Ch3 - Lecture notes 3 PDF

Preview

Summary

This was for Professor Parry's CCJ 274 Course, which I received a 93 in. These are a combination of in class and text book notes that I compiled together. ...

Description

Explaining Crime - Chapter 3 Notes: I. Introduction to Criminological Theory A. A theory is an assumption that attempts to explain why or how things are related to each other. It attempts to explain why or how a certain thing is related to criminal behavior. B. Criminological theory 1. The explanation of criminal behavior, as well as the behavior of police, attorneys, prosecutors, judges, correctional personnel, victims, and other actors in the criminal justice process. II. Classical and Neoclassical Approaches to Explaining Crime A. Classical Theory 1. A product of the Enlightenment, based on the assumption that people exercise free will and are thus completely responsible for their actions. In classical theory, human behavior, including criminal behavior, is motivated by a hedonistic rationality in which actors weigh the potential pleasure of an action against the possible pain associated with it. 2. Enlightenment thinkers think we exercise free will with a hedonistic rationality. 3. Utility - the principle that policy should provide the greatest happiness shared by the greatest number 4. Social contract - an imaginary agreement to sacrifice the minimum amount of liberty necessary to prevent anarchy and chaos 5. Special/Specific Deterrence - the prevention of individuals from committing crime again by deterring them 6. General deterrence - the prevention of people in general or society at large from engaging in crime by punishing specific individuals and making examples of them. B. Neoclassical Theory 1. A modification of classical theory in which it was conceded that certain factors, such as insanity, might inhibit the exercise of will. III. Positivist Approaches to Examining Crime A. Grew from positive philosophy and Auguste Comte B. School of thought 1. Human behavior is determined and not a matter of free will. Consequently, positivists focus on cause-and-effect relationships 2. Criminals are fundamentally different from non-criminals. Positivists search for such differences by scientific methods.

IV.

3. Social scientists can be objective, or value-neutral, in their work 4. Crime is frequently caused by multiple factors 5. Society is based on consensus but not on social contract. Biological Theories A. Biological inferiority - a criminal’s innate physiological makeup produces certain physical or genetic characteristics that distinguish criminals from non-criminals. B. Criminal Anthropology - study of criminal human beings 1. Lombroso’s theory a) Criminals are, by birth, a distinct type b) That type can be recognized by physical characteristics, or stigmata c) The criminal type is clearly distinguished in a person with more than five stigmata. d) Physical stigmata don’t cause crime they only indicate an individual who is predisposed to crime. They’re an atavist - a person who reverts to a savage type or a result of degeneration e) Because of their personal natures, such persons cannot desist from crime unless they experience very favorable lives C. Body-type Theory D. Hereditary Studies - variety of methods has been employed to test the proposition that criminals are genetically different from non criminals. 1. Family Tree Studies - a family of criminals or not. 2. Statistical Comparisons - Criminology is the same degree of family resemblance as other physical traits 3. Twin Studies - crime is hereditary claims can be tested through twins, 4. Adoption studies E. Modern Biocriminology 1. Limbic system disorders a) Limbic system - a structure surrounding the brain stem that, in part, controls the life functions of heartbeat, breathing, and sleep. It also is believed to moderate expressions of violence; such as emotions as anger, rage, and fear; and sexual response 2. Chemical Dysfunctions - low levels of brain neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. 3. Endocrine Abnormalities - testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen F. Psychological Theories 1. Intelligence and crime - is crime caused by low intelligence levels? 2. Psychoanalytic Theories

V.

