Criminology in Canada Lecture Notes PDF

Criminology in Canada Lecture Notes Monday 4-6, Friday 10-11 CH.1 Crime and Criminology What is crime? (SUTHERLAND AND CRESSEY) ​ Criminal behaviour is behaviour in violation of the criminal law: -​ Behaviour is not a crime unless it is prohibited by the criminal law -​ Laws are usually...

Criminology in Canada Lecture Notes Monday 4-6, Friday 10-11 CH.1 Crime and Criminology What is crime? (SUTHERLAND AND CRESSEY) ​ Criminal behaviour is behaviour in violation of the criminal law: -​ Behaviour is not a crime unless it is prohibited by the criminal law -​ Laws are usually defined as a body of specific rules regarding human conduct -​ Laws are enforced by punishment administered by the state -​ Thinks crime is a disconnect between the rich and the poor -​ Conflict theorist What is a crime? This approach implies that the definition of crime is a function of -​ The beliefs, morality and direction of social authorities and -​ Is applied uniformly to everyone in society -​ Therefore, crime is a SOCIAL PHENOMENON (luigii mandone incident) -​ Because we tend to have societal norms or standards when applied in how to behave to all people in a society, and we have the ability to punish deviations, then we have crime. How are crimes determined? -​ Deviant behaviours are behaviors that violate the social norms -​ Are all deviations from social norms criminal? -​ Marajuana use? -​ Not all crime is a deviation -​ What other deviations are not considered criminal?  -​ Aging out or chronic offenders Classifying Deviance: (HAGENS THEORY) Consensus crime: they say there is a consensus in society that these things are wrong and that the punishment should be severe John Hagen’s Varieties of Deviance: Three interacting variables 1.​ Evaluation of social harm a.​ Very harmful, somewhat harmful or not very harmful 2.​ Agreement about the norm a.​ Strong agreement, strong disagreement, confusion or apathy 3.​ Severity of societal response a.​ Very severe, moderate, mild Types of Crime and Deviance: What is a Crime? -​ Classical criminology is also based on the following: -​ All behaviour is rationally determined -​ A violation of another person is a violation of the social contract -​ A society must provide the greatest good for the greeted number (utilitarianism) Examples of Interest to Criminologists: -​ R. v. Sharpe, 2001 (balancing societies interest to regulate/control child porongraphy against the right to freedom or expression under section 2 of the charter) he didn't take the pictures he drew them. -​ Because of the freedom of expression is what he protected himself with -​ They said that sharpes rights to make these pictures of children didn't override the right of these children to not be violated (utilitarianism) -​ Yes he has the freedom of expression but if it overrides others rights its not valid -​ 517 photographs little boys -​ Charged w possession and intent to distribute (he argued that this placed an unreasonable burden on his freedom of expression) Criminology VS. Criminal justice -​ Criminology is the scientific study of: -​ Nature  -​ Extent -​ Causes -​ Management of control of criminal behaviour -​ Criminal justice involves describing, analyzing and explaining the agencies of justice -​ Police -​ Courts -​ Corrections Perspectives in Criminology 1.​ classical/choice perspective a.​ Situational forces (Beccaria) 2.​ Biological/Psychological Perspective a.​ External and internal forces (compete and lombroso) 3.​ Process Perspective a.​ Socialization forces (Quetelet and Durkheim) Current perspectives in criminology 1.​ Structural perspective a.​ Ecological forces (chicago school) 2.​ Conflict perspective a.​ Economic and political forces (marx) 3.​ Integrated perspective a.​ Multiple forces Europe in middle ages (prior to 1700 CE) -​ Deviance was attributed to supernatural forces -​ The church and aristocracy held power, and they defined unwanted behaviours as deviant to their rule -​ Labelled as witchcraft ot demon possession -​ Response to crime was based on the status of the perpetrator -​ Punishment was often harsh for common folk the wealthy could avoid punishment Classical Crim (1750 to 1900) -​ Cesere Beccaria (1738-1794) -​ On crimes and punishments -​ Utilitarianism -​ People have free will -​ Crime pays better than non-criminal behaviour -​ Fear of punishment deters crime -​ “Let the punishment fit the crime” Positivism (began 1850) -​ Auguste Comte (1798-1857) -​ Father of sociology -​ Promoted positivism -​ Positivism -​ Behaviour is controlled by internal and external forces -​ Science can be used to study human behaviour -​ Influenced by charles darwin -​ External: Political, war, famine -​ Internal: brain's structure and mental capability Cesare Lombroso: -​ Father of criminology (1835-1909) -​ Criminal anthropology studied the “born criminal” -​ Inherited criminal traits cause crime -​ Atavistic anomalies: Physical traits that are similar to those of our savage ancestors -​ Degenerate family provides criminal heredity Phrenology: Social Criminology: -​ L.a.j Quetelet (1796-1874) -​ Used social statistics to study crime-related factors (age, sex, climate, poverty) -​ Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) -​ Crime is natural and inevitable -​ Some crime is beneficial to society -​ Crime results from the mismatch between individual and societal norms (anomie) Karl Marx (1919-1883) -​ The mode of production determines all social relationships -​ Crime is an expression of economic and power relations -​ Crime is defined by those in power -​ Crime is the result of inequality between owners (bourgeoise) and workers (proletariat) -​ Crime is caused by poverty (on test) JUKES family that as dirt poor had a whole bunch of kids mostly males which they all had been in conflict with the law, used as an example to argue criminal activity is hereditary but didn't look at other alternatives (follow in adults footspes, poverty) Consensus, conflict and interactionism Definition of crime: Consensus view: -​ The law defines crime -​ Agreement exists on outlaws behaviour -​ Laws apply to all citizens equally Basic assumptions include the following: -​ People agree on what is repugnant -​ The law is fair and impartial -​ People are treated fairly under the law -​ Consensus viewpoint predominates in north american criminology Conflict view: -​ The law is a tool of the ruling class -​ Crime is a politically defined concept -​ “Real crimes” are not outlawed -​ The law is used to control the underclass ​ Basic assumptions include the following: -​ Laws reflect the power structure of society -​ Law enforcement targets the underdog not the powerful -​ Focus should be on the crimes of the rich -​ Environmental crime, treatment of workers, consumer fraud crimes against humanity Interactionist view: -​ Moral entrepreneurs define crimes -​ Crimes are illegal because society defines them that way -​ Criminal labels are life-transforming events  Basic assumptions include the following: -​ Laws are constantly changing -​ Laws result from interaction among individuals and groups -​ Moral entrepreneurs try to get their values enacted in law -​ Being labeled deviant may promote further deviance -​ The focus is on the process of deviance and changing definitions LECTURE 2: CRIMINAL LAW AND ITS PROCESS Early legal codes Preliterate societies ​ Custom and tradition ​ Folkways and mores ​ Expectations of individual behaviour based on community standards Code of hammurabi ​ Developed in sumer about 2000 BCE (part of present day iraq) ​ Adopted by Hammurabi (Babylonian king 1792-1750) and called the code of Hammurabi ​ Punishment consisted of physical retaliation called lex talionis ○​ Severity was partly based on the status of the offender The dark ages ​ Followed the fall of rome in which many early codes were lost ​ Thinking was dominated by superstition ​ Introduction was wergild (fine or monetary compensation) ​ Trial by ordeal or combat ○​ Placing hand in boiling water, glowing iron, etc ​ Use of oath - helpers (character witnesses) Norman conquest William the conqueror (1066-1087 CE) ​ Initiated replacement of local tribunals with intranet royal administrators (traveling justices) ​ Citizens reported about offences under oath ​ Stare decisis: decisions were based on past practice The common law ​ Applied throughout the land ​ Circuit judges shared decisions with each other (oral tradition) later, written cases were added ​ Became a fixed body of legal rules or case law ​ Common law: judge-made