Lec 1 Flashcards
Criminology
The body of knowledge that regards crime as a social phenomenon
3 areas of studies for criminology
Making laws
Breaking laws
Reacting to the breaking of laws
What do criminologists try to understand
Why people commit crimes
Six major areas of criminology
The Definition of Crime and Criminals
The origins and role of the law
The social distribution of crime
The causation of crime
Patterns of criminal behaviour
Societal reactions to crime
How is the media’s portrayal of crime not often accurate
-Crime statistics are not an accurate measure of real crime in the communities
-TV coverage barely pays attention to social and structural reasons behind crime
Why does the media’s portrayal of crime have sever consequences
-A stereotypical imagine of crime is created
-Media could facilitate creation of crime (eg. Money Heist)
White-collar criminology
Committing a crime from the place of one’s job
Harm Criminology
Acts that are harmful but not criminalized
Green crminology
Criminal behaviors that destroy environment
Anti terrorism act, 2015 (Bill C-51)
Promotes widespread surveillance and racial/religious profiling, and the detention of suspects without due process
Surveillance studies
In Canada, surveillance studies have increased
The legal perspective
Crime is an unlawful act that is punishable with jail time, fines etc. Focuses on class
The human rights perspective
Any crime that violates human rights
The harm perspective
Crime is defined as anything that is harmful
The moral perspective
Seen as any immoral bad or wrongful act
Crime as a social construct
Society determines the circumstances which make an act unlawful (eg. define what situation murder is unlawful)
Crime as a relative construct examples (Place relativity)
Drinking age in different places is different
Homosexuality is acceptable in some places while banned in others
Crime as a relative construct example (Time relativity)
Homosexuality was once seen as deviant but isn’t anymore
2018 Cannabis Act
Creates strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis in Canada, came into force in 2019
Provisions of Cannabis act
Adults above 18 can use
Can only buy from a provincially licensed retailer
Can grow up to 4 plants for personal use.
Wortman Mass Murder
Killed 22 people in 2020, which led to the ban of the sale and possession of assault weapons
When was legal abortion allowed in the US (Roe V Wade ruling)
1973
2022 changes to abortion law in the US
Allowed states to decide if abortion is legal (outlawed in many states)
Crime vs Deviance
Deviance is any act that goes against social norms. All criminal acts are deviant, but not vise versa
Deviance as a continuum: John Hagan Categorization
Looks at:
The degree of consensus that say it is wrong
The severity of social response
The assessment of the degree of harm
The consensus approach
There is a broad agreement about many laws
The conflict approach
sees crime as a tool for the ruling class to maintain power
