Unit 2 - Criminological Theories Flashcards
criminal behaviour (social definition)
action which goes against community norms
criminal behaviour (legal definition)
harmful act against the law therefore punishable by state in criminal proceedings. must have actus reus and a mens rea
actus reus
guilty act
mens rea
guilty mind
what are formal sanctions against criminals
penalties law hands out to those convicted of a crime
formal non-court sanctions against criminals
- cautions
- conditional cautions
- penalty notices
cautions (formal non-court sanctions)
cautions: administered for minor crimes (spraying graffiti) - not a criminal conviction
conditional cautions (formal non-court sanctions)
conditional cautions: cautions administered by police with restrictions set in place (eg. repairing damage to property)
penalty notices (formal non-court sanctions)
penalty notices: given for shoplifting/possessing cannabis. penalty notices only given if 18 or over.
formal court sanctions against criminals
- custodial sentences
- community sentences
- fines
- discharge
custodial sentences (formal court sanctions against criminals)
custodial sentences: immediately sent to prison. mandatory
community sentences (formal court sanctions against criminals)
community sentences: combination order (unpaid work, probation, curfew)
fines (formal court sanctions against criminals)
fines: financial penalties (vary)
discharge (formal court sanctions against criminals)
discharge: either conditional/given alternative sentence/absolute (if defendant reoffends during set time given alternative sentence, or absolute when defendant guilty but morally blameless)
police sanctions (formal non-court sanctions)
- cautions (warnings, 10+, minor offences only)
- conditional cautions (set of conditions put in place alongside caution)
- penalty notices (for minor crimes, no conviction, pay penalty)
other implications of committing a criminal act
- exclusions from jobs
- placed on Violent and Sex offenders Register
- banned travelling certain countries
- restrictions on adoption
deviance
behaviour that goes against societal norms
(deviance) norms, moral codes, values
unwritten rules of acceptable behaviour
(eg. UK mourning colour black, China mourning colour white)
informal sanctions against deviance
- frowning upon behaviour
- labelling behaviour
- ignoring behaviour
formal sanctions against deviance
- fines
- imprisonment
- detention
forms of deviance
- admired behaviour
- odd behaviour
- bad behaviour
- some acts deviant not criminal (cross-dressing)
- some acts criminal not deviant (watching movies on illegal sites)
- some acts both (murder)
What is the impact of reporting on public perceptions of crime and deviance?
news dramatic portrayal can distort public understanding and lead to misconceptions = shape public opinion and increase support for harsher penalties
strict liability
mens rea (guilty mind) not required. factory owner negligent + fails to safegaurd dangerous machinery
self defence
assaulting someone (actus reus - guilty act) with intention to harm (mens rea - guilty mind) if done in self defence means person cannot be found guilty
how has capital punishment changed over time
- 18th century: executing someone as punishment in practice (pick pockets, shooting rabbits)
- law made by rich to protect property
- view faded
- people given equal rights and opportunity to progress in society
- cases of miscarriages of justice
how has double jeopardy changed over time
- double jeopardy: law prevented someone tried again for same offence
- Ann Ming’s campaign abolished double jeopardy got serious offences
- change necessary, law inadequate to bring justice
- medical knowledge advanced = certainty of evidence
how have laws concerning prostitution changed over time
- world’s oldest profession
- prostitution legal but connecting activities illegal
- (kerb crawling, owning brothel)
- prostitution used to be seen as immoral
- now calls for it to be decriminalised and destigmatised
- decline in religion
- more occupations + training available
- increased moral tolerance in society
how has vagrancy changed over time
- Vagrancy Act 1824: law passed to clear streets of beggars to prevent more crime
- Act fell into disuse
- society accepted legitimate reasons for homelessness and not just laziness
- increased prosecutions for people pretending to be homeless
- since 19th century: no longer looked down upon
- now sympathy + acceptance for reasons for homelessness
how has the possession of cannibis changed from culture to culture
- illegal in England and Wales
- calls to decriminalise it for medical reasons
- Colombia + Uruguay cannibis legal
- Durham don’t prioritise, Cumbria police prosecute
- some countries view it as recreational drug
- others argue it should be decriminalised for medical use
how has jaywalking changed from culture to culture
- offence in urban areas: USA, Canada, Singapore, Poland
- UK not offence + considered personal responsibility to cross road safely
how has female genital mutilation changed from culture to culture
- FGM: deliberate mutilation of female genitalia (non-medical reasons)
- UK illegal: painful nature of operation, health implications, mental health problems recognised
- parts of Middle East and Asia legal: cultural, religious, social reasons
- seen to benefit girl + preserved virginity got marriage
How are laws applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur (how are laws applied in regards to age)
- law states: everybody should be applied to equally
- instance law applied differently: age
- age of criminal responsibility:
- UK: 10
- Canada: 12
- Bangladesh: 9
- China: 16
- occasions (muder) if actus reus and mens rea taking place allows alternative charge to be added
How media and campaigjs for change contributed to social constructions of criminality and unreported crime
?
