Crime and Society

Week 1: Introduction to Crime and Society

Criminology

• An interdisciplinary profession built around the scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour, including their form, causes, legal aspects, prevention, and control

• Interdisciplinary: touches on a wide range of academic disciplines=law, history, biology, philosophy, economics, etc

• Capitalism breeds crime?

• Causes: what decreases or increases the likelihood that someone will engage in criminal behaviour

• People are not born criminal, but things can increase the likelihood

• I.e. bad neighbourhood can help steer you towards a life of crime

• Criminology can be broadly defined as the scientifc study of criminal behaviour, crime causation, crime prevention, and the punishment and/or rehabilitation of offenders.

• Prevention: how can we prevent the crime from occuring.

• How can we decrease the likelihood

• Control: how can we establish control

• The objective of criminology is the development of a body of general and verified principles of other types of knowledge regarding...law, crime, etc

• White collar crimes: malpractice, insider trading, worker harm etc causes more harm than street crime

What is Crime?

• Actions that violate the laws of the state- provincial, federal, etc

• What is crime is a violation of the laws of the land

• The state has the power and authority to make the law

• Establishes social order

• Crime is socially constructed

• Crime can be defined in different was/ different perspectives:

1. Legalistic

2. Most familiar

3. It assumes that those who make yo the laws are powerful individuals

4. We vote them in, they make the laws and decide what is defined as law and crime

5. Focuses on street crime and not white collar crime

6. Crime cant be separate from the law

7. Their laws that we currently have, didn’t always exist

8. Changes with the values of society

9. Laws change slowly.

10. Political

11. Crime is built into the law, laws are made to create crime by political groups to label certain behaviours as illegal.

12. Those people could challenge their authority

13. Sociological

14. Crime is anti-social, deviant acts that need to be repressed to preserve the existing social order

15. Behaviour that violates the social order

16. Why are some harmful behaviour not criminal

17. Psychological

18. Crime is problem behaviour

19. Overly impulsive people

20. Behaviour that is atypical

21. Crime is a form of social maladjustment

22. Could result in crime

23. Homeless people live atypically and not appropriate in society

Crime and Deviance

• Deviant Behaviour is human activity that violates social norms

• Need norms for smooth running of society

• Considered deviant when it violates social expectations

• Norms also constitute how we look and dress

• All crimes are considered deviant to at least some people at a particular point in time, but not all deviance would be considered crime

• Who gets to decide what deviance is criminal

• Power

• Some forms of deviance are not criminal

• Examples?

• Farting in an elevator

• Got in an elevator and faced everyone

• Sexual practices

• Singing on the bus

• Some forms of crime and not seen as deviant

• Smoking weed

• Governing when stores can be open

• Deviance (and crime) vary in time and space

• Time and space?- era and country

• Decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969

• Prior to 1983 men couldn’t bee charged with raping their wife(although it was considered deviant)

• Killing another persons could be seen as legal and socially acceptable-war (could be considered deviant if u did not)

• Decriminalization: removal of criminal penalties without it officially being legalized

• Prior to, 70% of Canadians supported decriminalization

Consensus perspective

• Cove values exist ion society

• Rape, murder, etc is bad

• Laws reflect the collective will of the people

• Laws serve all people equally

• Those who violate the law represent a unique subgroup of the population

• Those that break the law have something wrong with them

• What are the problems and shortcomings of this perspective

• What is a non violent perspective?

• Do we all agree? Different perspectives

• Laws to not serve everybody equally

• Unique subgroups/sub population. Most people have committed something illegal in their life.

• Multicultural canada: can we set up a shared sense of beliefs and values?

