Criminology powerpoint one

Nature of CrimeNature of DevianceCommunity and Crime

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Social Control

• SOCIAL CONTROL– Attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts

and behavior

• CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM– A formal response by police, courts, and prison

officials to alleged violations of the law

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• Why does every society have deviance?• Why does every society have crime?

• How does who and what are defined as deviant reflect social inequality?

• How does the Criminal Justice System reflect societal influence?

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Some Questions to Consider…

Crime and Deviance

• "Deviance" is a wide-ranging term used by sociologists to refer to behavior that varies, in some way, from a social norm.

• In this respect, it is evident that the concept of deviance refers to some form of "rule-breaking" behavior.

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• DEVIANCE– The recognized violation of cultural norms

• CRIME– The violation of a society’s formally enacted

criminal law

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“The Rules”

• In relation to deviance, therefore, the concept relates to all forms of rule-breaking… – (whether this involves such things as murder, theft or arson -

the breaking of formal social rules - or such things as wearing inappropriate clothing for a given social situation, failing to produce homework at school or being cheeky to a parent, teacher and so forth - more-or-less the breaking of relatively informal social rules).

• As a general rule, we can say that there is a distinction between crime and deviance in terms of:– "All crime is, by definition, deviant behavior, but not all

forms of deviance are criminal".6

Self-Report Exercise

• Take out a piece of paper and write down the 10 most deviant and/or illegal acts that you have committed.

• Do not sign your name!– Really, do not sign your name…

Crime is a social phenomenon

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Crime is common & normal• Because crime is so common, year after year, many Americans

regard it as the most serious social problem facing the United States.

• Crime affects everyone in society – either directly or indirectly:Crime results in thousands of deathsMillions of cases of physical injury or psychological

damageNIJ – Crime costs over $500 Billion per year

• Although crime appears to be ubiquitous in our society, we often know very little about how our perceptions of crime are created, maintained, or modified.

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The Criminological Enterprise

• Criminal Statistics Gathering valid crime data; devising

new research methods; measuring crime patterns and trends

• Psychology/Sociology of Law

Exploring the intersection between the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and law

• Theory Construction, Development, and Verification

• Criminal Behavior Systems

Determining the nature and cause of specific crime patterns; the examination of specific offense, e.g., white collar crime.

• Penology The correction and control of criminal

behavior

• Victimology The nature and cause of

victimization

• Crime Prevention

Boundary

No Ultimate Definition of Crime• We do know that there is no single objective definition of

crime.There are legal definitionsThere are social definitionsThere are subjective (personal) definitionsThere are organizational definitions

• What is crime? 1. Unlawful behavior, 2. Behavior that is formally processed as criminal3. Socially harmful behavior4. Anything the state wants it to be?

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What is Crime? Part I • A phenomenon of Society• Each society decides what

conduct is criminal• Society also determines

– enforcement– adjudication– punishment

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What is a Crime? Part II

• A crime is an act – committed in violation of a law forbidding

it (e.g. theft, arson)

– or omitted in violation of a law commanding it (paying taxes)

– and for which society has provided a formally sanctioned punishment

What is crime? Part III

• It it’s simplest definition, crime is any specific act prohibited by law for which society has provided a formally sanctioned punishment.

– This can include the failure of a person to perform an act specifically required by law.

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To Sum up:What is crime?

Crime: ‘An intentional act in violation of the criminal law committed without defense or excuse, and penalized by the state.’

A crime is an act in violation of a criminal law for which a punishment is prescribed; the person committing it must have intended to do so and must have done so without legally acceptable defense or justification.

Legislative bodies are continually revising, adding to, and deleting from, their criminal statutes.

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Laws vary within the same culture from time to time as well as across different cultures.

Crimes pass out of existence

What constitutes a crime can be defined in and out of existence by the courts or by legislators.

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Crime as a Moving Target

Some criminologists, such as Darnell Hawkins, say that crime is a socially constructed phenomenon that lacks any ‘real’ objective essence because crimes are defined into existence rather than discovered.

Social construction means nothing more than humans have perceived a phenomenon, named it, and categorized it according to some classificatory rule that makes note of the similarities and differences among the things being classified.

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Crime as a Moving Target

Criminality

Criminality: A property of individuals that singles the willingness to commit acts of commission or omission contrary to the law and other harmful acts.

When criminologists study criminality, they study individuals who commit predatory harmful acts, regardless of the legal status of the acts.

Criminality is a clinical or scientific term rather than a legal one.

Involvement in crime varies in fine gradations.

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The Legal Making of a Criminal

A person is not officially a criminal until he or she has been defined as such by the law.

Before the law can properly call a person a criminal, it must go through a series of actions governed at all junctures by well-defined legal rules collectively called criminal procedure.

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Basic Principles of American Criminal Law

American criminal law has its origins in English common law, which was brought to these shores by the early British colonists.

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Crime, Deviance, and Other Issues

Definitions IDefinitions IDeviance involves breaking a norm and eliciting a negative reaction from others.

Informal punishment is mild and may involve raised eyebrows, gossip, ostracism or

Stigmatization. When people are stigmatized, they are negatively evaluated because of a perceptible sign that distinguishes them from others.

Formal punishment results from people breaking laws, which are norms stipulated and enforced by government bodies. 22

Definitions II Definitions II Social diversions are minor acts of

deviance such as participating in fads.

Social deviations are more serious acts. A larger proportion of people agree they are deviant and somewhat harmful, and they are usually subject to institutional sanction.

The state defines conflict crimes as illegal but the definition is controversial in the wider society.

Consensus crimes are widely agreed to be bad in themselves.

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Definitions IIIDefinitions III Power is the probability that one actor within a

social relationship will be in a position to carry out his or her own will despite resistance.

White‑collar crime refers to illegal acts committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his or her occupation.

Street crimes include arson, burglary, robbery, assault, and other illegal acts. They are committed disproportionately by people from lower classes.

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Definitions IVDefinitions IV Victimless crimes (also called

crimes against Public Order) such as prostitution and illegal drug use, involve violations of the law that arguably do not harm or violate the rights of anyone except perhaps the consensual participants themselves.

Self-report surveys are especially useful. In such surveys, respondents are asked to report their involvement in criminal activities, either as perpetrators or victims.

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What is the discipline of Criminology?

What is Criminology?• Criminology is the scientific study of the nature,

extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior.

• Criminology is an interdisciplinary science:– Sociology– Criminal justice– Political science– Psychology– Economics– Natural science

What is criminology?

Criminology: The interdisciplinary science that gathers and analyzes data on crime and criminal behavior.

Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior.

Criminologists use the scientific method to try to answer the questions they ask rather than simply speculate about them from their armchairs.

Criminology is an inherently interdisciplinary field.

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The Science of Criminology • Police Productivity and Crime Rates:

Is violent crime increasing or decreasing?

• Childhood Maltreatment and Delinquency: Are mistreated children more likely to engage

in delinquency?

• Specific Deterrence and White Collar Offenders:

Are white collar offenders specifically deterred by prison?

What is Criminology?

• Criminology and Criminal Justice– Criminology explains the origin, extent, and

nature of crime in society

– Criminal justice refers to agencies of social control

– Both discipline areas overlap

What is Criminology?

