criminology chris's notes.docx

Criminology Theories in order ----------------- We need to know what each theory entails and what primary theory each sub theory is part of. **Lecture 3:** - Rational choice theory - Trait theory - Biological traits - Psychological traits **Lecture 4:** - Social structure...

Criminology Theories in order ----------------- We need to know what each theory entails and what primary theory each sub theory is part of. **Lecture 3:** - Rational choice theory - Trait theory - Biological traits - Psychological traits **Lecture 4:** - Social structure theory - Social disorganisation theory - Broken windows theory - Strain theory - Anomie theory - Institutional anomie theory - Relative deprivation theory - General strain theory - Institutional Anomie theory - Cultural deviance theory **Lecture 5:** - Social process theory - Social learning theory - Differential association theory - Social control theory - Labelling theory **Lecture 6:** - Social conflict and critical criminology - Marxism and conflict theory - Critical feminist theory - Green criminology - Developmental theories - Life course theory - Latent trait theory 01-05 What is crime? -------------------- There are different views of concept of crime. Some behaviours are criminal and obviously bad. However, there can also be behaviours that can be considered bad but aren't criminal or are criminal but not considered bad. **Deviance** is behaviour that deviates from societal norms and values. A **deviant** act becomes a **crime** when it is deemed socially harmful or dangerous. This is because it (will be) (is) defined, prohibited, and punished under criminal law. **There are different views of crime** Weed in the Netherlands, Abortion in the US. It changes over time and places. **Concepts of crime:** **Consensus view:** Crime is behaviour all elements of society deem unacceptable. It is the belief that most citizens in society share common values and agree on what behaviours should be criminal. **Conflict view:** Crime is defined by people in power to protect and advance their own self-interest. *The elite decide what crime is.* **Interactionist view:** Those with social power can impose their values on society as a whole, and these values define criminal behaviour. *The people, society, decides what crime is.* ***Common law:** adversarial, commonwealth and such.* **Contemporary criminal law:** This is law pertaining to criminal events. What is crime? How do we address crime? What do we do when someone commits a crime? And general statues and rules looking at criminal behaviour. **Life of crime:** Crime has a linear trajectory. *Crime \> Crime scene \> Crime reporting \> Crime investigation \> Court process \> Sentencing \> Justice.* The purpose of the criminal justice is to get every crime to the justice phase. This however does not happen. Crimes can fall off at different levels for different reasons. **Criminology** is an interdisciplinary science, meaning that criminology borrows a lot of the science stuff from other disciplines. What do you use with criminology? Criminal statistics, Law and society, Penology, Theory construction *(explaining the causes of crime)*, Criminal behaviour systems, and Victimology. 08-05 How much do we know about crime? -------------------------------------- **Accuracy of crime data.** Crime data is not always accurate, this is because of many outside influences. One of the biggest reasons is that crime does not always get reported. There are other reasons: coverage, what officially counts as crime, recording rates, reporting rates, and, at-risk populations. There are 3 key demographics in crime Race, gender, and age. **There are different reasons for not *reporting* crime:** 1. **Individual-level factors** Loyalty to someone known to the victim, feelings of shame, fear of retaliation, belief about own culpability, demographic vulnerability. 2. **Police or CJS-level factors** Beliefs about police treatment of victims, expectations of ill treatment, lack of confidence about being believed, fear of court proceedings, expectation of a not guilty verdict. 3. **Societal-level factors** Rape myths, rape culture. **There are different reasons for not *recording* crime:** Victims are not believed, lack of evidence, poor management of crime recording, institutional bias (police culture), workload pressure, political influences. **Dark figure of crime** The dark figure of crime is the amount of unreported, or unrecorded crime. **Attrition rate** Attrition rate is the number of offences that do not reach a specific stage of the criminal justice system. *A higher attrition rate means less people are convicted.* There are specific reasons for attrition. Insufficient evidence, legal or procedural challenges, victim participation, resource constraints, plea bargaining. There are 2 methods of collecting data: **Quantitative** This is mostly statistics. Quantifiable information, using a large sample size. Very general information. **Qualitative** This is deeper information. Using a small sample size for non-generalised information. 15-05 What causes crime (part I) -------------------------------- **Rational choice theory** Law violating behaviour is the product of careful thought and planning. For crime there are 2 factors, **personal factors** and **situational factors**. **Personal factors:** Money, revenge, thrills, entertainment. **Situational factors:** Target availability, security measures, police presence. There are different ways of preventing crime. The main categories are, increasing effort, increasing risks, reducing rewards, reducing provocations, and removing excuses. **Trait theories** **Freud's: Id, ego, superego** - **Id,** (instincts) when we are born, we are driven by basic instinct. This is why babies put everything in their mouth, they eat. This is id, your most basic human drives. There are 2 drives - Gives pleasure -- we want. - Gives death -- we don't want. - **Ego**, (reality) as you develop you gain an ego. This is when you put an effort in to balance with the demands of society. This is when you ask the question why? - **Superego**, (morality) this is the answer to the question why. Operation within the culture of the individual. There is €50, - on the ground. - Id, take it - Ego, look around and take it. - Superego, look around and ask if it is someone's. **There are 5 types of punishments** **Retribution**, the wrongdoers need to receive a deserved punishment. **Deterrence**, the threat of punishment deters people from committing a crime. **Incapacitation**, the wrongdoers need to be isolated. **Rehabilitation**, the wrongdoers need treatment, support. **Restoration**, the wrongdoers, and victims, can decide about punishment to restore the order. 