Revision Flashcards
Micro Research
Narrow Research Scope
Crime and human rights violation
Such standards respect the person being accused because they recognize his/her autonomy.
It guarantees the individual protection even when that protection is inconvenient to those in authority or if it interferes with other goals of the CJS.
Social Scientific Methodology
Originates from Cesare Lombroso’s Positivism.
Uses a method of discovering which explanation(s) may deliver understanding of human criminal behavior. Concentrates on observation and the reporting of those findings.
Uses the method of natural sciences and applies them to the social world.
Argues facts are to be separate from opinions, values, morals and ethics.
Dark Figure of crime
Criminal activity that falls outside official reporting protocols
Positivism
Cesare Lombroso / Father of modern criminology
Uses a method of discovering which explanation(s) may deliver understanding of human criminal behavior. Concentrates on observation and the reporting of those findings.
Uses the method of natural sciences and applies them to the social world.
Argues facts are to be separate from opinions, values, morals and ethics.
Official statistics
Collected by official authorities such as police, courts or punishment establishments.
Only records reported crime. Police let some crimes go (first offences, graffiti, shoplifting, etc)
Courts only record convictions - some cases are proven innocent and some don’t go to court, thus lower recorded numbers.
Doesn’t account for crimes people are unaware of, participate willingly in (prostitution, drugs, abortions), unable to report (child, elderly, illegal immigrant), considers the crime trivial, offender is family, prejudice against police, nothing to gain by reporting.
Self Report Data
People are asked questions IRT crime they have committed.
Used to test hypotheses IRT the reasons for crime opposed to actual levels of crime.
Do report higher levels of crime then official sources.
Problems with validity (telling truth, forget crimes, not representative of the population, often used in schools- misses dropouts and wagers who are the ones most likely to offend).
Difficult to compare due to researchers using different wording in questions. Differing perceptions IRT what constitutes a crime. No uniformity.
Can help assess the dark figure of crime.
Anomie
Anomie is a condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals. It is the breakdown of social bonds between the individual and society.
Macro Research
Broad Social Problems
Actus Reus
He/she acted in a fashion against normal societal expectations
Crime as Social Harm
Conduct should be criminal if it harms others. Harm needs to be real, unavoidable and serious.
Not everything harmful is criminal, however everything criminal is harmful.
Mens Rea
He/she has the intention to act in a way which is against normal societal expectations.
Crime as norm violation
Crime is a socially constructed idea based on the norms and expectations held by the population which is to enforce these. Thus, violating these norms can be criminal if the act has been considered so far outside accepted norm that it requires criminalization and punishment.
Victimization Data
Most frequently used surveys and most reliable indicator of crime.
Measure rates of victimization by selecting a random section of the population.
Doesn’t measure true levels of crime. instead estimate approximate levels of particular crimes.
Only relevant for crimes against the individual/property. Not good for victimless crimes, shoplifting, corporate victims or companies in which crime is likely to go unnoticed. Also crimes against children are generally omitted.
If similar surveys are carried out at regular intervals, trend data can be collected. Useful in assessing if official trends are genuine.
Tend not to count crime - instead collect additional information about crimes. Give good indications of groups mostly affected by crime.
Can collect info IRT non reporting to police
Criticisms: Mail surveys miss homeless and those institutionalized. If there are more people living in the city selected, the amount of crimes reported will be higher. Problems with faulty recall, choosing to hide or reveal (fake to seem interesting), understanding questions, education, culture, etc.
Absolute Liability Offences
Traffic violations, possession of dangerous good (drugs/weapons), public health legislation
Formal/Legal Definition of Crime
An offence or crime involving the breach of a legal rule which has criminal consequences (eg, prosecution).
Correlates of crime
Age: Crime peaks in 20s and drops after 30s and continues to drop with age.
Gender: Overall females conduct fewer crimes then males and males are more likely to be involved in violent crimes.
Social Class: Conventional wisdom=poor commit more crimes. More likely is the differing levels of policing in poor areas resulting in more arrests. Higher crime rates in inner-city and high poverty areas then in suburban or wealthy areas.
Ecological Factors: More crime in summer, however drop when the temp reaches a certain level. Large urban areas have high violence rates and rural the lowest.
Classical Criminology
Cesare Beccaria – Emerged in the 18th century. Before this crimes and punishments were enforced by the state or church (demonisms). Faith was used to keep people in line and prevent transgressions. The state used fear to control the masses (harsh punishments) and often used torture to illicit confessions.
Beccaria argues that the state should protect its people from each another as people commit crimes in order to obtain things from one another. Stated that punishment should outweigh the perceived pleasure of the crime. Punishment should be proportionate to the offence (not excessive) and if re-education or rehabilitation could be successful, lesser punishments such as fines should be issued. Harsh penalties is the state abusing its power.
Betham was interested in the greatest good for the greatest number of people- embraced the death penalty as equal for some crimes, whereas Beccaria did not (punishment should fit the crime). Betham noted that the death penalty for murder was valid and would reduce such offending in the future.
Beccaria: permit crimes to control morality or to secure acceptable behaviour
Jeremy Betham: behaviours should be criminal if it caused some unhappiness or pain to others or if it were to destroy the state
Socio-Economic Context that gave rise to Classical Criminology
Rose out of ‘European Enlightenment’ of the 18th century.
Urbanisation: the process in which the number of people living in cities increases compared with the number of people living in rural areas.
Industrialisation: A social change in the use of land and its ownership. Also the movement of people from rural areas to towns/cities (Urbanisation). And the enforcement of capitalism where people are paid for their work in order to produce goods. Property, industrial systems and goods needed protection and large amounts of people needed regulation. Laws needed to evolve in order to encompass a CJS that suspects, arrests and convicts.