• Criminology and Deviance – Deviant behavior departs from social norms– Not all crimes are deviant and not all deviant acts

are criminal– Criminologists study both criminology and

deviance to understand the nature and purpose of law (I.E. drug use)

Development of the Discipline What do Criminologists Think and Do?

A Brief History of Criminology

• Classical Criminology 18th century – Utilitarianism emphasized behavior is considered

purposeful and useful by the actor– Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) believed people have

free will to choose criminal or lawful solutions to meet their needs

– Choice is controlled by fear of punishment– Punishment should be severe, swift, and certain to

control behavior

A Brief History of Criminology• Nineteenth-Century Positivism

– Application of scientific methods to study crime– Auguste Comte (1798-1857) – Two main elements: 1) human behavior is a function of

forces beyond a person’s control and 2) embracing the scientific method to solve problems

– Charles Darwin (1809-1882) popularized the positivist tradition

– Influences of physiognomy and phrenology – Biological determinism - Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)

atavistic anomalies – Social positivism developed to study the major social

changes (sociology)


• Foundations of Sociological Criminology– L.A.J. Quetelet – cartography (demographic

variables)– Emile Durkheim – anomie ( role confusion)– Crime calls attention to the social ills– Rising crime rates can signal the need for social

change


• The Chicago School and Beyond– Robert Ezra Park (1864-1944), Ernest W. Burgess

(1886-1966), Louis Wirth (1897-1952)– The Chicago School - social ecology (reaction to an

environment that was inadequate for proper human relations and development)

– Edwin Sutherland suggested people learn criminality– Walter Reckless linked crime to an inadequate self-

image.– Both views linked criminality to the failure of

socialization


• Conflict Criminology– Karl Marx (1818-1883)– Relationship between bourgeoisie (capitalists) and

proletariat (labor) developing class conflicts– Development of conflict theory (the linkage

between crime and capitalism) – Impact on civil rights/women’s movements


• Contemporary Criminology– Rational choice theory argues people are rational

decision makers– Social structure theory argues social environment

controls criminal behavior– Social process theory argues criminal behavior is

learned

What Criminologists Do: The Criminological Enterprise

• Criminal Statistics– Measuring the amount and trends of criminal

activity– Creating valid and reliable measurements of

criminal activity


• Sociology of Law– Subarea of criminology concerned with the role of

social forces in shaping criminal law (I.E. legality of art works)

– Criminologists help lawmakers alter the content of criminal law to respond to the changing times (I.E. sex offender registration)


• Developing theories of Crime Causation– Psychological view contends crime is a function of

personality, learning, or cognition– Biological view incorporates biochemical, genetic,

and neurological linkages to crime– Sociological view includes social forces such as

poverty, socialization, and group interaction


• The Nature of Theory and Theory Development– Social theory is a systematic set of interrelated

statements that explain some aspect of social life– Some theory may be grand, while others are

narrow in their focus– Theory is based on social facts, which can be

readily observed


• Criminal Behavior Systems– Involves crime types and patterns (I.E. violent,

public order, and organized crime)– Edwin Sutherland’s “white-collar” crime– Crime typologies involve different types of crime

and criminals


• Penology – Correction and control of known criminal

offenders– Capital punishment is used as social control– Mandatory sentences are aimed at social control

and prevention of criminal acts.


• Victimology– Examines the critical role of the victim in the

criminal process (Hans von Hentig andStephen Schafer)

– Use of victim surveys to measure the nature and extent of criminal behavior

– Creating probabilities of victimization risk– Victim culpability or precipitation of crime– Designing services and programs

How Criminologists View Crime

• The Consensus View of Crime– Substantive criminal law defines crime and

punishment– Criminal law is a function of beliefs, morality and

rules– Laws apply equally to all members of society– Acts which are considered as social harms should

be outlawed to protect the social fabric and members of society


• The Conflict view of Crime– Criminal law reflects and protects established

economic, racial, gendered, and political power and privilege

– Definition of crime is controlled by wealth, power, and social position

– Crime is shaped by the values of the ruling class and not the moral consensus of all people

How Criminologists View Crime• The Interactionist View of Crime

– This position holds 1) People act according to their own interpretations of reality, 2) People observe they way others react either positively or negatively, and 3) People reevaluate and interpret their own behavior according to the meaning and symbols they have learned from others

– There is not objective reality, according to interactionists

– The definition of crime reflects the preferences and opinions of people who hold social power

– Crime is socially defined by moral entrepreneurs


• Defining Crime– Crime is a violation of societal rules of behavior as

interpreted and expressed by the criminal law, which reflects public opinion, traditional values, and the viewpoint of people currently holding social and political power

– The definition combines all three criminological perspectives (consensus, conflict, and interactionist)

Traditional Justice

(retributive and rehabilitative)

Restorative Justice

Victims are peripheral to the process

Victims are central to the process

The focus is on punishing or on treating the offender

The focus is on repairing the harm between an offender and victim, and perhaps also an offender and a wider community

The community is represented by the state

Community members or organizations take a more active role

The process is characterized by adversarial relationships among the parties

The process is characterized by dialogue and negotiation among parties

Crime is not new• 1849 California Gold

Rush• 89,000 Miners• 20% dead in first six

months (mostly homicide)

• Crime rate led to the creation of one of the first state prisons.

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San Quentin Prisonone of the first prisons ever constructed in

the US

Crime and the Criminal Law

– Code of Hammurabi (eye for an eye)– Mosaic Code (basis for U.S. legal system)– Compurgation (use of oathhelpers)– Trials by ordeal (divine intervention)


• Common Law– English system of law based on precedent cases– Mala in se refers to crime considered as evil– Mala prohibita refers statutory crimes– Legislatures supplement common law with

statutes


• Contemporary Criminal Law– Felony offenses are serious criminal actions– Misdemeanor offenses are minor or petty criminal

actions– Criminal law seeks to: Enforce social control,

Discourage revenge, Express public opinion and morality, Deter criminal behavior, Punish wrongdoing, and Maintain social order


• The Elements of a Crime– Actus Reus is the action of a crime– Mens Rea is the mental intent of a criminal action– Strict Liability does not necessarily require specific

intent


• Criminal Defenses– Excuse defenses – insanity, intoxication, and

ignorance– Justification defenses – necessity, duress, self-

defense, and entrapment


• The Evolution of Criminal Law– Criminal law evolves to reflect social and

economic conditions, such as stalking statutes or sexual predator laws (Megan’s Law)

– Changing technology requires modifications in criminal law

Ethical Issues in Criminology

– What to study (influence of research money)– Whom to study (unmasking the poor)– How to study (experiments and harm)

Crime does not always make sense:Odd laws

Minnesota:--It is illegal to tease skunks.--Every man in Brainerd is required by law to grow a beard.

Michigan: --A state law stipulates that a woman's hair legally belongs

to her husband.--Under state law, dentists are officially classified as

"mechanics."--In Clawson, it is legal for a man to "sleep with his pigs,

cows, horses, goats, and chickens."

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The theme of the criminal justice system: Balancing the concern for individual rights with the need for public order.

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Does the CJS Over-criminalize?

Story of the cursing canoist…

Curfews…

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Influence of the MediaPerception and Public OpinionCSI Effect

Public Opinion and the News Media

• What is the relationship between public opinion and public policy?

• How is crime data organized on an opinion level?

