Criminal Justice in Action: Causes of Crime and Victimology — Study Notes

Outline includes:
- Exploring the Causes of Crime
- Victimology and Victims of Crime
- Criminology from Theory to Practice
- Criminal Justice in Action—The Ever-Elusive Serial Killer

Criminologists have developed a number of theories.
Theory: A testable method of explaining certain behavior or circumstances based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning.

Wrongdoers weigh the possible benefits of criminal or delinquent activity against the expected costs of being apprehended.

Certain biological or psychological traits in individuals could incline them toward criminal behavior given a certain set of circumstances.
One trait theory involves biochemical conditions.

Social Disorganization Theory: When social institutions such as the family, schools, and the criminal justice system fail to exert control.

The Problem: Poverty
- The Consequences: Formation of isolated impoverished areas, racial and ethnic discrimination, lack of legitimate economic opportunities.
- Leads to: The Problem: Social Disorganization
- The Consequences: Breakdown of institutions such as school and the family.
The Problem: Breakdown of Social Control
- The Consequences: Peer groups replace family and educators as primary influences on youth; formation of gangs.
- Leads to: The Problem: Criminal Areas
- The Consequences: Rise of crime in poverty-stricken neighborhood; delinquent behavior becomes socially acceptable for youths; outside investment and support shun the area.
The Problem: Cultural Transmission
- Leads to: The Consequences: The younger juveniles inherit the values of delinquency and crime from their older siblings and friends, establishing a deep-rooted impoverished-area culture.
Leads to: The Problem: Criminal Careers
- The Consequences: The majority of youths "age out" of crime, start families, and, if they can, leave the neighborhood. Those who remain still adhere to the values of the impoverished-area culture and become career criminals.

Criminal behavior is the predictable result of a person’s interaction with their environment.
Accordingly, everybody has the potential for wrongdoing.
One is conditioned to do so by family or peer groups or by institutions such as the media.

Learning Theory: One must be taught the practical AND emotional skills necessary to commit crimes.
Labeling Theory: Society creates crime and criminals by labeling certain behavior and certain people as deviant.

View criminal behavior as the result of class conflict.
Poverty, racism, sexism, destruction of the environment, etc., as the “true crime.”
Conflict between the “haves” and “have-nots” of society.

Focus on behavioral patterns of childhood, such as bullying, lying, and stealing, as predictors of future criminal behavior.

Victimology is an essential element or component of criminology.
Studies why certain people are the victims of crimes and the optimal role for victims in the criminal justice system.
What Is Victimology?

The theory that the victim played an active role in his or her own victimization dominated victimology for several decades.
In the 1970s, the “art of blaming the victim” came under heavy criticism, and criminologists began to concentrate on the physical, emotional, and economic damages suffered by individuals as a result of crime.
TheExperience of Being a Victim

The proliferation of data on crime victims has been invaluable in the development of victimology.
The data allows “victimologists” to pinpoint those persons who are most at risk to be victimized by crime.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, ${ ext{African Americans}},$ households with annual incomes of less than $7{,}500$ , and teenagers between the ages of $16$ and $19$ are most likely to be victims of violent crime in this country.

Gender: Male vs. Female
Race or Origin: White, Black, Hispanic
Annual Household Income: $$< 7{,}500, ext{ }7{,}500-14{,}999, ext{ }14{,}999-24{,}999, ext{ }25{,}000-34{,}999, ext{ }35{,}000-49{,}999, ext{ }50{,}000-74{,}999, ext{ }75{,}000+
Age: 12-15, 16-19, 20-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50-64, 65+
Chart: Number of violent crimes per 1,000 persons, aged 12 or older (2007 Thomson Higher Education) – axis from 0 to about 50; shows disparities across age groups and demographic categories (specific values not provided in transcript).

Historically, victims of crime were virtually absent from the criminal justice system.
Once the crime was committed, the victim’s role in the process was generally limited to appearing as a witness for the prosecution.

Advocates of victims’ rights speak of system revictimization, a term used to describe the frustration of victims.
Hundreds of grassroots organizations have been formed to deal with the needs of victims.
Gives victims and their families a greater voice in the criminal justice system.

These laws generally focus on three areas:
- Enabling the victim to receive restitution from the person who committed the crime.
- Allowing the victim to participate in the criminal prosecution and sentencing of the offender.
- Protecting the victim from harassment or abuse from the criminal justice process (such as intrusive interviews by the police).

Federal Laws: Signed into law on October 31, 2004, gives victims of violent crime a core set of procedural rights in federal courts, including:
- The right to be “reasonably protected” from the accused offender
- The right to be involved in all public proceedings involving the victim
- The right to “be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy”