Criminologypowerpointone 2008-090519124504-phpapp01

Nature of Crime
Nature of Deviance
Community and Crime
1

Social Control
• SOCIAL CONTROL
– Attempts by society to regulate people’s thoughts
and behavior
• CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
– A formal response by police, courts, and prison
officials to alleged violations of the law
2

• Why does every society have deviance?
• Why does every society have crime?
• How does who and what are defined as
deviant reflect social inequality?
• How does the Criminal Justice System
reflect societal influence? 3
Some Questions to Consider…

Crime and Deviance
• "Deviance" is a wide-ranging term used by
sociologists to refer to behavior that varies, in
some way, from a social norm.
• In this respect, it is evident that the concept of
deviance refers to some form of "rule-
breaking" behavior.
4

• DEVIANCE
– The recognized violation of cultural norms
• CRIME
– The violation of a society’s formally enacted
criminal law
5

“The Rules”
• In relation to deviance, therefore, the concept relates
to all forms of rule-breaking…
– (whether this involves such things as murder, theft or arson -
the breaking of formal social rules - or such things as wearing
inappropriate clothing for a given social situation, failing to
produce homework at school or being cheeky to a parent,
teacher and so forth - more-or-less the breaking of relatively
informal social rules).
• As a general rule, we can say that there is a distinction
between crime and deviance in terms of:
– "All crime is, by definition, deviant behavior, but not all
forms of deviance are criminal". 6

Self-Report Exercise
• Take out a piece of paper and write down
the 10 most deviant and/or illegal acts that
you have committed.
• Do not sign your name!
– Really, do not sign your name…

Crime is a social phenomenon
8

Crime is common & normal
• Because crime is so common, year after year, many Americans
regard it as the most serious social problem facing the United
States.
• Crime affects everyone in society – either directly or indirectly:
Crime results in thousands of deaths
Millions of cases of physical injury or psychological damage
NIJ – Crime costs over $500 Billion per year
• Although crime appears to be ubiquitous in our society, we
often know very little about how our perceptions of crime are
created, maintained, or modified.
9

The Criminological Enterprise
• Criminal Statistics
Gathering valid crime data; devising
new research methods; measuring
crime patterns and trends
• Psychology/Sociology of
Law
Exploring the intersection between the
disciplines of psychology, sociology,
and law
• Theory Construction,
Development, and
Verification
• Criminal Behavior
Systems
Determining the nature and cause of
specific crime patterns; the
examination of specific offense, e.g.,
white collar crime.
• Penology
The correction and control of criminal
behavior
• Victimology
The nature and cause of
victimization
• Crime Prevention
Boundary

No Ultimate Definition of Crime
• We do know that there is no single objective definition of
crime.
There are legal definitions
There are social definitions
There are subjective (personal) definitions
There are organizational definitions
• What is crime?
1. Unlawful behavior,
2. Behavior that is formally processed as criminal
3. Socially harmful behavior
4. Anything the state wants it to be?
11

What is Crime? Part I
• A phenomenon of Society
• Each society decides what
conduct is criminal
• Society also determines
– enforcement
– adjudication
– punishment
12

What is a Crime? Part II
• A crime is an act
– committed in violation of a law forbidding it
(e.g. theft, arson)
– or omitted in violation of a law commanding
it (paying taxes)
– and for which society has provided a
formally sanctioned punishment

What is crime? Part III
• It it’s simplest definition, crime is any specific
act prohibited by law for which society has
provided a formally sanctioned punishment.
– This can include the failure of a person to perform
an act specifically required by law.
14

To Sum up:
What is crime?
 Crime: ‘An intentional act in violation of the criminal law
committed without defense or excuse, and penalized by
the state.’
 A crime is an act in violation of a criminal law for which a
punishment is prescribed; the person committing it must
have intended to do so and must have done so without
legally acceptable defense or justification.
 Legislative bodies are continually revising, adding to, and
deleting from, their criminal statutes.
15

 Laws vary within the same
culture from time to time as
well as across different
cultures.
 Crimes pass out of existence
 What constitutes a crime can
be defined in and out of
existence by the courts or by
legislators.
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Crime as a Moving Target

 Some criminologists, such as Darnell Hawkins, say
that crime is a socially constructed phenomenon
that lacks any ‘real’ objective essence because
crimes are defined into existence rather than
discovered.
 Social construction means nothing more than
humans have perceived a phenomenon, named
it, and categorized it according to some
classificatory rule that makes note of the
similarities and differences among the things
being classified.
17
Crime as a Moving Target

Criminality
 Criminality: A property of individuals that singles the
willingness to commit acts of commission or omission
contrary to the law and other harmful acts.
 When criminologists study criminality, they study
individuals who commit predatory harmful acts,
regardless of the legal status of the acts.
 Criminality is a clinical or scientific term rather than a
legal one.
 Involvement in crime varies in fine gradations.
18

The Legal Making of a Criminal
 A person is not officially a criminal until he or she has been defined
as such by the law.
 Before the law can properly call a person a criminal, it must go
through a series of actions governed at all junctures by well-defined
legal rules collectively called criminal procedure.
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Basic Principles of American Criminal Law
American criminal law has its origins in English common law, which
was brought to these shores by the early British colonists.
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Crime, Deviance, and Other Issues

Definitions IDefinitions I
Deviance involves breaking a norm and eliciting a
negative reaction from others.
Informal punishment is mild and may involve
raised eyebrows, gossip, ostracism or
Stigmatization. When people are stigmatized,
they are negatively evaluated because of a perceptible
sign that distinguishes them from others.
Formal punishment results from people
breaking laws, which are norms stipulated and enforced
by government bodies. 22