law or case law (burglary, arson, murder) New common law crimes ​ Can sometimes be traced to a specific indience ○​ Eg. rex v. scofield (1794) ​ Today criminal attempt- called inchoate crimes - iss defined as a crime in section 24 of the criminal code of canada Classification of law Civil law ​ All law except criminal law Contract law ​ Laws of personal agreements Tort law ​ Individual victim seeks compensation for personal harm caused by another ○​ Private wrong ○​ Financial compensation only ○​ Victim initiates action ○​ Both parties may appeal ○​ Victim receives compensation ○​ Guilt based on the balance of probabilities Criminal law: ○​ Public offence ○​ May result in fines or imprisonment ○​ The government initiates action ○​ Fines go to the state ○​ Guilt is “beyond reasonable doubt” Classifications of criminal law ​ Summary offences ○​ Minor offence (loitering) ○​ Six-month limitation on prosecution ○​ Heard in the provincial court ○​ Maximum fine of $2,000 ○​ Maximum sentence of six months ​ Indictable offences ○​ Serious offences (murder) ○​ No limit on prosecution ○​ Preliminary hearing ○​ May allow for a jury trial ○​ It may be hard in higher courts ○​ Higher penalties (two years or more) Classifications of law ​ Mala in se ○​ Bad in and of themselves ○​ Consensus crimes ○​ Reflect widespread agreement eg murder ​ Mala in prohibitum ○​ Bad because banned ○​ Conflict crimes ○​ Reflects community standards eg obscenity Functions of the criminal law: 1.​ Providing social control  a.​ Folkways b.​ MORES 2.​ Discouraging revenge 3.​ Expressing public opinion and morality a.​ Decriminalization of homosexuality (1969) b.​ Vagrancy 4.​ Deterring criminal behaviour a.​ General deterrence b.​ Specific deterrence 5.​ Maintaining the social order The legal definition of crime ​ Actus reus (the actual behaviour) ​ Mens rea (the criminal intent) ○​ General and specific intent ○​ Transferred and constructive intent ​ Strict liability ○​ Does not require intent (exceeding the speed limit) LECTURE 3: NATURE AND EXTENT OF CRIME The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) ​ Are collected by the Canadian Centre for justice (CCJS) ○​ 1962: aggregate (summary) data collected each month from all police forces ​ Each month police agencies report to the ccjs the incidence of crimes known to them ​ Counts can include reported and founded crimes ​ 1984: revised UCR2: collects information about each crime 148 police forces participate ○​ More details of each crime (accused and victim characteristics) ​ The use of incident-based data allows for a more specific sense of how and why offences occur Crime funnel: attrition through the justice system ​ The number of crimes punished by CJS is lower than those committed or reported ​ Violent crimes more likely to be solved ○​ More police resources, witnesses Self-report surveys ​ Interviews with those arrested or in jail ​ Telephoned at home ​ Mailed or online surveys: people report their criminal activities anonymously ​ Problems with accuracy (lying, forgetting, bragging) ​ Emphasis is on minor offences (drug and alcohol use) ​ Are the most deviant the least likely to respond? Victim surveys ​ United States since 1966; Canada since 1988 ○​ Mainly through telephone interviews ​ Canadian Urban Victimization Survey (CUVS) ​ General Social Survey (GSS) ​ Violence Against Women Survey (VAWS) Problems with victim surveys ​ Overreporting ○​ Loss is reported as theft ​ Telescoping ○​ Identifying past victimization as a recent ​ Under-reporting ○​ Forgetting, embarrassment, fear Crime patterns ​ Age ○​ Youth is consistently related to higher crime rates ​ Desistance (aging out): crime increases with age ​ Chronic offending ○​ Is related to early-onset criminal specialties Justice policy ​ “Broken windows approach” ○​ Get in touch on minor offences (eg. panhandling) to deter more serious offences ○​ It may encourage reporting of crime ○​ It may reduce overall criminal behaviour LECTURE 4: VICTIMS AND VICTIMIZATION Victimology: the scientific study of victims of crime ​ 2014 General Social Survey (GSS) ○​ About 20% of Canadians were victimized in the previous year, a decline in recent years from 25% ○​ 6.4 million incidents reported, 5.6 million not reported Problems of Crime