Criminology - notes PDF

Title Criminology - notes
Author Ria-Olivia Rhose
Course Introduction to Criminology
Institution University of Greenwich
Pages 12
File Size 753.9 KB
File Type PDF
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David Garland argued that criminology today is made from two separate streams of work. The 'governmental project' Empirical studies of the administration of justice, the working of prisons, police and the measure ment of crime. The 'lombrosian project Studies which sought to examine the characteristics of 'criminals' and 'non criminals' with a view to being able to distinguish the groups, thereby developing an understanding of the causes of crime. Garland suggest that those two ideas merged and as a result the basis ofcriminology was changed. The term criminology was first used by Paul topinard, a french man studying the body types of criminals. The invention of the term itself is credited to an Italian academic lawyer, Rafael garofalo Criminology is influenced by and draws upon psychology, sociology, legal theory, history and other subjects. Edwin Sutherland defined criminology as the study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws and society reaction to the breaking of laws. Three great tributaries that make up the subject The study of crime The study of those who commit crime The study of the criminal justice and penal systems Thorsten sellin, American criminologist 1930's Criminologist does not exist who is not an expert in all the disciplines which converge in the study of crime David downed, criminology is a rendz-vous subject Garland. Modern criminology is the product of 2 initially separate streams of work The government project Empirical studies of the administration of justiceworkings of prisons, police and measurements of crime The lombrosian project Studies examine-characteristics of criminals' and non- criminals' View to being able to distinguish groups to develop an understanding of crime causes

C t First used by Paul topinard Credited to Rafael garofalo Criminology v Criminal justice Lacey (2002,265 ) Criminology concerns itself with social and individual antecedents of crime and with the nature of crime as a social phenomenon Criminal justice system. Deals with the specifically institutional aspects of the social construction of crime Chronology of criminology Seem to have commenced in 10th century-age of enlightenment. Questioning of religion and spiritual explanations of crime and for human behaviour. Birth of scientific and rational approach. Age of reason and rationalism. Science replacing god Free will challenging the feudal system. Human behaviour we all have moral agency Must look at deterring someone from crime: Bentham: pleasure v pain. Pleasure shouldn't outweigh pain. Happiness calculus. 19century: positivism in early stages: Italian theories- look to external causes of criminal behaviour Emile Durkheim- looks to social theory. Social causes of crimes. E.g. religion. Studied countries- collective conscious. Origins of criminology in psychotics. Crime as a social construct Insight into the socially constructed nature of crime by looking at how our treatment of certain behaviours have changed over time

Henry " established the basis of a system of criminal justices including a trial and jury system through the assize of Clarendon in 1166. The assize of arms required all men over 15 to retain arms in their house for preserving the peace. A duty also existed. An example being that if it was discovered that their had been a their, every man was expected to join the search for the culprit. In 1722, the general preventative plan was issued. Magistrates and gaolers were encouraged to supply information To bow Street and fielding received the money from the government to publicise such activities and to post this information in the press. Various initiatives in more formalised policing emerged in the 18th century. Among the most famous are the bow Street runners associated with the feelings and the establishment of a river police on the themes at Wapping by Patrick Colquhoun in 1798. The most famous date in British policing is 1829. This was the year that Sir Robert Peel eventually introduced the new police after several unsuccessful attempts. The tenant: I'll Charles Rowan and the architects of the new force insured through various means that there was a clear symbolic Distinction between the police and the army.The police officers also appeared unarmed.

The municipal CorporationS Act became known as borough police and subsequent County police act of 1839 and 1840 provided for essentially voluntary introduction of Rural forces. In 1856 the county and borough police act made the introduction of police forces compulsory. In 18 5932 counties and 57 boroughs maintained separate police forces. The Desborough Committee was established in 1919 to consider changes to the recruitment of police officers and to the terms and conditions of employment. In 1948 the Oakley committee was established. In 1960 we saw the establishment of a royal commission. In 1879, a public prosecutor was created.

Criminal cases in the 18th century were mainly private session prosecutions. Cases didn't involve professional representation by lawyers and could be held in settings as varied as private rooms or the local inn. It wasn't until the late 19 century that state prosecutors or the role of barrister came into being and early 20th century the basis of the modern court system had been largely established.