Crime MythsCrime Myths

• Crime Myths get created out of situations of ambiguity and concern

• Crime myths are “an ill-founded belief held uncritically”

• Most people's ideas about crime and criminals were NOT formedNOT formed through personal experience instead we form much of our ideas based on media depictions and illustrations of crime and criminals

Example of a Myth

• How much crime is there? More difficult to answer because it varies and the media creates…

• Myth of Child Abduction Kappeler, Blumberg, and Potter show that the hysteria that surrounded the scare of child abductions in the 1980s was not stranger-related but the result of other factors – e.g., divorce and custody issues.

Media Images

• There is neither enough space in newspapers nor enough air time on television to cover all, or even most for that matter, criminal activities.

• Research has shown that Violent crimes are more likely to gain the attention of the media

• However, does the media cover violent crimes because of their interest or ours???

What does the Media depict?

• Bob Roshier has shown that there are three factors influencing the selection of media crime stories

1. Unusual Circumstances2. Dramatic elements3. Involvement of famous

people -- e.g., Robert Downey, jr.

Crime and Media

• Crime is used to sell • Television portrays crime and criminals in

a stereotypical manner

• Most crime is violent, interpersonal, pathological

• Glassner – “The Construction of Fear”

Criminological research on media images

A number of analyses on the influence of

media depictions of crime, criminals, criminality, and victims exist.

According to Surette (1992) The media has a profound influence on the general public understanding of crime.

Media ImagesVarious sources of information, commentary, and debate on crime exist in print, video and

electronic media outlets that establish the parameters of perceived wisdom on crime. Marsh (1991) demonstrates that most media illustrate crime in a mainstream and sensational fashion. One facet of this overly dramatic style

has been the manner in which victims are presented. The media, however, is not alone in dramatizing certain kinds of victims.

Even the officials…

• Eitzen and Timmer 1989:39

– Official crime statistics themselves fare no better because they pay far more attention to violent and property crime than to corporate and white-collar crime

Weiss and Chermak (1998) on Homicide Reporting

studied all homicides that occurred in Indianapolis in 1995 and concluded that murders of white victims receive more

news attention than when African-Americans

are victims.

Conclusions and Consequences

– What consequences would this presentation have?

– What patterns have you noticed on television and other media?

– What do you think about Weiss and Chermak’s conclusions?

Zatz and Richey Mann (1998)

• contend that popular conceptions of crime and criminality are constructed within the dominant paradigms of race, gender, and class.

• “By linking images of color with crime, the stereotypes underlying media reporting on crime and criminality become more apparent” (1998:1).

Street vs. White Collar crime

• Most research on media portrayals are based on street crime rather than white-collar or corporate crime. “The most common image of a crime victim is surely the victim of murder, rape, robbery, burglary or some other conventional crime.”

• There can be little question that most people are likely to fear being victimized by such crime” (Friedrichs 1996: 58).

Who to fear?

Rather than fearing white-collar or corporate crime, most American citizens are unaware of corporate misconduct because they are focused on conventional crime.

Thinking about CrimeThinking about Crime

Meithe and McCorkle Simple solutions to crime are rarely that!

Simplicity vs. Complexity

Criminal behavior is typically 1. described with Action verbs (beaten, stabbed, attacked)2. referenced with legal terms (murder, kidnapping, etc…)

The "Crime Problem"The "Crime Problem"

• Raymond Mickalwski -- "crime problem" and "problem of crime"

• Crime problem image refers to the traditional depiction

• Problem of Crime image is concerned with common crime but understands that not all forms of socially harmful behavior are prohibited by law

The "Typical Criminal"The "Typical Criminal"

• Jeffrey ReimanJeffrey Reiman -- Typical Criminal -- a stereotypical image that is produced by existing criminal justice practices, starting with the lawmaking process and including law enforcement, corrections, and even media coverage of crime and criminals.

Carnival Mirror Image -- a distorted image of the danger: young, black, poor, urban, and male

• Typical criminal and typical crimeWrong: 1. Many crimes are not interpersonal

2. Most crimes are not violent

Meithe and McCorkleMeithe and McCorkle

They contend that we categorize and understand criminal action through constructing different kinds of categories.

They see four separate kinds or types of understandings:

legal, offender, victim, and situational based.

Legal-based typologies

Limited because aspects of the offender are missing

What about plea-bargaining Do we really know who did what?

Legal definitions vary from state to stateCriminals do not specialize

May be overly generalized?

Offender-based Typologies

These types are constructed on the characteristics of the offenders

Ancient form of criminological analysis

“Classical School of Criminology”

Victim-based Typologies

This is New…

• What type of victim is chosen and why

• Offender decision-making is critical

• Victim response is useful information

Situation/Context-based Types

• Opportunity structure, where the crime occurs

Substantive Criminal Law

What is crime

• Before the criminal justice system can function we must first define what is:

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Crime

The Concept of Crime is Important

A person is not criminally culpable (blameworthy) unless she acted:

voluntarily (or failed to act when required by law to do so)

with a “guilty mind”in such a way that her action and intention

coincided in time causing the harmin violation of the criminal lawso as to produced harm and injury

Simple Formula

ACT +

INTENT +

CONCURRENCE +CAUSATION +

INJURY +HARM +

PROHIBITED ACT = Crime

What is crime?

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• Murder• Burglary• Robbery• Larceny• Motor Vehicle Theft• Arson

http://149.101.22.40/dataonline/Search/Homicide/State/StatebyState.cfm

It is also

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• Sneaking into a movie theater• Taking towels from a hotel• Illegal parking• Littering• Skateboarding in unlawful areas• Jaywalking• Speeding

Elements of Crime • A legal definition is the basis of

criminal justice in the United States.

• Technically and ideally, a criminal offense has not been committed unless all seven of the previous elements are present.

True crimes

To establish that a true crime has been committed and to convict on it in court, it is neccessary to establish all of the following:

• 1. Harm• 2. Legality• 3. Actus Reus = action• 4. Mens Rea = intent• 5. Causation• 6. Concurrence• 7. Punishment

What Constitutes a Crime?

Corpus delicti: Refers to the elements of a given act that must be present in order to legally define it as a crime.

It is only necessary for the state to prove two elements to satisfy corpus delicti:

Actus reus

Mens Rea

Acts Reus: Means guilty act, and refers to the principle that a person must commit some forbidden act or neglect some mandatory act before he or she can be subjected to criminal sanctions.

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What Constitutes a Crime?

Concurrence: Means that the act and the mental state occur in the sense that the criminal intention actuates the criminal act.

Causation: Refers to the necessity to establish a causal link between the criminal act and the harm suffered.

Harm: Refers to the negative impact a crime has either to the victim or to the general values of the community.

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Reality vs. Ideal

It is only in a technical and ideal sense that all seven elements of a true crime must be present. In actual practice, a behavior is often considered a crime when one or more of these elements is absent.

Harm

• For a crime there must be negative external consequences that are deemed contrary to normal life or experience.

• A mental state or emotional state is not enough. Thinking about committing a crime or being angry enough to commit a crime, without acting on the thought or anger is not a crime.

Nature of Harm

• The harm may be physical or verbal.

• Physically striking another person without legal justification is an example of physical harm.

• An example of an act that does verbal harm is a threat to strike someone, whether the threat is carried out or not.

Who says words can’t hurt

Another example of verbal harm includes writing something false about another person that dishonors or injures in some way and is called libel. The spoken equivalent is Slander.