a) Psychopaths, sociopaths, or antisocial personalities are characterized by no sense of guilt, no subjective conscience, and no sense of right and wrong. They have difficulty in forming relationships with other people; they cannot empathize with other people. G. Humanistic Psychological Theory 1. Physiological 2. Safery 3. Belongingness & love 4. Esteem 5. Self-actualization Sociological Theories A. Human groups form and social structures arise B. Contributions of Durkheim 1. Crime is social and a normal aspect of society 2. Anomie - for Durkheim, the dissociation of the individual from the collective conscience a) The collective conscience - the general sense of morality of the times 3. Chicago school - a group of sociologists at the University of Chicago who assumed in their research that delinquent behavior was a product of social disorganization 4. Social disorganization a) The condition in which the usual controls over delinquents are largely absent; delinquent behavior is often approved of by parents and neighbors; there are many opportunities for delinquent behavior; and there is little encouragement, training, or opportunity for legitimate employment. 5. Anomie Theory a) For merton, the contradiction between the cultural goal of achieving wealth and the social structure’s inability to provide legitimate institutional means for achieving the goal. 6. Learning Theories a) Imitation or modeling - a means by which a person can learn new responses by observing others without performing any overt act or receiving direct reinforcement or reward b) Differential association - persons who become criminal do so because of contacts with criminal definitions and isolation from anticriminal definitions.

VI.

VII.

c) Learning theory - a theory that explains criminal behavior and its prevention with the concepts of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, extinction, punishment, and modeling, or imitation d) Positive reinforcement - the presentation of a stimulus that increases or maintains a response e) Negative reinforcement - the removal or reduction of a stimulus whose removal or reduction increases or maintains a response. f) Extinction - a process by which behavior that previously was positively reinforced is no longer reinforced g) Punishment - the presentation of an aversive stimulus to reduce a response 7. Social Control Theories - a view in which people are expected to commit crime and delinquency unless they are prevented from doing so. Critical Approaches to Explaining Crime A. Labeling theory - a theory that emphasizes the criminalization process as the cause of some crime B. Criminalization process - the way people and actions are defined as criminal C. Conflict Theory - a theory that assumes that society is based primarily on conflict between competing interest groups and that criminal and that criminal justice system are used to control subordinate groups. Crime is caused by relative powerlessness. 1. Power differentials - the ability of some groups to dominate other groups in a society 2. Relative Powerlessness - the inability to dominate other groups in society D. Radical Theory - theories of crime causation that are generally based on Marxist theory of class struggle 1. Class struggle - the competition among wealthy people and among poor people and between rich people and poor people, which causes crime. Other critical theories A. British or Left Realism - a group of social scientists who argue that critical criminologists need to redirect their attention to the fear and the very real victimization experienced by working class people 1. Relative deprivation - refers to inequalities that are defined by a person as unfair or unjust B. Peacemaking criminology - an approach that suggests that the solutions to all social problems are the transformation of human beings, mutual dependence, reduction of class structures, creation of communities of caring people, and universal social justice

C. Feminist theory - a perspective on criminality that focuses on women’s experiences and seeks to abolish men’s control over women’s labor and sexuality 1. Patriarchy - men’s control over women’s labor and sexuality D. Postmodernism - an area of critical thought that among other things attempts to understand the creation of knowledge and language create hierarchy and domination.

Assignment - in your opinion, which of the theories covered in the book best addresses why people commit crimes? Why? Explain theory - what it is and who pioneered it Why do you think it makes the most sense/does the best job in explaining crime? 2-5 pages APA Double spaced 12 pt font Times New Roman Credible sources only Upload doc to sakai Ch3 Lecture Explaining Crime I. Criminology is the study of crime. The scientific study or crime. Why people commit crime. A. Theory - an explanation or set of predictions of why the world works the way it does 1. Approach to theory - paradigm. Distinctive approach to theory a) Classical school b) Positivism c) conflict/critical d) Integrated B. Micro level and Macro level crime - individuals and society C. Basic assumption about human nature - good, bad, tabla rasa D. Good theories 1. Parsimony - simplicity 2. Scope 3. Logical consistency 4. Testability 5. Empirical validity 6. Policy implications E. Assumptions 1. Crime is a part of human nature

II.

III.

IV.

V.