Definitions IIDefinitions II
 Social diversions are minor acts of deviance
such as participating in fads.
 Social deviations are more serious acts. A
larger proportion of people agree they are deviant
and somewhat harmful, and they are usually
subject to institutional sanction.
 The state defines conflict crimes as illegal
but the definition is controversial in the wider
society.
 Consensus crimes are widely agreed to be
bad in themselves.
23

Definitions IIIDefinitions III
 Power is the probability that one actor within a
social relationship will be in a position to carry out his or
her own will despite resistance.
 White‑collar crime refers to illegal acts
committed by a person of respectability and high social
status in the course of his or her occupation.
 Street crimes include arson, burglary, robbery,
assault, and other illegal acts. They are committed
disproportionately by people from lower classes.
24

Definitions IVDefinitions IV
 Victimless crimes (also called crimes
against Public Order) such as prostitution and
illegal drug use, involve violations of the law that
arguably do not harm or violate the rights of anyone
except perhaps the consensual participants
themselves.
 Self-report surveys are especially useful.
In such surveys, respondents are asked to report
their involvement in criminal activities, either as
perpetrators or victims.
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What is the discipline of Criminology?

What is Criminology?
• Criminology is the scientific study of the nature,
extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior.
• Criminology is an interdisciplinary science:
– Sociology
– Criminal justice
– Political science
– Psychology
– Economics
– Natural science

What is criminology?
 Criminology: The interdisciplinary science
that gathers and analyzes data on crime
and criminal behavior.
 Criminology is the scientific study of crime
and criminal behavior.
 Criminologists use the scientific method
to try to answer the questions they ask
rather than simply speculate about them
from their armchairs.
 Criminology is an inherently
interdisciplinary field.
28

The Science of Criminology
• Police Productivity and Crime Rates:
Is violent crime increasing or decreasing?
• Childhood Maltreatment and Delinquency:
Are mistreated children more likely to engage
in delinquency?
• Specific Deterrence and White Collar
Offenders:
Are white collar offenders specifically deterred
by prison?

• Criminology and Criminal Justice
– Criminology explains the origin, extent, and
nature of crime in society
– Criminal justice refers to agencies of social control
– Both discipline areas overlap

• Criminology and Deviance
– Deviant behavior departs from social norms
– Not all crimes are deviant and not all deviant acts
are criminal
– Criminologists study both criminology and
deviance to understand the nature and purpose of
law (I.E. drug use)

Development of the Discipline
What do Criminologists Think and Do?

A Brief History of Criminology
• Classical Criminology 18th
century
– Utilitarianism emphasized behavior is considered
purposeful and useful by the actor
– Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) believed people have
free will to choose criminal or lawful solutions to
meet their needs
– Choice is controlled by fear of punishment
– Punishment should be severe, swift, and certain
to control behavior

• Nineteenth-Century Positivism
– Application of scientific methods to study crime
– Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
– Two main elements: 1) human behavior is a function of
forces beyond a person’s control and 2) embracing the
scientific method to solve problems
– Charles Darwin (1809-1882) popularized the positivist
tradition
– Influences of physiognomy and phrenology
– Biological determinism - Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)
atavistic anomalies
– Social positivism developed to study the major social
changes (sociology)

• Foundations of Sociological Criminology
– L.A.J. Quetelet – cartography (demographic
variables)
– Emile Durkheim – anomie ( role confusion)
– Crime calls attention to the social ills
– Rising crime rates can signal the need for social
change

• The Chicago School and Beyond
– Robert Ezra Park (1864-1944), Ernest W. Burgess
(1886-1966), Louis Wirth (1897-1952)
– The Chicago School - social ecology (reaction to an
environment that was inadequate for proper human
relations and development)
– Edwin Sutherland suggested people learn criminality
– Walter Reckless linked crime to an inadequate self-
image.
– Both views linked criminality to the failure of
socialization

• Conflict Criminology
– Karl Marx (1818-1883)
– Relationship between bourgeoisie (capitalists) and
proletariat (labor) developing class conflicts
– Development of conflict theory (the linkage
between crime and capitalism)
– Impact on civil rights/women’s movements

• Contemporary Criminology
– Rational choice theory argues people are rational
decision makers
– Social structure theory argues social environment
controls criminal behavior
– Social process theory argues criminal behavior is
learned

What Criminologists Do: The
Criminological Enterprise
• Criminal Statistics
– Measuring the amount and trends of criminal
activity
– Creating valid and reliable measurements of
criminal activity

• Sociology of Law
– Subarea of criminology concerned with the role of
social forces in shaping criminal law (I.E. legality of
art works)
– Criminologists help lawmakers alter the content of
criminal law to respond to the changing times (I.E.
sex offender registration)

• Developing theories of Crime Causation
– Psychological view contends crime is a function of
personality, learning, or cognition
– Biological view incorporates biochemical, genetic,
and neurological linkages to crime
– Sociological view includes social forces such as
poverty, socialization, and group interaction

• The Nature of Theory and Theory
Development
– Social theory is a systematic set of interrelated
statements that explain some aspect of social life
– Some theory may be grand, while others are
narrow in their focus
– Theory is based on social facts, which can be
readily observed

• Criminal Behavior Systems
– Involves crime types and patterns (I.E. violent,
public order, and organized crime)
– Edwin Sutherland’s “white-collar” crime
– Crime typologies involve different types of crime
and criminals

• Penology
– Correction and control of known criminal
offenders
– Capital punishment is used as social control
– Mandatory sentences are aimed at social control
and prevention of criminal acts.

