Criminology/Module 1

Criminology is what we use to approach and assess criminal behavior and the laws surrounding criminal activity. Criminal justice is the term for describing, assessing, and interpreting the behavior of justice agencies. Overlap occurs a lot between these two fields.

Did he deserve life inprisonment at 12 years of age?

The 6 major subareas are:

1. Criminal statistics - Statistics surrounding crime
2. Sociology of Law - How does society interact with the laws, and vice versa?
3. Theory & theory development - Focus on the cause of crime.
4. Criminal behavior systems & crime typologies - Focus on nature and cause of crime behind crimes that occur quite often in patterned settings.
5. Penology - Corrections, fixing up a criminal, and treatment for the criminal.
6. Victimology - Causes behind being a victim of a crime, helping the victim, and theories behind victimization risk.

What is a crime? An action that goes against society's regulations on behavior, to which is recorded and practiced on a legal code by people in juidicial power. Those that commit crime loss their social status and are heavily restricted.

Assess the issues behind Lionel Tate's murder of a 6 year old girl at only 12, and 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill shooting and killing his teacher. At such a young age, are they mentally aware of their actions? Why were they treated like adults?

Criminological Enterprise

What do criminologists really do?

1. Look over criminal statistics and how to measure criminal behavior, so one can recognize the patternsof the crime at hand and figure out policies to prevent such crimes.
2. How does society interact with the law, and vice versa? This takes into account for history of law, what social forces contributed to the law we have today, and the interactions between law and society.
3. Look into theory construction. Theories come from social facts and are tested via the scientific method.
4. Criminal behavior systems: Look into specific criminal types and patterns, such as organized crime. Looks into research between certain types of crime and criminals (crime typology).
5. Punishment, penology, and social control: Fixing up and monitoring criminals. Look into the effectiveness of justice initiviatives.
6. Look into victimology: Study of victims and victimization.

The Three Perspectives of Criminology View on Crime

1. Consensus view - Society comes up with what is a crime and this is agreed upon.
2. Conflict view - Protect the people in power vs. the less unfortunate/poorer folks, as society with its diversity is always in conflict.
3. Interactionist view - Everything is subjective: what is good, what is bad, who the criminal is.

Demonology

People committed crimes because they were hacked by a "demon". The logical explanation of Cesare Beccaria has led to classical criminology: crime was an issue of rationality and the freedom for a choice, and that regulations are needed in a society so that people don't do 'whatever they want'. People are evil at heart and crime will be seen as a good option if its easy to achieve and the results are stupendous. Harsh punishments needed.

Criminal law should be to prevent more harm, not for retribution, and that crime in society is a result of bad and "wrong" laws. He suggests to prevent crimes vs. punishment, innocent until guilty, due process needed, a jury trial is needed, and equal punishment across the board is needed. Also wanted to limit judges.

Atavism vs Positivism

Cesare Lombroso: Father of Criminology

Atavism: Cesare Lombroso is the "Father of Criminology". Some people are criminals because of their biology/traits. Criminals are defective in appearance. Now rejected.

Henry H. Goddard: IQ for Immigrants!

Positivism: Henry Goddard wanted to sterelize criminals, as he believed they were mentally inferior. Free will wasn't scientific, but causal explanations of crime were. Goddard advocated for IQ tests for immigrants. Was popular until the 1970s.

Sociological Criminology Foundation

Founders are Adolphe Quetelet and Emile Durkheim (father of sociology, inspired by French Revolution of 1789). Sociological criminology uses social statistics to figure out the natural behavioral inclination to pursue crime (age, sex, time of day, poverty, etc.).

2 differing forms of society: Mechanical (small, traditional, homogeneous societies who collectively share similar view points) and Organic (interdependent, advanced society with barely any similarities).

Anomie = Rapid growth of a society, leading to crime and disorder. Chicago is an example.

• Chicago School 1914-34 study: study of relationship between crime and neighborhood circumstances. Chicago was the site of the first sociology program in the US. Inspiration from Durkehim and Park. Park was a journalist and a positivist (range from hard core [no free will at all] to soft determinists [we get some choices, but they are restricted]). Criminals may have chemical imbalance or bad home life. Park observed Chicago, where clusters existed based on income/race. Income-based clusters were the stirring pot for trouble as the occupants sought better living conditions.
• Ernest Burgess' "Zones": Came up with a co-centric model of city growth and change for Chicago. Came up with Zone I (central business district with only a few residents), Zone II (don't want to live there part of the city), Zone III (2nd-3rd generation immigrants), Zone IV (single-family homes, better looking apartments), and Zone V (suburban, middle to upper class).

Conflict Perspective

2 branches of conflict perspective:

1. Marxist conflict theory - From Karl Marx. Basically, philosophy glasses on history/politics analysis, and provided explanations for economic, social, and political structures of modern society. Positive view on humans, but blamed class structure as to what was destroying society (though he praised capitalism). Society developed through 4 parts (Primitive Communism (hunter-gatherer), Horticultural and Pastoral, Agrarian (agricultural), and Capitalist society). Because more good were being produced than what was needed, social stratification came in to the 3 last parts. "Advanced Communism" will replace Capitalism. Basic class structure is the capitalist class ("bourgeoisie") who own means of production and the working class ("proletariat") who just sell their skills. They oppose each other.

Non-marxist theories

Commonality? Society = opposing groups who come up with change on a societal level. So)ciety then becomes a web of conflict because of all the different groups coming at each other for their own interest.

Non-marxist theory believes internal conflict could be good or bad for society. Marxist theory is different, as it dives further into the origins of society.

Law as a tool

• Productive process = Creation of goods and services for distribution... this is the basic sphere.
• Bourgeoisie exploit others for a profit.
• Whichever group is in power, will control the socialization process (enforced through belief systems and ideoloiges). Law is used to control the working class by the ruling class. Law is used as a weapon to keep the impoverished controlled. Crime results from class inequality, resulting in imbalanced distribution of resources.

Life-Course and Latent Trait

• Developmental theories came from Shedlon and Eleanor Glueck at Harvard in the early 1930s. Looked into longitudinal studies of delinquents through interviews and records, and found important factors, such as family relations/size/income as big factors for crime. Biological and psychological traits play a role as well.
• Life course view: Events influence choices.
• Latent trait theories: Underlying conditions influence behavior. Better to cut the person's route to crime, since that's how they are.

Same but Different?

Some acts are both deviant and illegal, such as violence towards others. Some deviance may be obesity (which isn't a crime), but Martha Stewart's case brings confusion. Killing in wartime vs. an innocent, old lady brings different levels.

• An act can be deviant, but not criminal if... an act can be of disturbance, but not illegal (talking out loud during the moment of silence). ALL CRIME IS DEVIANCE.
• Hero = deviance? Colonel H Jones' "foolish" move and Howard Huges remaining days.
• An act can be criminal, but not deviant if... for example, speeding. It is breaking the law, but people do it anyways. Is Stephen Hawking a deviant because of his extraordinary work? Deviance is a BIGGER FIELD than crime.