genetic theories
- adoption studies
- twin studies
- jacobs - XYY study
adoption studies
- Crowe (1972)
- (F) if adopted persons biological mum had a criminal conviction they had a 50% chance of having conviction
- (F) if adopted persons biological mum didn’t have a criminal conviction they had a 5% chance of having a conviction
- Mednick et al. (1994)
- (F) no relationship between adopted childen and adoptive parents
- (F) huge correlation between biological parents and offspring
twin studies
- made contention that a heritable trait increased risk of criminal behaviour
- Lange (1929)
- (F) MZ (100%) had higher concordance rates than DZ (50%) for criminal behaviour
- Christiansen (1977)
- (P) studied pairs of twins from Danish islands
- (F) Male: MZ (35%) DZ (13%)
- (F) Female: MZ (21%) DZ (8%)
Jacobs XYY study (1965)
- suggests criminal behaviour may be caused by chromosomal abnormality
- suggest men with extra ‘Y’ chromosome inclined to be more aggressive
- Jacob et al. (1965)
- (F) XYY men more aggressive than XY men
- studies suggest XYY men over-represented in prison population
- John Wayne Gacy has XYY syndrome: SA’ed, tortured, killed min. 33 men in USA
phsyiological theories
- Lombroso
- Sheldon
Lombroso - ‘Father of Modern Criminology’
- Italian psychiatrist
- claimed criminality heritable
- claimed criminals had atavistic primitive features
- (P) examined 300+ living criminals, 3000+ dead criminals
- (F) 40% criminals had atavistic features
- (eg. murderers bloodshot eyes + curly hair, sex offenders thick lips + protruding ears)
Sheldon
- (P) examined 4,000 men
- somatotypes: endomorphic, ectomorphic, mesomorphic
- endomorphic: fat and soft
- ectomorphic: thin and fraglie
- mesomorphic: muscular and hard
- (F) aggressive acts mostly linked to mesomorphics, least likely to be aggressive ectomorphic
individualistic theories
- Bandura - Bobo doll study
- Eysenck - Personality theory
- Freud - Psychonalaysis
Bandura - Bobo doll study (social learning theory)
- Learning theories
- believes people can learn watching behaviour of others
- more likely to imitate behaviour if model’s actions rewarding
- (P) 1961 - kids watched adult (model) beat bobo doll
- (F) kids imitated model almost exactly the same
Eysenck - Personality theory
- Psychological theory
- believed personality types more likely to commit crime
- extroversion/introversion (E/I): level stimulation person needs
- neuroticism/stability (N,S): level emotional stability
- most likely personality type (E) (N)
- psychoticism (P): cold, uncaring attributes to person
How did findings of bobo doll study account for criminality?
- prison criminals learn from people around them
- ‘universities of crime’
- Osborn and West (1979) found sons of criminal fathers more likely to have criminal conviction than sons with fathers without a criminal conviction
Freud - Psychoanalysis
- Psychodynamic theories
- believed early childhood experienced linked heavily to criminality
- believed most of our mind unconscious (iceberg - only tip seen)
- three parts of psyche: id, ego, superego
- id: selfish animalistic urges
- ego: rational sensible control
- superego: moral conscience.
Bowlby (1944) link to Freud
- (P) Maternal deprivation
- Freud states child needs stable home to successfully make transition
- most criminals from unstable homes
- (F) 37% delinquents experienced complete separation from mothers 6 months+ in first 5 years of life
sociological theories
• social structure: marxism, functionalism
• interactionism theory: labelling theory
• realism: left and right
social structure
- theoy assumes disadvantaged social class primary cause of crime (marxism, functionalism)
interactionalism theory
- labelling theory (Beckner)
marxism
- different social classes policed differently
- proletariat: WC, heavily policed
- bourgeoise: RC, less policed
- government fabricate statistics to be false and misleading
- capitalism criminogenic
- dog eat dog society
- WC exploited driven into poverty with crime being the only thing to survive
functionalism
- each part of society contributes to the stability of whole society
- parts all depend on each other
- crime only dysfunctional if rate high or low
- Durkheim (1895)
- identified positive and negative side of crime
- Merton’s strain theory
- argues society encourages goals of material success
- not everyone can gain qualifications or access jobs
anomie (functionalism)
- too much crime has negative consequences
- weakening/collapse of collective conscience sky rocket crime rates
- situation brought back into control by reinforcing collective conscience
labelling (Beckner)
- interactionalism
- crime statistics socially constructed
- Beckner named two types of deviance: primary deviance (not socially labelled deviant), secondary deviance (act labelled as deviant)
- internalising label = self-fulfilling prophecy
- media contributes to ‘demonising’ people
^ deviancy amplification - labelling leads to sterotyping
- Malinowski - publically accused of incest
realism
practical view of crime and deviance
right realism
- right wing, conservative
- emphasises ‘zero tolerance’
- ‘Broken Windows’ (1982) James Q. Wilson: crime flourishes where social control breaks down (littering, vandalism, rowdy behaviour)
left realism
- left wing
- crime due to inequalities in society
- Lea and Young (1984): poverty/unemployment do not cause crime directly, Great depression in Britain crime rates considerably lower
marginalisation
certain groups more likely to suffer economic, social, political deprivation
different types of crime
white collar crime, corporate crime, state crime, honour crime, hate crime, domestic crime
individual criminal behaviour (Robert Napper)
- relevant theories of criminality:
- bowlby’s attachment theory: (1944) child needs stable home environment to develop approriately. argue separation lead to affectionate psychopathy (individuals feel no remorse)
- social learning theory: Bandura suggest Napper learned from those around him. age 12 raped in woods near home.