22-05 What causes crime (part II) --------------------------------- **Social disorganisation theory** This theory links crime rates to neighbourhood ecological characteristics. 1. Poverty 2. Social disorganisation 3. Breakdown of traditional values *development of gangs, peer groups replace family and social institutions.* 4. Criminal areas *Neighbourhood becomes crime-prone, lack of external support and investment.* 5. Cultural transmission *Adults pass norms to younger generations, creating stable lower-class culture.* 6. Criminal careers. **Social disorganisation theory -- *Chicago school*** Crime is caused by certain social conditions and pressures and can be transmitted from others. **Broken windows theory** Visible signs of crime, creates more crime. Vandalism, public drinking, littering, graffities, etc. **Strain theories** Strain theory is looking at crime as a direct result of frustration and anger among the lower socioeconomic classes. There are 4 strain theories. 1. **Anomie theory** A person that chooses to go to crime because they believe, there is no reason not to. A person feels worthless and their effort to try and achieve anything else is fruitless. 2. **Institutional anomie theory** 3. **Relative deprivation theory** This is where people feel like they have less than some comparative standard. People will feel deprived of, money, cars, social status, respect. 4. **General strain theory** General strain theory expands upon strain theory by not only focussing on societal pressure but also on personal loss and negative experiences. The theory emphasises how negative emotions can lead to different types of coping mechanisms including crime. **Cultural deviance theory** This is a combination of strain theory and social disorganisation theory. It is people conforming to a specific subcultural group, which could be at odds with mainstream media. 29-05 Social process theories ----------------------------- **Institutions of socialisation** **Family** is one of the most important social institutions. Parents who are supportive of their children lead to children who refrain from crime. **School** is another big social institution. Children who do bad in school are most likely to engage in criminal acts. **Peer group** is primarily a group with similar interests, and age, background and social status. **Religious institutions** attending religious service has a more dramatic effect on behaviour then just holding religious beliefs. **Social process theories** Social process theory is a framework under which many different theories fall. Some of these theories can be seen on the image to the right. **Social learning theories** Social learning theory is another framework. These theories highlight the significance of social interactions, observational learning and reinforcement mechanisms to develop criminal behaviour. - **Differential association theory** - **Neutralisation theory** **Social control theory** Social control theory believes that people are born bad. These individuals can be controlled by social institutions. The more social bonds, the less crime. **Social reaction theory *(labelling theory)*** Social reaction theory believes that people whilst good or bad, are shaped by evaluations of others. It believes that crime is highly subjective. There are 2 acts of deviance: 05-06 What causes crime (part III) ---------------------------------- **Social conflict and critical criminology theories** **Critical criminology** studies how power, inequality and societal structure influence crime and justice. It challenges traditional views of crime, critiques the social justice system for perpetuating control and inequality. Critical criminologists focus on crime by the wealthy. State organised crime, corruption, illegal domestic surveillance, state violations. *Social conflict is self-explanatory.* ***Three types of crimes*** - ***Crimes of the streets*** - **Petty white-collar crime** The middle class engages in petty white-collar crime. These are acts that generally generate social disapproval but are rarely punished severely. Cheating on taxes, petty corporate crime, employee theft. - **Crimes of the suites** The wealthy 'immoral acts' but not necessarily defined as crimes. Racism, sexism, profiteering. **Marxism** Marxism assumes that society is in constant conflict because of a lack of natural resources. *Capitalism creates class conflict and crime is the response to capitalism.* **Critical feminist theory** This studies how gender inequality affects crime and the criminal justice system. It examines power dynamics, traditional gender roles, and patriarchal structures' impact on criminal behaviour and justice. By challenging traditional theories and advocating for policy changes, it aims to address gender-based inequalities in society and the criminal justice system. How the court addresses domestic violence. **Green criminology** This is the study of environmental laws and criminality, which includes crimes affecting the environment. Pollution. **Developmental theories** These are explanations of why criminal behaviour stops over time. **Desistance** is when a criminal stops being a criminal, this usually happens as a process not a singular event. - **Life course theory** Life course theory examines how different experiences, transitions and events influence the likelihood of criminal behaviour at different stages of life. - **Latent trait theory** This theory suggests that people have built in characteristics that makes them more or less likely to engage in criminal behaviour. Whether or not they do, depends on the situation. While some have a predisposition to commit crimes, their actual actions depend on the circumstances they encounter.