Area of punishment has seen some of the greatest contrast between then and now. t Capital punishment remain relatively common well into the 19th century. The bloody code refers to the large number of statutes pastor in the 18th century which contain the penalty of death. One of the reasons for the decline in faith in the efficacy of public executions was the increasing sense that far from providing a spectacle likely to determine the public from crime, such events were becoming more like carnivals at which entertainment was to be had. 1759 saw the removal of the gallows at Tyburn. 1783 saw public progression from new gate to Tyburn ceased

As with the death-penalty, transportation declined during a similar period. 1680s saw the transportation of prisoners to the West Indies. 1718 saw the transportation of prisoners becoming a formalised practice. 1779 the penitentiary act attempted to stimulate prison building on successfully. 1787 Australia became the new destination to transport convicts. Decline of transportation popularity was for a number of reasons 1. Public opinion slowly turned against the practice 2. Doubts as to effectiveness of the practice increased 3.The colonies themselves began to resent and resist the practice

Penitentiary act in the late 1770s had failed and transportation was formally abolished in 1868.Public executions ended in 1868. The penal servitude out of 1865 restricted the use of a mission with the intention that the general level of severity should be increased once more

Patient has its origins in the Victorian temperance movement and what was then known as police court missionaries.The second half of the 19th century saw the magistrates court becoming recognisable in Courts of Justice. There was a dramatic rise in concern about drunkenness and in the numbers convicted of and imprisoned for drunkenness and for disorderly behaviour.

Official statistics suggest that violent crime has declined Quite substantially in the second half of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. Crimes such as murder and a sword seem to be more faithfully reported than other less serious crimes. The period ending up to and including the Victorian error was one of increasing orderliness and stability. The second half of the 19th century saw some rapid advances in both the spread and legitimacy of the police and the emergence of social concerns about crime and order, in many respects, parallel contemporary preoccupations.

There are two main methods used for measuring and tracking trends in crime 1. Data collected routinely by law-enforcement agencies and concerns crimes reported by the public or otherwise coming to the attention of the authorities. Such data are referred to as recorded crime statistics 2. Survey methods to elicit information from a representative sample of the population about the experience of crime primarily victims over the previous 12 months

The first National crime statistics were published in France in 1827. The main publications historically have been criminal statistics England and Wales Sentencing statistics Prison statistics and the probation statistics Judicial statistics were essentially sentence in statistics first emerge in 1856. The first criminal statistics drawn from data collected by the police and the courts were published in 1876.

Approximately 100 different notifiable offences are recorded in the official statistics. These are than grouped into nine main categories of crime. Theft and handling stolen goods includes theft of and from motor vehicles and accounts for a large number of offences and indeed no doubt for a sizeable element in the growth in crime since the 1960s. Burglary this is now generally subdivided into domestic burglary and other burglary Criminal Damage separate statistics are available for criminal damage to a dwelling, to a building other than a dwelling and to a vehicle. Violence to a person this is a broad category that ranges from murders through affray to reckless driving Sexual offences another broad category covering rape bigamy and incest. The majority of recorded offences in this category are indecent assault. Robbery a theft in which force or threat of force is used, here again, and the station can be drawn between robbery of personal property and business property. Fraud and forgery Drug offences Other offences

Legislation can affect crime in a number of very important ways New legislation creates new offences (successive race relations act (1965, 1976) created new offences such as racial discrimination and racial harassment) Legislation may also be repealed before matters that ones would have been seen as crimes will no longer be considered criminal and such offences will no longer appear in the official statistics.

