Criminal Sociology Notes 5 PDF

Title Criminal Sociology Notes 5
Course Criminology
Institution University of Luzon
Pages 6
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Summary

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGYPSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION1) EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS THEORIESThe emotional problem theories look at the offender as having the same psychological make-up as that of a non-offender. There is no disease or psychological disorder present in the offender. But t...


Description

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN CRIMINOLOGY PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION 1) EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS THEORIES The emotional problem theories look at the offender as having the same psychological make-up as that of a non-offender. There is no disease or psychological disorder present in the offender. But the offender does not cope well with his environment and this creates frustration that results in crime. The emotional problem theories assume that the lawbreaker does not have a great mental sickness that causes him to commit crimes but rather, he commits crime because of everyday emotional problems that made him unable to cope. As a result, the offender acts out criminally. 2)

MENTAL DISORDER THEORIES There are two general types of mental disorders. First, the organic disorder, where the physiological cause can be identified, such as head injuries that left the mind blank, senility, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Organic disorders refer to the brain’s disorder or sickness. Second is the functional disorder, which is characterized by strange behavior that cannot be traced to any known organic disease. Examples of functional disorders are those people with no apparent brain sickness who hear voices that other do not hear, or who see things that others do not see. TYPE OF MENTAL DISORDERS 1) NEUROSES a common type of mental disorder used to explain criminal behavior also referred to as hysteria or neurasthenia some of the more common neuroses are: a) ANXIETY – also known as anxiety state or anxiety reaction; characterized by the person feeling anxious, fearful anticipation or apprehension; the person may be irritable, have poor concentration and over reacts to things that are annoying b) OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR – people who suffer from this have unwanted, intrusive and repetitive thoughts or behaviors OBSESSION – a repetitive and irresistible thoughts or urge COMPULSION – a repetitive behavior that is thought to produce or prevent something that is thought to be magically connected to the behavior c) PHOBIA – excessive and unexplainable fear of something; generally exaggerated fear of things that normal people do not fear with the same degree d) DEPRESSION – extreme feeling of low morale, sadness, loneliness, self-pity, despair, rejection, boredom and pessimism; a person is said to be depressed if these feelings become pervasive and can already affect all aspects of a person’s life e) IMPULSE DISORDER – an excessive or unreasonable desire to do or have something; an irrational or irresistible motive; examples of this are kleptomania, pyromania, dipsomania and others

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PSYCHOSES a more serious type of mental disorder, which can be organic or functional psychotic people lose contact with reality and have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy the most common type of psychosis are the following: a) SCHIZOPRENIA – also called dementia praecox; characterized by distortions or withdrawal from reality, disturbances of thoughts and language and withdrawal from social contact. PARANOIA - gradual impairment of the intellect, characterized by delusions or hallucination.

DELUSION – false belief HALLUCINATION – false perception DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR – a false belief that you are greater than everybody else DELUSIONS OF PERSECUTION – a false belief that other people are conspiring to kill, harm or embarrass you Albert Adler (1870- 1937) = founder of individual psychology and coined the term “inferiority complex” people who have feelings of inferiority and compensate for them with a drive for superiority. Erik Erikson (1902-1984) = described the so called “identity crisis”----a psychological state in which youth face inner turmoil and uncertainty about life roles. August Aichorn = he concluded that societal stress, though damaging, could not alone result in a life of crime unless a predisposition existed that psychologically prepared youths for antisocial acts. He called this mental state –the latent delinquency, found on youths whose personality requires acting in the following ways: (1) seek immediate gratification, (2) consider satisfying their personal needs more important than relating to others, and (3) satisfying instinctive urges without considering right and wrong (they lack guilt). Isaac Ray = an acknowledged American psychiatrist who popularized the concept of “moral insanity” in his book, “A treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity”. C)

SOCIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM Sociological factors refers to things, places and people with whom we come in contact with and which play a part in determining our actions and conduct. These causes may bring about the development of criminal behavior 1) EMILE DURKHEIM one of the founding scholars of sociology published a book, “Division of Social Labor”, which became a landmark work on the organization of societies according to him: a) Crime is as normal a part of society as birth and death b) Crime is part of human nature because it has existed during periods of both poverty and prosperity c) As long as human differences exists, which is one of the fundamental conditions of society, it is but natural and expected that it will result to criminality One of his profound contributions to contemporary criminology is the concept of anomie, the breakdown of social order as a result of loss of standards and values