individual criminal behaviour (Fred West)
- relevant theories of criminality:
- social learning theory: Fred’s mother introduced him to sex at early age
- Freud’s personality theory: Fred unable to transition. Continued to need instant gratification from sexual acts (pleasure-seeking id to reality principle where ego dominant)
- brain damage: result of Fred’s motercycle accident. Damaged pre-frontal cortex, impacts persons ability to control impulsive behaviour
individual criminal behaviour explanation for Nick Leeson
- Eysenck’s personality theory: argues criminals more likely to be extroverted and thrill seeking (could argue Leeson runnubg risk of being caught but enjoying thrill of making money)
- social structure theory of Marxism: Leeson wanted to avoid falling into disadvantaged WC. He avoided detection for so long because WC heavily policed unlike white-collar crimes which aren’t monitored by police (fraud)
Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories to explain causes of criminality
(Individualistic)
• Bandura:
- (L) low ecological validity
- (S) controlled study, greater accuracy
- (L) ethical issues
• Freud:
- (L) difficultly testing concepts so psychodynamic theories are no longer accredited
- (L) theories very unscientific and lack objective interpretation
- (L) very subjective process (may draw different conclusions)
- (S) link between childhood experience and adult characteristics
• Eysenck’s:
- (S) research on soldiers, Eysenck predited most traumatised soldiers score high on neurotic
- (L) lack of reliability, people may not respond exactly the same every day or every time
- (S) could lead to interventions baded on parenting to help reduce crime
- (L) relies on self-report measures which can be biased or deliberately false answers
- (S) DeYoubg (2010) releaze of dopamine linked to extroversion, high levels of testosterone linked to psychoticism
- (L) theory suggests personality is genetic but personality can change overtime
Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories to explain causes of criminality
(Biological)
• Lombroso:
- (L) Lack of a control group so no comparisons can be made
- (L) Bath Spa University suggests less attractive individuals are more likely to be considered guilty
- (L) Atavistic featres specific to people of African descent, Lombroso’s work began offender profiling
- (L) Extremely deterministic, suggests we can’t escape reality
- (S) First person to give criminology scientific credibility
• Sheldon:
- (L) Couldn’t explain how ectomorphs and endomorphs could be criminals
- (L) Failed to take into account that people’s somatotypes not fixed
- (S) Used a decent sample (200)
• XYY theory
- (S) Large number of criminals imprisoned for aggressive behaviour have XYY syndrome
- (S) Jacob et al. found significant amount of men in prison had XYY chromosomes
- (L) Adler et al. (2007) found it’s possible aggressive and violent behaviour least determined by genetic factors. Argued XYY study focused to heavily on genetics ignoring behaviourist approach
• Twin studies:
- (L) Lange (1929) Inadequately controlled and lacked validity. Whether twins DZ/MZ based solely on appearance, not DNA
- (S) Christiansen (1977) supports view criminality has genetic component. The samall sample used in twin studies may not represent general population.
- (S) Criminality could be easily linked to nurture as to genetics
• Adoption studies:
- (S) Adopted kids grew up in different environment easier to separate genetic + environmental factors
- (L) Age of adoption may influence results of whether they’re convicted or not
- (L) Biological family info not always available and the adoption process isn’t always random
Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories to explain causes of criminality
(Sociological )
• Marxism:
- (L) Ignores non-class inequalities (gender/ethnicity)
- (S) Highlights selective law enforcement and how white-collar crime is under policed
- (L) Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates (Japan)
- (S) Shows how inequality can lead to criminal behaviour
• Interactionism - Labelling theory:
- (S) Shows how law often enforced in discriminatory way and highlights the impacts of labelling
- (L) Fails to explain why deviant behaviour happens
- (S) Highlights weaknesses in official statistics which allow bias in law enforcement
- (S) Sheds light on how there is a potential to romanticise crime
- (L) Labellibg does not always lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Right realism:
- (S) Helped produce gov.’s research into crime, stimulated victim survey and practical measures to combat crime
- (L) Too readily accepts crime statistics
- (L) Fails to explain white-collar crime and focuses on young males/street crime
- (L) ignores wider structural causes of crime like poverty
- (S) Flood-Page et al. (2000) found males from lone-parent households more likely to offend than those in the nuclear family
- (L) Ignores increasing gap between rich and por creating resentment (relative deprivation)
• Left realism:
- (S) Explores role of victim of crime than any other criminological theory
- (L) Fails to explain why everyone in relative deprivation fails to turn to crime. Fails to explain white-collar or corporate crime
- (L) Neither glorifies or attacks police (avoids worst excesses of both right and left wing approaches)
