unit 1: study of crime

Question 1

what are the three areas of focus, on crime studying?

Answer 1

• the society of law, (examines, social aspects/institutions of law)
• theories of crime causation(Criminogenesis, why people committing crime?)
• the study of social responses to crime(formal insitutions of CJS- police, courts…, the way laws change.

Question 2

is crime socially defined?

Answer 2

yes, its not inherent in an activity.

there are many diverse conceptions of crime

Question 3

what are Hagans 7 different approaches to the definition of crime

Answer 3

• formal legal definition
• social harm
• cross-cultural universal form
• labelling approach
• human rights approach
• human diversity approach

Question 4

formal legal definition

Answer 4

crime is whatever the state identifies as crime

Question 5

social harm

Answer 5

criminal and civil offence where it causes harm to someone’s lives

Question 6

cross-cultural universal form

Answer 6

fundamentally crime does not vary across cultural norms

ex. murder is murder

Question 7

labelling approach

Answer 7

crime only exists when there has been a social response to an activity that is criminal.
example. J walking

Question 8

human rights approach

Answer 8

crime is violation of human rights regardless of the legality of the actions. example: expands crime to oppressice practices such as racism and sexism

Question 9

human diversity approach

Answer 9

crime/deviance represents a normal response to oppressive or unequal circumstances.
example: stealing a loaf a bread because of family needs

Question 10

what is legally defined as crime varies according to social and historical contexts

Answer 10

examples: witchcraft, being a vagabond (homeless), rape as a poverty crime, sexual assault had a gender bias

Question 11

what role does media play on crime?

Answer 11

• shapes the perception we have on crime by:
• dehumanization of individuals
• often portrayed as really bad, scary, frequent and random
• ## responses to crime as seen “too lenient”

Question 12

Thomas Mathiesen

Answer 12

viewed the mass media as a form of social control:

• media is shaped by organizations and ideology
• media emphasizes crime
• public is passive audience that accepts dominant ideology portrayed in the media

Question 13

measures of crime

Answer 13

realist approach: assumes an objective truth of crime that exists “out there”, seeks to uncover and measure the “reality” of crime. [problems of omission]
institutional approach: crime is a social process[problems of bias]
critical realist approach: having elements of social process and grounded reality, emphasizes the [problem of victimization]

Question 14

3 levels of criminological theory analysis

Answer 14

individual, situational, structural.

Question 15

individual level of analysis

Answer 15

focuses on individual characteristics/choices of the offender/victim.
biology and psychological factors at the time
ex. tattoos=criminal

Question 16

situational analysis

Answer 16

focuses on the immediate circumstances or situations in which criminal o deviant activity occurs. and ways where group behaviors can impact social activity and the rule of environmental practices.
ex. interaction between police and young people

Question 17

structural analysis

Answer 17

crime is the result of broad relationships and the major institutions of society.
ex. proverty=crime

Question 18

political orientations of crime:

how crime is perceived and defined

Answer 18

geometric circle: harmonious society
triangle: always in conflict, inequality, injustice in society
rectangle or square: focus in interconnecting institutions, family, jobs, schools
non-geometric: focus on the way individuals construct their realities, a person .

Question 19

views of crime, 3

Answer 19

conservative perspective, liberal perspective, radical perspective

Question 20

conservative perspective

Answer 20

• its a circle

- supports traditional ways of doing things (status quo)

Question 21

liberal perspective

Answer 21

• square or rectangular
• accepts the limitations of the status quo and encourages limited change to social institutions to reduce crime
• solve sexism, racism….

Question 22

radical perspective

Answer 22

• triangle orientation
• rejects the legitimacy of the status quo
• fundamental change to the existing social order

Question 23

what does good criminology need?

Answer 23

• self-consciously reflective of the theoretical and political basis of its understanding

Question 24

anti-social behavior

Answer 24

behavior that is deviant, unacceptable.

example. United kingdom criminology is shaped by social concerns about policing and that behavior

Question 25

bureaucracy

Answer 25

a formal organization with defined objectives, a hierarchy of specialized roles, and systematic processes of direction and admsinistration

Question 26

criminology

Answer 26

social science that studies crime and crime-related phenomena, such as law-making, criminal examination, victimization and punishments

Question 27

dark figure of crime

Answer 27

amount of crime that is unreported unknown

Question 28

ideal types

Answer 28

an abstract model of a pure form of social phenomena.

Question 29

ideology

Answer 29

linked set of ideas and beliefs that act to uphold and justify the existence of power, authority wealth, or status quo

Question 30

moral panics

Answer 30

overreacting to forms of deviance. created because of media, or leaders that want to change laws or practices

Question 31

paradigm

Answer 31

the framework used in thinking about and organizing an understanding of natural and social phenomena

Question 32

victimization

Answer 32

an act that exploits or treats someone unfairly

Question 33

uniform crime reporting survey

Answer 33

UCR, a system created by Statistics Canada and the Canadian association of chiefs of police. provides police of knowing about other crimes