Week 2A: Criminology and Crime Analysis

Week 2A: Criminology and the Study of Crime

• Criminology explores different analytical levels for understanding crime and the influence of political perspectives on these analyses.
• Criminology offers context to various perspectives on crime.

Introduction

• The purpose of the lecture is to explore different levels of analysis for understanding crime and how political viewpoints affect criminological study.
• The lecture aims to provide background on criminology's origins.
• The lecture discusses various criminological perspectives.

Talking about Crime

• Discussions about crime have spanned centuries.
• Aristotle (384-322 BCE) noted that poverty fosters crime.
• Cesare Beccaria (1764) argued that swift punishment for criminal acts is just and effective.
• Karl Marx (1863) observed that the criminal justice system's apparatus is intricately linked to the production systems.
• At the time these statements were made, "criminology" as a distinct field did not exist.

Academic Criminology

• Academic criminology emerged in the 19th century.
• Italy (1870s) saw the rise of criminal anthropology (Lombroso, Ferri, Garofalo).
• Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri, and Raffaele Garofalo were key figures in the study of criminal anthropology.
• The United States (1920s) witnessed the development of Chicago School criminology.
• The UK (1950s) saw the establishment of the first British Journal of Criminology.
• Australia (1950s) and Canada (1951) also established their respective academic criminological departments and journals.

Criminology as a Field of Study

• Criminology primarily focuses on three main areas:
  • Sociology of Law (Socio-Legal Studies) examining societal factors and criminal laws.
  • Crime Causation (Criminogenesis) exploring the causes of criminal behaviour.
  • Social Responses to Crime analyzing responses to crime by formal criminal justice systems (i.e police, courts, and corrections).
• All these areas view crime from diverse perspectives and viewpoints.

What is Crime? How is it Defined?

• Defining crime involves various perspectives:
  • Formal Legal Definition: Crime is what is defined as such by law.
  • Social Harm Conception: Crime involves actions (or inactions) that cause social harm.
  • Cross-Cultural Universal Norms: Certain crimes are recognized universally despite cultural differences.
  • However, crime's meaning can differ across cultures.

Defining Crime, cont'd

• Labeling Approach: Crime only exists when society labels an activity as such.
• Human Rights Approach: Regardless of legality, crime is a violation of human rights.
• Human Diversity Approach: Crime/deviance can be a response to oppression or inequality.

Historical Construction of Crime

• Criminal behavior's definition changes over time.
• Being unemployed and homeless was considered criminal in 16th-century England.
• Witchcraft was a crime in 17th-century Europe.
• Prior to 1929, women's status under Canadian law made rape a property crime.
• Laws are not neutral, rather the marginalization of groups impacts who is targeted disproportionately.

Popular Media Images of Crime

• Media significantly influences how people perceive crime.
• Media coverage of crime tends to be uneven, with "street crime" and "violent crime" often receiving more attention than other forms such as environmental or white-collar crime.
• Often, crime is inaccurately depicted as worsening, or portrayed as a greater threat to society than it actually is
• Crime responses might be perceived as too lenient as a result

Political Orientations, Interpretations of Crime

• Criminological perspectives include:
  • Conservative: uphold the law, dissenters need to conform.
  • Liberal: address social inequality to reduce crime.
  • Radical: societies are divided and structural change is necessary to deal with inequality.

Criminological Perspectives

• Three broad levels of criminological explanation (theoretical schools of thought):
  • Individual: Focuses on individual characteristics and choices
  • Situational/Structural: Focuses on immediate circumstances affecting criminal behavior
  • Social: examines broad social relationships and societal institutions contributing to crime.

Role of Criminologists

• Criminological narratives in Canada aren't always balanced by empirical facts, but prone to being swayed by political ideology.
• Any claims about crime should be supported by facts.
• How crime is defined and measured affects the understanding of the criminal process.

Conclusion

• Value-free criminology does not exist
• Individual biases influence criminological perspectives
• Political/ideological approaches influencing the ways crime is understood, viewed and defined.

Mini Essay Prompt

• Watch the provided video.
• Evaluate whether the response to crime in the USA exhibits a conservative, liberal, or radical perspective. (Question from the video)