CC-100-BR1 - Introduction to Criminology Notes PDF

WEEK 2: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY Criminology / The discipline of criminology Criminology: the scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour - The term criminology is used in several different ways - The body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes proces...

WEEK 2: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY Criminology / The discipline of criminology Criminology: the scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour - The term criminology is used in several different ways - The body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes processes of - Making laws - Breaking laws - Reacting to the breaking of laws - Its goal is scientific: to develop a body of general and verified principles and knowledge regarding law, crime and treatment. The Discipline of criminology - This discipline has six major areas: 1) The definition of crime and criminals 2) The origins and role of the law 3) The social distribution of crime 4) The causation of crime 5) Patterns of criminal behaviour 6) Societal reactions to crime Why do we study criminology/crime? - Crime is Critical and Complex - The knowledge and understanding can be tested and applied in the real world long after graduation - Develop skills they can take with them - ABC approach: Always Be Critical - To know more about crime and better understand criminal behaviour , and society's response to it - Crime tells us a lot about our society - To Reduce crime, we must first understand it - Crime affects us all, directly or indirectly - As victims - As taxpayers (we all pay for the cost of the CJS) - As employees (many are employed in the CJS or security-related businesses) Crime and Media - Shapes our views about crimes and criminals - The primary goal is profit by boosting ratings through sensational stories - Shows and movies use violence to attract their viewers and sell tickets - The portrayal of crime is often inaccurate - “If it bleeds, it leads” reflects public fascination with violent stories (eg. mass murders and terrorist attacks” - Most crimes are property crimes, but the media focuses heavily on violent crimes. - Over half of the stories in an Ottawa newspaper focused on violent crimes, while violent crimes only made up 7% of reported crimes. - Medias like breaking bad, Sopranos and Frago depict graphic violence - The “CSI effect” influences perceptions of the justice system, leading people to expect definitive forensic evidence - Consequences of misrepresentation - Canadians overestimates violent crime, leading to higher fear of crime  - Media perpetuate stereotypes about offenders, including racial stereotypes - Violent crimes are often committed by acquaintances, not strangers Crime in Canada - 2023 Quick facts - Police reported crime increased 2% in 2023, from 2022 - Large increase ins pacific types of non-violent crime - Virtually no change in violent crime, per the crime severity index Crime Severity Index – (CSI) - developed in 2009 - analytical measure to complement the crime rate and address its limitations - area-based measure that considers both the volume and the relative severity of crimes,then changes over time - measures police-reported crime in an area — a city, a province , or territory, or country - An area’s CSI is determined by attributing a weight to each type of crime reported by police and then multiplying the number of crimes by their assigned weights - Weight applied to a given crime reflects its severity and is based on court sentences over the last five years - Key difference CSI : weighted volume measure of crime Crime rate: only a volume measure (For example, if a very serious crime like murder or robbery, experiences a change in volume the impact on the CSI will be more significant than the impact on the crime rate.) Crime Severity Index over time - the crime rate is higher than the national average and has stayed about the same over the last 10 years, but the CSI value has dropped significantly - more serious offences such as robberies, assault and break and enters have decreased each year meanwhile cases of shoplifting have been going up - self reported perception of safety in any town have increased over time (meaning people generally feel safer now than they did 10 years ago) - Generally declining, started to increase in 2013/2014 Homicides in Canada - Generally declining - 778 homicides in 2023, 1.94 homicides per 100,000, 14.34% yearly change The definitions of crime and criminal - Not all social harms are criminal; Not all criminal acts are harmful. - There are questions as to who should be defined as a criminal for criminological research purposes. - Should we include someone who: - has been charged with a criminal offence but not convicted? - has committed a crime but not been charged? - It is important to study the social origins of our laws and the role that law plays in society. Why are some acts defined as criminal? Why are others dealt with under other types of legislation? Why are some not sanctioned at all? Patterns of criminal behaviour - Criminal acts are defined by law in terms of categories such as murder, assault, and theft. - Questions asked by criminologists include: - Who are the offenders? - Who are the victims? - Under what circumstances are offences most likely to occur? - What are the consequences for crime victims? - How can particular types of crime be prevented? Societal reactions to crime - Historically, societies have responded to crime in many different ways. - In Canada, normally law violators are processed through the criminal justice system that includes the police, courts, and corrections system - The Constitution Act, 1867 determines how people charged with crimes are dealt with. - Courts - The federal Parliament has exclusive jurisdiction over criminal law and procedure. - The provinces are responsible for the administration of justice - Cannot pass or amend the criminal law. - The CJS is complex because of the division of powers: - There are different levels of policing (federal, provincial, municipal).. - Higher level courts for serious criminal cases and provincial appeal courts fall under federal - Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and hears appeals from both provincial and federal courts - RCMP - enforces federal law (eg, controlled drugs and substances act) in all provinces and territories. - Acts as provincial police force except in Ontario, Quebec, and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador - Correction systems - Those sentenced to two years or less are incarcerated in provincial jails. - Provinces also manage community dispositions like probation or restitution - Those sentenced to more than two years are incarcerated in federal correctional facilities - National Parole Board is responsible for release decisions for offenders Rules and the Laws: The regulation of behaviour - All groups have rules. - Society cannot function without them. - Most of the time, most of us conform to the norms our group prescribes - Norms — Established rules of behaviour or standards of conduct - Conformity to norms are generally automatic, and most people obey most rule - We follow most rules without consciously thinking about them (we internalised these rules) - Informal rules (called folkways) govern much of our conduct. - Some informal rules become formal regulations or laws. - Purpose of rules - Rules help us choose from the vast array if possible behaviours (eg. greetings, holding doors, seating arrangements at dinner). - Following rules avoids chaos and enhances a sense of belonging to a group.  - Penalties for breaking rules - Penalties for breaking informal rules are typically social disapproval (eg. family, friends, or colleagues) - Most people follow rules due to socialisation and the desire to belong, not because of fear of penalties - Formal rules and laws - - Informal rules sometimes evolve in formal laws when necessary - Laws are needed when order can no longer be maintained through informal rules (eg. the need for traffic laws as automobiles became faster) - Laws also address serious behaviours that cannot be left to informal control mechanism What is crime ? - Historically, harmful behaviour against others was treated as a private matter. - Gradually, certain harmful acts became defined as criminal: - These harmful acts are considered harms against society as a whole. - As such, the state is responsible for enforcing and prosecuting those who commit these harmful acts. The Legal Definition of Crime Legal definition: 1) The most common definition of crime is legalistic one that defines a crime is an act or omission that violates the criminal law and is punishable with a jail term, a fine,and/or some other sanction (from textbook) 2) a crime is a conduct that is prohibited by law and subject to penal sanction (from slides) - Prohibitions include the Criminal code and other federal statutes. - There may or may not be consensus within society that the conduct is wrong - In Canada, prohibitions are the result of a legislative process that is intensely political - Police and judiciary are required to enforce the laws regardless of their own personal view - In Canada, crimes are defined primarily by the Criminal Code. - White-collar crime - — crime that is committed by people in the course of their legitimate business activities - Committed by middle - upper class people in the course of their business activities - Theses crimes are neglected by criminologist because they were usually not dwalt with by the criminal courts - Lower class are handled by policemen, prosecutors and judges, with penal sanctions in the form of fines, imprisonments or deaths - Upper class either result in no official action at all or result in suits for damage in civil courts, or handled by inspectors and by administrative boards or commissions, with penal sanctions in the form of warnings, orders to cease and desist, occasionally of a licence and only in extreme cases by fines or prison sentences Human rights Violations as Crimes (not in the slides but in textbook) - Human rights definition of crime - Crime should be defined based on human rights violations rather than just legal statues - Actions that are a violation to basic human rights should be considered crimes (eg. the right to life, dignity, necessities of life) A continuum of crime and deviance ★ - Hagan: crime and deviance should be considered as a continuum from most serious to least serious acts, based on three dimensions: 1) The degree of consensus that an act is wrong - Mass murder is wrong, but there is much less agreement over 17-year-olds using cannabis 2) The severity of society’s response to the act - Murder is punishable by death in some societies and by life imprisonment in others. - Minor drug offences may be ignored by the police 3) The amount of harm caused by the act - Drug use and illegal gambling are often considered to be “victimless” crimes that harm only the offender while serious crimes of violence are considered to be very harmful Crime is socially defined (social construct) - The idea that crime is a social construct means that behaviours are not inherently criminal but are labelled as such through social agreement. - Societies define and respond to crime, reflecting cultural, political and historical context - Since crime is socially defined, the rules (laws) can change over time. - There are no universally condemned acts (eg. soldiers in war, police in certain situations, self defence) - Social context determines whether an act like killing is deviant and how it is classified (eg. murder, manslaughter, or not criminally responsible due to mental disorder) - An act is considered deviant only in relation to specific set of rules - Deviance involves the violation of a rule or regulation or law. - Definition of deviance is subjective based on society's norms - However, these rules vary across societies and groups. - Examples of cross-cultural difference - Sudi Arabia – women need male permission for certain activities (eg. opening a bank account) - Singapore – Possession of chewing gum is illegal - France – Certain beaches have laws against wearing clothes - There is nothing inherent in any act that makes it unlawful. - It is up to a society to decide. The relativity of crime - Since crime is socially defined, the rules (laws) can change over time. - Thus, what constitutes crime can change. - Examples: liquor consumption, sexual acts by LGBTQ, marijuana consumption - The distinction between criminal and noncriminal is thus ambiguous (there is often overlap and ambiguity between the two) - Perception of crimes as a matter of degree - Society often justifies minor law-breaking by “respectable” people (eg. “everybody does it”) - The consensus approach Consensus Theory: criminal laws represent a consensus within a society about what acts should be prohibited. Value: A collective idea about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and desirable or undesirable in particular culture - Laws are a codification of values shared by most members of society (shared by most members of society) - Sharia law in muslim countries is based on the Koran, showing how religious values influence legal system - Early settlers in Massachusetts (Puritans) created laws based on their religious beliefs, incorporating Biblical laws into their legal code. - This theory is supported by polls indicating there is a broad agreement about many laws and the seriousness of various criminal offences. The conflict approach - Laws do not reflect the consensus of society but instead serve the interests of the ruling class - Activities threatening the powerful are made illegal, and the state enforces these laws - Conflict theorists reject the idea that laws reflect a consensus in society. - Class conflict theory views laws as a tool used by the ruling class to maintain their privileged position by keeping “common people” under control. - societies are more divided by conflict than they are integrated by consensus, conflict’s question that laws represent everyone (from the midterm notes) Criminology studies Green criminology - Green criminology is meant to contribute to the debate about the causes and consequences of environmental destruction. - Green criminologists believe that criminology should include a focus on harmfulactions against nonhuman animals and the physical environment. - Focuses on environmental destruction and animal rights - Studies environmental harm (eg. air/water pollution, ecosystem damage) and animal cruelty - Introduced the concept of