Pluralistic Perspective

• Many diverse social groups exist within society

• Each social group has its own characteristic set of values, beliefs, and interests

• 2005 Supreme Court of canada decided sex clubs and bathhouse were not deemed indecent

• The legal system is a value neutral arbiter between competing interests

• The legal system is concerned with the best interests of society

Conflict Perspective

• Society is comprised of diverse social groups

• Each group has different definitions if right and wrong

• Conflict between groups is unavoidable

• Group conflict centers on the exercise of political power

• Law is a tool of the powerful

• War on crime, war on drugs, legalizing/criminalizing abortion etc is a tool of the power

• The powerful strive to keep their power

Week 2: Crime Statistics

Criminologists, Criminalists, Criminal Justice Professionals Criminologists:

• Trained in the field of criminology

• Work in the field and publish journals

• Usually masters degrees and PHDs

• Engage in data gathering and analysis

• Social policy creating

• Gathering and analyzing crime statistics

• Studies crime, criminals, and criminal behaviour

• Research is published in academic journals

Criminalist

• Specialist in the collection and examination of the physical evidence

• Forensic examiners, lab technician, crime scene technology

• Advanced technological training

• Usually work for police forces

Criminal justice professionals

• Those who work day to day in (with) the criminal justice system

• There are many people involved in the criminal justice system

Social policy

• Government initiates, programs, or plans intended to address problems in society

• Effects crime rates, the policy is more strict (not an increase in crime)

Criminality

• A behavioural predisposition that disproportionately favours criminal activity

• A certain behaviour increases/or decreases the likelihood of criminality

Criminogenic

• A system, situation, or place that “causes” criminal behaviour

• Does not “cause” crime (bad neighbourhood etc) but Is an added factor

Criminal behaviour

• Human behaviour, both intentional and negligent, that violates criminal law

Theoretical Criminology

• Theory

• A series of interrelated propositions that describe a relationship between people and things

• Theories gain explanatory power based on how well they hold up to testing

• Theories are never proven-only gain more evidence to support it

• Can be challenged, with need for revision

• General theory

• Seeks to explain all criminal conduct with a single overarching approach

• Integrated theory

• Incorporate multiple theoretical frameworks to explain criminal behaviour

• Integrated theories may combine elements

• Applied research

• Uses scientific inquiry, with practical application in mind

• Pure Research

• Done for the purpose of enhancing scientific knowledge

• Used to support applied research

Qualitative vs Quantitative

• Two different approaches to sociological/criminological research

• What’s the difference?

• Quantitative research: produces measurable results that can be analyzed statistically and (hopefully) generalized to a larger population

• Qualitative research: produced subjective results that are difficult to quantify but tell us more about the lived experiences, feelings, and thoughts of those who are engaging in crime or victims of crime

Data Collection Techniques

• Collecting your own data

• Surveys

• Options are mutually exclusive/unique

• Exhaustive, all options are provided

• “Self-Report”

• Interviews

• Allows participants to expand and describe concepts

• Case studies

• in-depth investigation of particular cases/people/family

• Provide high quality information about processes and how the evolve over time

• Not intended to be generalizable

• Ethnography

• Go into the field and live and work with the group you’re interested in studying

• Participant observation

• Covert=they don’t know that they’re studying them

• Secondary Analysis

• Information is gathered by somebody else (i.e. survey from stats Canada)

Ethical (and practical) considerations in criminological research

• What kinds of ethical (and practical) considerations must criminologists deal with when conducting research?

• Laud Humphreys’ Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places

• Tearoom a place gay people would meet to have public sex

Data collection

• Participant observation

• Systematic observation sheet

• Human subjects must be informed if you’re doing research about them, as well if there’s any risks, and why they are doing it

Two contrasting themes

• Social problems

• Social responsibility

• Sees individuals as fundamentally responsible for their own behaviour

• Have a social responsibility to follow the rules

• People in prison choose crime over law abiding behaviour

Primacy of sociology

• Sociology is the primary perspective in which most criminological research is based

History of Crime Statistics

• Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)

• Laws that helped support the poor were immoral and we should let them die off

• Crime, violence, and war

• Andre-Michel Guerry (1804-1866)

• Looking at how moral statistics varied across regions

• Adolph Quetelet (1796-1864)

• Hot weather induced interpersonal violence

Sources of crime statistics

• Official sources of crime data

• Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR)

• Crime Severity Index (CSI)

• Judicial and correctional statistics

• Unofficial sources of crime data

• Victimisation surveys

• Self-report survey

Week 2/3: Crime Statistics 2/Patterns of Crime

Problems with..

• Uniform Crime Reporting System (UCR)

• Sexual assault is the most under reported crime

• Inconsistent crime report

• Only crime that are reported are documented

• Only counts the most serious crime of an incident

• Number of instances, based on number of victims (5 men rape 1 women = 1 rape)

• Victimisation Surveys?