2. Crime is based on biological, psychological, sociological, and economic factors or some combination F. Criminological Theory 1. Most of what is done in criminal justice is based on criminological theory 2. Failure to understand these criminological theories leads to problems. Early Theories A. Something wrong with you inside if you’re committing crimes B. Early crime and punishment 1. Methods for dealing with those accused of committing crimes a) Trial by battle b) Trial by ordeal c) Compurgation 2. Demonic perspective - devil made me do it and result of supernatural forces Classical theory A. One of the earliest secular approaches to explain the causes of crime was classical theory B. Based on the assumption that people exercise free will and are thus completely responsible for their actions C. Enlightenment 1. Social contract - people invest in the laws of their society with the guarantee that they will be protected from rule violators. D. Cesare Beccaria 1. Italian philosopher 2. Wrote “On Crimes and Punishments”. Father of the classical school and deterrence theory. a) To prevent must crime it must be deterred by saying the punishment outweighs the feeling.. Cost-benefit ratio (1) Punishment must be known, swift, severe, certain 3. First modern theory of crime Neoclassical theories A. Modification of traditional classical theory 1. Crime caused by free will B. Could be inhibited by insanity, society, etc. Positivists A. Darwin - biological sciences challenged classical thought. B. Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) - Father of criminology and positivism

VI.

1. Italian physician who believed criminality is inherited a) Primitive and savage b) Figure out if criminal by measuring them and finding abnormal traits. (1) Men needed 5 abnormal traits to be criminal (2) Women needed 3 abnormal traits to be criminal (3) Getting rid of the uglier people in society c) Four categories of criminals (1) Born criminals (2) Insane criminals (3) Occasional criminals (4) Criminals of Passion 2. Body type theory - criminal anthropology a) Endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph, balanced type b) Delinquents had the mesomorph (athletic build) Psychological Causes of Crime A. Intelligence and crime 1. Intelligence crime link… low intelligence is linked to crime a) Study showed no correlation between intelligence and crime 2. Characteristics of the psychopath - A Psychological diagnosis a) Superficial charm and good intelligence b) Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking c) Absence of nervousness d) Unreliability e) Untruthfulness f) Lack of remorse g) Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior h) Poor judgment and failure to learn by experience i) Don’t know between right and wrong j) Incapacity for love k) Failure to follow life plan B. Psychoanalytical theories 1. Freud a) Id - basic drives due to pleasure b) Ego - demands of society c) Super-Ego - socialization and told what is right and wrong d) Not on a conscious level but it is subconscious

VII.

2. If committing crimes, it is due to something deep -seated thing in your life that is unresolved. 3. Problems a) Reviewing criminals as being sick (1) Research says criminals aren’t any more disturbed than anyone else b) Ignore environmental and social factors going on c) Untestable to see what is going on in subconscious C. Humanistic psychological theory 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs a) Motivated by the needs in the pyramids. Crime is committed in order to obtain the levels of the pyramid. b) Crime is feeling helpless in obtaining these needs of the pyramid. 2. Problems a) Don’t ask why people can’t fet the needs and why can’t society ensure the needs are met Sociological Theories A. Crime isn’t just about individual - people are acted upon by society and that influences crime. 1. Humans as social creatures 2. Social groups and structure 3. Role of Social environment B. Durkheim - father of sociology and modern criminology 1. Social fact - crime is a part of society 2. Anomie - helplessness and loneliness. No collective morality. Normlessness. 3. Crime is functional. If we didn’t have crime we wouldn’t know social norms C. Chicago school 1. Crime is a social product 2. Cities criminogenic forces 3. Social disorganization 4. Cities grow out and competition shows how people are distributed. Wealth determines where you live. a) Zone 1 - central business (white collar) b) * 2 - transition (projects) * (1) Deteriorating homes (2) Everyone in and out

(3) Everything run down (4) Breaks down the ties in a community (5) Delinquency flourished despite race (6) Adults do it so bored kids do too c) 3 - workingmen’s homes (blue collar) d) 4 - residential zone (suburb) e) Commuter’s zone (white collar) D. Strain theories of crime 1. Crime may be a “normal” response 2. Pressure from societal forces 3. Anomie - macro-level focus a) Some societies have higher rates of crime b) Merton (1938) c) Hopeless and alienated d) U.S. has goal of monetary of monetary success and weak emphasis on education and hard work. e) Goal seeking is less regulated f) Cultural and social structures to blame 4. Strain theories - micro-level focus a) Some individuals commit more crimes b) Individual level response to goal seeking (1) Blockage to cultural success (a) Conform - accept goal and means (b) Innovation - accept goal reject means (i) Rule benders (c) Ritualism - don’t want the goal but accept the means (d) Retreatism - reject the goals and the means.. Don’t want anything to do with society (i) Drug addicts and alcoholics (e) Rebellion - rejecting goals and means by substituting their own. Redefining things. 5. Classic Strain - Agnew’s GST a) People can act poorly for a variety of reasons.. Both objective and subjective (1) These stressors cause the strains and cause crime (2) Some people cope through crime (3) Strain results from negative interaction with others

VIII.