Crime as a Subcategory of Social Harm

John Hagen views crime as a continuous variable and as a subcategory of all harmful acts.

Consensus: Agreement existing in the population about right and wrong.

There is substantial agreement among average citizens both within and across modern societies regarding the average seriousness ratings given to a variety of criminal offenses.

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Severity of the law’s response to a given crime The more serious the legal penalty, the

more serious the societal evaluation of the act.

Amount of harm caused by the crime. The harm dimension underlies both

consensus about wrongfulness and severity of legal responses.

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Harmful acts, such as smoking tobacco or drinking in access are not considered anyone’s business other than the actor’s of they take place in private, or even in public if the person creates no annoyance.

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Social harmful acts are acts in a category that some political body has decided in non-arbitrary ways are in need of regulation, but not by the criminal law except under exceptional circumstances.

Private wrongs (torts) are socially harmful, but not sufficiently so to require the heavy hand of the criminal law.

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A small subcategory of harmful acts is considered so socially harmful that they come under the purview of the coercive power of the criminal justice system.

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Beyond Social Construction: The Stationary Core Crimes

Few people would argue that an act is not seriously harmful if it is universally condemned.

Mala in se: Crimes that ‘inherently bad’.

Mala prohibita: Crimes that are considered bad because they are prohibited.

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Victimful and Victimless Crimes

Three crime categories Crimes for which there is an obvious intended victim. Crimes in which victimization is the result of

carelessness. Crimes in which participation in the crime is voluntary.

A victimless crime is consensual and non predatory; a victimful crime is non-consensual and predatory, and mala in se almost by definition.

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All Harms |the criminalMostly private matters; |justice systemrare state intervention |

All Social Harms State regulated but Harms outsidenot by criminal law the purview of

All Crimes Low/moderate consensus, Mala in se and low/moderate penaltiesmala prohibita low to moderate harm

Core Offenses High consensus,Mala in se severe penalties,

high level of harm

Figure 1.1 Mala in Se and Mala Prohibita Crimes as Subsets of all Harms

Legality

• First – the harm must be legally forbidden. Violation of union or school or religious rules may be wrong but they are not necessarily prohibited by criminal law.

• Second – a criminal law must not be retroactive or Ex Post Facto. You can not declare an act illegal or increase punishment after an act or alter rules of evidence after it has been committed. The U.S. constitution forbids such laws.

Actus reus

A latin term that refers to criminal conduct. A prohibited act has taken place in violation of the criminal law. Or negligent (reckless) action or inaction that causes harm to another.

• If people do not act in situations where the law requires them to act, they are committing crimes. Parents are legally provided to care for their children.

No crime w/o LAW

There is no crime without law. (Derived from Bentham & Beccaria, classical school. All crime defined with respect to the legal code.)

• Remember again that you cannot be convicted for your thoughts; you must also have acted.

• (Note Jimmy Carter's comment during his presidential campaign: "I have committed lust in my heart". It may have bothered his heart or his religious beliefs, but it is not illegal.)

Criminal Act (actus reus) All crimes require an affirmative

or negative act.

Affirmative acts (act of commission) require conscious and volitional movement--a product of the determination of the actor.

Involuntary acts are insufficient. Negative acts (acts of omission)

are failures to act where there is a legal duty to act, and where it was possible for the actor to act.

Involuntary Acts

SomnambulismUnconsciousnessSeizureInvoluntary Neurological Response

Acts of Omission

Legal Relationship, e.g., parent-childContractual Obligation, e.g., lifeguard to

swimmerStatutory Obligation, e.g., taxesCreation of PerilVoluntary Assumption of care

Criminal Intent (mens rea)

Purposely - with conscious desire to cause a certain result

Knowingly - with awareness that something will occur

Recklessly - with a conscious disregard of a substantial risk or injury

Negligently - actions that the actor should have known would cause harm

Mens rea• Mens rea. Another

latin term. Criminal intent, or predisposition, or premeditation, or a criminal state of mind.

• Difficult to translate into English. Essentially, though, it means that you intended to do what you did, and that you were able to be responsible for and accountable for your actions.

Criminal Intent

• Origins in Eighteenth century English common law although the principle goes back to the 1600s. How do we determine if offenders have the capacity for understanding the consequences of their actions?

• Questions of competence are all issues of Mens Rea.

Criminal Intent

Criminal intent assumes all of the Criminal intent assumes all of the following:following:– Fairness

– Free will (ability to choose between actions)

– Rationality

– Nature of punishment--from vengeance to deterrence

Degrees of Mental Fault

Purposely

Knowingly

Recklessly

Negligently

Crime-TortBarrier

Gradations of Intention

• Purposely: A desires to kill B by blowing up a building in which he knows B is sleeping. He has acted purposely with regard to the death of B.

• Knowingly: A intends to blow up a building in which he knows B is asleep on the top floor. Even though does not desire B’s death, if B dies, A has killed B knowingly because it is practically certain the B will die.

M'Naghten Rule

If you are not of sound mind, you can't be held responsible for your actions. From this we get the "innocent by reason of insanity" plea.

M'Naghten Rule:

To establish an insanity defense, "it must be clearly proved that at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing what was wrong." Diminished Capacity


• Recklessly: A intends to blow up a building in which he knows B is asleep. He calls C and asks him to go to the building and wake up B.

• B knows that C is not very responsible. If C fails to do wake B, and B dies, A has killed B recklessly because he consciously disregarded a significant risk of injury to B.


• Negligently: A desires to blow up a building. Although it would be apparent to the average person that B is in the building and will be killed, A is totally unaware of that possibility.

• If B dies, A has acted with criminal negligence with regard to B’s death.

Strict Liability Crimes

• Certain public welfare (e.g., hand gun possession) and sexual offenses (e.g., statutory rape, bigamy, and adultery) do not require proof of mens rea.

• The act alone will suffice.

Two Tests for CausationFactual Causation

But for A’s act, the result would not have occurred when and as it did.

“But for Bill’s act, Harry would not have been injured in the way in which he was.”

Proximate Causation B’s injuries must have

been the natural and probable consequences of A’s act.

B’s injuries must have been foreseeable, without any intervening factors sufficient to break the causal chain that would relieve A of liability.

Defenses:Excuses and Justifications

EXCUSES Defenses in which the law

recognizes the absence of mens rea or actus reus, and concludes that no crime has been committed Insanity Infancy Intoxication

JUSTIFICATIONS Defenses in which the law

authorizes the violation of another law where there is a justification Self Defense Defense of Others Duress Necessity

The Law of Deadly Force

• Constitutional Law– Tennessee v. Gardner

• Police may not use deadly force against a fleeing unarmed felony suspect. Such force is an unconstitutional seizure of the person and violates the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

• State Statute– Justification by law enforcement

• Departmental Policies– Examples: FBI Guidelines, PPD Directive 10

No force Officer uses typical verbal commands

Slight force Officer uses strong directive language and/or minimal physical force to encourage compliance

Forcibly subdued suspects with hands Officer uses an arm/wrist lock, takedown, block, punch, or kick

Forcibly subdued suspect using methods other than hands, e.g., gun or baton

What about insanity?insanity?

It is difficult to determine who is legally insane. What is a “defect of reason?” Or “disease of the mind?”

What if a person knows the difference between right and wrong but is unable to control their actions?

Irresistible impulse (or control) test

If an offender meets the criteria of M’Naughten then the irresistible impulse or control test is applied.

