Criminology and the Sociological Perspective

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Chapter 1

• Criminology and the Sociological Perspective

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Introduction

• U.S. crime rate has declined since 1990s, but
  prison/jail population has increased
• Media distorts our knowledge about crime
• Crime is both an individual problem and a social
  problem
• Sociological criminology Helps people to
  understand the problem of crime and criminal
  justice from a sociological point of view.

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The Sociological Perspective

• The Sociological Perspective
• People are social beings, more than just
  individuals
• Society shapes individuals behavior, attitudes,
  and life chances
• Emile Durkheim, French sociologist and founder of
  the discipline, stressed social forces influence
  our behavior
• Famous study on suicide

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Emile Durkheims Theory on Punishment

• Punishment transforms a threat to social order
• Shows that authorities are in control
• Punishment is revenge

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• Social structure refers to how a society is
  organized in terms of social relationships and
  interactions
• Social inequality refers to how a society ranks
  different groups of people
• Sociologist C. Wright Mills emphasized social
  structure lies at root of private troubles
• Public issues

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• Sociological imagination ability to understand
  structural and historical basis for personal
  troubles
• Berger observed that sociology studies false
  claims about reality and unrespectable elements
  of social life (debunking motif)

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• Mutual Relevance of Sociology and Criminology
• Crime, victimization, and criminal justice cannot
  be fully understood without appreciating their
  structural contexts

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• The Rise of Sociological Criminology
• Norms standards of behavior present in all
  societies.
• Deviance behavior that violates norms and
  arouses negative social reactions.
• Customs norms that remain unwritten and informal
• Social control societys restraint of
  norm-violating behavior.
• Laws formal norms written or codified.

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• Throughout much of history, crime and deviance
  attributed to religious factors
• During 19th century scholars studied causes of
  crime through scientific investigation
• Emile Durkheim made major contributions
• Growing interest in biological roots of crime

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• In U.S., sociology began developing at University
  of Chicago early 20th century
• Edwin Sutherland
• differential association theory
• White collar crime
• Robert K. Merton
• Anomie
• 1960s and 1970s turbulent era

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Crime, Deviance and Criminal Law

• Criminology study of the making of laws,
  breaking of laws, and societys reaction to
  breaking of laws
• Crime behavior considered so harmful that it is
  banned by a criminal law.
• Who decides what behavior is harmful?
• Deviance is relative

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• Consensus and Conflict in the Creation of
  Criminal Law
• Why do criminal laws get established?
• Whom do criminal laws benefit?
• Consensus theory assumes a consensus of opinion
  about social norms of behavior
• Conflict theory assumes public disagrees on many
  social norms

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• Goals of Criminal Law
• Keep public safe
• Articulate social values and concerns
• Protect rights and freedoms of citizens from
  potential government abuses
• Overview of Criminal Law
• Law in U.S. has roots in English common law
• English judges had power to create case law
• Juries importance grew in 1670

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• Legal Distinctions in Types of Crime
• Mala in se evil in themselves violate
  traditional norms and moral codes (i.e. murder,
  theft)
• Mala prohibita wrong only because prohibited by
  law (i.e. drug use, white collar)
• Felony punishable by more than 1 year in prison
• Misdemeanor punishable less than 1 year.

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• Criminal Intent
• Actus reus the actual criminal act
• Mens rea guilty mind or criminal intent
• Duress defendant was in fear of her or his life
  or safety at the time of crime

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• Legal Defenses to Criminal Liability
• Accident or mistake
• Ignorance
• Duress
• Self-defense
• Entrapment
• Insanity

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Research Methods in Criminology

• Types of Research
• Surveys administration of questionnaire to group
  of respondents.
• Face-to-face interviews
• Mailed surveys
• Telephone surveys
• Experiments

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• Qualitative Research Observing and Intensive
  Interviewing
• Field studies/ethnographies involve observing
  various groups (i.e. homeless women, urban
  African American men)
• Intensive interviewing
• Longitudinal studies same people are studied
  over a period of time

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• Research using existing data
• Using existing statistics from government
  agencies and other resources to examine a
  particular issue
• Comparative and Historical Research
• Cross-cultural or international research
• Examining an issue throughout time

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• Criteria for Causality
• Independent variable variable that does the
  influencing
• Dependent variable variable that is influenced
• 1) Independent (A) and dependent (B) variable
  must be statistically related
• 2) A must precede B in time
• 3) Relationship between A and B is not spurious