IX.

(a) Prevent achievement of positively valued goals (b) Remove the achievement of positively valued goals (c) Present negatively valued stimuli b) Crime likely to happen when stressors are high in magnitude, unjust, associated with low social control, create some pressure of incentive for criminal coping. Learning to be Criminal A. People learn to engage in criminal behavior B. Both micro- and macro- level learning theories. 1. Sutherland - differential association - micro-level learning theorist a) Criminal behavior learned not inherited. b) Learned by verbal or nonverbal communication c) Learning occurs in personal and intimate groups d) Not just how but why 2. Anderson - Code of the Street (macrolevel) a) Code pressures african american youth in the inner city to respond to shows of disrespect with violence. (1) Many poor inner city areas have a violence problem (2) Street culture has developed into the code of the street (a) Street orientation - fully embraced norms of the street and consciously opposed to mainstream values (middle class) (b) Decent orientation - middle class values that are law abiding and polite. C. Assumes Tabla-rasa (blank slate) 1. Frequency, duration, intensity, purpose Control Theories A. Instead of asking, “Why do they do it?” control criminologists ask “why don’t they do it?” 1. Basic assumptions of human nature are that people are naturally deviant. If left to our own devices, we’d commit crimes because we seek gratification. B. Social Bond Theory 1. Control coming from how bonded somebody is to society and that influences if they break the law 2. Affecting the bond

X.

a) Attachment b) Commitment c) Involvement d) Belief C. A general theory of crime: Gottfredson and Hirschi 1. Argue crime is rooted in individual differences a) Differences in self-control (1) Elements of low self-control - impulsivity, no consequences, active, pursue non-criminal gratification as well. (2) Instilling self-control in children by (a) Attachment of the parent to the child (b) Parental supervision (c) Recognition of deviant acts (d) Punishment of deviant acts 2. Embrace the view that criminal behavior is gratifying Critical Theories A. Labeling theory 1. Person’s identity is shaped by the messages other people deliver a) Internalize messages about themselves b) Delinquents vs criminals (1) Don’t want kids to internalize it and do more crime in their adult lives c) Ban the box B. Critical Criminology - rooted in ideas of inequality 1. Crime is political because what is and is not outlawed reflects who is in power and who has the money. 2. Criminal justice system serves the goals and purposes to meet those in power. Wealthy get off 3. Notes that capitalism enriches some and impoverishes many. a) Uneven distribution of wealth causes the system to just support the top 1% b) Capitalism is the root cause of criminal behavior c) Fosters crime by stunting helpful development. C. Radical theory 1. Define crime as a violation of human rights a) Racism, sexism, imperialism 2. Problems a) Can’t test it - philosophical

D. Peacemaking criminology 1. Rejects the idea that criminal violence can be reduced by state violence a) No punishment b) Reduce suffering overall for everyone will reduce crime. c) Get rid of crime by making human beings naturally peaceful and mutually dependent on one another and belief in social justice. E. Feminist Criminology 1. Criminology focuses a lot on men with tests only being done on men 2. Disproportionately men do more crimes, but why? 3. 1970s changed that due to more women entering college and becoming criminologists themselves. 4. How can female crime be explained 5. How can the gender gap in crime, and changes in the gender gap over time be explained? 6. How does gender intersect with race and class 7. Liberal feminism a) 1st wave - prominence of sex role socialization (1) How we teach girls to be girls and boys to be boys (2) Equality of opportunities 8. Critical or radical approach feminism a) Structural inequality over the gender roles causes crime b) Directs most of the feminist criminology theory c) Patriarchy at center of analysis - power differential...