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2) GABRIEL TARDE (1843-1904) – forerunner of modern day learning theorists. introduced the Theory of Imitation, which governs the process by which people become criminals The Theory of Imitation is explained by the following patterns: a) Pattern 1: individuals imitate others in proportion to the intensity and frequency of their contact b) Pattern 2: inferiors imitate superiors c) Pattern 3: when two behavior patterns clash, one may take the place of the other 3) ADOLPHE QUETELET He repudiated the free will doctrine of the classicists He founded what is known as the CARTHOGRAPHIC SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY, together with ANDRE MICHAEL GUERRY This study used social statistical data and provided important demographic information on the population, including density, gender, religious affiliations and social economic status He found a strong influence of age, sex, climate condition, population composition and economic status in criminality 4) ENRICO FERRI a member of the Italian parliament he believed that criminals could not be held morally responsible because they did not choose to commit crimes but was driven to commit them by conditions of their lives SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS AND CRIME CAUSATIONS The study of sociology provides many ideas and opinions that help in understanding why a person becomes a criminal. SOCIAL NORMS Also called rules of conduct shared standard of behavior which in turn require certain expectations of behavior in a given situation Socially accepted and expected behavior or conduct in society set of rules that govern an individuals behavior and actions SOCIALIZATION refers to the learning process by which a person learns and internalizes the ways of society so that he can function and become an active part of society. CULTURE - refers to the system of values and meanings shared by a group of individuals including the embodiment of those values and meanings in a material object - refers to the way of life, modes of thinking, acting and feeling - it is a design of living that is transmitted from one generation to the next MODERN EXPLANATIONS OF CRIMES AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

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A) SOCIAL STRUCTURE THEORY= views that disadvantage economic class position is a primary cause of crime. 1) SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY focuses on the conditions within the urban environment that affect crime rates Links crime rate to neighborhood ecological characteristics Views crime-ridden neighborhoods as those in which residents are uninterested in community matters; therefore, the common sources of control – family, school, church, and barangay authorities – are weak and disorganized Also called differential social organization Shaw and Mckay =works on social ecology (environmental forces that have a direct influence on human behavior) as influence by urban sociologist Robert Ezra Park and Ernest Burgess was focused on social institutions such as school and the family and how their breakdown influences deviant and anti-social behavior. He popularized social disorganization theory. 2) STRAIN THEORY holds that crime is a function of the conflict between the goals people have and the means they can use to legally obtain them argues that the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent: members of the lower class are unable to achieve these goals which come easily to those belonging to the upper class Consequently, they feel anger, frustration and resentment, referred to as STRAIN The commission of crimes with the aim of achieving these goals results from this conflict 3) CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY combines the elements of both strain and disorganization theories theorizes that in order to cope with social isolation and economic deprivation, members of the lower class create an independent subculture with its own set of rules and values Cultural transmission = the concept that conduct norms are passed down from one generation to the next so that they become stable within the boundaries of a culture. B) SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES Social process theory = views that criminality is a function of people’s interaction with various organization, institutions, and process in society. 1) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY believes that crime is a product of learning the norms, values and behaviors associated with criminal activity a) DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY formulated by Edwin Sutherland believes that criminality is a function of a learning process that could affect any individual in any culture His theory is outlined as follows: i. criminal behavior is learned; ii. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication;

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the principal part of learning of criminal behavior occurs within an intimate personal group; iv. when criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes techniques in committing the crimes which are sometimes very simple, the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalization and attitudes; v. the process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT THEORY according to this theory, people strike a balance between being “all-deviant” and “all-conforming” Behavior persists depending on the degree to which it was rewarded or punished

2) SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY maintains that all people have the potential to violate the law and that modern society presents many opportunities for illegal activities argues that people obey the law because behavior and passions are being controlled by internal and external forces SOCIAL BOND THEORY (ALSO CALLED SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY) Social bond = ties a person has to the institutions and process of society. According to Hirschi, elements of the social bond include commitment, attachment, involvement, and belief. Containment theory = according to Walter Reckless, it is the idea that strong self-image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of criminogenic influences in the environment. 3) SOCIAL REACTION THEORY Also called LABELING THEORY holds that people enter into law-violating careers when they are labeled for their acts and organize their personalities around the labels. Negative labels have dramatic influence on the self-image of offenders.

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