• Victimology
– Examines the critical role of the victim in the
criminal process (Hans von Hentig andStephen
Schafer)
– Use of victim surveys to measure the nature and
extent of criminal behavior
– Creating probabilities of victimization risk
– Victim culpability or precipitation of crime
– Designing services and programs

How Criminologists View Crime
• The Consensus View of Crime
– Substantive criminal law defines crime and
punishment
– Criminal law is a function of beliefs, morality and
rules
– Laws apply equally to all members of society
– Acts which are considered as social harms should
be outlawed to protect the social fabric and
members of society

• The Conflict view of Crime
– Criminal law reflects and protects established
economic, racial, gendered, and political power
and privilege
– Definition of crime is controlled by wealth, power,
and social position
– Crime is shaped by the values of the ruling class
and not the moral consensus of all people

• The Interactionist View of Crime
– This position holds 1) People act according to their
own interpretations of reality, 2) People observe they
way others react either positively or negatively, and
3) People reevaluate and interpret their own behavior
according to the meaning and symbols they have
learned from others
– There is not objective reality, according to
interactionists
– The definition of crime reflects the preferences and
opinions of people who hold social power
– Crime is socially defined by moral entrepreneurs

• Defining Crime
– Crime is a violation of societal rules of behavior as
interpreted and expressed by the criminal law,
which reflects public opinion, traditional values,
and the viewpoint of people currently holding
social and political power
– The definition combines all three criminological
perspectives (consensus, conflict, and
interactionist)

Traditional Justice
(retributive and
rehabilitative)
Restorative Justice
Victims are peripheral to the
process
Victims are central to the
process
The focus is on punishing or on
treating the offender
The focus is on repairing the
harm between an offender and
victim, and perhaps also an
offender and a wider community
The community is represented
by the state
Community members or
organizations take a more active
role
The process is characterized by
adversarial relationships among
the parties
The process is characterized by
dialogue and negotiation among
parties

Crime is not new
• 1849 California Gold
Rush
• 89,000 Miners
• 20% dead in first six
months (mostly
homicide)
• Crime rate led to the
creation of one of the
first state prisons.
51

52
San Quentin Prison
one of the first prisons ever constructed in
the US

Crime and the Criminal Law
– Code of Hammurabi (eye for an eye)
– Mosaic Code (basis for U.S. legal system)
– Compurgation (use of oathhelpers)
– Trials by ordeal (divine intervention)

• Common Law
– English system of law based on precedent cases
– Mala in se refers to crime considered as evil
– Mala prohibita refers statutory crimes
– Legislatures supplement common law with
statutes

• Contemporary Criminal Law
– Felony offenses are serious criminal actions
– Misdemeanor offenses are minor or petty criminal
actions
– Criminal law seeks to: Enforce social control,
Discourage revenge, Express public opinion and
morality, Deter criminal behavior, Punish
wrongdoing, and Maintain social order

• The Elements of a Crime
– Actus Reus is the action of a crime
– Mens Rea is the mental intent of a criminal action
– Strict Liability does not necessarily require specific
intent

• Criminal Defenses
– Excuse defenses – insanity, intoxication, and
ignorance
– Justification defenses – necessity, duress, self-
defense, and entrapment

• The Evolution of Criminal Law
– Criminal law evolves to reflect social and
economic conditions, such as stalking statutes or
sexual predator laws (Megan’s Law)
– Changing technology requires modifications in
criminal law

Ethical Issues in Criminology
– What to study (influence of research money)
– Whom to study (unmasking the poor)
– How to study (experiments and harm)

Crime does not always make sense:
Odd laws
Minnesota:
--It is illegal to tease skunks.
--Every man in Brainerd is required by law to grow a beard.
Michigan:
--A state law stipulates that a woman's hair legally belongs
to her husband.
--Under state law, dentists are officially classified as
"mechanics."
--In Clawson, it is legal for a man to "sleep with his pigs,
cows, horses, goats, and chickens."
60

The theme of the criminal justice system: Balancing the concern for individual
rights with the need for public order.
61

Does the CJS Over-criminalize?
Story of the cursing canoist…
Curfews…
62

Influence of the Media
Perception and Public Opinion
CSI Effect

Public Opinion and the News Media
• What is the relationship between public
opinion and public policy?
• How is crime data organized on an opinion
level?

Crime MythsCrime Myths
• Crime Myths get created out of situations of ambiguity
and concern
• Crime myths are “an ill-founded belief held uncritically”
• Most people's ideas about crime and criminals were NOTNOT
formedformed through personal experience instead we form
much of our ideas based on media depictions and
illustrations of crime and criminals

Example of a Myth
• How much crime is there? More difficult to answer
because it varies and the media creates…
• Myth of Child Abduction  Kappeler, Blumberg,
and Potter show that the hysteria that surrounded the
scare of child abductions in the 1980s was not
stranger-related but the result of other factors – e.g.,
divorce and custody issues.

Media Images
• There is neither enough space in newspapers nor
enough air time on television to cover all, or even
most for that matter, criminal activities.
• Research has shown that Violent crimes are more
likely to gain the attention of the media
• However, does the media cover violent crimes
because of their interest or ours???

What does the Media depict?
• Bob Roshier has shown that there are three
factors influencing the selection of media
crime stories
1. Unusual Circumstances
2. Dramatic elements
3. Involvement of famous people --
e.g., Robert Downey, jr.

Crime and Media
• Crime is used to sell
• Television portrays crime and criminals in a
stereotypical manner
• Most crime is violent, interpersonal, pathological
• Glassner – “The Construction of Fear”

Criminological research on media
images
A number of analyses on the influence of
media depictions of crime, criminals,
criminality, and victims exist.
According to Surette (1992)  The media has
a profound influence on the general public
understanding of crime.

Media Images
Various sources of information, commentary, and
debate on crime exist in print, video and electronic
media outlets that establish the parameters of
perceived wisdom on crime.
Marsh (1991) demonstrates that most media
illustrate crime in a mainstream and sensational
fashion. One facet of this overly dramatic style has
been the manner in which victims are presented.
The media, however, is not alone in dramatizing
certain kinds of victims.

