial success)

4. All members do not have equal opportunity to attain goals

Merton identifies five distinct “modes of adaptation” to the goals approved by society:

Conformity

Innovation - People who accept goals but use illegitimate means to achieve them (ex. A student may sell drugs to pay for school)

Ritualism - Does not put any effort into pursuing goals (ex. Students who do the bare minimum)

Retreatism - People who reject both the goals and the means of achieving them

Rebellion - Rejects the system and seeks to replace it. Can include political protest to terrorism.

Agnew’s General Strain Theory

(Social-Structural Theory)

Robert Agnew focuses on how negative relationships can compel people into committing crimes. His theory holds that strain is caused by failure to achieve material goals

Agnew identifies three forms of strain:

Caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals

Caused by the removal of positively valued stimuli from the individual

Caused by the presentation of negative stimuli

What causes externalized or internalized deviance

Strain and anger - Causes externalized deviance

Strain, anger, and depression - Causes internalized deviance