There are a number of stages in the process by which particular acts are defined as crimes . Crimes must be known. There are a number of ways crime and may not be known The victim may simply be unaware of the offence There may be no victim. Example (purchasing drugs) The next point at which cases drop out of the system is when crimes are reportedTo the police

In the cases where the victim is aware that there has been an offence only a proportion will be reported to the police. Rates of reporting very markedly by offence with some more likely to be reported than others. The victim considers it to trivial The victim feels the police will not be able to do anything about it They may feel the police will not be interested, they may feel the police won't believe them, they may feel the police are simply too busy. The matter is too embarrassing or is compromising in some other way. The victim is too scared to report it. The victim would prefer to deal with the matter in another way. Reporting an offence is not a guarantee that it will be recorded. Reasons for this include The police may not accept the account given to them The police may find insufficient evidence to confirm that an offence had taken place. The victim refuse to press charges. The police may judge that the matter reported to them has already been satisfactorily dealt with or resolved. There are a number of conditions which may allow a crime to be defined as having been cleared up Someone has been charged or summonsed Someone has been cautioned The offence has been taken into consideration at court There is sufficient evidence to prosecute someone but no prosecution is proceeding The victim is on willing to give evidence Offender is below the age of criminal responsibility The offender is already in prison for another offense

The numbers of particular crimes, and the overall level of crime, reported in criminal statistics can be profoundly affected by changes in Decisions about which offense to include Changes in the counting rules Changes in public attitudes towards the reporting of particular offences Changes in police practices towards particular offences

The main objective of victimisation surveys is to seek to interview a representative sample of a particular population and to ask them a series of questions about the experience of victimisation usually over the past year The first victimisation survey in the UK was included in the 1972 general household survey. The first major victimisation survey was also carried out in the early 1970s by Richard Sparks and colleagues.

Sparks and colleagues in the late 1970s identified eight reasons why victimisation surveys might provide useful data 1. The ability of victimisation survey is to provide a relatively accurate measure of primary it's enables them to be used as a social barometer 2. Such surveys can be used to assess public attitudes towards reporting and therefore toward crime and policing 3. They can be used to estimate the size of the gap between reported and unreported crime. 4. They can be used to assess crime prevention effects of particular initiatives. 5. They can provide more information about the nature of crime victims. 6. They can be used to help assess the voracity of particular Criminological theories 7. They can be used to help measure fear of crime and other responses to crime and victimisation

8. Such surveys can help direct our attention to the experiences of victims Experiences that my otherwise be ignored.

Hope (2005) identifiers seven factors that may affect wet respondents say to crime survey interviewers Knowledge of incident only one person in the household is interviewed and they will have limited knowledge of other household members experiences. Not telling, as discussed earlier there may be various reasons why respondents don't or can't report everything that might be of relevance to the survey. Memory decay, respondents may simply forget things that have happened to them Telescoping, certain events especially if serious, may feel as if the occurred more recently than was actually the case (and thus be reported in the wrong year)

Education, the extent of education of the respondent may affect their ability to deal with the questions and willingness to deal with the interviewer Multiple and serial incidents, victimisation surveys divide experiences into discrete events even when they may not be experienced in quite this way. Interview conditions, who the interviewer was, the time of day, which day the interview occurs, and whether the interview uses computer aided questioning are just some of the conditions that may affect the outcome of the interview

Capture incidents not reported to the police Capture incidents reported, but not recorded by the police Rest on victims understanding of an event rather than say a police officers interpretation of what has occurred

There is a range of crime is not effectively captured by such surveys Victimless crimes such as drugs sale and use Hidden crimes such as domestic violence Service often don't include those that are in institutions such as prisons hospitals care homes student halls of residence et cetera Sylvester There may be other sampling problems Focus on crimes as individual events and therefore generally fail to capture either multiple victimisation Certain types of offences such as racial harassment, domestic violence and child abuse may be difficult to understand as a set of discrete events, when in practice they may be experienced as an ongoing almost ceaseless set of events. Some less serious, some more, but combining and merging over time. These series Incidents are argued by some critics to be poorly captured in victimisation surveys.

Intellectual property violations 3. Cyber pornography Breaching laws on obscenity and indecency 4. Cyber violence doing psychological harm to or inciting physical harm against others, there by breaching laws relating to the protection of the person.

The policing of cybercrime is now the responsibility of the National crime agency (nca). The NSA houses what is called the National cyber crime unit and has specialist investigation teams and seeks to tackle cyber crime by Providing a powerful and highly visible investigative response to the most serious incidents of cyber crime. Pursuing cyber criminals at a national and international level. Working pro actively to target...


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