Crime and Criminology

1
Chapter 1

• Crime and Criminology

2
What is Criminology?

• The definition of Criminology is
• The scientific approach to studying criminal
  behavior
• Important areas of interest for criminologists
• Crime as a social phenomenon
• The process of making laws
• The breaking of laws and the reaction towards
  breaking the laws
• Development of principles

3
Criminology and Criminal Justice

• The terms are often interchanged
• Sometimes the information can overlap
• There are major differences between them
• Criminology
• Explains the origin of crime
• Explains the extent and nature of crime in
  society
• Criminal Justice
• The study of the agencies of social control
• Police
• Courts
• Corrections

4
Criminology and Deviance

• Deviance is defined as
• Behavior that departs from the social norm but is
  not always criminal
• A Crime is defined as
• An act deemed as socially harmful or dangerous
  that is specifically defined, prohibited, and
  punished under criminal law

5
A Brief History of Criminology

• Emergence of the Classical School
• During the Middle Ages (1200-1600) people who
  broke the rules or laws were looked at as
  being possessed by the devil
• By the 1700s social philosophers started to think
  with reason
• Bentham and utilitarianism pain of punishment
  should exceed the benefit of crime
• Believed that crime and punishment needed to be
  more balanced and fair
• Influence penal practices for more than 200 years

6
Basic Elements of Classical Criminology

• People have free will and criminal or lawful
  solutions to meet needs
• Criminal solutions can be attractive
• A person will not commit crime if they believe
  that the pain expected from the punishment is
  greater than the promised reward (deterrence)
• Punishment needs to be severe, certain, and swift
  to be effective

7
19th Century Positivism

• New way to look at crime that challenged the
  validity of the classical school
• In other areas of study (biology, chemistry, and
  astronomy) scientists started using the
  scientific method
• Careful observation and analysis of natural
  phenomena

8
Basic Elements of Positivism

• All true knowledge is acquired through direct
  observation
• Statements that could not be backed up by direct
  observation are invalid
• The scientific method must be used if research
  findings are to be considered valid. Includes
  steps
• Identifying problems
• Collecting data
• Formatting hypotheses
• Conducting experiments
• Interpreting results

9
Biological Positivism

• Physiognomists
• Studied facial features of criminals to determine
  if the shape of ears, nose, and eyes were
  associated with antisocial behavior
• Phrenologists
• Studied the shape of the skull and bumps on the
  head to determine whether they were associated
  with criminal behavior

10
Cesare Lombroso

• Believed that serious offenders were born
  criminals
• They had an inherited set of primitive physical
  features that he called atavistic anomalies
• Considered these individuals genetic throwbacks
• Specific features
• Large jaws and cheekbones
• Strong canine teeth
• Others expanded on his works
• Biological determinism
• Criminal anthropology
• Biosocial theory

11
The Chicago School and Beyond

• Formed by a group of scientists who looked at
  crime from a sociological perspective
• Believed there was a relationship between the
  environment and crime
• Neighborhood conditions influence the shape and
  direction of crime rates
• Challenged the positivists who argued that crime
  was a biological or psychological condition

12
Social-Psychological Views

• 1930s and 1940s
• Individuals began to link social-psychological
  interactions to criminal behavior
• Believe that human interaction and relationships
  effect crime
• Group dynamics
• Relationships to social processes
• Education, family, peers
• Socialization

13
Conflict and Crime

• Developed by Karl Marx (economic and political
  forces)
• Believed human behavior is due to conflict
  between those who have all the power and money
  (bourgeoisie)
• They use this power to further their own needs
• Believed that the working class (proletariat) was
  exploited and eventually they would lead a revolt
  and ultimately end a capitalistic society

14
Developmental Criminology

• Emerged in the 20th Century
• Began to look at crime from all angles including
  sociological, psychological, and economic
  (multiple forces)
• Believe that crime is a dynamic process that is
  influenced by our social experiences and
  individual characteristics
• Can look at the life course of a career criminal
  to determine the issues as to why people begin to
  commit crime

15
Contemporary Criminology

• The various schools of criminology have developed
  and evolved over the past 200 years
• Each continues to impact the field of criminology
• Rational choice theory
• Deterrence theory
• Trait theory
• Social structure theory
• Social process theory

16
How Criminologists View Crime

• Consensus View
• Believe the law defines crime Society agrees
  about what should be outlawed and the law should
  apply equally to all
• Deviant behavior causes social harm
• Conflict View
• Society is a collection of diverse groups and
  they are in constant conflict
• Owners, workers, professionals, students
• Interactionist View
• People act according to their own interpretations
  of reality
• They observe the way other react
• They reevaluate and interpret their own behavior
  according to the meaning they have learned from
  others

17
Definition of Crime

• Because of all these views of crime we need a
  general (integrated) definition of crime which
  is
• A violation of societal rules of behavior as
  interpreted and expressed by a criminal legal
  code created by people holding social and
  political power
• Individuals who violate these rule are subject to
  sanctions by state authority, social stigma, and
  loss of status

18
Crime and the Criminal Law

• Criminal behavior is tied to criminal law
• Criminal Law has been around for thousands of
  years
• Code of Hammurabi
• First written criminal code developed around 2000
  B.C.
• Based on retribution
• An eye for an eye
• Mosaic Code
• Laws of the Old Testament including the Ten
  Commandments
• Foundation of Judaism and Christianity
• Bases for the U.S. legal system

19
Common Law

• Early English law (around 1100s)
• Developed by judges who would travel around and
  decide what to do for specific crimes
• Courts were bound by the judges decisions
• Eventually judges published their decisions in
  local cases
• Other judges began to use these written decisions
  as a basis for future procedure
• They eventually became precedent and the basis
  for common law
• Common law is just the standard law of the land
  in England which eventually formed the basis of
  criminal law in the U.S.
• Mala in se
• Mala prohibitum

20
Contemporary Criminal Law

• All U.S. laws are listed in statutes or Acts
• Divided into felonies and misdemeanors
• Government says people who commit these
  unacceptable acts need to be sanctioned there
  are social goals
• Enforce social control
• Discourage revenge
• Express public opinion and morality
• Deter criminal behavior
• Punish wrongdoing
• Maintain social order

21
Evolution of Criminal Law

• Criminal law is constantly changing
• Some acts are being decriminalized while other
  penalties are increasing
• Must always reflect social values and
  contemporary issues/problems
• Our court system allows for exposure of laws that
  may need to be changed
• Trial, appellate, supreme

22
Ethical Issues in Criminology

• There are political and social consequences from
  results of criminological research
• Need to be aware of ethical issues
• What to study
• Cannot let funding dictate what you choose to
  study
• Whom to study
• Should not just focus on poor and minorities
• How to conduct studies
• Need to inform subjects of the purpose of
  research
• Keep records confidential
• Selection of research subjects need to be random
  and unbiased