Don’t have to care about Insanity

• States are free to abolish insanity as a defense… Montana (in 1979), Idaho, and Utah are states that have done so.

Guilty but insane• Following the 1982 acquittal of John

Hickley, on the grounds that he was legally insane, several states enacted “guilty but insane” or “guilty but mentally ill” laws.

Serve in mental institution until cured then serve the remainder of sentence in the prison population

Causation

• It must be shown that the criminal intent actually caused the prohibited act to occur. There must be a causal relationship between the legally forbidden harm and the actus reus (act itself).

• It's not good enough to show that you thought about doing something and then it happened. It must be shown that you thought about doing something, this led you to plan to do it, and then you actually did it in accordance with your plans.

Concurrence

• The criminal conduct and the criminal intent must occur together. – Repair person stealing your television on

the way out.

PunishmentPunishment

For a behavior to be considered a crime, there must be statutory provisions for punishment or at least the threat of punishment.

Without the threat of punishment, a law is unenforceable and is therefore not a criminal law.

Ohio Revised Code

• A crime or public offense is an act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and to which is annexed, upon conviction, either of the following punishments:

• Death or• Imprisonment• Fine • Removal from office• Disqualification to hold and

enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit in this state

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Crime simply…

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A crime or public offense is an act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it.

As society becomes more complex, so do our laws and CJS

• In 1990, California became the first state to enact a specific stalking law.

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http://www.infowar.com/law/99/law_012799a_j.shtml

Misdemeanor vs. Felony Wedding Cake

Criminal Behavior Systems• Classifications

• Typologies

• Specific Offenses

Groupings of Crimes

• Violent Crime• Property / Economic Crime• Computer / High-Tech Crime• Organized Crime• White-collar Crime• Public Order Crime

What you need, legally, to have a crime

• Corpus delicti: each crime has elements that must be meet to ‘prove’ the offense occurred– Actus reus = action– Mens rea = intent

• Common law definition of Burglary– Entering the dwelling of another (act)– In the night time– To commit a felony within (intent)

Types of Offenses

• Crimes are classified by the seriousness of the offenses as follows:

• A felony is the most serious offense, for which the offender may be sentenced to state prison or death.

• Felonies generally include violent crimes, sex offenses, and many types of drug and property violations.

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Types of Offenses

• A misdemeanor is a less serious offense for which the offender may be sentenced to probation, county jail, a fine, or some combination of the three.

• Misdemeanors generally include crimes such as assault and battery, petty theft, and public drunkenness.

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Types of Offenses• An infraction is the least serious offense

and is generally punishable by a fine. Many motor vehicle violations are considered infractions.

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Hate Crimes

• A criminal act against a person or a person’s property by an offender motivated by racial or other bias

• Based on – Race– Religion– Ancestry– Sexual orientation– Physical disability

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Major Categories of Violent Crime

• Murder, or unlawful killing of a human being• Sexual assault or rape• Assault and Battery• Robbery

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Violent Crime

• Violence Against the Person• Sexual Violence• Robbery

Perpetrators disproportionately young, male, lower social classes

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PoliceCourtsCorrections/Penology

What Stands between the Criminal and the People?

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What Stands Between the Criminal and the People?

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Criminal Criminal JusticeJustice

SystemSystem

http://www.crimelibrary.com/manson/mansonpro.htm

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Components of the Criminal Justice System

Police C ourts C orrections

The C rim inal Justice System

The Criminal Justice System:Purpose and Goals

• To control crime• To prevent crime – lower recidivism (re-offending)• To provide and maintain justice• To help strengthen communities• To establish and reflect common values• To deal with offenders inside and outside of the

community• Others ???

Criminal case processing.Source: Adapted from U.S. Dept. of Justice

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The Criminal Justice System:Purpose and Goals

• To control crime• To prevent crime• To provide and maintain justice

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Due Process

• The criminal justice system must operate within the bounds of law

• Grounded in first ten amendments to U.S. Constitution– Offers protection to any person charged with a crime

• Due process limits the power of government

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Criminal Justice Funnel

Of 1,000crimes that are

committed

Only5 juveniles and18 adults areincarcerated

Structure of the Criminal Justice System

• Police– Local Law Enforcement– State Law Enforcement– Federal Law Enforcement

• Courts– State Courts– Federal Courts– Prosecutors and Defenders

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Structure of the Criminal Justice System

• Corrections– Probation – Incarceration– Community Based Corrections– Parole

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The Criminal Justice System: Size and Expense

• 55,000 different public agencies• $147 billion annual budget• 2.2 million employees• 20,000 police agencies• 17,000 courts

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• 8,000 prosecutorial agencies• 5,700 correctional institutions• 3,500 probation and parole departments

• 15 million arrests per year– 3 million for felonies

• Correctional population of 2 million• Additional 4 million on probation or parole

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• Law Enforcement employs over 1 million sworn personnel, not counting civilian employees

• Corrections employs over 717,000 people• Court systems employ 455,000

• It costs $70,000 to build a jail or prison cell• It costs $25,000 a year to house an inmate

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Department of Homeland Security• The newest federal criminal

justice agency was created by President George W. Bush on November 25, 2002.

• Headed by Tom Ridge

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Role of the Police• Protect lives and

property

• The only criminal justice component that deals with persons not charged with a crime.

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Role of the Police• Duties are becoming

more complex• Greater use of

discretion• If possible use

alternatives other than arrest.

• When necessary arrest law violators

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Role of the Police• Felony arrests require

probable or reasonable cause

• Misdemeanor arrests may be made if act is “in-presence” of officer

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Role of the Courts• To seek truth & obtain

justice• To adjudicate &

sentence• Consists of:

– municipal courts*– superior courts– appellate courts– supreme court

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Role of the Courts

• Plea Bargain accepted in 90% of criminal cases.

• Also referred to as Bargain Justice.

• Prosecution and defense form “adversary system” of justice

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An Excursion Through the American Criminal Justice System

A preliminary arraignment has two purposes.

To advise suspects of their constitutional rights, and of the tentative charges against them.

To set bail.

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Preliminary Hearing: The preliminary hearing usually takes place about ten days after the preliminary arraignment, and is a proceeding before a magistrate or municipal judge in which three major matters must be decided.

Whether or not a crime has actually been committed.

Whether or not there are reasonable grounds to believe the person before the bench committed it.

Whether or not the crime was committed in the jurisdiction of the court.

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The Grand Jury: Prosecutors in some states must seek an indictment from a grand jury.

The grand jury is normally an investigatory body and a buffer between the power of the state and its citizens.

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Arraignment: The arraignment proceeding is the first time defendants have the opportunity to respond to the charges against them. After the charges are read to the defendant, he or she must then enter a formal response, known as a plea.

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The Trial: The trial is an adversarial process pitting the prosecutor against the defense attorney.

The prosecutor’s job is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty; the defense need only to plant the seed of reasonable doubt to upset the prosecution’s case.

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About 90% of all felony cases in the United States are settled by plea bargains in which the state extends some benefit to the defendant in exchange for his or her cooperation.

Probation: On the basis of presentence investigation reports, the probation officer offers a sentencing recommendation. The most important factors influencing these recommendations are crime seriousness and the defendant’s criminal history.