Even the officials…
• Eitzen and Timmer 1989:39 
– Official crime statistics themselves fare no better
because they pay far more attention to violent and
property crime than to corporate and white-collar
crime

Weiss and Chermak (1998)
on Homicide Reporting
studied all homicides that occurred in
Indianapolis in 1995 and concluded that
murders of white victims receive more news
attention than when African-Americans are
victims.

Conclusions and Consequences
– What consequences would this presentation have?
– What patterns have you noticed on television and
other media?
– What do you think about Weiss and Chermak’s
conclusions?

Zatz and Richey Mann (1998)
• contend that popular conceptions of crime and
criminality are constructed within the dominant
paradigms of race, gender, and class.
• “By linking images of color with crime, the
stereotypes underlying media reporting on crime and
criminality become more apparent” (1998:1).

Street vs. White Collar crime
• Most research on media portrayals are based on street
crime rather than white-collar or corporate crime.
“The most common image of a crime victim is surely
the victim of murder, rape, robbery, burglary or some
other conventional crime.”
• There can be little question that most people are
likely to fear being victimized by such crime”
(Friedrichs 1996: 58).

Who to fear?
Rather than fearing white-collar or corporate
crime, most American citizens are unaware of
corporate misconduct because they are focused
on conventional crime.

Thinking about CrimeThinking about Crime
 Meithe and McCorkle  Simple
solutions to crime are rarely that!
 Simplicity vs. Complexity
 Criminal behavior is typically
1. described with Action verbs (beaten,
stabbed, attacked)
2. referenced with legal terms (murder,
kidnapping, etc…)

The "Crime Problem"The "Crime Problem"
• Raymond Mickalwski -- "crime problem" and
"problem of crime"
• Crime problem image refers to the traditional
depiction
• Problem of Crime image is concerned with
common crime but understands that not all forms
of socially harmful behavior are prohibited by
law

The "Typical Criminal"The "Typical Criminal"
• Jeffrey ReimanJeffrey Reiman -- Typical Criminal -- a stereotypical
image that is produced by existing criminal justice
practices, starting with the lawmaking process and
including law enforcement, corrections, and even media
coverage of crime and criminals.
 Carnival Mirror Image -- a distorted image of the
danger: young, black, poor, urban, and male
• Typical criminal and typical crime
Wrong: 1. Many crimes are not interpersonal
2. Most crimes are not violent

Meithe and McCorkleMeithe and McCorkle
They contend that we categorize and understand
criminal action through constructing different
kinds of categories.
They see four separate kinds or types of
understandings:
legal, offender, victim, and situational based.

Legal-based typologies
Limited because aspects of the offender are
missing
What about plea-bargaining 
Do we really know who did what?
Legal definitions vary from state to state
Criminals do not specialize
May be overly generalized?

Offender-based Typologies
These types are constructed on the
characteristics of the offenders
Ancient form of criminological analysis
“Classical School of Criminology”

Victim-based Typologies
This is New…
• What type of victim is chosen and why
• Offender decision-making is critical
• Victim response is useful information

Situation/Context-based Types
• Opportunity structure, where the crime
occurs

What is crime
• Before the criminal justice system can
function we must first define what is:
87
Crime

The Concept of Crime is Important
A person is not criminally culpable
(blameworthy) unless she acted:
voluntarily (or failed to act when required by law to do so)
with a “guilty mind”
in such a way that her action and intention
coincided in time causing the harm
in violation of the criminal law
so as to produced harm and injury

Simple Formula
ACT +
INTENT +
CONCURRENCE +
CAUSATION +
INJURY +
HARM +
PROHIBITED ACT = Crime

What is crime?
90
• Murder
• Burglary
• Robbery
• Larceny
• Motor Vehicle Theft
• Arson

It is also
91
• Sneaking into a movie theater
• Taking towels from a hotel
• Illegal parking
• Littering
• Skateboarding in unlawful areas
• Jaywalking
• Speeding

Elements of Crime
• A legal definition is the basis
of criminal justice in the
United States.
• Technically and ideally, a
criminal offense has not been
committed unless all seven of
the previous elements are
present.

True crimes
To establish that a true crime
has been committed and to convict
on it in court, it is neccessary
to establish all of the
following:
• 1. Harm
• 2. Legality
• 3. Actus Reus = action
• 4. Mens Rea = intent
• 5. Causation
• 6. Concurrence

What Constitutes a Crime?
 Corpus delicti: Refers to the elements of a given act that must be
present in order to legally define it as a crime.
 It is only necessary for the state to prove two elements to satisfy
corpus delicti:
 Actus reus
 Mens Rea
 Acts Reus: Means guilty act, and refers to the principle that a
person must commit some forbidden act or neglect some
mandatory act before he or she can be subjected to criminal
sanctions.
94

What Constitutes a Crime?
 Concurrence: Means that the act and the mental state occur in
the sense that the criminal intention actuates the criminal act.
 Causation: Refers to the necessity to establish a causal link
between the criminal act and the harm suffered.
 Harm: Refers to the negative impact a crime has either to the
victim or to the general values of the community.
95

Reality vs. Ideal
It is only in a technical and
ideal sense that all seven
elements of a true crime must
be present. In actual
practice, a behavior is often
considered a crime when one or
more of these elements is
absent.

Harm
• For a crime there must be negative
external consequences that are
deemed contrary to normal life or
experience.
• A mental state or emotional state is
not enough. Thinking about
committing a crime or being angry
enough to commit a crime, without
acting on the thought or anger is
not a crime.

Nature of Harm
• The harm may be physical or verbal.
• Physically striking another person
without legal justification is an
example of physical harm.
• An example of an act that does
verbal harm is a threat to strike
someone, whether the threat is
carried out or not.