• Actual crime could be overreported-exaggerated

• Recall bias=Bias in somebody's inability to recall events in the past

• Possibly underreporting

• No way to verify information

• No information on victimless crime (drug use, white collar?)

• Self-Report Surveys?

• May not reveal some crime, even if its confidential

• Social desirability bias-don't want to disclose things that portray them in a negative way

• May commit so much crime they cannot recall all the crime they commit

Crime Rate?

_______ x 100,000  number of criminal activities  x 100,000 = population

Police Reported Crime

• Crime rate increased in 2021, slight increase at the end by 1% (after a 9% decrease in 2020)

• Large increase in crime rate in the 1990s

• 2021 violent crime rates increased, while property crime decreased

• 1990's peak and then decline occurred in both Canada and the US

Race/ethnicity/gender

• Homicide rates are 6% higher for indigenous people

• Indigenous women are more likely for violent crime, but indigenous men are the most at risk

• 1/3 of victims were identified as "racialized"

• Most homicide victims knew their killer

The Great American (&Cnd) Crime Rise and Fall?

• The rise: Bennet et. Al (1996) and Currie (1998) debate

• The decline

• Many contributors

• Canada

Crime in Canada and in the United States (Ouimet 1999)

• 4 crime; two countries; controls for regional variation and city size

• The dark figure of crime-all the crime that goes under reported

• Cultural hypothesis

• Structuralist explanation

• The US has higher crime rates for more serious crimes

• Crime rates for less serious and more frequent crimes are comparable between the two countries

• Excluding large cuties makes a big difference

• 2.38 CND excluding large cities, 3.91 including

• 3.62 US North excluding large cities; 29.56 including

• 5.43 US Central excluding large cities; 24.86 including

• 8.46 US South excluding large cities; 34.78

Conclusions

• Differences between US and Canada are driven by large crime rates in American cities

• Ghettos in the US are conducive to violence, I.e. poverty, drug sales, gang fights and guns

• Homicide rates are higher in the Us than in Canada, period but...

• "what makes U.S. crime rates appear much higher than Canadian ones can be attributed to a small number of states and cities that have extraordinary high crime rates" (389)

• Residential segregation of the poor in these cities

• Availability of firearms

Week 3: Patterns in Crime

Correlates of Crime

• Correlation does not mean causation

• Age, sex, gender, race/ethnicity, and social class

• Static factors

• Dynamic factors

Theory and Crime

• Broad categories of criminological theories

• Individual difference theories

• Structural/process theories

• Behaviour of criminal law

Age and Crime

• Age is one of the strongest correlates of criminal behaviour

• Criminal activity is associated more with youth than any other stage of life

• Also more likely to be victims

• Those between the ages of 15 and 24 years are 15 times more likely to be victims of crime than other groups

Sex and Crime

• The strongest predictor of crime

• Males account for 77% of adults accused of criminal offences

• Males account for 90% of all homicide and 98% of all charges for sexual assault

• Lower female criminality due to:

• Biological differences

• Cultural factors

• Role expectations

• Reluctance to arrest and prosecute women

• There has been a rise in numbers of women charged with criminal activity. Why?

Ethnicity (race) and Crime

• Statistics come from studies using incarcerated offenders or inmate profiles

• Distorted picture, why?

• Crime funnel

• Aboriginal peoples are over-represented in Canada’s correctional facilities

• Aboriginal people are more likely to be victims of violent offences

• “A history of colonization, including residential schools, work camps and forced relocation, is recognized for having profoundly impacted Indigenous communities and families (Bombay et al. 2014; Bombay et al. 2011; Bombay et al. 2009; The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). Indigenous peoples often experience social and institutional marginalization, discrimination, and various forms of trauma and violence—including intergenerational trauma and gender-based violence. As a result, many Indigenous peoples experience challenging social and economic circumstances (Arriagada et al. 2020; MMIWG 2019; Statistics Canada 2020b; The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). These factors play a significant role in the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system and as victims of crime (Ontario Human Rights Commission 2003; House of Commons 2018).”

