Studied by 0 peopleWalsh & Ellis, 2007 Criminology Definitions
An interdisciplinary science that gathers and analyzes data on crime and criminal behavior
Siegel, 2013
Scientific approach to studying criminal behavior
Tibbetts, 2012
The scientific study of crime, especially why people commit
Study of explanation of crime (theory)
making sense of observations and offering explanations
Scientific or empirical approach (methodology)
attempt to avoid subjectivity and focus on objectivity
attempt to qualify explanatory ability
allows for explanation to be tested
You need both ____ and ______ to be what Criminology is
theory and methodology
Theory of Criminology
efforts to explain and make sense of the world
explains the “why” of crime
Methodology in Criminology
techniques used to explain the “whys” of crime
used to test theories and determine which theories are better at explaining crime
Scientific Method within Criminology
step-by-step process used to acquire knowledge about a phenomenon
Both theory and methods are equally important
theories are developed to explain observed facts
methods are used to test theories
theory and methodology should be complementary
in some instances, one is more values than others
criminology is a highly quantitative field
scientific method is flawed in criminological research:
some hypotheses are not even considered
methodological rigor can be selective, findings suppressed
some relevant findings are systematically excluded
Is Criminology a Science?
yes and no
Interdisciplinary research
contributions from a series of fields;
dominated by sociology;
reluctance of many criminologists to integrate;
scientific process is made through integration;
allows for better theory;
allows for better methodology;
Contributions from a series of fields:
Sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology, biology
Dominated by sociology
both theory and methodology
reluctance of many criminologists to integrate
many focus on sociological explanations
openly reject/ignore other explanations
scientific process is made through integration
different perspectives offer different solutions
combination allows for fuller understanding
allows for better theory
more precisely identify the “whys” of crime
allows for better methodology
perform better tests
ideology
ideology is one barrier preventing further integration
ideology refers to…
the set of beliefs or values that everyone develops about the way the world is or ought to be
Crime
an intentional act in violation of the criminal law, committed without defense or excused, and penalized by the state as a felony or mideamenor
What does crime definition exclude?
excludes behavior that is not criminalized, detected, reported to law enforcement, or successfully prosecuted
Edwin Sutherland crime definition
unlawful act defined by the fact that it is punishable
Broader definition of Crime
identifies all antisocial behaviors as subject matter
identifies criminology as the study of violation of conduct norms or deviance
more leeway for scientists to study a greater variety of behaviors
critical definition of crime
political and economic forces play the key role in generating crime and deviance
what behaviors are criminalized are contingent on the power structure of society
must take equalities of wealth and power into account
Criminal Behavior
defined by socially enacted contracts describing appropriate and inappropriate behaviors
Criminality
underlying traits that are ultimately responsible for bringing about criminal behavior
social universals
something that is constant across all social groups
Frans de Waal’s Fairness study
inequality is not tolerated across not just social groups, but also SPECIES
what does the future hold for criminology?
“If criminology continues in the current direction, and focuses on the environmental underpinnings to human behavior, then it is setting itself up to be an inconsequential and disposable discipline”
Official Crime Statistics
development of official statistics began in the 1920s
data collection instrument finalized in 2019
eventually developed into the UCR
what has the best known and most cited statistics
Uniform Crime Report
Where is the data collected from in the UCR
police departments and are initially submitted voluntarily
how many agencies report to the UCR
More than 18,000 report data
Why does the UCR have undercount?
because no one actually knows how many crimes are being committed due to crimes occur without being brought to the police’s attention
What does the UCR take into account?
takes into account crime that has been brought to the attention of the police
Part I offenses:
illegal acts consider particularly serious with 8 crimes included
in overall count if reported to police, no arrests needed
Part II offenses
counted only if the case is closed, typically if an arrest is made
Primary Strengths in UCR
Nationwide statistics
collected and stored since 1930
easily accessible
include homicide measures
Primary Limitations in UCR
Emphasis on street crime
subject to political manipulation
lack of detail
inaccurate counts (indirect measures of crime)
Dark Figure of crime
refers to unreported crime (up to 90%) due to the reliance of citizen reports
3-step process of Dark Figure of crime
decide crime has been committed
decide whether to report the crime to police
officer must decide whether crime occurred, whether to report it, and how to classify it
Hierarchy Rule
refers to situations where the type I offense has been committed
What does the hierarchy rule do?
identifies the offense highest on the hierarchy list and counts only that offense
What are exceptions within the hierarchy rule?
justifiable homicide, motor-vehicle theft, and arson
What is the problem of hierarchy rule?