Who says words can’t
hurt
Another example of verbal
harm includes writing
something false about
another person that
dishonors or injures in some
way and is called libel.
The spoken equivalent is
Slander.

Crime as a Subcategory of Social Harm
 John Hagen views crime as a continuous
variable and as a subcategory of all harmful acts.
Consensus: Agreement existing in the
population about right and wrong.
There is substantial agreement among
average citizens both within and across
modern societies regarding the average
seriousness ratings given to a variety of
criminal offenses.
100

Severity of the law’s response to a given crime
 The more serious the legal penalty, the
more serious the societal evaluation of the
act.
 Amount of harm caused by the crime.
 The harm dimension underlies both
consensus about wrongfulness and severity
of legal responses.
101

 Harmful acts, such as smoking tobacco or
drinking in access are not considered
anyone’s business other than the actor’s of
they take place in private, or even in public if
the person creates no annoyance.
08/10/14 102
Crime as a Subcategory of Social
Harm

 Social harmful acts are acts in a category that
some political body has decided in non-
arbitrary ways are in need of regulation, but
not by the criminal law except under
exceptional circumstances.
 Private wrongs (torts) are socially harmful, but
not sufficiently so to require the heavy hand
of the criminal law.
103

 A small subcategory of harmful acts is
considered so socially harmful that they come
under the purview of the coercive power of
the criminal justice system.
104

Beyond Social Construction:
The Stationary Core Crimes
 Few people would argue that an act is
not seriously harmful if it is universally
condemned.
 Mala in se: Crimes that ‘inherently bad’.
 Mala prohibita: Crimes that are
considered bad because they are
prohibited.
105

Victimful and Victimless Crimes
 Three crime categories
 Crimes for which there is an obvious intended victim.
 Crimes in which victimization is the result of
carelessness.
 Crimes in which participation in the crime is voluntary.
 A victimless crime is consensual and non predatory; a victimful crime
is non-consensual and predatory, and mala in se almost by
definition.
106

107
All Harms |the criminal
Mostly private matters; |justice system
rare state intervention |
All Social Harms
State regulated but Harms outside
not by criminal law the purview of
All Crimes Low/moderate consensus,
Mala in se and low/moderate penalties
mala prohibita low to moderate harm
Core Offenses High consensus,
Mala in se severe penalties,
high level of harm
Figure 1.1 Mala in Se and Mala
Prohibita Crimes as Subsets of all
Harms

Legality
• First – the harm must be legally
forbidden. Violation of union or
school or religious rules may be
wrong but they are not necessarily
prohibited by criminal law.
• Second – a criminal law must not be
retroactive or Ex Post Facto. You
can not declare an act illegal or
increase punishment after an act or
alter rules of evidence after it has
been committed. The U.S.
constitution forbids such laws.

Actus reus
 A latin term that refers to criminal
conduct. A prohibited act has taken
place in violation of the criminal
law. Or negligent (reckless) action
or inaction that causes harm to
another.
•
If people do not act in situations
where the law requires them to act,
they are committing crimes. Parents
are legally provided to care for

No crime w/o LAW
 There is no crime without law.
(Derived from Bentham & Beccaria,
classical school. All crime
defined with respect to the legal
code.)
• Remember again that you cannot be
convicted for your thoughts; you
must also have acted.
• (Note Jimmy Carter's comment during
his presidential campaign: "I have

Criminal Act (actus reus)
All crimes require an affirmative or
negative act.
Affirmative acts (act of
commission) require conscious
and volitional movement--a
product of the determination of
the actor.
Involuntary acts are insufficient.
Negative acts (acts of omission)
are failures to act where there is a
legal duty to act, and where it was
possible for the actor to act.

Involuntary Acts
Somnambulism
Unconsciousness
Seizure
Involuntary Neurological Response

Acts of Omission
Legal Relationship, e.g., parent-child
Contractual Obligation, e.g., lifeguard to
swimmer
Statutory Obligation, e.g., taxes
Creation of Peril
Voluntary Assumption of care

Criminal Intent (mens rea)
Purposely - with conscious
desire to cause a certain result
Knowingly - with awareness
that something will occur
Recklessly - with a conscious
disregard of a substantial risk or
injury
Negligently - actions that the
actor should have known would
cause harm

Mens rea
• Mens rea. Another
latin term.
Criminal intent,
or predisposition,
or premeditation,
or a criminal
state of mind.
• Difficult to
translate into
English.
Essentially,
though, it means
that you intended
to do what you
did, and that you
were able to be
responsible for

Criminal Intent
• Origins in Eighteenth century
English common law although the
principle goes back to the 1600s.
How do we determine if offenders
have the capacity for understanding
the consequences of their actions?
• Questions of competence are all
issues of Mens Rea.

Criminal Intent
Criminal intent assumes all ofCriminal intent assumes all of
the following:the following:
– Fairness
– Free will (ability to choose
between actions)
– Rationality
– Nature of punishment--from
vengeance to deterrence

Degrees of Mental Fault
Purposely
Knowingly
Recklessly
Negligently
Crime-Tort
Barrier

Gradations of Intention
• Purposely: A desires to kill B by blowing up a
building in which he knows B is sleeping. He has
acted purposely with regard to the death of B.
• Knowingly: A intends to blow up a building in
which he knows B is asleep on the top floor. Even
though does not desire B’s death, if B dies, A has
killed B knowingly because it is practically certain
the B will die.

M'Naghten Rule
If you are not of sound mind,
you can't be held responsible
for your actions. From this
we get the "innocent by
reason of insanity" plea.

M'Naghten Rule:
To establish an insanity
defense, "it must be clearly
proved that at the time of the
committing of the act, the
party accused was laboring under such
a defect of reason, from disease of the mind,
as not to know the nature and quality of the
act he was doing; or if he did know
it, that he did not know that
he was doing what was wrong."
Diminished Capacity

• Recklessly: A intends to blow up a building in
which he knows B is asleep. He calls C and
asks him to go to the building and wake up B.
• B knows that C is not very responsible. If C fails
to do wake B, and B dies, A has killed B
recklessly because he consciously disregarded
a significant risk of injury to B.