• There is no simple relationship between race and crime

• Any relationship that does exist is likely influenced by various factors

• Lack of social opportunity

• Discrimination

• Selective reporting and surveillance of the police

Social class and crime

• Prior to the 1960s

• Self report surveys

• Title etc. Al (1978) The Myth of Social Class and Crime

• Braithwaite (1981) The Myth of Social Class and CRime Reconsidered

• People from all social classes commit crimes

Sex based disparities in Pretrial Release Decisions and Outcomes

• Why does pretrial matter?

• Focal concerns perspective and female offenders

• Evil women hypothesis

• Age & race

• Data and methods

• Findings

Week 4: Victimology

• The study of victimization. It includes not only the interaction between the victim and the offender but also the victim and the criminal justice system (police, courts). It includes the interaction between the victim and other institutions, such as the media

• Also, the role victims play, if any, in criminal act

• Are their factors for why this victim was victimized?

• How is it related to criminology?

• Criminology looks at crime in the aggregate- those who commit it and the reasons for their deviant behaviour

• Victimology looks at the victims of crime, their potential role in the criminal act and the psychological and physical impact of the crime

• Advocacy

• Advocating for the rights of victims and protections

• Studying the effect of victimization on the victims and their families

Theories

• Wolfgang's (1957) victim precipitated criminal homicide

• Victims of homicide can do things to lead to their own demise

• In many cases the victim had a major role in the crime

• Victim being the "aggressor" in the fight before ultimately dying, husband attacks wife and she defends herself

• Women were more likely to be non victim-precipitated (less likely to have instigated an action that resulted in their death)

• Gottfredson & Garofalo's (1978) lifestyle model

• Dependent on their lifestyles

• Certain lifestyles are more prone to victimization-partying, drinking, drug lifestyle etc.

• The more active and social you are the more likely you are to be the victim of a crime

• Cohen and Felson's (1979) routine activities theory

• Answer basic question: "why is the crime rate increasing?"

• Crime is a result of class based inequalities

Routine Activities Theory

• One of the most common theories in victimization literature

• Why have violent crime rates increased over the last decade when during the same period most indicators of well-being generally improved (ex. Unemployment dropped, medium family income increased)?

Daily Activities

• They argue that structural changes in daily routine activities during this period influenced crime rates

• A shift away from activities in the home to activities outside the home

• Women moving into labour force and school (1970s), more leisure time away from home, and increase production of durables (increased consumerism)

• More material possessions=more likely those possessions will be stolen

• Crime has increased because there has been a convergence of three elements; motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of suitable guardians

Routine Activities Theory

• A suitable target?

• People (out and about) and property (cellphone, laptop, house)

• Capable guardian?

• People (spouse, friend) and other protections (locks, alarms, gun)

• Something that protects you and your property

• Must have a suitable target, and an absence of a capable guardian, and a motivated offender

• Motivated offenders?

• This they take for granted. They assume that motivated offenders exist.

"Society's Throwaways"

• Donato Bilancia

• Robert Lee Yates

• Robert Hansen

• Arthur Shawcross

• Lorenzo Gilyard

• William Suff

• Maury Travis

• Jack Unterweger

• Joel Rifkin

• Kendall Francois

• Doug Clark

• Walter Ellis

• Dayton Leroy Rogers

• Richard Cottingham

• Robert Shulman

• Gary Ridgway

• Robert Pickton

• All killed sex workers, prostitutes, and high risk people

• Spree killer= kills 2 or more victims within a short period of time without a cooling off period

• Mass murder=kills a large number of people usually in one place at one time

• Serial killer= kills more than three people and usually resumes their normal life in between

Police Reported Hate Crime in Canada, 2020

• What is a hate crime?

• A criminal act motivated by hate

• Violent or not violent

• Can harm a single person or an entire community

• Four offences listed as a hate crime in the Canadian Criminal Code

• Advocating for genocide

• Public incitement of hatred

• Willful promotion of hatred

• Mischief motivated by hate in relation to religious property

• Expanded to include senior residents, education

• Mischief=willfully destroying or damaging property, rendering property useless, interfering with the lawful use or enjoyment of property

• Mischief in computer data= renders computer data useless or ineffective, interferes with the lawful use or enjoyment of computer data, destroying or damaging computer data

• Data and methodological considerations when collecting data on hate crimes?

