Week 1

Question 0

What is The Criminal Code of Canada?

Answer 0

An Act that codifies criminal offences and procedures in Canada, which forms a section of the Constitution Act of 1867

Question 1

Define objectivist-legalistic

Answer 1

Definition of crime to be factual and precise; it defines crime as “something that is against the law”

Question 2

Define criminal law

Answer 2

Rules made by a society that define what behaviours are “crimes”, that is, what may be determined to have happened and can be punished by the state

Question 3

Define criminologist

Answer 3

Studies what society deems to be criminal offences, why the society has so deemed them, and what other approaches society might take to such behaviours

Question 4

Define social consensus

Answer 4

Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), for example, suggest that crime is based on a social consensus and that those who break the law do so because of lack of self-control; crime and crime control are considered to be objective phenomena

Question 5

Name three types of law

Answer 5

Administrative law, Civil law, Criminal law

Question 6

Name the two approaches to defining crime

Answer 6

Objectivist-legalistic and social-reaction

Question 7

Define Administrative law

Answer 7

A form of public law that governs the relationships between individuals and the state by regulating the activities of organizations dealing with matters such as unemployment insurance, labour relations, and landlord-tenant relations

Question 8

Define civil law

Answer 8

The branch of legal system that deals with arrangements between individuals, such as property disputes, wills, and contracts

Question 9

Name the 3 main categories in the Criminal Code of Canada and an example for each

Answer 9

(1) Crimes against person (eg homicide)
(2) Property crime (eg theft over $5000)
(3) Offences (eg illegal drugs)

Question 10

In order to be ruled as guilty, you must have 2 of the following:

Answer 10

Actus reus (commit “evil” act) and Mens rea (have “evil” mind/intent)

Question 11

Who are considered unable to form “mens rea”?

Answer 11

Children under 12 and “insane”

Question 12

Define deviance

Answer 12

For sociologists, deviance is not related to “a type of person” but to a pattern of norm violation relative to the society in which it occurs. There is no fixed agreement about the substance of deviance - even murder and incest have been accepted in certain societies at certain times. When labels are applies to people instead of classes of behaviour, people can become devalued, discredited, and excluded.

Question 13

Define labelling theory

Answer 13

A form of symbolic interactionism developed by Frank Tannenbaum (1938), labelling theory considers that being identified as an outsider, or social deviant, can cause a person to start thinking about him or herself as “a bad person”, which can lead to the formation of a deviant persona. Social control (labelling) leads to crime.

Question 14

Define social constructionism

Answer 14

A school of thought in sociology which believes that social phenomena are produced, instituationalized, and made into custom by human interaction

Question 15

What are some examples that it’s not always true that “criminal” behaviours cause harm the society?

Answer 15

Professional malpractice is not illegal and behaviours like smoking drugs doesn’t directly affect the society

Question 16

Define social reaction and some examples

Answer 16

The meaning of crime varies across social and cultural contexts. Behaviour considered criminal in one society may be acceptable to people in a different society.

Examples: Drugs in Singapore v.s the Netherlands and Adultery in Iran v.s Canada

Question 17

What do conflict/critical criminologists pay attention to?

Answer 17

Social class, race, and gender, and dynamics/conflicts between them

Question 18

Define moral regulation

Answer 18

Michel Foucault’s view, in keeping with the social-reaction definition of crime, is that the social regulation of behaviour is not based on consensus but is meditated by a complex system of social institutions that reward and punish people, thus defining what is right and what is wrong for society, encouraging certain forms of behaviour while discouraging others

Question 19

Explain who and why was the Canadian Opium Act in 1908 created.

Answer 19

After traveling to B.C, Deputy Minister of Labour MacKenzie King had 4 main concerns and decides to make the opium trade illegal. There were no solid evidence to suggest concern of drug use and their effects. The Act was mainly cause by political opportunism.

Question 20

What did the Ontario Safe Streets Act prohibit and why did it raise controversy and debate?

Answer 20

It prohibited various forms of panhandling and acts like “squeegee-cleaning of windshields”. The controversy was that the Act discriminates against homeless and poor, the streets are no more safer than before, and homeless youth can benefit from these “jobs”.