• Negligently: A desires to blow up a
building. Although it would be apparent to
the average person that B is in the
building and will be killed, A is totally
unaware of that possibility.
• If B dies, A has acted with criminal
negligence with regard to B’s death.

Strict Liability Crimes
• Certain public welfare
(e.g., hand gun
possession) and
sexual offenses (e.g.,
statutory rape,
bigamy, and adultery)
do not require proof of
mens rea.
• The act alone will
suffice.

Two Tests for Causation
Factual Causation
But for A’s act, the
result would not have
occurred when and as
it did.
“But for Bill’s act, Harry
would not have been
injured in the way in
which he was.”
Proximate Causation
B’s injuries must have
been the natural and
probable consequences of
A’s act.
B’s injuries must have
been foreseeable, without
any intervening factors
sufficient to break the
causal chain that would
relieve A of liability.

Defenses:
Excuses and Justifications
EXCUSES
Defenses in which the law
recognizes the absence of mens
rea or actus reus, and
concludes that no crime has
been committed
Insanity
Infancy
Intoxication
JUSTIFICATIONS
Defenses in which the law
authorizes the violation of
another law where there is
a justification
Self Defense
Defense of Others
Duress
Necessity

The Law of Deadly Force
• Constitutional Law
– Tennessee v. Gardner
• Police may not use deadly force against a fleeing unarmed
felony suspect. Such force is an unconstitutional seizure of
the person and violates the Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution.
• State Statute
– Justification by law enforcement
• Departmental Policies
– Examples: FBI Guidelines, PPD Directive 10

No force
Officer uses typical verbal commands
Slight force
Officer uses strong directive language and/or
minimal physical force to encourage compliance
Forcibly subdued suspects with hands
Officer uses an arm/wrist lock,
takedown, block, punch, or kick
Forcibly
subdued suspect
using methods other
than hands, e.g.,
gun or baton

What about insanity?insanity?
It is difficult to determine who
is legally insane. What is a
“defect of reason?” Or “disease
of the mind?”
What if a person knows the
difference between right and
wrong but is unable to control
their actions?
 Irresistible impulse (or
control) test
 If an offender meets the

Don’t have to care about Insanity
• States are free
to abolish
insanity as a
defense…
Montana (in
1979), Idaho,
and Utah are
states that
have done so.

Guilty but insane
• Following the 1982 acquittal of
John Hickley, on the grounds
that he was legally insane,
several states enacted “guilty
but insane” or “guilty but
mentally ill” laws.
Serve in mental institution
until cured then serve the
remainder of sentence in the
prison population

Causation
• It must be shown that the criminal
intent actually caused the
prohibited act to occur. There must
be a causal relationship between the
legally forbidden harm and the actus
reus (act itself).
• It's not good enough to show that
you thought about doing something
and then it happened. It must be
shown that you thought about doing
something, this led you to plan to
do it, and then you actually did it

Concurrence
• The criminal conduct and the
criminal intent must occur
together.
– Repair person stealing your
television on the way out.

For a behavior to be
considered a crime, there
must be statutory
provisions for punishment
or at least the threat of
punishment.
Without the threat of
punishment, a law is
unenforceable and is
therefore not a criminal

Ohio Revised Code
• A crime or public offense is
an act committed or
omitted in violation of a law
forbidding or commanding
it and to which is annexed,
upon conviction, either of
the following punishments:
• Death or
• Imprisonment
• Fine
• Removal from office
• Disqualification to hold and
enjoy any office of honor,
trust, or profit in this state
135

Crime simply…
136
A crime or public offense is an act
committed or omitted in violation of a law
forbidding or commanding it.

As society becomes more complex, so
do our laws and CJS
• In 1990, California
became the first
state to enact a
specific stalking law.
137

 Misdemeanor vs. Felony
 Wedding Cake

Criminal Behavior Systems
• Classifications
• Typologies
• Specific Offenses

Groupings of Crimes
• Violent Crime
• Property / Economic Crime
• Computer / High-Tech Crime
• Organized Crime
• White-collar Crime
• Public Order Crime

What you need, legally,
to have a crime
• Corpus delicti: each crime has elements that
must be meet to ‘prove’ the offense occurred
– Actus reus = action
– Mens rea = intent
• Common law definition of Burglary
– Entering the dwelling of another (act)
– In the night time
– To commit a felony within (intent)

Types of Offenses
• Crimes are classified by the seriousness of the
offenses as follows:
• A felony is the most serious offense, for which the
offender may be sentenced to state prison or death.
• Felonies generally include violent crimes, sex
offenses, and many types of drug and property
violations.
142

Types of Offenses
• A misdemeanor is a less serious offense for
which the offender may be sentenced to
probation, county jail, a fine, or some
combination of the three.
• Misdemeanors generally include crimes such
as assault and battery, petty theft, and public
drunkenness.
143

Types of Offenses
• An infraction is the least serious offense
and is generally punishable by a fine.
Many motor vehicle violations are
considered infractions.
144

Hate Crimes
• A criminal act against a person or a person’s
property by an offender motivated by racial
or other bias
• Based on
– Race
– Religion
– Ancestry
– Sexual orientation
– Physical disability
145

Major Categories of Violent Crime
• Murder, or unlawful killing of a human being
• Sexual assault or rape
• Assault and Battery
• Robbery
146

Violent Crime
• Violence Against the Person
• Sexual Violence
• Robbery
Perpetrators disproportionately young, male,
lower social classes
147

Police
Courts
Corrections/Penology

What Stands between the Criminal
and the People?
149

What Stands Between the Criminal
and the People?
150
CriminalCriminal
JusticeJustice
SystemSystem

151
Components of the Criminal Justice
System
P o lic e C o u rts C o rre c tio n s
T h e C rim in a l J u s tic e S y s te m

The Criminal Justice System:
Purpose and Goals
• To control crime
• To prevent crime – lower recidivism (re-offending)
• To provide and maintain justice
• To help strengthen communities
• To establish and reflect common values
• To deal with offenders inside and outside of the
community
• Others ???