• 15 out of 20 of the biggest police forces invested resources into the enforcement and knowledge of hate crimes

• Hate crimes are often underreported

What do you think?

• After controlling for age, history of childhood abuse, history of homelessness, visible minority states, and marital statues, why might bisexuals still have higher rates of violent victimization?

Self-reported sexual assault in Canada, 2014

• Who was at greater risk of sexual assault in Canada?

• Poor menta health, women, single, indigenous, bisexual, homosexual, people with experiences with homelessness, childhood abuse

• Who were the perpetrators?

• One of the more underreported crimes

• 1 n 2o assaults are reported to the police (compared to 1in 3 for other types of crime)

• Other interesting findings?

• Caution should be exercised when interpreting the results and proposing solutions. Why?

Gender differences in rape reporting (Pino Meier 1999)

• Why did I assign this reading?

• Why does rape go unreported?

• What about men?

• Data and methods

• findings

Midterm

• Need to know names and dates from powerpoints

• No names from textbook (thank god)

• Lectures 70%, 30% textbook (concerning)

• 75 questions, multiple choice

• In class-up to 3 hours

• Must have pencil, student card

Week 5: Classical and Neoclassical Theories

Christopher Ackinson

• Merchant

• Elected member of parliament in the uk

• Expelled 3 years later

• Convicted of perjury

• Sentenced to the pillory

• Punishment

Norms

• Formal and informal rules of conduct for membership in a group

• Norms govern our society

• We don't even always realise that norms are guiding our actions

• They are expectations of conduct in particular situations and they regular human social behaviour

• Norms vary  according to how widely people accept them, how society enforces them, how it transmits them, and how much conformity they require

• Three types of norms:

• Folkways

• Mores

• Taboos

Folkways

• INFORMAL rules for acceptable behaviour within a group

• Not strictly enforced

• Etiquette, manners, civil conduct, grooming, non verbal behaviours, etc

• Urinal etiquette (don't go next to someone at the urinal)

• How a professor is supposed to dress

• Singing on a bus

• Control over body

• E.g. creature releases (emanations from the body, Goffman

• They may be informal but can be VERY powerful

Mores

• “Formal” rules of conduct within a group

• These are taken much more seriously and are seen as essential to our core values. We insist on conformity to mores

• These are usually codified, for example, in the Criminal Code of Canada

• Theft, rape, murder

Taboo

• A norm so strongly ingrained that even the thought of its violation brings us to convulsion

• Cannibalism, incest, bestiality, infanticide, eating cats and dogs (domesticated animals), eating cow in India

• Not always criminal acts

• Alive![a][b][c][d][e]

• Story about soccer team whose plane crashed (1972), stranded in the Andes for 72 days

• Had to resort to eating the dead to survive

• Canada:

• No charge for cannibalism

• Still indictable under other offences

Two other Terms

• Mala in se: crimes rooted n the core values inherent in our culture, deemed universal

• Crimes that are thought to be wrong in themselves

• Learned wrong through socialization (often as a child)

• Mala prohibitum: crimes defined by current public opinion and social values, subject to change

• Drug crimes - marijuana

• Gay marriage???

Classical Criminology

• Basis for the tenants of our current criminal justice system

• Prior to the 1700s we are in a pre-scientific period

• Viewed crime as a manifestation of personal failings and character

• Supernatural forces making people be deviant or evil

• Witch craze - Salem witch trials[f]

• Deviance[g][h][i][j][k][l][m][n][o] = result of demonic forces

• Postulates that people have free will

• Rational and make choices

• Those that deviate don't understand the costs of deviating

• Women are not possessed by the devil, they are making the choice to not follow social norms

• To reduce deviance, the punishment needs to be swift, certain, and able to deter others

• Hammer of the Witches

• One of the first mass produced texts

• Explains how to identify a witch

Elements  Any idea what these are elements of? Crime? Criminals? Humans?

