midterm 1 objectives.pdf

Defining Crime and Deviance explain why it is often difficult to define crime and deviance - deviance is difficult to define because deviance is not always immoral or causes harm on others, these definitions that we do have change over time and vary across cultural settings (some can see...

Defining Crime and Deviance explain why it is often difficult to define crime and deviance - deviance is difficult to define because deviance is not always immoral or causes harm on others, these definitions that we do have change over time and vary across cultural settings (some can see deviance, others can see conformity) - definitions vary across space and is a social construction meaning it is subject to interpretation - Becker stated that deviance is simply successfully attaching a label onto another, if you avoid responsibility you avoid the label of deviation - crime historically has been defined as ‘behaviour in violation of the law’ but that is a useless definition - modern classical theory states crime is when social harm occurs but that is also subjective - criminal laws in Canada have changed a lot since the 1960’s (over space and time) - Gottfredson and Hirschi state crime as the use force and fraud while Downes and Rock avoid a specific definition because of its subjectivity define deviance, non-conformity, conformity, and categorize instances of crime - conformity is adhering to social norms - nonconformity is violating social norms without causing a reaction from others - deviance is violating social norms and causing a reaction from others - social norms are determined by the imagined or real negative reaction of others - crime is a violation of the law - not all crimes are deviant and not all deviance is criminal - net-widening: everyone in some way is a deviant define and apply the concept of synopticism - defined as presenting or maintaining a common view among others Method I explain why it is important to define crime and deviance - unclear definitions of crime and deviance or ones that are too broad cause problems when creating theories or using theoretical assumptions to determine behaviour appreciate diversity in definitions of crime and deviance - deviance is not a common approach, it has lots of theories (multidisciplinary) - it's definitions are influenced not just from sociology but also psychology and anthropology - depending on the culture the deviance occurs in, different reactions can be expected than if the deviation occurred in Western societies - Deutschmann claims that one theory cannot possibly explain all types of deviance - differences in deviant definitions exist due to ontological and epistemological assumptions define ontology and epistemology - ontology is what is actually there, claims about what is the nature of social reality (like data) while epistemology are ideas on how to study society (what methods should be used) - basically ontology is concerned with what actually exists and is real and epistemology is concerned with how we know these things are real and how they came to be Method II identify and apply the four requisites for establishing causality - the four requisite for determining causality are - variables should covary: means that variables should vary together (are associated) - the following four variables are identified for causes of deviance and crime - age: younger people commit more crimes than older ones do - sex: men commit more crimes than women - visible-minority status: POC people are arrested and incarcerated more than white people  - socio-economic status: the weakest of all, working class and middle class youths commit more crimes than others - temporal sequence: suggests that a cause must come before there is an effect (DV must be caused by IV) - covariance should be non spurious: the DV is only manipulated by the IV, there is no third confounding variable that is affecting the variables that we are not aware of and if so they are eliminated - research should be theoretically based differentiate reliability from validity - reliability mean consistency, this states that if you were to take a test measuring your personality, if you were to take the test again you should theoretically get the same score because it's the same test - if the test does not give the same score it is unreliable because it cannot be replicated - validity means accuracy, this states that if you take a test to measure personality, it is actually measuring personality and not something else cite examples of how the wording of questions can affect the research process - double barreled questions are when researchers actually pose two questions in one - really long questions bore the participant and can lead to unreliable responses since they likely are not understanding the actual meaning of the question - including negative items in questions (like using the word ‘not’) tend to create a bias for the participants Method III explain what are experiments, surveys, and personal interviews, and when they are appropriate given research questions - experiments are modes of scientific observation that include taking action and observing its causes - surveys are when you ask a set of questions to a sample of a population - cross-sectional surveys are taken at one point in time while longitudinal surveys research the same topic with the same questions over longer periods of time to see it's development - personal interviews allow for more information to be gathered (ex. body language) - the interviewer effect can create invalid data because the participant may be answering questions in a socially desirable way since it is not anonymous discuss the significance of the crime funnel - the crime funnel is made up of all crime, as you go further down the funnel however, we lose so many people from the amount who commit any crime at all to the ones who actually get incarcerated - crime ends up based only on reported incidents, so it isn't accurate to the actual amount of crime that happens in the world outline the importance of victimization surveys - to validly measure crime, criminologists use victimization surveys to anonymously admit that they have been a victim of a crime before - not perfect because victimless crimes cannot be reported this way - people who have been subjected to quite traumatic crimes may not want to share (ex. child abuse) The Demonic explain how religion impacts our views of punishment - the use of religious angles in administering crime began in the Middle Ages via the crucifix - during the feudal era, the monarchies had the most power over civilization because they believed their power was due