Criminal case processing.
Source: Adapted from U.S. Dept. of Justice
153

The Criminal Justice System:
Purpose and Goals
• To control crime
• To prevent crime
• To provide and maintain justice
154

Due Process
• The criminal justice system must operate within
the bounds of law
• Grounded in first ten amendments to U.S.
Constitution
– Offers protection to any person charged with a crime
• Due process limits the power of government
155

156
Criminal Justice Funnel
Of 1,000
crimes that are
committed
Only
5 juveniles and
18 adults are
incarcerated

Structure of the Criminal Justice
System
• Police
– Local Law Enforcement
– State Law Enforcement
– Federal Law Enforcement
• Courts
– State Courts
– Federal Courts
– Prosecutors and Defenders
157

Structure of the Criminal Justice
System
• Corrections
– Probation
– Incarceration
– Community Based Corrections
– Parole
158

The Criminal Justice System: Size and
Expense
• 55,000 different public agencies
• $147 billion annual budget
• 2.2 million employees
• 20,000 police agencies
• 17,000 courts
159

Expense
• 8,000 prosecutorial agencies
• 5,700 correctional institutions
• 3,500 probation and parole departments
• 15 million arrests per year
– 3 million for felonies
• Correctional population of 2 million
• Additional 4 million on probation or parole
160

Expense
• Law Enforcement employs over 1 million sworn
personnel, not counting civilian employees
• Corrections employs over 717,000 people
• Court systems employ 455,000
• It costs $70,000 to build a jail or prison cell
• It costs $25,000 a year to house an inmate
161

Department of Homeland Security
• The newest federal criminal
justice agency was created
by President George W.
Bush on November 25,
2002.
• Headed by Tom Ridge
162

Role of the Police
• Protect lives and
property
• The only criminal justice
component that deals
with persons not
charged with a crime.
163

Role of the Police
• Duties are becoming
more complex
• Greater use of
discretion
• If possible use
alternatives other
than arrest.
• When necessary
arrest law violators
164

Role of the Police
• Felony arrests require
probable or reasonable
cause
• Misdemeanor arrests
may be made if act is
“in-presence” of officer
165

Role of the Courts
• To seek truth & obtain
justice
• To adjudicate &
sentence
• Consists of:
– municipal courts*
– superior courts
– appellate courts
– supreme court
166

Role of the Courts
• Plea Bargain accepted in
90% of criminal cases.
• Also referred to as Bargain
Justice.
• Prosecution and defense
form “adversary system” of
justice
167

An Excursion Through the American Criminal
Justice System
 A preliminary arraignment has two purposes.
 To advise suspects of their constitutional rights, and of the
tentative charges against them.
 To set bail.
08/10/14 168

An Excursion Through the American Criminal Justice
System
 Preliminary Hearing: The preliminary hearing usually takes
place about ten days after the preliminary arraignment, and is
a proceeding before a magistrate or municipal judge in which
three major matters must be decided.
 Whether or not a crime has actually been committed.
 Whether or not there are reasonable grounds to believe the
person before the bench committed it.
 Whether or not the crime was committed in the jurisdiction of
the court.
169

Justice System
The Grand Jury: Prosecutors in some states must
seek an indictment from a grand jury.
The grand jury is normally an investigatory body and a
buffer between the power of the state and its citizens.
170

Justice System
Arraignment: The arraignment
proceeding is the first time
defendants have the opportunity
to respond to the charges against
them. After the charges are read
to the defendant, he or she must
then enter a formal response,
known as a plea.
08/10/14 171

Justice System
The Trial: The trial is an adversarial process pitting
the prosecutor against the defense attorney.
The prosecutor’s job is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that the defendant is guilty; the defense need only to
plant the seed of reasonable doubt to upset the
prosecution’s case.
172

 About 90% of all felony cases in the United States are
settled by plea bargains in which the state extends some
benefit to the defendant in exchange for his or her
cooperation.
 Probation: On the basis of presentence investigation
reports, the probation officer offers a sentencing
recommendation. The most important factors influencing
these recommendations are crime seriousness and the
defendant’s criminal history.
08/10/14 173
Justice System

Is this your idea of Corrections?
• It is also home
arrest
• Community
supervision
• Probation
• Parole
• And lastly,
Confinement
174

Incarceration: Of the sentence imposed for a felony conviction is
some form of incarceration, the judge has the option of
sentencing the offender to a state penitentiary, a county jail, or a
county work release program.
08/10/14 175
An Excursion Through the
American Correctional System

 Parole: Parole is a conditional release from prison granted to
inmates some time prior to the completion of their sentence.
 An inmate is granted parole by a parole board, which decides for
or against parole based on such factors as inmate behavior while
incarcerated and the urgency of the need for cell space.
176
An Excursion Through the
American Correctional System

Community-Based Corrections
• Correctional programs operating within
society at large rather than behind prison
walls
• Three advantages:
– Reduce costs
– Supervision of convicts while eliminating
hardships of prison life and stigma of jail
– Not so much to punish as reform
177

• Probation
– A policy of permitting a convicted offender to remain in
the community under conditions imposed by a court
• Shock Probation
– A policy by which a judge orders a convicted offender
to prison for a short time and then suspends the
remainder of the sentence in favor of probation
• Parole
– A policy of releasing inmates from prison to serve the
remainder of their sentences in the local community
under supervision of a parole officer
178

