Criminology
The study of crime, an academic discipline that uses the scientific method to study the nature, extent, cause and control of criminal behavior.
Age of responsibility
6 yrs. and under = never responsible
7 - 14 yrs. = sometimes responsible (it depends)
15 yrs. and older = always responsible
Delinquent acts include:
Truancy, running away, curfew violations, underage drinking
A deviant act becomes a crime when
deemed socially harmful or dangerous
Consensus View of Crime
The law defines crime
Agreement exists on outlawed behavior
Laws apply to all citizens equally
Conflict View of Crime
The law is a tool of the ruling class
Crime is a politically defined concept
"Real crimes," such as racism, sexism, and classism, are not outlawed
The law is used to control the underclass
Interactionist View of Crime
Moral entrepreneurs define crime
Acts become crimes because society defines them that way
Criminal labels are life-transforming events
The breaking of laws is
a process, which encompasses a series of events.
Schools of Criminological thought
Classical
Positivist
Sociological
Conflict
Developmental
Contemporary
Classical Criminology
The theoretical perspective suggesting that:
People have free will to choose criminal or conventional behaviors
People choose to commit crime for reasons of greed or personal need
Crime can be controlled only by the fear of criminal sanctions (punishment)
Beccaria
Positivist Criminology
Began during the 19th century
Uses the scientific method of the natural sciences and suggests that human behavior is a product of social, biological, psychological, or economic forces
Empirical Verification
"look of a criminal", "Brain of a criminal
Sociological Criminology
Based on the work of Quetelet and Durkheim, this approach focuses on the relationship between social factors and crime.
Structural perspective, ecological forces.
Crime is not a function of personal characteristics but a social phenomenon that can be reduced or controlled by improving social and economic conditions
Conflict theory
Advanced by Karl Marx, this approach suggests that human behavior is shaped by interpersonal conflict and those who maintain social power use it to further their own ends
Developmental Criminology
Began during the 20th century (40's and 50's)
An integration of sociological, psychological, and economic elements came together to form the perspective that criminality is a dynamic process influenced by social experiences as well as individual characteristics
Contemporary Criminology
Various schools over the past 200 years have resulted in a number of contemporary theories:
Rational choice
Trait
Social structure
Social process
Critical
Developmental
Crime
a violation of societal rules of behavior as interpreted and expressed by the criminal law, which reflects public opinion, traditional values, and the viewpoint of people currently holding social and political power. Individuals who violate these rules are subject to sanctions by state authority, social stigma, and loss of status.
The Code of Hammurabi
was the first written criminal code, developed in Babylonia about 2000 BC
Mosaic Code
included the laws of the ancient Israelites found in the Old Testament of the Judeo-Christian Bible
Common Law
was early English law developed by judges, which became the law of the land in England and eventually formed the basis of criminal law in the U.S.
mala in se
(Latin "wrong or evil in itself")
mala prohibita
(Latin "wrong [as or because it is] prohibited")
Models of Criminal Law
Consensus and conflict
The consensus model
behavior is threatening to society's survival that they are designated as crimes.
Assumes that ALL members of a society by and large agree on distinctions between right and wrong.
Laws function to reconcile and to harmonize most of the interests that most of society accepts, with the least amount of sacrifice.
The conflict model
suggests that the criminal law expresses the values of the ruling class in a society, and the criminal justice system is a means of controlling the classes that have no power.
Social goals of Criminal Law
Deterrence
Equity
Social Control
Punishment
Express morality
Maintain Social Order
Retribution
Deterrence
Deter people from crime through fear of punishment
Equity
Make criminals pay back for their crime
Social Control
Prohibit behavior harmful to others
Punishment
Reaction to wrong doing
Express morality
The law reflects public opinion and morals
Maintain social Order
Supports the capitalist system
Retribution
Eliminate need for personal revenge
Ethics issues is Criminology
What to study
Whom to study
How to study
Criminologists strive for what kind of results
Valid and reliable measures
Penology
The study of corrections
Rehabilitation
treatment aimed at preventing future criminal behavior
Utilitarianism
The view that people's behavior is motivated by the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain.
Beccaria
Classical Criminology father
Believed in utilitarianism
Beccaria's ideas declined by the end of the 19th century and re-emerged in the 1960s
Auguste Comte
Founder of sociology, positivist
Embracing scientific studies is a "positive" stage
Biological Determinism
Cesare Lombroso "Father of criminology"
Do criminals and non-criminals have different biological traits?
Bio-social theory
Link between Biological traits and criminal behavior
Cesare Lombroso
Father of criminology" believed in biological determinism
Anomie
Lack of norms or social standards. Norm-less-ness
Chicago School
studied the relationship between environmental (social) conditions and crime
Rational Choice theory
Criminals think out and have form a rational decision to commit a crime, Cost-Benefit analysis
Trait theories
Abnormal biological or psychological traits cause one to commit a crime
Social Structure theory
social environment directly controls criminal behavior. The disadvantaged common class is a primary cause of crime.
Chicago school.
Social Process theories
Children learn to commit crime by the behavior they see.
Felony
serious offense
Misdemeanor
Minor crime