Victims ​ Loss of property, productivity, potential ​ Physical injury ​ Re-victimization by the justice system ​ Stress and anxiety (PTSD, suicide, mental health issues, homelessness) Cycle of violence ​ Abuse in childhood is related to drug problems and crime in adulthood ​ Males are more likely to use violence if ○​ They were abused ○​ They witnessed spousal abuse ​ Females also show behavioural and adjustment problems if they were exposed to family violence The nature of victimization (sources of information)  ​ Canadian Urban Victimization Survey (1982), General Social Survey (2009), international Crime Victims Survey Theories of Victimization VICTIM PRECIPITATION THEORY Active precipitation (Wolfgang) ​ Victim provokes offender through actions, taunts and threats ○​ (victim throws first punch, women who kill their abusive husbands) ​ Issues ○​ How might this relate to property crime? ○​ Active precipitation and sexual assault? ​ Victim precipitation or victim blaming? Passive precipitation ​ Victim possesses a characteristic that threatens or makes them a target to the offender ​ Related to the power of the victim (more power = less likely to be targeted) ​ Opportunistic criminal (just stole something, had to opportunity to commit a crime and did) ​ Predatory offender (use violence and then steal) ​ More power less risk of victimization ​ Women, the elderly, and children higher risk ​ Sexual harassment ​ A workplace crime that can involve physical or psychological suffering Hate crimes ​ 60,000 a year in Canada (estimate) fewer than half are reported to the police ​ Most are based on race or ethnicity ​ Can influence sentencing ○​ Aggravating factor ○​ Mitigating factor LIFESTYLE THEORIES Equivalent group hypothesis: victims are also offenders ​ Homicide ○​ Half of homicide victims over 12 had a criminal record ​ Assault and robbery ○​ Related to participation in self-reported crime ​ Female offenders ○​ 85 percent have a history of physical and or sexual violence Proximity hypothesis: ​ Wrong place wrong time ​ The risk of victimization depends on crime rates in the neighbourhood, not personal lifestyle Deviant place hypothesis: ​ Natural crime zones, the interstitial zone ​ Poor, densely populated areas ​ Transient populations ​ More affluent people tend not to reside in these areas ​ Many motivated offenders Routine Activities Theory Cohen and Felson (1979) ​ The motivation to commit crime is constant ​ Someone is always willing to commit a crime ​ Violence and distribution of predatory crime depend on the intersection among ○​ Suitable targets (portable consumer goods) ○​ Absence of capable guardians (nobody home) ○​ Motivated offenders (young, jobless males) Is the routine activity approach valid? ​ Affluence allows people to go out more ○​ Do they increase their risks ​ What about offender differences? ○​ Is research too much about victims? ​ What about domestic violence? ○​ Is it measurable using this theory? Caring for the victim Victim impact statements ​ Allows victims, after conviction and before sentencing, to describe their ○​ Physical injury ○​ Financial loss ○​ Personal reactions to criminal victimization ​ Allowed at sentencing and parole hearings Victim programs and policies ​ Victim-offender reconciliation programs ○​ Alternative measures, restitution ​ Victims bill of rights ○​ Canadian statement  ​ Self-protection ○​ Target hardening ○​ Increasing guardianship ○​ May have unintended consequences (displacement of crime) CH5 CHOICE THEORY Choice theory: ​ Crime is seen as a rational choice ​ Behaviour can be deterred through fear of punishment ​ Breaks from traditional pre-classical approaches ​ Easily adapted to crime and control programs Classical theory cesare breccaria ​ (1738-1734) ​ Italian philosopher ​ Wrote on crimes and punishments ​ International influence in transforming criminal justice Central concepts (human nature) ​ People are egotistical, rational and motivated by pain and pleasure ​ People choose their behaviour ​ Behaviour can be modified by fear of punishment Society ​ Must provide the greatest good for the greatest number (utilitarianism) Social contract ​ Individuals give up some freedom in return for social protection The law ​ Should not legislate morality ​ Must be