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Is this your idea of Corrections?• It is also home

arrest• Community

supervision• Probation• Parole

• And lastly, Confinement

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Incarceration: Of the sentence imposed for a felony conviction is some form of incarceration, the judge has the option of sentencing the offender to a state penitentiary, a county jail, or a county work release program.

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An Excursion Through the American Correctional System

Parole: Parole is a conditional release from prison granted to inmates some time prior to the completion of their sentence.

An inmate is granted parole by a parole board, which decides for or against parole based on such factors as inmate behavior while incarcerated and the urgency of the need for cell space.

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An Excursion Through the American Correctional System

Community-Based Corrections

• Correctional programs operating within society at large rather than behind prison walls

• Three advantages:– Reduce costs– Supervision of convicts while eliminating

hardships of prison life and stigma of jail– Not so much to punish as reform

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• Probation– A policy of permitting a convicted offender to remain in

the community under conditions imposed by a court

• Shock Probation– A policy by which a judge orders a convicted offender

to prison for a short time and then suspends the remainder of the sentence in favor of probation

• Parole– A policy of releasing inmates from prison to serve the

remainder of their sentences in the local community under supervision of a parole officer

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Discretion

• Discretion permits justice officials at all levels to make decisions that will keep the system operating

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Discretionary Decisions

• Criminal justice officials must make decisions every day concerning their duties

• Police• To enforce the law• Investigate specific crimes• Search people or buildings• Arrest or detain people

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• Prosecutors• File charges against suspects brought to them by the

police• Drop cases• Reduce charges

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• Judges• Set conditions for pre-trial release• Accept pleas• Dismiss charges• Impose sentences

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• Correctional Officials• Assign convicts to prison or jail• Punish prisoners who misbehave• Reward prisoners who behave well

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Crime in the United States

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Prison and Jail Populations in the United States

Figure 1.8Prison and Jail Populations in the United States, 1985 - 2000

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Victimization: Percent of Offences Victimization: Percent of Offences by Type of Crime, Seven by Type of Crime, Seven Countries, 2000Countries, 2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Vehicular Burglary Contact crimes Theft

Australia (58)

England & Wales (58)

Sweden (46)

USA (43)

Canada (42)

France (36)

Japan (22)

Percent of offences

Note: Contact crimes include robberies, sexual incidents, and assaults and threats. Horizontal lines indicate international average for each type of crime for all 17 countries in the survey. Thirty-eight percent of the population of all 17 countries were victimized in the year preceding the survey.

Percent of population Percent of population victimized by all crimesvictimized by all crimes

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Criminal Statistics

• Include only crimes known to the police• Researchers check crime statistics

– Victimization Surveys– Demonstrates that the overall crime rate is three

times higher than official reports indicate

Criminal Patterns and Trends

• Race and Ethnicity– Strongly linked to crime rates– Reasons for disproportionate

arrests among African Americans

Crime in a Global Perspective• U. S. crime rate high by world standards

– Crime arises from culture’s emphasis on individual economic success

– Extensive private ownership of guns

• Crime high in some of the largest cities of the world

• Different countries have different strategies for dealing with crime– Death penalty

Trends and Issues in Criminal Justice Today in the United States

• Three Strikes You’re Out• Decline in the crime rate• Fear of crime• Crime as a political issue• Tougher sentencing laws• Abolition of parole in some states• Increased vigilance given to drug cases

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Thinking about trends and Issues in Criminal Justice Today

• Women in prison are growing faster than any other group!

• Is this due to more female criminality or differences in how they are treated, or both?

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Other Trends and Issues in Criminal Justice Today

• Terrorism

• Media Distortion of Crime getting worse?– False perception of a crime epidemic– Suggestion that crime rates are increasing– Impression that most crime is violent

• White Collar and Corporate Crime– Esp. Fraud

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Enjoy the reading!

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Organizational and Corporate Issues

Corporate Criminal Liability: The Federal Law

• A corporation may be held criminally liable for acts committed by its employees if they were acting within the scope of their authority, and for the benefit of the corporation even if such acts were against corporate policy or express instructions.

• This rule extends corporate criminal liability to acts committed by:

officers and directors managers and supervisors subordinate employees independent contractors

Vicarious Liability

Agent’s Criminal IntentAgent’s Criminal Act

The Corporate Compliance Movement

• The likelihood of a criminal investigation, indictment, aggressive prosecution, conviction, and significant fine may be reduced significantly by evidence of corporate compliance.

• Vicarious liability might be defeated by active corporate compliance efforts.

Liability

Corporate Compliance

What are the ingredients (elements) of all crimes?

ACT +

INTENT +

CONCURRENCE +CAUSATION +

INJURY +

HARM +PROHIBITED ACT = Crime

Biological Persons

Corporate Persons

How can a corporation commit a crime?

• Who acts

• Who intends?

• Who causes injury?

• Who is punished?

New York Central & Hudson River Railroad v. U.S. (1909)

• Corporations conduct the great majority of business transactions

• Interstate commerce is almost entirely in their hands

• The notion that corporations are incapable of committing crimes would “virtually take away the only means of effectively controlling” business transactions in interstate commerce

• Corporations can commit crimes

Corporate Criminal Liability: The Federal Law

• A corporation may be held criminally liable for acts committed by its employees if they were acting within the scope of their authority, and for the benefit of the corporation even if such acts were against corporate policy or express instructions.

• This rule extends corporate criminal liability to acts committed by:

officers and directors managers and supervisors subordinate employees independent contractors

Vicarious Liability

Agent’s Criminal IntentAgent’s Criminal Act

The Corporate Compliance Movement

• The likelihood of a criminal investigation, indictment, aggressive prosecution, conviction, and significant fine may be reduced significantly by evidence of corporate compliance.

• Vicarious liability might be defeated by active corporate compliance efforts.

Liability

Corporate Compliance

Minimum Requirements for an Effective Compliance Program

Standards and Procedures reasonably capable of preventing criminal conduct

Oversight of standards by high level personnel

Care in the delegation of substantial managerial authority to individuals

Effective communication of standards and procedures to employees

Reasonable steps taken to achieve compliance

Enforcement of disciplinary mechanisms

Appropriate response after detection of an offense

Key to Compliance

Proactive Compliance

Reactive Compliance

Edwin Sutherland and his view Challenging Issues: Genocide, Terrorism, Death Penalty

Criminology: Sutherland’s Definition--Modified

• Criminology is the body of knowledge regarding crime and criminality as a social, psychological, and biological phenomena.

• It includes within its scope the process of making laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting toward the breaking of laws.

• The objective of criminology is the development of a body of knowledge regarding crime, criminality, and its prevention.

The Forgotten Criminology of Genocide

• Why has the field of criminology neglected any consideration of the crime of genocide?

• How could criminologists neglect an estimated sixteen million deaths in crimes against humanity since World War II?

• What has the field of criminology lost by its neglect of the crime of genocide?

