Week 1 - Introduction To Crim 300W

Question 1

Critical thinking

Answer 1

How to think, not what to think
Looking at something from different perspectives
Slow thinking, not automatic
Higher level thinking

Question 2

Critical theory

Answer 2

Disrupted mainstream theories
Post-modernist, critical race, critical gender

Question 3

What is criminology?

Answer 3

Objective social science - involves development of theory, research hypothesis, collection of data, evaluating findings

Scientific discipline that uses the scientific method

Question 4

Areas of criminological inquiry

Answer 4

Criminal law, sociology of law, crime statistics, victimology, operation of criminal justice system

Theory - we do not discuss crime without discussing theory
Example: IPV - theories started with child abuse, feminists movement focused on violence against women, now realized men are abused as well

Question 5

Theory development

Answer 5

Complex
Grows in a social context - political and cultural views influence
Interact with other theories
Social science research influences theory development

Question 6

Established vs hypothesized theories

Answer 6

Not all theories are significant or important, but none can be proven

Pseudoscience cannot be proven wrong, there are no conditions to prove it wrong - falsification is a principle of a scientific theory

Question 7

Characteristics of good theories

Answer 7

X and Y
Theoretical rationale - about relationship between and Y
Correlation - should be established first, is it positive or negative
Temporal ordering - x causes y
Spuriousness - 3rd variable problem

Question 8

What is crime?

Answer 8

Severe - very harmful, high agreement
Moderate - somewhat harmful, high disagreement
Mild - confusion or apathy, relatively harmless, diversions, not crimes

Question 9

Spiritual theories

Answer 9

Belief that evil possessed criminals
Religious explanation of crime

Question 10

Natural theories

Answer 10

Micro/meso/macro - individual, in between, sociological
Perceptions of laws is consensual/conflict - functionalist/marxist
Views on human nature - good, bad, tabula rasa

Question 11

theory size

Answer 11

• Micro: psychologists, attention to the individual
• Meso: in between, social psychology
• Macro: sociological, economic

Question 12

perception of laws

Answer 12

• Consensual: functionalist
• Conflict: Marxist

Question 13

views on human nature

Answer 13

• Assumption on human nature
• Bad: born with it
  o Most common assumption because of the violent acts committed by toddlers – then teach them to be nice
• Good: born good but something made them bad
• Tabula rasa: empty slate

Question 14

classifications of theories

Answer 14

• Classical/neoclassical
• Positivism
• Conflict/critical
• Integrated