speciesism (discrimination against nonhuman animals) - Range of issues studied - Lawbreaking regarding pollution, toxuc waste disposal, misuse of resources. - Legal but ecologically harmful actions (eg. corporate practices) - Environmental risk etc. - Criminologists interested in animal rights study “individual acts of cruelty to animals and the institutional, socially-acceptable human domination of animals in agribusiness...” (Beirne & South, 2007, xiv) - Green criminology also raises questions relating to the destruction of specific environments and resources in ways that are legal but ecologically very harmful to plants, animals, & humans. Terrorism studies Terrorism: The illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people - Became prominent after 9/11 - Examines the recruitment and training of terrorists, their organisations, and their links to crime, as well as how to prevent terrorism The Social Definition of Terrorism - No universal definition; often debated as “one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter” - General definition - “The deliberate use or the threat to use violence against civilians in order to attain political, ideological, and religious goals” (Ganor, 2002, 288) - “terrorism” is a socially constructed term: - “And these interpretations are not unbiased attempts to depict truth but rather conscious efforts to manipulate perceptions to promote certain interests at the expense of others” (Turk, 2004, 272) Criminological Studies: Surveillance studies - Technological capacity for surveillance has grown so quickly that massive amounts of personal information are now available. - Criminology and other scholars study the extent and impact of this surveillance. - Surveillance can be defined as “any systemic focus on personal information in order to influence, mange, entitle, or control those whose information is collected” - Social media? - Facebook users are not clients but products — because the company sells access to personal information to make money - The more information that is provided to advertisers, the greater the profits. - Google makes billions by tracking the key words you use to search, which results in related ads being sent to you. - Privacy concerns have been raised about the information that gets harvested by companies. - Facebook collects biometric facial data on users for a range of purposes–including law enforcements What is Criminal Law A body of Jurisprudence that includes the following - The definition of various crimes - The specification of various penalties - A set of general principles concerning criminal responsibility - A series of defence to criminal charge Sources of Criminal laws Where does criminal law come from in Canada 1) Federal legislation 2) Judicial decisions that either interpret such legislation or state the “ common law”” Federal Legislation and Criminal law Constitution Act, 1867 - Parliament has exclusive jurisdiction over criminal law and procedures - The supreme court of Canada has ruled that a criminal law must be directed against a “public evil”or some form of behaviour that has an injurious effect on the Canadian public. The Criminal Code of Canada - First passed in 1892 - Defines criminal acts and legal elements that must be present for a conviction (substantive criminal law)  - Specifies the criminal procedures to be followed in prosecuting a case and the powers of CJS officials (procedural law) - Makes a distinction between - (i) indictable - (ii) summary - (iii) mixed or hybrid offences - Other relevant federal criminal statutes: 1) Youth Criminal Justice Act 2) Controlled Drugs and Substances Act 3) Customs and Excise Act Federal and Provincial or Territorial Regulatory legislation: Quasi – Criminal Law - Constitution Act, 1867: - Provinces have jurisdiction to enact legislation over health,education, highways, liquor control, hunting, and fishing, etc. - Regulatory legislation - Regulatory offences do not constitute criminal law because it does not address “public evil” - Regulatory legislation is concerned with the orderly regulation of legitimate activities> - Criminal law is directed towards the control of behaviour that is considered to be inherently wrong (that is, public evil). - Regulatory offences are less serious than criminal offences, which are “true crimes.” Judge Made Criminal Law - Second major source of criminal law - Judicial decisions that therpret criminal legislation or expound the common law - Common Law - Laws that evolve in areas not covered by legislation - Judges interpret criminal law - In Canada, judges cannot create new common-law crimes - However, they develop common-law defences that are not dealt with by legislation Basic Elements of a Crime - Actus Reus and Mens rea need to be shown beyond reasonable doubt for a person to be convicted. - An accused may not be convicted of a crime unless it can be proved that - (i) an event or state of affairs was “caused” by the accused person's conduct (actus reus) - (ii) this conduct was accompanied by a certain state of mind (mens rea). The Actus Reus Elements of a crime The actus reus elements of a crime includes three components 1) Conduct - a voluntary act or omission constituting the central feature of the crime 2) Circumstances  - The surrounding or “material” circumstances 3) Consequences - The consequences of the voluntary conduct Example – In an assault case, the prosecution must prove that the accused applied force (conduct), without consent (circumstances), causing bodily harm (consequence) The Mens Rea elements of a crime - Mens rea refers to the material elements of the crime (other than voluntariness) the crown must prove - A person must understand and intend the consequences of his or her act Types of mens rea 1) Subjective mens rea - Focuses on the actual state of mind of the accused at the time of the crime. It included - Intention – Deliberate desire to bring about specific consequence - Knowledge – Awareness of the nature of one's actions and their likely consequences - Recklessness — knowing that one's actions could cause harm bit proceeding regardless - Willful blindness – deliberately ignoring facts that would establish ones criminal liability 2) Objective mens rea - Consider whether a reasonable person in similar circumstances would have recognized the risk of harm arising from conduct. - Focus is not on the accused’s actual mindset but rather on societal standards of care Becoming party to a criminal offence - Individuals need not commit an offence to be convicted. - CCC section 21(1): anyone is a party to a crime who - actually commits it, - aids another person to commit it, - abets (encourages) any person to commit it - The Supreme Court has said that the person who aids and/or abets a murder is equally as guilty as a person who actually commits it. Inchoate offence - Inchoate crime: when a person attempts to bring about a crime but is unsuccessful in doing so - There are three types of Criminal Code inchoate offences: 1) Counselling: procuring, soliciting, or inciting another to commit a crime (that may not be committed) - encouraging another person to commit a crime that is not actually carried out 2) Criminal Attempt: an individual does (or omits to do) anything for the purpose of carrying out a previously formed intention to commit a crime - Taking steps towards completing the act (not resulting in completion) 3) Conspiracy: An agreement by two or more persons to commit a criminal offence (even if the act is not carried out) Defences to a criminal charge - A patchwork of defences ensures that those who have a justification or excuse for their conduct are either acquitted or treated more leniently. - There are several distinct defences of an accused in a criminal trial. They include mistake of fact, duress, intoxication, and not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD). Mental Disorder as a Defence to a Criminal Charge - A mental disorder means that the accused lacks the capacity to appreciate the nature of the act being committed. - A NCRMD accused may be granted: - An absolute discharge - A conditional discharge - An order holding them in custody in a psychiatric facility Defences to a Criminal Charge Mistake of Fact - Denies mens rea by claiming a misunderstanding of the facts. - The accused made an honest mistake that resulted in a crime. - In cases of sexual assault, a person had to have taken reasonable steps to ascertain the complainant was consenting. - Ignorance of the law is not a mistake of fact. Intoxication - Intoxication may not be raised as a valid defence by those who claim that substances impaired their ability to control their conduct. - It is a defence if it can be proved it prevented the accused from forming mens rea. - That is, it can be a defence if it prevents the accused from forming the intent required for a specific offence. - In other words just being intoxicated is not enough to avoid legal responsibility - It is unfair to convict individuals of a crime if they did not have a choice at the time of the act. - Necessity - The accused commits a lesser evil of a crime to avoid the occurrence of a greater evil. - The accused is considered to have acted involuntarily from a moral viewpoint. - In other words the person does something wrong (the crime) in order to stop something worse from happening (the greater evil) - Duress - The accused or another person such as a spouse or child must be subjected to a threat of death or serious bodily harm. (forced to commit the act they committed) Provocation - A partial defence, raised only when the charge is murder. - If successful, it results in manslaughter conviction ( less serious crime). - The accused must have been killed in the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation. - The provocation has to be sufficient to deprive an ordinary person of the power of self-control - Provocation is a situation where someone loses control because they have been seriously wrong or hurt by another person. - Two key elements:  1) The accused must show that they were responding to a serious crime committed by the victim (victim did something really wrong to the accused) 2) The accused must have acted quickly, without taking time to calm down. (reacted “on the sudden” before they could think about what they were doing) Self Defence The accused must show he or she: - Was unlawfully assaulted and did not provoke the attack. - Used force in self-defence. - Did not intend to inflict death or grievous bodily harm. - Used force that was no more than necessary to defend oneself. ‘ In cases of self-defence involving domestic violence: - Battered women's syndrome may be raised, - The Supreme Court supports the use of what a “reasonable woman” would have done, - A woman in acute fear for her life does not have to wait to be attacked. WEEK 3: COUNTING CRIMES Controversies counting crime - Initial concern: covergange - How can we obtain data about the amount and nature of crime in a society? - Reliability and validity - As official sources of statistics have increased, and as creative methodologies for data collection have advanced, reliability and validity have become the most pressing concerns. - Consistency of results over time (would the same method produce the same results?) - Validity: Do the statistics measure what they claim to? - Are the methods involved in gathering statistics strong enough that anyone following the procedures would produce the same counts (reliability)? - Do the statistics collected count what they purport to count (validity)? - Three types types of crime statistics 1) Crime and criminals - Data about offenders 2) Criminal justice system - Data on how the system responds to crime 3) Perceptions of crime - Public opinions and perceptions of crime and justice Statistics on the Criminal justice system (CJS) - CJS produces an enormous amount of raw data - This data includes police reports and records, court decisions,Administrative records of prisons and penitentiaries, and decisions of parole and probation officials. - The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) has developed a sophisticated system of statistics on the CJS. - From Records to Statistics CJS administrative records are not statistics. - Records are concerned with individual cases (for example, an offender).  - They help practitioners make decisions about these individual cases. - Statistics are aggregated; they are concerned with what is common - among many individual cases. - They provide information about larger questions: planning and evaluation, policy and program development, and theory building and testing. Canadian centre for justice statistics (CCJS) CCJS was founded in 1981 to - collect national data on crime and justice. - Its data on CJS inputs (resources, expenditure) are good. - Its data on criminal incidents, arrests, charges, convictions, and dispositions have improved. How much crime? - Counting crime is problematic, because much of it is committed in secret or goes unreported. - The major problem of crime statistics is the dark figure of crime: - crime that remains unreported, unrecorded,largely unknown. - Crime is like an iceberg. The top is crime that has been reported to the police and recorded by the. It is in the official statistics the bottom is crimes that have not been reported or recorded. This is the dark figure of crime. - Three Dominant ways to count crime or describe crime patterns and trends: - 1.Official (police-reported) statistics - 2.Victimization surveys - 3.Self-report studies Official Statistics: Uniform Crime Report (UCR) - The goal of Uniform Crime Reports is to provide uniform and comparable national statistics. - Two Versions: - UCR Aggregate (UCR1.0) Survey: collects summary data for 100 separate criminal offences - UCR Incident-Based (UCR 2.0) Survey: collects more detailed information on each incident, victims, and accused - Seriousness rule is UCR statistic - If there are several crimes committed in one incident, only the most serious crime is counted - UCR1.0 used the seriousness rule - Only the most serious crime is scored in an incident involving several crimes - Implications: - It deflates the total crime count. - It inflates serious crimes as a percentage of the total. - Not enough qualitative data about crimes are recorded to use a - sophisticated scale of seriousness. - Other Concerns: - UCR data may tell us more about police activities. - Official violations” statistics are often a product of police policy decisions. - Crime statistics are influenced by police discretion regarding what crimes are serious enough to attend to, record, and pursue. - The ways police apply crime recording and scoring procedures reflect the policing style and policy of the particular police department. - Is a particular crime increasing, or is it a reflection of changing (i) social norms and/or (ii) police charging policies?  - For example, is domestic violence increasing or is this a product of (a) greater willingness of victims to report the crime and/or (b) police being more apt to press charges in recent years? - UCR aggregate data presented as crime rate: - The crime rate is expressed as the number of criminal incidents for every 100,000 Canadians. - The use of rate - Allows for comparisons between jurisdictions or over time - Is not influenced by differences in population size between jurisdictions, or changes in population size in one jurisdiction. Official Statistics: Crime Severity Index - The CSI addresses the matter of the crime rate being driven by high volumes of less serious offences - CSI is calculated by assigning each offence a weight derived from sentences given by the criminal courts - The more serious the average sentence the greater the weight - more serious offences have greater impact on the severity index Unofficial Statistic: Victimisation Surveys - A victimisation survey asks a sample of people, via a questionnaire survey, whether they have been a crime victim - Victims may also be asked to describe - The nature and consequences of their victimisation - Whether it was reported to the police (and if not, why?) - The criminal justice response - The perceptions of, and attitudes toward, crime and the CJS, and their feelings of safety - It captures many crimes not included in the UCR - Limitations - Not all crimes are captured (for example, murders) - Consensual crimes are generally not captured by either police-reported UCR date or victimisation surveys - Crimes that keep victims unaware of victimisation cannot be captured accurately in the UCR or victimisation surveys - Surveys data may lack reliability - They depend on people’s memory, truthfulness, etc - Survey data may be skewed - Well-educated respondents are more likely to talk to interviewers and give full accounts of their victimisation surveys Learned Lessons: Victimisation Surveys Victimisation data show that many more Canadians are victimised than is revealed by official statistics. - Some people still do not report due to fear—for example, victims of sexual or domestic violence. - When incidents produced financial loss, reporting was more likely. - Some crimes are more likely to come to police attention than others. - Some categories of victims are more likely to report their victimisation. - Some categories of offenders (for example, family members) are less likely to be reported. - Victimisation surveys go beyond merely counting crime. - They provide data on costs of victimisation, financial losses, physical injuries, and fear. - Data allow us to explore various dimensions of seriousness Unofficial statistics: self-report surveys - Rather than relying on police data, why not ask criminals directly about what they do and how often they do it? - The people who know the most about crime are those who break the law. - The most common self-report studies are administered to specific populations, such as secondary school students, asking them if they have committed a crime, the nature of the crime, and when. Benefits - Self-report studies address some of the weaknesses of police data and victimisation surveys. - They contribute to research and theories on the causes of crime and delinquency, especially the relationship between social class and crime. Limitations - People who are typically law-abiding are more likely to report occasional infractions, while serious and chronic offenders often underreport. - Respondents tend to report minor infractions and downplay or omit more serious ones. - Some demographic groups are more likely to underreport criminal behaviour. - It is often difficult to survey serious, chronic offenders. Correlates of criminal behaviour Key questions: - Who is likely to be involved in crime? - How does gender influence crime? - What role does age play in criminality? - Does race have any connection to crime? Caution - Correlation is not the same as causation; the correlates discussed here do not necessarily cause crime. - Correlate - A phenomenon that accompanies another phenomenon and is related in some way to is Correlates of crime - Correlates of crime are variables connected to crime. - A correlate is defined as “a phenomenon that accompanies another phenomenon and is related in some way to it” (Hartnagel, 2012). Age as a Correlate of criminal behaviour - Criminal activity tends to increase during adolescence and young adulthood and then decreases as people get older. - individuals aged 12 to 24 commit a disproportionate number of homicides. - The peak age for criminal offending is between 17 and 19. - Young people are disproportionately involved in crime overall, especially violent crime. - Most of the crimes committed by young people are nonviolent. - The most common office among canadian youth is theft under $5,000  - The most common violent crime among youth is level 1 assault (minor assaults without physical harm) - Other violent crimes frequently committed by youth include uttering threats, assault level 2 and robbery - Youth are also involved in crimes such as cannabis possession, mischief (vandalism), and administration-of-justice violation (eg. failure to appear in court) Why do young people commit more crimes? - Adolescence is a period of transition filled with ambiguity. - Adolescents are neither children nor adults and may not be fully committed to conventional values. - The confusion, marginalisation, and "in-between" stage of adolescence can contribute to criminal behaviour. - Adults have more incentives to conform. Desistance from criminal behaviour is influenced by social bonds and significant life events, such as: - Aging - Marriage - Education - Children - Legal, stable work The concept of maturational reform is closely linked to life course theory, which focuses on the role of age-related transitions and social controls. Gender as a correlate of crime - Males are overwhelmingly more involved in criminal activities compared to females. - Males are disproportionately represented among offenders. - In Canada in 2014/15, males accounted for: - 80% of defendants in adult criminal court - 98% of those accused in sexual assaults - 89% of robbery cases - 86% of homicide cases - 77% of major assault cases - The rate of women’s imprisonment has not increased significantly in Canada in recent decades. - Females are more commonly accused of non-violent crimes like theft (35%) and fraud (33%) - Female youth crime - Female youth have higher rates of police-reported crime compared to adult females, showing a notable gender dynamic in youth offence - Why do female offender get more leniency - Responsibility of female offenders for young children - Less serious crimes committed Women and crime - Women make up a very small percentage of individuals who come into conflict with the law. - Crime is predominantly a male activity. - - Approximately 7.5% of federally sentenced offenders are women.  - Approximately 15% of provincially/territorially sentenced offenders are women. - - Of the women who appear before the courts in Canada: - - About 1/3 face charges for property offences. - Just under 1/4 are charged with crimes against the person. - Around 1/5 face charges related to the administration of justice. - Profile of the female offender: - Crimes often involve property theft or fraud. - Violent offences are usually limited to level 1 assault. - Female offenders are often marginalised, racialized, and of low economic status. - There is a significant overrepresentation of racialized women. Classifications of crime - It’s important to understand the types of crimes women are committing or being accused of and compare this to men. - Although women make up just over half of Canada's population, only 7.45% of the federal inmate population is female. - Crimes against the person: - 23% of female offenders are convicted of crimes against a person. - Crimes against property: - About 26% are convicted of crimes against property. - Administration of justice offences: - 18% face charges for administration of justice offences. - Some of the most common charges women face include fraud, theft, and drug-related offences. Offences commonly committed by women - Women are often associated with several types of crimes. - Focusing on these crimes risks reinforcing negative stereotypes faced by women. - Women tend to commit certain crimes more frequently than others, including: - Crimes related to illicit drugs. - Theft and fraud. - Women are less likely than men to reoffend. - Women have lower recidivism rates compared to men. Race as a correlate of crime - Race is not as strongly correlated with crime as age and gender. - Some minority groups are overrepresented in police-reported crime statistics in Canada. - Over-representation varies by location: - In the Prairies, Indigenous people are overrepresented. - In Toronto and Nova Scotia, African Canadians are overrepresented. - African Canadians are: - More likely to be stopped and searched (racially profiled) by police. - More likely to receive tougher sentences from courts compared to white people. - Disproportionately represented in correctional institutions. Indigenous people and the canadian CJA - Indigenous adults and youth are significantly overrepresented in the Canadian criminal justice system.  - Indigenous adults make up 3% of the Canadian population but represent 28% of male adults and 31% of female adults in federal corrections. - Indigenous youth make up 3% of the population but account for 31% of male youth and 44% of female youth in federal corrections. Problems faced by Indigenous people in the Canadian CJS: - More likely to be denied bail. - Spend more time in pretrial detention. - More likely to be charged with multiple offences. - More likely to lack legal representation in court proceedings. - More than twice as likely to be incarcerated compared to non-Indigenous offenders. - More likely to plead guilty due to intimidation by the court system. Drug and Alcohol misuse as a correlate of crime - The use of illicit drugs is strongly correlated with street crime. - 75% of inmates enter custody with substance abuse issues, and 50% of federal inmates do. - “There is a direct link between their substance use and criminal behaviour” (Public Safety Canada, 2014). Three factors link substance abuse and crime: 1. Efforts to support an addiction can lead to involvement in crimes (“psychopharmacological”). 2. Crimes may be committed while under the influence of drugs or alcohol (“economically compulsive”). 3. The mere possession of illegal drugs is a crime in itself. ○ Violence is also intrinsic to illicit drug markets. Socio-economic status (SES) and criminal behaviour - Historically - The lower classes have been associated with crime, often labelled as the “dangerous class,” “criminal class,” or “underclass.” - class -based views of crime were common in 19th and 20th centuries in canada and the U.S - Socio-economic factors include: - Marginalisation - Unemployment - Poverty - Lack of education - Dependency. The relationship between SES and crime is complex: - People with low SES are overrepresented in police-reported crime statistics, partly because crimes committed by the middle and upper classes systematically escape official notice (Gaylord & Galliher, 1988). - The relationship between class and crime is both class and crime-specific (Hagan, 1992), with different classes engaging in different types of crimes based on the opportunities available to them. Research supports the idea that the SES–crime relationship depends on the type of crime: - Violent offenders are overwhelmingly from low SES backgrounds.  - Employment has been shown to reduce recidivism. Spatial location as a correlate of crime - Studies indicate that crime levels vary across different regions and cities in Canada. - In Canada, crime rates are higher in the northern territories and Western provinces. - Canada’s three largest cities—Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal—have lower crime rates compared to smaller cities like Winnipeg, Regina, and Thunder Bay. - Rural areas tend to have higher violent crime rates than larger urban centres but lower property and total crime rates. WEEK 4: CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY I – INDIVIDUAL THEORIES Different neighbourhoods also show varying patterns of crime: - Violent juvenile behaviour decreases when families move to wealthier neighbourhoods. - Crime and violence are higher in poor, socially disadvantaged areas. - Neighbourhoods with greater "collective efficacy" tend to have lower crime rates Pre-18th century theories of crime - Theories of crime were largely influenced by religious beliefs and superstition: - There was a widespread belief in evil spirits and magic. - Unusual phenomena in nature were often attributed to the activities of evil spirits. - This belief extended to the notion that any pathology in human behavior must also be the result of evil spirits. - Judeo-Christian teachings provided two explanations for the influence of evil spirits on sinful behaviour: 1. Temptation 2. Possession - Blaming social problems on the Devil and other evil spirits served two main purposes: 3. It shifted attention away from the failures of elites, placing blame instead on individuals deemed "possessed" by the Devil. 4. Those in power positioned themselves as indispensable by claiming that only they could stop the Devil. - Witches become scapegoats for societal anger. - The Inquisition led to the deaths of over half a million individuals. - Society is viewed as composed of free and rational human beings, leading to calls for greater individual rights and freedoms. - People enter into a social contract, agreeing to give up some freedoms in exchange for a safer society. - This perspective contributed to a movement across Europe aimed at reforming governance and the criminal justice system. Enlightenment Philosophers’ View of Society The classical school - Considered the first formal school of criminology. - Linked to reforms in the administration of justice and the prison system during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. - Introduced the emerging philosophies of liberalism and utilitarianism into the justice system.  - Advocated for principles of rights, fairness, and due process, moving away from retribution, arbitrariness, and brutality. - Key theorists included Beccaria, Bentham, and Romilly. The classical theory of crime - The roots of Classical theory are found in the Enlightenment. - People voluntarily enter into a social contract with the state, giving up some freedom for a safer society. - The state is responsible for providing security while respecting citizens' rights. - Citizens must obey the rules or face punishment from the state. - People break the law because they believe it will serve their own interests. - This theory is based on the assumption that individuals are rational beings who consider the consequences of their actions. Reforms Proposed by the Classical Theorists - Proposed reforms were based on a radical new understanding of the causes of crime. - Justice must be neither excessive nor unfair; punishment should fit the crime and be proportional to the harm done to society. - Specific reforms included: - Abolishing the death penalty for minor offences. - Ensuring criminal matters are handled publicly according to the law. - Making laws accessible to everyone, clear, and simple for understanding. - Separating the lawmaking power of the legislature from the role of judges. - Laws were established by legislatures, while judges determined guilt and imposed punishment. Assessing the contributions of the classical school Limitations of the Classical School - Gross injustices occurred, as equal punishments for the same crime did not account for individual circumstances. - Judges had no discretion in sentencing. - The emergence of neoclassical theory sought more flexibility in the justice system, including the individualization of sentences. Lombroso and the positive school Positive School - Employed the scientific method (controlled observation) to compare criminals with noncriminals. - Asserts that crime is caused by biological factors beyond an individual's control. - These theories gained acceptance because they were scientific and placed blame on individuals rather than society, appealing to the ruling class. - Lombroso observed physical differences between criminals and noncriminals. - He applied Darwin's evolutionary theory to categorise criminals as atavists—less evolved, morally inferior individuals. - Lombroso claimed that these "born criminals" could be identified by physical signs known as stigmata, which indicated their atavistic traits. Psychoanalytic Theory - Crime occurs when the ego and superego fail to control the primitive, aggressive, antisocial instincts of the id. - Criminality is attributed to an individual's inability to progress satisfactorily through the early stages of development. - A poorly developed or deficient superego makes the individual more susceptible to antisocial behaviour. Warren & Hindelang (1979) identify additional applications of psychoanalytic theory to criminality: 1. Criminal behaviour can be viewed as a form of neurosis. 2. Criminals often have a compulsive need for punishment to relieve guilt and anxiety stemming from unconscious desires. 3. Criminal activity serves as substitute gratification for unmet desires within the family. 4. Delinquent behaviour may result from traumatic events that have been repressed. 5. Delinquency can express displaced hostility. Psychoanalytic theory is not considered a robust explanation for criminal behaviour. - The theory is untestable, as it relies on unobservable underlying constructs. - It is tautological; aggressive acts stem from impulses, yet the evidence of those impulses is found in aggressive acts. - Not all criminals experience guilt or anxiety. Problems and Limitations: Eyesenck’s theory of crime and personality - This theory is founded on principles of classical conditioning. - Deviant behaviour is inherently reinforcing, so children will only refrain from it if punished. - There is a need to associate deviance with pain or fear; this pain or fear acts as a deterrent. - The dimensions of personality include: - Extraversion vs. introversion - Neuroticism vs. stability - Psychoticism “Crime... is essentially a function of the ethos of the society in which we live; it reflects the practices of positive and negative reinforcement, of reward and punishment, of teaching and conditioning, which are prevalent, and these in turn are mirrored and reflected by the types of films we see, television programs we watch, books and newspapers we read, and teaching and examples we receive at school.” Social learning theory - The central concept is cognitive functioning, which is the ability to think and make choices. - Individuals learn new behaviours through modelling; vicarious learning occurs by observing others. - Bandura (1986) suggested that aggression is learned from three sources: 1. Family (e.g., parents who are aggressive or abusive) 2. Subcultural influences (e.g., violence learned in tough neighbourhoods from role models or peers) 3. Symbolic modelling (e.g., exposure to violent television) Antisocial personality disorder - Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) is characterised by a disregard for the rights of others, as well as impulsive, irresponsible, and aggressive behaviour. - Between 15 and 25% of the prison inmate population in North America fits this category. Antisocial personality, crime, and mental illness - It was once assumed that all crime was indicative of mental illness; however, this view is largely rejected today. - The prevalence of mental disorders among prison inmates is significantly higher than in the general population. - In recent years, there has been increased involvement of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system (CJS). - The deinstitutionalization of those with mental illness has contributed to this rise. Institutionalisation to Deinstitutionalization - Between the 1800s and mid-1900s, there was growing recognition that prisons were not suitable for individuals with mental health issues. - This led to lobbying efforts for the establishment of psychiatric hospitals and asylums. - The intent was to shift the treatment of mental health issues out of prisons, but this resulted in overcrowding, institutionalisation, and segregation from society. Deinstitutionalization: - The 1950s and 1960s marked a move away from institutionalising individuals with mental health issues. - This shift coincided with advancements in psychotropic medications. - The focus transitioned to treating individuals in community settings and providing outpatient care. - Reasons for this shift included high operating costs of asylums and psychiatric facilities, advances in medication, reports of patient abuse, and efforts to destigmatize mental illness. - As a result of deinstitutionalization, there has been an increase in interactions between individuals with mental illness and the CJS. Deterrence Theories Certain factors influence an individual's decision to commit a crime, and the legal system can be leveraged to affect that decision. - Rational Choice Theory: People break the law because they believe that committing crimes will yield rewards. - Routine Activities Theory: Crime is likely to occur only when there is a motivated offender, a suitable target, and ineffective guardianship of that target. This theory is rooted in Beccaria’s Classical theory: - Beccaria posited that punishments should be severe enough to deter individuals from committing crimes while remaining proportionate to the nature of the offence. Additionally, punishment should be swift and certain. How effective is the law as a deterrent? - Deterrence works to some extent. Does imprisonment deter crime?  - Long prison sentences are often difficult to justify on the basis of deterrence and crime prevention. - Incarceration may increase recidivism rates. - The transition to adulthood at age 18 in the United States has minimal deterrent effect on criminal behavior, as noted in Durlauf & Nagin’s (2011b) review of research. Do mandatory minimum sentence deter crime? - While mandatory sentences are widely implemented, there is considerable debate regarding their effectiveness. - California’s “three strikes” legislation enacted in 1994 has resulted in significant prison overcrowding and has incurred an additional cost of $20 billion. - Research indicates that “there is insufficient credible evidence to conclude that mandatory penalties have significant deterrent effects.” Why don’t severe penalties deter crime? - Offenders may disregard the risks of being caught. - The incarceration rate for crimes is low, meaning harsh sentences only impact a small minority. - Some offenders are unaware of the potential sentences they face if convicted. Do mandatory minimums deter? - A significant failure of mandatory sentencing and other deterrence policies is observed in the context of the war on drugs. - Prosecutors and judges often find ways to circumvent mandatory minimum sentences that they consider excessively severe. WEEK 5 :CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY II – SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES Quinney’s group conflict theory Quinney's theory consists of six propositions: 1. Crime is defined as human conduct created by authorised agents within a politically organised society. 2. Criminal definitions describe behaviours that conflict with the interests of segments of society that possess the power to shape public policy. 3. Criminal definitions are enforced by those segments of society that have the authority to influence the administration of criminal law. 4. Behavioural patterns are structured in a segmentally organised society concerning criminal definitions, where individuals engage in actions that have varying probabilities of being deemed criminal. 5. Conceptions of crime are constructed and disseminated across different segments of society through various means of communication, such as mass media. 6. The social reality of crime is constructed through the formulation and application of criminal definitions. Marxist conflict theory & criminology Marx himself wrote little directly about crime. However, criminologists have adapted his work to analyze the relationship between crime and the social world. Marxist theories focus not on individual pathologies but on the social, political, and economic structures that give rise to crime. Marxist conflict perspectives in criminology - The political and economic structures inherent in capitalism foster conflict, creating conditions (such as unemployment) that facilitate criminal activity. - The law and crime should not be studied in isolation; they must be examined in relation to the entirety of society, particularly the economic sphere. - The Marxist approach offers a framework to explore the interconnections between the capitalist mode of production, the state, law, crime control, and crime itself. Instrumental marxism - Instrumental Marxism posits that the state and legal and political institutions directly reflect the interests of the ruling or capitalist class. - Law is seen as synonymous with class rule, where the ruling class controls law formation, emphasising the coercive nature of the law. - Under this perspective, the state and the legal system are viewed as instruments of the capitalist class. Structural marxism - Structural Marxism counters the instrumental Marxist view that the state serves as the direct agent of the ruling class. - It contends that state institutions function in the long-term interests of capitalism to sustain capitalist society. - Consequently, many laws are enacted that do not necessarily reflect the immediate interests of the capitalist class. WEEK 6:CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY III – SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES II Introduction – Interactionist theories The concept of the deviant career is central to interactionist theories of crime, focusing on an individual's journey through various stages of deviant identities. This theory examines how the social response to initial acts of deviance can lead a person toward adopting a deviant identity and career. - Labelling Theory: Explores how individuals learn to be criminals through interactions with other criminals and how they develop a criminal identity. - Differential Association Theory: Investigates the process by which people learn criminal behaviour from others. Interactionist theory in criminology This theory centres on the interactions between individuals and the meanings derived from these interactions. It is grounded in broader symbolic interactionism theory, which has three basic premises: 1. People act based on the meanings that objects in their lives hold for them. 2. These meanings arise from interactions among individuals. 3. Meanings are applied and can be modified over time. The deviant career Interactionism focuses on the developments that occur once individuals engage in criminal activities. Some groups or individuals hold the power to impose deviant labels on those who are less powerful. Therefore, deviance is viewed not as an inherent quality of an act but rather as a label assigned to it. However, labelling may not always be accurate or just. Some deviants manage to avoid public detection, while others may be labelled as deviant despite not engaging in any deviant behavior. The labeling process can involve negotiation between individuals who may be considered deviant and those who apply the label. Thus, interactionist theory helps to explain: - The establishment of moral rules. - The application of these rules through labelling. - The long-term consequences of these processes for both deviants and society. A deviant career describes the stages of personal involvement in criminal activity, similar to stages in an occupational career. These careers are shaped by various contingencies and turning points encountered at each stage. For example, early delinquency, drug use, and unemployment can prolong a youth's criminal career. - Turning Points: These include factors such as early onset of delinquency, drug use, and unemployment. - Sense of Continuity: Individuals may perceive their deviant activities as a consistent part of their lives. - Perception of Increasing Opportunities: Deviants may believe they have more opportunities to engage in criminal activities. - Increased Sophistication and Recognition: As individuals progress in their deviant careers, they may gain more skills and possibly earn recognition from their peers. Primary Deviation (Lemert, 1972): - Primary Deviation: Early in their career, offenders commit deviant acts infrequently and do not identify as deviant. - Secondary Deviation: Over time, deviance evolves into a way of life, and the individual