Chapter 1 Flashcards
Legal definition of Crime
a violation of a criminal law
Crime refers to a wide range of acts that have been defined as…
“wrong” or “anti-social”
Two types of offence infractions in Canada:
- Summary offence: a less serious offence, such as theft under $5000, impersonating a police officer, or taking a motor vehicle without consent.
- Indictable offence: a serious offence, such as assault, theft over $5000, robbery (with or without gun), or murder
Define Conventional Crime
illegal activity committed by individuals or small groups, involving some degree of direct or indirect contact (e.g. robbery, car theft, break and enter)
Define Non-Conventional Crime
illegal activity that may not be associated with crime that may not be pursued by the criminal justice system (e.g. organized crime, political crime, cybercrime)
Define Deviance
a wide range of behaviours that violate a social norm but are not necessarily by law
Define Decriminalization
the reduction or removal of criminal penalties attached to an act without legalizing it
What does Crime is Relative mean?
what is defined as a crime can vary with time and location
What does Crime is Evolutive mean?
the characteristics of a crime can change, taking different forms over time
Consensus crimes
activities that are generally considered very harmful for which there is strong support for sanctioning and controlling them (e.g. homicide)
Conflict Crimes
activities that are not universally considered crimes, although they are legally defined as such (e.g. possessing non-medical weed, going to a prostitute)
Criminology
interdisciplinary science that studies criminal behaviour, crime prevention, and the punishment and/or rehabilitation of offenders
Criminologist
behavioural scientist who specializes in the identification, classification, and description of criminal behaviour
The Canadian CJS consists of what three institutions?
police, courts, prison system - all operate under authority of federal and provincial governments
Main functions of the CJS are
-investigate criminal offences as defined in the CCC
- lay charges as defined under the CCC
- prosecute the accused in court
- determine guilt or innocence
- sentence guilty
- administer sentences
Period of 18th century beliefs
-classical rule of thought: criminals act out of free will
-Beccaria and Bentham argued for penal reform on humanitarian and philosophical principles
19th century beliefs
-the term criminology entered discourse
-Topinard and Garofalo studied punishment and the treatment of criminals
-more interested int he reformation of criminal law than causes of crime
Early 20th century
-Maurice Parmlee published the first crim textbook
-Sutherland published principles of crim, which reinforced the influence of sociologically oriented positivism on crim
Denis Szabo
-founding father of canadian crim
-launched crim program at the montreal uni (1960)
John Edwards
established centre for crim at the UofT (1960)
Tadeusz Grygier
started the criminology and correctional administration program at the UofO 1967
Ezzat Fattah
Established SFU’s criminology program 1975
Criminal Statistics: purpose of crime data?
researchers rely on crime data to understand and predict criminal behaviour and to assess the impact of crime prevention or intervention programs
Sociology of Law
-concerned with the origins of law and legal though and is closely aligned with critical criminology
-specialists in this area examine how various economic, political, and social forces have influenced the formalization of social control and social order
-the sociology of law is also concerned with exploring the central themes of social order, social conflict, and power relations as they pertain to law
Theory Construction: Etiology
-concerned with understanding the causes of crime, its rates and trends, and predicting behaviour, whether of groups or individuals
-there are a variety of criminological theories and theoretical orientations
Types of Criminal Behaviour
-the use of crim typologies is a way of trying to understand and organize criminal behaviour
-with advanced in theory an research methodologies, many criminologists believe that different types of crime have different causal explanations
-try to explain why people commit different types of crime
Law enforcement, judiciary, and corrections
made up of the three elements that make up the CJS
Victimology
-study of the relationships between criminals and their victims
-also includes the scientific study of the relationship between the victim and the CJS
-the system can also make victims of innocent people wrongfully convicted crime
Disciplinary Perspectives
virtually every major discipline has contributed something to the study of crime
Contribution: Biology
the possibility that certain human traits are biological, or, “hard-wired” or that certain crimes are a function of chemical, genetic, and/or neurological aberrations
Contribution: Economics
over the years, many studies have demonstrated links between unemployment, recessions, capitalism, and crime
Contribution: Geography and the Environment
-criminologists seeking to predict crime have developed sophisticated models and theories based on a wide range of environmental factors, from barometric pressure and even phases of the moon, to the physical appearance and layout of a business, residence, school, or community
-what is unique about this is that the findings can often be used to proactively prevent crime
Contribution: Political Science
political decisions regarding criminal justice have a direct impact on the community at large
Contribution: Psychology
-criminologists with an interest in psychology look at differences in personality and mental characteristics between criminals and others
-they focus on how individual criminal behaviour is acquired, evoked, and maintained
Contribution: Sociology
-dominant perspective in North America
-interested in culture and social structure. Crime is seen as a social phenomenon
Which two schools do the roots of Criminology lie in?
classical and positivist. Criminologists recognize that criminal behaviour is the product of both free will and deterministic forces