Terrorism Terrorism

FBI Definition• The unlawful use of force

or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

FBI Definition• The unlawful use of force

or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

Terrorism: Generating Publicity and

Fear

Terrorism: Generating Publicity and

FearClassifying Terrorism• Revolutionary Terrorism

Forcing governments to respond; to encourage a revolution, e.g., PLO

• State-Sponsored Terrorism Terrorist activities by

governments against their own citizens or other countries, e.g., Khmer Rouge

• Religious Terrorism Promoting a religious system or

protect a set of religious beliefs, e.g., use of Jihad or holy war by Islamic fundamentalists

Classifying Terrorism• Revolutionary Terrorism

Forcing governments to respond; to encourage a revolution, e.g., PLO

• State-Sponsored Terrorism Terrorist activities by

governments against their own citizens or other countries, e.g., Khmer Rouge

• Religious Terrorism Promoting a religious system or

protect a set of religious beliefs, e.g., use of Jihad or holy war by Islamic fundamentalists

Terrorism

Punishment?• Symbolic• Retributive• Desert• Expressive• Restorative

Criminal Statistics:The Death Penalty

• How many people have been executed since 1608?

• How many people have been executed this year?

• How many executions have taken place since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976?

• How many jurisdictions have death penalty statutes?

• Which states do not permit the death penalty?

• What percentage of defendants executed since 1976 were white?

• What percentage of defendants executed were convicted of killing a white victim?

• Which two states can claim credit for more than 40% of all executions since 1976?

• Do states still execute inmates either by hanging or with a firing squad?

•

Criminal Statistics: Death Penalty

How many people have been executed since 1608? (19,500)How many people have been executed this year? (48)How many executions have taken place since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976? (731)How many states have death penalty statutes? (38)Which states do not permit the death penalty? Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia

What percentage of defendants executed since 1976 were white? (45%)What percentage of defendants executed were convicted of killing a white victim? (81%)Which two states can claim credit for more than 40% of all executions since 1976? (Texas and Virginia)Do states still execute inmates either by hanging or with a firing squad? Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire (H); Idaho, Oklahoma, Utah (FS)


• How many documented innocent people have been executed this century?

• How many people have been released since 1972 as a result of being wrongfully convicted?

• What percentage of Texas and California death row populations are people of color?

• How many countries still execute people for crimes committed as children?

• How many children have been sentenced to death in the U.S. since 1973?

• The youngest person executed since WWII in the United States was___?

• What is the youngest person ever to be executed in the United States?

• How many people on death row today are known to be retarded?

• How much evidence exists to prove or suggest that the death penalty deters murder?


• How many documented innocent people have been executed this century? (23)

• How many people have been released since 1972 as a result of being wrongfully convicted? (98)

• What percentage of Texas and California death row populations are people of color? (60%)

• How many countries still execute people for crimes committed as children? (6) Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and U.S.

• How many children have been sentenced to death in the U.S. since 1973? (160)

• The youngest person executed since WWII in the United States was___? (14)

• What is the youngest person ever to be executed in the United States? (10)

• How many people on death row today are known to be retarded? (300)

• How much evidence exists to prove or suggest that the death penalty deters murder?

Penology• What is punishment?

Goals of Punishment

Retribution

Deterrence

Incapacitation

Rehabilitation

Proportional Penalty - Offense Determinative Deserved Penalty - Harm Determinative

Expressive Penalty - Message Determinative

Individualized SentencesOffender Culpability - OffenseOffender Change - Intervention

Crime Rates - Fear of ConsequencesPower of Deterrence - Swift, Certain***, Sufficiently Severe, Laws Known to Public

Types: General and Specific (or Special)

Collective IncapacitationSelective Incapacitation

Restorative JusticeRepairing the harm betweenOffender and victim

The Forgotten Criminologyof Genocide

• Genocide is a Political Act Reflecting the Will of Sovereignty

Genocide, it has been said, is a political rather than criminal act most often employed to enhance the solidarity and unification of nation-states.

Decisions to liquidate, exterminate, and cleanse a minority population are matters of political policy reflecting the will and ideologies of sovereignty. Genocide results from a modern, developed, state bureaucratic apparatus that moves the conception of systematic torture and killing from the criminal to the political.



• Genocide as a Breach of International Norms and International Law

To understand the law of genocide, one must To understand the law of genocide, one must appreciate its place in law as an international appreciate its place in law as an international crime.crime.

• Genocide as a Breach of International Norms and International Law

To understand the law of genocide, one must To understand the law of genocide, one must appreciate its place in law as an international appreciate its place in law as an international crime.crime.



• Genocide is Committed by the State Of all the many revelations over the last fifty

years, criminologists seem to have the most difficulty with the notion that an organization or entity, whether a corporation or nation state, may commit a crime.

When crimes are imputed from an individual to an inanimate entity, the intellectual challenge becomes: Should an individual be blamed as well?

• Genocide is Committed by the State Of all the many revelations over the last fifty

years, criminologists seem to have the most difficulty with the notion that an organization or entity, whether a corporation or nation state, may commit a crime.

When crimes are imputed from an individual to an inanimate entity, the intellectual challenge becomes: Should an individual be blamed as well?



• The Magnitude of Victimization in Genocide Defies Belief

Criminological research confirms intuitive ratings of crime seriousness from multiple murder to shoplifting. The differences in seriousness ratings for virtually all offenses are highly objective and quantifiable.

The extent of victimization and harm in genocide, however, strains any assessment of seriousness. Who appreciates differences in seriousness where the offense is, for example, 100,000, 250,000, or 500,000 butchered Hutus or Tutsis?

• The Magnitude of Victimization in Genocide Defies Belief

Criminological research confirms intuitive ratings of crime seriousness from multiple murder to shoplifting. The differences in seriousness ratings for virtually all offenses are highly objective and quantifiable.

The extent of victimization and harm in genocide, however, strains any assessment of seriousness. Who appreciates differences in seriousness where the offense is, for example, 100,000, 250,000, or 500,000 butchered Hutus or Tutsis?



• The Problems of Denying and Admitting Atrocity Two prominent themes that emerge from the

literature on genocide capture an ambivalence hard felt by some survivors and refugees of genocide.

This ambivalence is captured in the titles of two recently published books on the Holocaust—Deborah Lipstadt’s Denying the Holocaust (1994) and Lawrence L. Langer’s Admitting the Holocaust (1995).

• The Problems of Denying and Admitting Atrocity Two prominent themes that emerge from the

literature on genocide capture an ambivalence hard felt by some survivors and refugees of genocide.

This ambivalence is captured in the titles of two recently published books on the Holocaust—Deborah Lipstadt’s Denying the Holocaust (1994) and Lawrence L. Langer’s Admitting the Holocaust (1995).

Enjoy the reading!

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Individualist and Sociological Explanations

Why do people commit Why do people commit crimes?crimes?

- lots of theories- lots of theories

- need to be careful: - need to be careful: spurious correlation spurious correlation

The Role of Theory in Criminology

Theory Making: Trying to grasp how all the known correlates of a phenomenon are linked together in non-coincidental ways to produce an effect.

Criminologists are interested in finding out factors that cause crime and criminality.

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The very first step in detected causes is to discover correlates, which are factors that are linked or related to the phenomenon a scientist is interested in.

Scientists have never uncovered a necessary cause (a factor that must be present for behavior to occur) or a sufficient cause (a factor that is able to produce criminal behavior without having been augmented by some other factor.

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Theories help us to make sense of a diversity of seemingly unrelated facts and propositions, and they even tell us where to look for more facts.

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What is a Theory?

Theory: Set of logically interconnected propositions explaining how phenomena are related, and from which a number of hypotheses can be derived and tested.

Hypotheses: Statements about relationships between and among factors we expect to find based on the logic of our theories.

Criteria for judging the merits of a theory: Predictive accuracy: A theory has merit and is useful to the

extent that it accurately predicts what is observed.

