Lecture One: Refresher on criminological Theories Flashcards
What are the 4 main concepts of Classical criminology?
- Beccaria (1764) and Bentham (1789)
- Focus on the offence
–> Utilitarian thinking- the greater good - Criminals, or potential criminals are all rational actors
- Punishment should prevent crime and be proportional to the offence
–> Opposition to excessive/brutal punishment
What are the 5 main concepts of Positivist Criminology?
- Lombroso (1876) and Ferri (1917)
- Focus on the offender
–> Offender are pathological - Criminal behaviour is determined by various factors
- Criminals are somehow ‘inferior’
- Punishment/response should be about retribution or treatment of pathology
What is Biological Positivism?
Biological positivism has its roots in earlier positivist work but look further than physiology
- Genetic factors
→ ‘Feeblemindedness’ twin studies, adoption, chromosomal abnormality and inherited predispositions - Biochemical factors
→ ADHD, testosterone, autonomic nervous system and nutrients
What is Psychological positivism?
Psychological theories were for a long time separate from criminology
- Psychoanalysis (Freud, Bowlby)
- Learning (sutherland, skinner, Bandura)
→ differential association, Operant conditioning, social learning - Cognitive (Yochelson and Samenow, Piaget)
- Biosocial (Eysenck)
What is Sociological Positivism?
- Anomie
- Strain theory
What is Durkheim’s theory of Anomie?
- Durkheim studied social change and social solidarity and talked about a shift from mechanical to organic solidarity
→ this is about social bonds.
Anomie refers to a lack of regulation that can lead to increasing crime rates (or suicide)
- The law exists in organic society to regulate interactions
- Crime is ‘normal’ in society, its functions to bring people together in its commendation
What is Merton’s Strain theory?
Results from absence of alignment between socially desirable aspirations and the means to achieve them
- Conformity
- innovation
- Ritualism
- Retreatism
- Rebellion
What is the Chicago school and subcultures?
- Highly influential centre of sociological research from the 1920s
–> Focus on rapidly changing social and cultural environment - Work on subcultures developed from the chicago school approach (US and UK)
→ cohen: ganges, status, hedonism, rejection of dominant values
→ british subcultural theory- sociological criminology, youth delinquency, (non)conformity
What is the ‘Zone of transition’ Shaw and McKay?
Shaw and Mckay looked at the geographical distribution of crime- the zonal hypothesis
→ The ‘Zone of transition’ had higher delinquency levels- and higher social disorganisation
→ Cultural transmission of values was also an important factor (See Differential Association)
Interactionism and Labelling:
A focus on more on the response to crime/deviance- and this may produce more deviance
–> By labelling someone/group of people as ‘deviant’ we reinforce that identity
Primary and Secondary deviance (Lemert)
–> Primary: commission of the prohibited act
–> Secondary: deviance as a result of a change in ‘master status’
Outsiders and deviance (Becker)
–> social groups create deviance by making the rules who infection constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules who infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders
–> Link to ideas of stigma (Goffman), deviancy amplification (Wilkins) and moral panics (Cohen)
What are the main concepts of Left Realism?
- Primary focus on crime as perceived by victims
- Reworks subcultural, anomie and conflict theories
- Causes of crime are relative deprivation marginalisation and social injustice
–> resorting to illegitimate means to achieve goals, lack of opportunity - prioritises social justice and prevention
- Key authors include John Lea and Jock Young
What are the main concepts of Right Realism?
- Primary focus on crime as seen by official stats
- Reworks genetic and individualistic theories
- Causes of crime are lack of self-control, individual pathology
–> innate dispositions towards criminality, welfare state creates an ‘underclass’ crime is a conscious choice - Prioritises order via deterrence and retribution
- Key authors include Murray, Wilson and Herrnstein
What is meant by the square of crime? (LR)
- crime rates generated by the social relationships between the 4 points (Agencies, offenders, victim, the public)
- Cannot ignore any of them
- to control crime, intervene at each point
What two concepts are from Contemporary Classicism?
- Rational choice
- Routine Activities
What is rational choice mean? And who created it?
- Cornish and Clarke (1986)
- Offenders are rational, calculating actors
- Cost benefit approach to decision making
- Bounded rationality describes that offenders may make decisions with limited/partial knowledge
- Crime scripts and models of initial and continuing involvement in crime
What is meant by Routine Activities? And who created it?
- Cohen and Felson (1979)
- Developed in response to growing urban crime rates
- Three ‘ingredients’ of crime
1. Motivated offender
2. Suitable target
3. Absence of a capable guardian - Opportunity is the key concept
What are the main concepts of feminist criminology?
- Criminology has historically been dominated by male practitioners and focused on male offenders
- Women’s offending and victimisation were both marginalised - when present it was often through sexist and stereotyped ideas
- Female criminality was more ‘savage’ and ‘cruel’ (Lombroso) - links to idea of double deviance
- Feminist criminology should not just be an ‘add women and stir’ approach
- How does social control impact all women and some groups more than others? Women are subject to control at home, in public, in work, in social policy.
