Title: CRIMINOLOGY
1CRIMINOLOGY
- Sociological Criminology,
- Criminology Cultural Criminology
2What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- For most of its history, almost all criminology
was sociological criminology
3What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- Criminology was concerned with issues of poverty,
race and ethnicity - Also focused on the structure of communities and
social relationships
4What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- In the past few decades, criminology has moved
away from a structural focus to emphasize
individualistic explanations - Disciplines such as biology and psychology have
also increased their engagement with the study of
crime.
5What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- Other disciplines often fail to address questions
that sociologists view as central to the
examination of crime
6What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- 1. Why do rates of crime differ across locations
and over time?
7What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- 2. why do rates of crime differ according to the
key factors in inequality such as race,
ethnicity, class and gender?
8What does it mean to view crime from a
sociological perspective?
- 3. How and why is the legal response to rime
shaped by race, ethnicity, class and gender and
other extra legal variables?
9The Sociological Perspective
- A sociological perspective stresses that people
are social beings more than individuals - This means that society profoundly shapes their
behavior, attitudes and life chances.
10The Sociological Perspective
- People within a given society growing up in
different locations and within different social
networks and under diverse socioeconomic
circumstances tend to act and think differently
11Emile Durkheim
- Stressed that social forces influence our
behavior and attitudes. - Studies of Suicide
12Durkheim
- deviance affirms cultural values and norms
- -condemning something as deviant clarifies
moral boundaries - -constructing an act as deviant can unify social
groups - -what is constructed as deviant may often be
reconstructed as a social or commercial good
13Importance of Social Structure
- Refers to how a society is organized in terms of
social relationships and social interaction - Vertical and horizontal social structure
14Horizontal Social Structure
- Refers to the social and physical characteristics
of communities and the networks of social
relationships to which an individual belongs.
15Vertical Social Structure
- Refers to social inequality or how a society
ranks different groups of people.
16C. Wright Mills and Social Structure
- Mills emphasized that social structure lives at
the root of private troubles - example of employment
- gtfor Mills the ability to understand the
structural and historical basis for personal
troubles is an example of the sociological
imagination
17History of sociological criminology
- For much of European recorded history, people
attributed crime and deviance to religious forces - Individuals committed crimes because God or the
gods were punishing or testing them
18History of sociological criminology
- During the Middle Ages deviance was blamed on the
devil
19Classical School
- In the 18th century, what is known as the
classical school of criminology stressed that
criminals rationally chose to commit crimes after
deciding that the potential rewards outweigh the
risks. - gtscholars then suggested that legal punishment
needed to be severe enough only to deter
potential criminals from breaking the law
20Classical School
- From Cesare Beccarias essay, On Crimes and
Punishment four general principles can be
identified that typify the classical doctrine - Equality - All should be treated equally under
the law.
21Classical School
- Liberty - We have the right to be protected from
the potential abuses of power by the state. The
law cannot be applied retroactively and there can
be no punishment without law.
22Classical School
- Utilitarianism Because the major goal of the
state should be the greatest happiness for the
greatest number, justice should focus on utility
rather than retaliation and retribution.
23Classical School
- In the 19th century scholars began to investigate
the causes of criminal behavior through
scientific investigation
24Adolphe Quetelet
- Gathered and analyzed crime data in France
- Found that crime rates remained fairly stable
over time and were higher for young adults, men
and the poor
25Rise of biological explanations of crime
- The interest in the social roots of crime was
eclipsed by growing interest in the biological
roots of crime