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Predictive scope: Refers to the scope or range of the theory and thus the scope or range of the hypotheses that can be derived from it.

Simplicity: If two competing theories are essentially equal in terms of the first two criteria, then the less complicated one is considered more ‘elegant.’

Falsifiability: A theory is never proven true, but it must have the quality of being falsifiable or disprovable.

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What is a Theory?

How to Think About Theories

There are theories that deal with different levels of analysis, or that segment of the phenomenon of interest that is measured and analyzed.

Questions of cause and effect must be answered at the same level of analysis at which they were posed.

Causal explanations are offered at different temporal levels: Ultimate (distant in time) and proximate (close in time).

Theory testing looks for causal explanations rather than simple descriptions.

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Figure 1.2 The Ultimate-Proximate Levels of Explanation___________________________________________________________________Evolution Genetics Temperament Developmental History PersonalityEvolutionary Each person's CNS and PNS Family factors, attachment, Enduring traits

history of the genetic inheritance functioning school, peers, etc. experiences of person forgedspecies from genes and experience Immediate Situation Subjective Appraisal Behavior Each person brings to a People react differently situation everything he or she to similar situations has become due to the because they have preceding factors different genes and different experiences

Figure 1.2 The Ultimate-Proximate Levels of Explanation

Note: Evolutionary forces lead to species-specific genomes. Each person has a fairly unique genotype. These genotypes lead to differential central and peripheral nervous system (CNS and PNS) functioning. This functioning is modified by the person's developmental history. Working together, the person's temperament and developmental history forms his or her personality. This personality may often lead the person to different situations and lead him or her to appraise it different from other persons. The behavior elicited from that appraisal is thus the result of everything that preceded it, plus pure chance.

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Figure 1.3 Interaction of Environmental and Individual Factors in the Probability of Moving from Law Abiding to Law Breaking Behavior

Note: Angled lines each represent a hypothetical individual. Person A has a low underlying criminal disposition and thus requires strong environmental instigation to cross the threshold from law abiding to law breaking behavior. Person B has a strong underlying criminal disposition and will cross the threshold even under extremely low environmental instigation. (From A. Walsh, 2003. Reprinted with permission from Nova Science)

Ideology in Criminological Theory

Ideology: A way of looking at the world, a general emotional picture of ‘how things should be’

Constrained vision: Believers in this vision view human activities as constrained by an innate human nature that is self centered and largely unalterable

Unconstrained vision: Denies innate human nature, viewing it as formed anew in each different culture.

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Ideology in Criminological Theory

Ideal types: Conceptual tools that accentuate differences between competing positions for the purposes of guiding the exploration of them.

A theory of criminal behavior is at least partly shaped by the ideological vision of the person who formulated it, and that in turn is due to the ideological atmosphere prevailing in society.

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Theory Construction, Development, and Validation

• Intuitive criminology

poverty biological causes? genetic predispositions? social learning? control – impulse, self and social? social structure? culture? subculture?

crimecrime

Individual Explanations

• Sociobiology• Free Will• NeoClassical• Psychological• Biology

Sociological explanations for criminal and deviant behavior

• Subcultural• Social Disorganization• Anomie• Drift• Control theory

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Deviant Subcultures

• Cloward and Ohlin (1966)– Deviance or conformity depends on the relative

opportunity structure that frames a person’s life

– Conflict subcultures• Violence is ignited by frustration and a desire for respect

– Retreatist subcultures• Deviants drop out and abuse alcohol or drugs

• Cohen (1977)– Criminality is most common among lower-class

youths-least likely to experience success

• Miller (1970) characterized deviant subcultures– Trouble-arising from frequent conflict– Toughness-value placed on size, strength, and

agility– Smartness-ability to succeed on the streets

• A need for excitement• A belief in fate-no control over their own lives• A desire for freedom-anger towards authority

Subculture and Code of the Streets• Anderson (1994)

– In poor urban neighborhoods, most people manage to conform to conventional values

– “Street Code”• Lifestyle of some young men• Neighborhood crime and violence• Indifference or hostility from the police• Parental neglect

– Risk of jail is high 242

Subculture

There is differentiation amongst subcultural theorists but all share the belief:People who commit crime share a different set of values which is People who commit crime share a different set of values which is different from the values of society as a whole. They have a different from the values of society as a whole. They have a differentdifferent subculture subculture

Brought up by their parents to have values sympathetic to crimeBrought up by their parents to have values sympathetic to crime

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Chicago Ecological School 1920’s• Found that inner city and working class areas had more recorded

crime than middle class suburban areas

• J B Mays 1954: growing up in the city found that criminal subcultures are most likely in areas of acute social disadvantage (British sociologist examining Liverpool)

• E.g. James Patrick, A Glasgow gang observed, 1973 (theory and methods, participant observation)

• Cloward and Ohlin, Delinquency and Opportunity, 1961 found delinquent groups are most common in socially disadvantaged areas

• Research your crime stats and find if this is representative of Research your crime stats and find if this is representative of contemporary society…crime links at bottom of crime page…try contemporary society…crime links at bottom of crime page…try to research your local police statsto research your local police stats

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Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory

• Sutherland’s theory of Differential Association– A person’s tendency toward conformity or

deviance depends on the amount of contact with others who encourage or reject conventional behavior

– The likelihood of engaging in crime is determined by the values and attitudes of the people one associates with…

Cohen and ‘Status deprivation’Albert Cohen -Delinquent Boys 1955 found that Status deprivation

was a key factor in joining a delinquent group.

Status failure at school becomes a ‘king’ in the streets.

W. Belson, Juvenile theft, 1975, a study of thieves in

London found that they stole so as to be ‘accepted as part of the group, to gain prestige’

Graffiti spraying?

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Anomie: Merton

• All societies motivate people…they can achieve through hard work

• For the majority this is impossible/difficult to attain (suggest who and when)

• Merton argues this to an increased level of crime as people turn to crime to achieve financial success

• This situation when the goals of society are not possible by conventional means anomieanomie

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EvaluationsAgain like Durkheim this theory has been criticized for

being too deterministicIgnores Freechoice Ignores Freechoice

What sociologists believe this to be? What sociologists believe this to be? Action v System, positivists v interpretivists, etc;Action v System, positivists v interpretivists, etc;

David Matza, Delinquency and Drift, 1964, says that individuals use techniques of neutralisation to explain their deviant behaviour away

Suggest two reasons why people explain their Suggest two reasons why people explain their criminal/delinquent behaviour criminal/delinquent behaviour

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David Matza

• Subterranean values of pleasure seeking and risk-taking are found in mainstream suburban society as well as ‘areas’

• Everyone is deviant sometimes and young people are more prone to this

Neo-Marxists theory sees some sub-cultures as Neo-Marxists theory sees some sub-cultures as representing challenge to the stabilised order representing challenge to the stabilised order

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Hirschi’s Control Theory

• Control Theory– Social control depends on people anticipating the

consequences of their behavior

• Conformity is linked to four different types of social control– Attachment, Opportunity, Involvement, Belief

But where are the girls?

• Again examining sociological studies we find that women have been ignored.

• Early sociology failed to take account of women.Suggest reasons why sociologists would have Suggest reasons why sociologists would have

ignored womenignored women

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Enjoy the reading!

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Technology

Criminology powerpoint one