crim mt

🔹 Chapter 1: What Is Criminology?

Key Definitions

  • Crime: An act or omission forbidden by law.

  • Criminology: Scientific study of crime and criminal behavior.

  • Deviance: Violates social norms.

    • All crime is deviant.

    • Not all deviance is crime.

Four Perspectives of Crime

  1. Legalistic – Crime = violation of criminal law.

  2. Political – Crime reflects interests of those in power.

  3. Sociological – Crime is antisocial behavior requiring repression.

  4. Psychological – Crime is problem behavior.

🔹 What Should Be Criminal?

  1. Consensus Perspective

    • Laws reflect shared moral values.

  2. Pluralist Perspective

    • Laws reflect compromise among diverse groups.

  3. Conflict Perspective

    • Law is a tool of the powerful.

🔹 Classical & Neoclassical Criminology

Classical (1700s–1800s)

  • Humans are rational.

  • Free will.

  • Pain vs pleasure.

  • Punishment deters crime.

  • Social contract.

  • Punishment must be:

    • Swift

    • Certain

    • Severe (but proportionate)

    • Public

    • Necessary

Jeremy Bentham

  • People governed by pain and pleasure.

  • Punishment must outweigh pleasure of crime.

Neoclassical (1970s–Present)

  • Recognizes rationality but considers:

    • Situational factors

    • Opportunity

    • Environment

    • Social influences

🔹 Deterrence

Specific Deterrence

  • Prevents individual offender from reoffending.

General Deterrence

  • Prevents others from committing crime by example.

Effective punishment must be:

  • Swift

  • Certain

  • Severe enough to outweigh rewards

🔹 Rational Choice Theory

  • Crime is a conscious, rational decision.

  • Weigh costs vs benefits.

  • Associated with Lawrence Cohen & Marcus Felson.

🔹 Routine Activities Theory

Crime occurs when:
Motivated Offender + Suitable Target + No Capable Guardian

🔹 Lifestyle Theory

  • Victimization linked to lifestyle.

  • Late shifts, unsafe areas increase risk.

🔹 Categories of Crime

1. Violent Crime

  • Homicide

  • Assault

  • Robbery

2. Property Crime

  • B&E

  • Theft

  • Fraud

  • Arson

3. Crimes Against Public Order (CAPO)

  • Drug offences

  • Prostitution

  • Gambling

🔹 Homicide

Culpable

  • Murder

  • Manslaughter

  • Infanticide

Non-Culpable

  • Self-defense

  • Accidental during lawful activity

  • MAID

Serial vs Mass Murder

  • Serial: 3+ victims in separate events.

  • Mass: 4+ victims in one location/event.

🔹 Assault

Level 1 – Minor (pushing, slapping)
Level 2 – Weapon or bodily harm
Level 3 – Wounding, maiming, disfiguring

Sexual Assault:

  • Level 1 – Violates sexual integrity

  • Level 2 – Weapon/threat

  • Level 3 – Aggravated

🔹 Crime Statistics

Sources:

  • Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)

  • Victimization Survey

UCR

  • Official police data
    – Dark figure of crime
    – Only reported crimes

Victimization Survey

  • Captures unreported crime
    – Recall issues
    – No victimless crimes
    – Over/under reporting

🔹 Victimology

Selin & Wolfgang Typology

  1. Primary – Direct victim

  2. Secondary – Indirect (family)

  3. Tertiary – Community

  4. Mutual – Both parties victim/offender

  5. No victim – Victimless crime

🔹 Social Dimensions of Crime

  • Correlation ≠ causation

  • Youth (15–24) highest victimization

  • Mostly male offenders

  • Overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples

  • Lower socio-economic status linked to crime