• People are hedonistic

• engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent

• "a hedonistic existence of drink, drugs, and parties"

• Individuals have free will

• Able to follow, or violate norms

• Society is based on a social contract

• All agree to give up a little bit of our freedom to live in society

• People are in agreement to obey the rules-to maintain order

• Punishment is justified

• Need some sort of punishment to counter this hedonistic side

• But not so much punishment that it will lead to more crime

• Greatest good for the greatest number

• Utilitarian principle

Criminal Justice System in the Eighteenth century

• Enforcement was unpredictable

• Imprisonment was temporary

• Judges have authority

• Punishments were harsh and unpredictable

• Burning at the stake, torture, murder, hanging, etc

• High status can often get away with paying a fine

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1678)

• Leviathan (1651)

• Structure of society, man's natural state, and society exercising social control over its citizens

• Maintain order in civil society

• Leviathan = a metaphor for the state

• A peace treaty for people to follow

• Humans in a state of nature are engaged in a “war of all against all”

• Humans “need” society in order to prevent them from deviating

• Natural state = “Nasty brutish[p][q] and short”

Jean-Jacque Rousseau (1712-1778)

• In their natural state humans are basically good

• Contrast to Hobbes hedonistic perspective

• Private property

• Corrupted human nature

• Creates inequality

• Have something (ownership) that others don’t

• Natural law

• Certain laws people can deduce from reason

• Rape, murder, and assault is wrong

• Natural laws don't need to be codified

• Positive law

• Comes from history and experience

• Past tells us what laws are necessary

• Need to be codified

Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)

• Disturbed by the current state of criminal law in Europe, England, and colonial settlements

• He objected to severe and barbaric punishments at the time

• Proposed reforms to make criminal justice more logical and rational

Beccaria’s Principles

1. The role of the legislatures is to define the crimes and define punishments

2. Judges role is to determine guilt and if found guilty apply the punishment according to the law

3. Seriousness of crime should determine the seriousness of the offence

4. The purpose of punishment is to deter crime. Punishment should only be proportionate to the offence

5. Punishments are unjust when they exceed the severity needed

6. Excessive severity not only fails to deter crime but actually increases it

7. Punishments should be prompt

8. Punishments should be certain

• “In order for punishment not to be, in every instance, an act of violence or one of many against a private citizen, it must be essentially public, prompt, necessary, the least possible in the given circumstances, proportionate to the crimes, dictated by the laws.” - Beccaria

Jeremy Betham (1748-1832)

• Disguised by the state of the criminal justice system

• Executions for crimes against property

• Moral entrepreneur

• MADD, anti-tobacco laws, anti-porn groups

• Utilitarianism: the principle that all things should be organized to ensure the maximum happiness for the greatest number of people

• Punishment should only be used by the state if failing to do so would cause more harm

• Humans are hedonistic so laws still need to be swift, certain, and slightly greater than the pleasure received from the crime

• X+1 unit of pain; where x is the pleasure derived from the crime

• Victimless crimes should not be subject to criminal law

Neoclassical

• A contemporary version of the classical criminology that emphasized deterrence and retribution with reduced emphasis on rehabilitation

• Unlike traditional classical approaches

• Mitigating factors

• Past record

• Differences in free will

Rational Choice Theories

• Focuses on the way an offender makes the decision to offend

• Routine activities theory

• Lifestyles theory

• Situational choice theory

• Gender

• Critique?

Deterrence Theory

• General deterrence

• Specific deterrence

• The Purge? Slay

General Deterrence in Review

• Little evidence to support

• assume s that an offender is rational and weighs the costs and benefits

• Many offenders are cut off from society

• Our legal system is not effective

• White collar crime

Specific deterrence in REview

• Does specific deterrence deter crime?

• Maybe…

• alternatives : pain vs shame

• Graeme Newman (1983)

• John Braithwaite (1989)

Capital Punishment

• ​​Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas

• Capital punishment in the US (31 States)

• Alabama, Arizona; Arkansas; California, Colorado; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Idaho; Indiana; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Mississippi; Missouri; Montana; Nevada; New Hampshire; North Carolina; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Utah Virginia; Washington and Wyoming.

• Effective deterrent?

• Following well-publicised executions

• Comparative research

• Overall, studies do not show capital punishment has a deterrent effect on crime. Murder is often a crime of passion and influenced by drugs and alcohol. Few murders are planned and rational.