it decreases overall counts of serious crimes
kidnapping, simple assaults, and rape
Difference between NIBRS and UCR
To address the limitations of the UCR, the FBI introduced the NIBRS
Primary aims of NIBRS
Enhance the quantity, quality, and timeliness of crime data
Improve the methodology used for compiling, auditing, and publishing crime data
How many group A crimes within NIBRS
22
How many Group B crimes in NIBRS
11
Primary strengths within NIBRS
eliminates the hierarchy rule
includes much more information for each recorded crime incident
includes a greater number of crime categories
Primary Limitations within NIBRS
Still relies on public reporting of offenses
Historical Development of NCVS
originally called NCS and was supervised by Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Who is NCVS supervised by now
US Census Bureau and shifted their focus to victims and victimization
Who is the NCVS data gathered from
gathered from victims rather than offenders
Sampling Procedures within NCVS
Multistage cluster sample of households and businesses
select household/businesses within tracts
interview all eligible respondents (approx. 40,000)
interview every 6 months
remain in the sample up to 3 years
What is the age range for sampling procedures
12 and older
Interview questions within NCVS
Respondents are asked a wide range of questions
Asked about victimizations in the past 6 months:
Asking about a wide range of crimes
Additional information of the crime is gathered
Primary Strengths within NCVS
not subject to the “Dark Figure”
comparable with the UCR/NIBRS
Collects more incident information than the UCR
Collects information about crime victims
Not subject to political maniuplation
Publicly available data
Primary Limitations within NCVS
only includes victims that are 12 years and older
cannot collect information on homicide
difficult to collect data on white collar crime
specific geographer locations cannot be examined
presence of an interview affects responses
series incidents are an issue
Self-report data mode of delivery
internet
paper and pencil
on the phone
very versatile
we can give the survey anyway
Who provides oversight within Self-report data
typically consists of surverys
ask respondents about their attitudes and experiencs
almost always involves sampling
often carried out by independent researchers
sampling within self-report data
traditionally used samples of juveniles (Travis Hirschi)
adult samples became popular over time
Primary strengths of Self-report data
direct source of crime data
not subject to political manipulation
highly versatile
Primary Limitations within Self-report data
costly to carry out
time-consuming
secondary data concerns
typically, not collected on a regular basis
Volume of crime-- how much crime is there in US?
depends on who you ask
depends on when you ask
Crime rates calculations
City A has 1,000 crimes and a population of 20,000
Rate: 5,000/100,000 people
City B has 2,000 crimes and a population of 100,000
Rate: 2,000/100,000 people
City A had fewer overall crimes, but a higher rate due to population differences
What is the importance of the use of “rates”
“standardizes” the statistic
allows us to compare across different populations
What are you supposed to look at within crime rates?
look at the rates of crime, not the raw number of offenses or crime
How to calculate crime rate?
(C/P) * 100,000
C = a raw number of crimes
P = population
Where is highest crime rates?
west and south
what tends to be the safest?
northeast
distributions differ by community size
rural areas tend to be safer than urban areas
suburban areas tend to fall in-between
Two primary factors of the geographical distributions
anonymity
opportunity
What tends to be a good indication of overall crimes?
homicide rates
crime rates are likely very high throughout the 1700s and 1800s
due to lack of formal criminal justice agencies
sharp increases between 1910 and 1920 due
to the industrialization in the US, which resulted in population increases and rapid urbanization
another large increase between 1920 and 1930 is
prohibition - constitutional amendment banning alcohol sales and consumption
the great depression
sharp decrease beginning in the early 1940s due to
new economic policies (roosevelt’s new deal)
prohibition was repealed
US entered WWII
between 1965 and 1975 overall crime more than doubled due to
baby boomers entering adolescence/early childhood
drug use
social unrest during the time period
reasons for the crime drop
no clear consensus on why crime rates dropped
wide range of explanations for why crime dropped is
incarceration practices
policing practices
demographic changes
abortion
Mala in se (evil in itself)
the act is inherently and essentially evil, that is immoral in its nature and injurious in its consequence, without any regard to the fact of its being noticed or punished by the law of the state
Mala Prohibita
a wrongful prohibited; an act which not inherently immoral, but becomes so because its commission is expressly forbidden by positive law
acts that are considered crime primarily because they have been outlawed by the legal codes in that jurisdiction
Mala Prohibita
Deviant Acts
not necessarily against the law, but are considered atypical and may be deemed immoral
Deviance
behaviors that are not normal; includes many illegal acts, as well as activities that are not necessarily criminal but are unusual and often violate social norms
Who was the criminology term coined by?
Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo
A consensus perspective of crime
theories that assume that virtually everyone is in agreement on the laws and therefore assume no conflict in attitudes regarding the laws and rules of society
Conflict Perspective
theories of criminal behavior that assume that most people disagree on what the law should be and that law is a means by which those in power maintain their advantage
When is the conflict resolved in perspectives of crime?
when the group in power achieves control
Began challenging the consensus approach by
maintaining that there is conflict between various societal groups with different interests
The general purpose of the criminal justice system can be further simplified into three goals:
To control crime
To prevent crime
To provide and maintain justice
There are three typically recognized components:
law enforcement, courts, and corrections
One of the key features distinguishing federal law enforcement agencies from state or local agencies is that
they have often been established to enforce specific statutes
The first model can be designed as state police
agencies with general police powers to enforce state laws as well as investigate major crimes; they may have intelligence units, drug-trafficking units, juvenile units, and crime laboratories
The second model can be designated as highway patrols
The primary focus is to enforce the laws that govern the operation of motor vehicles on public roads and highways
How many judicial systems are there?
52 different systems
one for each state, district of Columbia, and for the federal government
Note
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