Modern Representative Governments: Was very influential in writing the US constitution. Defining element in the development of prisons (longer time= worse crime – measurable punishments)
Rational Choice Theory- Basic Assumptions & Arguments
Crime occurs when an offender decides to risk breaking the law after considering personal factors (need for thrills, money, entertainment, revenge, etc) and situational factors (target protection levels and the local police force).
Theorists see the choice playing out in the crime itself, as well as in the criminal.
An individual first considers:
(1) The risk of apprehension
(2) The seriousness of expected punishment
(3) The potential value of the criminal endeavour
(4) His/Her need for criminal gain
Rational choice is based on:
(1) The type of crime (professionals or generalists)
(2) The time and place of crime (i.e. burglars)
(3) The target of crime (i.e. corner homes)
Rational Choice Theory and Situational Crime prevention
Situational crime prevention involves developing tactics to reduce or eliminate a specific crime problem (i.e. shoplifting).
Diffusion:
(1) Occurs when efforts to prevent a crime unintentionally prevents another
(2) When crime control efforts in one location reduce crime in other non-targeted areas.
Discouragement:
(1) Occurs when crime control efforts targeting one area prevent crime in surrounding areas.
Displacement:
(1) Crime is not prevented, but is re-directed, deflected or displaced to another area.
Rational Choice Theory- Basic Critiques & Shortcomings
(1) Rationality: Some criminals are desperate
(2) Need: Desperate people cut of from society may not be deterred by punishment
(3) Greed: Potential profits may outweigh risk
(4) Severity & Speed: only approx 10% of serious offences result in apprehension
- Sanctions so powerful than known criminals will never repeat their criminal acts (I.E. life in prison-death penalty)
- Incarceration: between a half to two-thirds of convicted felons are rearrested (recidivism)
- Criminals who receive probation are less likely to recidivate than those sent to prison
- There is little evidence that incapacitating criminals deters them from future criminality
Descriptive Theories
(1) Recognize patterns
(2) Make predictions
(3) Observe and Collect data
(4) Compare to known theories
(5) Describe Similarities and Variances
Explanatory Theories
(1) Recognize Patterns
(2) Make predictions
(3) Observe and Collect Data
(4) Generate Explanation
(5) Compare to known Theories
(6) Revise and Return for further Review
Paradigms
(1) Social Structure
(2) Choice Theories
(3) Trait Theories
(4) Cultural Theories
(5) Social Conflict Theories
(6) Life Course Theories
(7) Interactions Theories
Biological Determinism
Used for trait theories. See deviance and crime as the product of natural processes or causes.
Empiricism
is the theory that experience rather than reason is the source of knowledge, and in this sense it is opposed to rationalism.
Positivism
Philosophical origins with Auguste Comte. Positivism was proposed as a way to move from metaphysical claims of social knowledge to scientific knowledge of the social world.
- Acknowledges positive facts and observable phenomena.
- Abandons considering the relationships to causes or origins belonging to theological & metaphysical thought.
- Society is a single cooperative being
- Holds that any justifiable hypothesis can be scientifically proven, logically justified or mathematically proven or disproven.
Biological Theory of Crime
Earnest Hooton (1939) – Criminal showed signs or organic inferiority, suggested that crim was biological in origin and thus, incurable (best option to remove criminals from society).
William H Sheldon (1898-1977) - Endomorphs, Ectomorphs & Mesomorphs and their relationships to criminality.
Charles Goring (1913) – used control group of non criminals, critical of Lobrossos physical difference theory (although did find some supporting evidence). High correlation of criminality between family members. Suspected criminality was hereditary. Poor mental ability may be genetically passes and related to deviant activity.
Biosocial Theory of Crime
Argue physical, environmental and social conditions work in unison to produce behaviours. See genetic disposition or makeup as an important element (along with social, physical & environmental conditions)in determining criminal or anti social propensity.
Modern Theories:
(1) Genetic of crime
(2) Biochemical Disorders & Crime
(3) Neuropsychological Condition and Crime
(4) Arousal Theory
Biochemical Theory of Crime
State that there are many biochemical abnormalities that contribute to crime and anti-social behaviours. (Chemicals –Diet, Glucose Metabolism/ Hormones - Testosterone/ Allergies/ Environmental Contaminants – toxins, lead).
Genetic Theories
Suggest that some aspects of human behaviour must derive from genetic sources (Twin Studies, Adoption Studies, Family Studies). Current limited technology to fully asses the relationship. Suggests a criminal gene. Also suggests that genetics alone cannot account for all actions and that environment also plays a significant role.
Pathological Theories
19th century, Casare Lombrosso – Studies cadavers of executed criminals, along with researching prisoners and determines that serious criminal activity was likely an inherited trait.
Crime and deviance become dependant variables, determined in part, or wholly beyond physical and/or psychological forces beyond the control of the individual.
Arousal Theories
Argues that some people respond differently to various levels of stimulation. Some people require abnormally high levels of stimulation for normal bran functionality. Makes links to people propensity for drug use or abuse, particular in the case of neurotransmitter abnormalities.
Neurological Theories
Argue Neurological Disorders such as ADD/ADHD/Learning disorders are linked to anti –social behaviours.
(1) Branch 1 – states ADHD and conduct disorder may be genetic in origin & result in aggressive and impulsive behaviour.
(2) Branch 2 – Looks at labelling effects of those with ADHD and suggests that ADHD may have genetic causes, however the effects are amplified by problems with socialisation, achievement and structural limitations associated with this label.