to the divine the right of kings - this concept stated that kings were to carry out the Lord’s punishment to maintain peace and “God’s will”, thus if you whe against the capital it was seen as you deviating against God - since deviance was seen as going against God, it was also believed that if you did deviate you were possessed by the devil and you needed to punished to protect society identify the seven great sins - the seven great sins are - sloth: being lazy and avoiding important responsibilities - anger: intense rage that leads to harmful actions - lust: excessive desire for sexuality - pride: believing you are better than others (narcissism) - envy: feeling bitter because others have what you want - gluttony: overeating/indulging in food or impulses - greed: wanting and constantly craving more than you need (usually in terms of money) define lex talionis - Latin for ‘the law of retaliation’ basically defining the principle that punishments for crime should be equal to crime itself - “an eye for an eye” - this creates a balance between crime and retribution explain the impact of the malleus maleficarum - the malleus maleficarum was written by Kramer and Sprenger to determine punishments for convicted witches during the Salem witch trials (involved religion in its ideas) - it's main suggestion was the witches were usually women, that they cast spells on other women, and that torture was the appropriate means for punishing them - these punishments typically included drownings (the water test), hangings, burnings (only in Europe), crushed by stones, and prison where many died due to hygienics - its significance is based on the mass hysteria it created because it suggested that those who deny the existence of witches are suspicious - there were also issues with economics, racism, and sexism that played this role on top of the malleus Classical Approach define the mini-max theorem - the mini-max theorem assumes that humans are calculating and rational individuals which is not entirely accurate, in reality humans are actually quite emotional and tend to choose outcomes based on happy feelings, not what will truly benefit them or others (self-interest) - the mini-max theorem determines our behaviour based on units of pain or pleasure (balancing pros vs cons) outline the main components of classical punishment - there are three main components classical theorists say punishment must contain to be effective revolving around the idea of deterrence (stopping the crime from being committed in the first place - swiftness: how quickly a punishment is given after a crime is committed, the earlier it happens the better because it will be more fresh in the mind of the offender, allowing the punishment to have a larger effect on the potential of committing again - certainty: the likelihood that a punishment will occur after a crime is committed to deter people from commiting the crime in the first place - severity: refers to how harsh the punishment is in relation to the crime at hand to outweigh the potential benefits the offender sees in committing the crime in the first place - classical theorists believe that the crime should be the center of attention for how punishments should take place, not the criminal (try to control bad behaviour) - Bentham believed that laws should be put in place when deviant behaviour creates social harm, but if a victimless crime was committed then no harm is done so how do those criminals get punished - classical theorists wanted uniformity of punishment and they did this by ensuring that the legislative body generated the laws we follow and the judicial body determined questions of guilt  - they wanted judge, juror, and executioner to be separate unlike feudalism where the divine right of kings determined all explain the significance of the panopticon - a concept of prison architecture put in place by Bentham that has become an influential system of power, surveillance, and social control - it is a circular prison with cells all around the perimeter facing a single watchtower in the center full of guards putting the prisoners on full display, not allowing for a single act of deviance to occur - the prisoners however have a distorted view of the watchtower, not allowing them to know the exact moments they are being watched outline the main problems of classical theory - the main problems of the theory is that it assumes that all humans are rational beings and will do things based on the risks presented (the actual potential punishment) when in reality most humans act on emotions - units of calculating pain and pleasure are not actual, they are more of a concept meaning how can we really think people to be rational based on a system that does not have real measures to ensure obedience - do prisons actually work in stopping criminal behaviour once sentences are done or are they only a momentary obstacle - social harm as a basis for laws and crime does not account for victimless crimes Readings chapter 1: gangs - gangs have a lot of individuality and their own social order compared to other social groups - they are not formed, they happen naturally chapter 2: the professional thief - depending on the way you commit thievery, the different the label is that is put on you, only professional thieves recognize professional thieves (it is a status hard to achieve) chapter 14: seductions of crime - what actually makes crime appealing to people, each crime has their own emotional process for the offender chapter 15: code of the streets - street culture has created a code or cycle that allows the continuance of crime within these families of the streets, it is taught to their children and normalized as a part of the culture (decent vs street families) chapter 16: principles are moral legislation - balancing pleasures and pain in morality (mini-max theorem) and this measure is the basis of the system chapter 48: crime and punishment - conclusions for punishments align with lex talionis, it should be appropriate for the crime in questions, be fast, and public, determined by laws chapter 49: challenge of crime in a free society - crime upkeep is not only up to the police but responsibility also lies in the hands of other institutions - states crime reduction is possible if these seven objectives are met - society must seek to prevent crime, new ways of dealing with offenders (not always jumping to segregation), eliminate injustice, higher levels of knowledge taught to personnel in charge, each segment of the criminal justice system devotes a portion of time and resources to research, more funding, and all people must be involved in upholding responsibility