written, transparent, rational and just ​ Innocent until proven guilty ​ No torture Punishment ​ Must be specified in advance ​ Should be certain, severe and swift ​ Should be sufficient to deter crime ​ Should not be exessive Classical theory Jeremy bentham ​ 1748-1832 ​ British philosopher and jurist ​ Popularized beccaria's views ​ Advocated utilitarianism ○​ Maximizing total benefit and reducing suffering ○​ Therefore punishment should be balanced and fair Rational choice: ​ Micro view ​ Why does an individual decide to commit a specific crime? Routine activities ​ Macro view ​ How do social and economic changes influence opportunities for crime? General deterrence ​ Fear of punishment will inhibit crime ​ Results from the interaction of ○​ Certainty of punishment ○​ Severity of punishment ○​ Speed of punishment ​ Influenced by cultural attitudes toward crime and punishment Certainty ​ Is offence-specific and offender specific ○​ Varies from crime to crime and group to group ​ Needs to be communicated to motivated offenders ○​ Eg thought the media ​ Problems ○​ White collar crime is often dealt with administratively instead of criminally ○​ Crackdown strategies are based on inadequate theories Severity ​ Effect depends on the nature of the offence ○​ Common criminal behaviour ​ Effective for tv cable descramblers, not for drunk driving ​ May be due to low certainty of being caught ○​ Little evidence for controlling violent crime though deterrence ○​ Eg death penalty BRUTALIZATION EFFECT Perception and deterrence ​ Certainty is more salient than severity ​ Some crimes more so than others ○​ Effective for tax evasion, less so for conflict crimes ​ Convicted criminals are less deterred than those with no crime record ​ Most research is hypothetical ○​ Use of collage undergrads or minor crimes in research Specific deterrence ​ objective : discourage offenders though severe punishment ​ Problems ○​ Convicted criminals have high rates of recidivism ○​ Prison is no more effective then community sanctions ○​ Long sentences may increase recidivism ​ ‘Shaming” is effective for deterring drunk and spousal abuse ​ Especially effective in close-knit communities CH 6 TRAIT THEORIES Trait theory assumptions ​ Criminality is explained by individual differences ○​ Both biological and physiological ○​ May be genetic, neurological or chemical ​ Traits combine with special factors ​ Used to explain why people respond differently to similar situations ○​ Eg why some become chronic offenders CESARE LOMBROSSO ​ “BORN CRIMINAL” theory ○​ Biological determinism ​ Serious criminals have inherited defects ​ Atavistic anomalies ○​ Evolutionary throwbacks Other early theories ​ Raffaele Garofalo ○​ Criminals have higher paint threshold ​ Richard dugdale ○​ Studied 150 year history of “degenerate families” ○​ Claimed that criminality is inherited Biological trait theory William sheldon's somatotypes ​ Tendency to criminality is determined by body type ○​ Ectomorph (tall, thin, intellectual, shy) ○​ Endomorph (heavy, lethargic, friendly) ○​ Mesomorph (muscular, active, aggressive, prone to violence) Modern biological theories ​ Focus on interaction between biological “predispositions” and environmental “triggers”  ​ Basic intent” ○​ People are born with different genetic traits ○​ Differs from sociological criminologists who believe in equipotentially ​ Emphasis on brain functioning, mental processes and learning ​ Instincts: ○​ Inherited and non-learned dispositions that activate behaviour patterns ○​ Used to describe drives or needs that lead to crime Biochemical conditions diet ​ Nutritional deficiencies during gestation, early childhood ○​ Vitamins ○​ Fetal alcohol syndrome disorders ○​ Lead exposure leading to brain damage ○​ School performance and diet ​ Hypoglycemia: irritability, anxiety, depression, fatigue, moodswings, nervousness, temper outbreaks Biological theories: evaluation ​ Critique: ○​ Are these theories sensitive to racial and cultural differences? ○​ What about regional and seasonal variation ○​ Most empirical research is correlational = difficult to make casual statements ​ Response ○​ Biology provides the potential ○​ Environment may provide opportunity ○​ Behaviour results from the interaction of biology and environment ​