Discretion
• Discretion permits justice officials at all levels
to make decisions that will keep the system
operating
179

Discretionary Decisions
• Criminal justice officials must make decisions
every day concerning their duties
• Police
• To enforce the law
• Investigate specific crimes
• Search people or buildings
• Arrest or detain people
180

• Prosecutors
• File charges against suspects brought to them by the
police
• Drop cases
• Reduce charges
181

• Judges
• Set conditions for pre-trial release
• Accept pleas
• Dismiss charges
• Impose sentences
182

• Correctional Officials
• Assign convicts to prison or jail
• Punish prisoners who misbehave
• Reward prisoners who behave well
183

Crime in the United States
185

Prison and Jail Populations in the
United States
Figure 1.8
Prison and Jail Populations in the United States, 1985 - 2000
186

Victimization: Percent of Offences byVictimization: Percent of Offences by
Type of Crime, Seven Countries,Type of Crime, Seven Countries,
20002000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Vehicular Burglary Contact crimes Theft
Australia (58)
England & Wales (58)
Sweden (46)
USA (43)
Canada (42)
France (36)
Japan (22)
Percent of offences
Note: Contact crimes include robberies, sexual incidents, and assaults and threats. Horizontal lines indicate international average
for each type of crime for all 17 countries in the survey. Thirty-eight percent of the population of all 17 countries were victimized in
the year preceding the survey.
Percent of populationPercent of population
victimized by all crimesvictimized by all crimes
187

Criminal Statistics
• Include only crimes known to the police
• Researchers check crime statistics
– Victimization Surveys
– Demonstrates that the overall crime rate is three
times higher than official reports indicate

Criminal Patterns and Trends
• Race and Ethnicity
– Strongly linked to crime rates
– Reasons for disproportionate
arrests among African Americans

Crime in a Global Perspective
• U. S. crime rate high by world standards
– Crime arises from culture’s emphasis on individual
economic success
– Extensive private ownership of guns
• Crime high in some of the largest cities of the
world
• Different countries have different strategies for
dealing with crime
– Death penalty

Trends and Issues in Criminal Justice
Today in the United States
• Three Strikes You’re Out
• Decline in the crime rate
• Fear of crime
• Crime as a political issue
• Tougher sentencing laws
• Abolition of parole in some states
• Increased vigilance given to drug cases
191

Thinking about trends and Issues in
Criminal Justice Today
• Women in prison are growing faster than any
other group!
• Is this due to more female criminality or
differences in how they are treated, or both?
192

Other Trends and Issues in Criminal
Justice Today
• Terrorism
• Media Distortion of Crime getting worse?
– False perception of a crime epidemic
– Suggestion that crime rates are increasing
– Impression that most crime is violent
• White Collar and Corporate Crime
– Esp. Fraud
193

Organizational and Corporate Issues

Corporate Criminal Liability:
The Federal Law
• A corporation may be held criminally liable for acts
committed by its employees if they were acting within the
scope of their authority, and for the benefit of the
corporation even if such acts were against corporate
policy or express instructions.
• This rule extends corporate criminal liability to acts
committed by:
officers and directors
managers and supervisors
subordinate employees
independent contractors

Vicarious Liability
Agent’s Criminal IntentAgent’s Criminal Act

The Corporate Compliance Movement
• The likelihood of a
criminal investigation,
indictment, aggressive
prosecution, conviction,
and significant fine may
be reduced significantly
by evidence of
corporate compliance.
• Vicarious liability might
be defeated by active
corporate compliance
efforts.
Liability
Corporate Compliance

What are the ingredients (elements) of all
crimes?
ACT +
INTENT +
CONCURRENCE +
CAUSATION +
INJURY +
HARM +
PROHIBITED ACT = Crime
Biological Persons
Corporate Persons

How can a corporation commit a
crime?
• Who acts
• Who intends?
• Who causes injury?
• Who is punished?

New York Central & Hudson River
Railroad v. U.S. (1909)
• Corporations conduct the great majority of
business transactions
• Interstate commerce is almost entirely in their
hands
• The notion that corporations are incapable of
committing crimes would “virtually take away the
only means of effectively controlling” business
transactions in interstate commerce
• Corporations can commit crimes

Minimum Requirements for an
Effective Compliance Program
Standards and
Procedures reasonably
capable of preventing
criminal conduct
Oversight of standards by
high level personnel
Care in the delegation of
substantial managerial
authority to individuals
Effective communication of
standards and procedures
to employees
Reasonable steps taken to
achieve compliance
Enforcement of disciplinary
mechanisms
Appropriate response after
detection of an offense

Key to Compliance
Proactive Compliance
Reactive Compliance

Edwin Sutherland and his view
Challenging Issues: Genocide, Terrorism, Death Penalty

Criminology:
Sutherland’s Definition--Modified
• Criminology is the body of knowledge regarding
crime and criminality as a social, psychological,
and biological phenomena.
• It includes within its scope the process of making
laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting toward the
breaking of laws.
• The objective of criminology is the development
of a body of knowledge regarding crime,
criminality, and its prevention.

The Forgotten Criminology of Genocide
• Why has the field of criminology neglected any
consideration of the crime of genocide?
• How could criminologists neglect an estimated
sixteen million deaths in crimes against
humanity since World War II?
• What has the field of criminology lost by its
neglect of the crime of genocide?

Terrorism
FBI Definition
• The unlawful use of force
or violence against
persons or property to
intimidate or coerce a
government, the civilian
population, or any
segment thereof, in
furtherance of political or
social objectives.

Terrorism:
Generating Publicity and Fear
Classifying Terrorism
• Revolutionary Terrorism
Forcing governments to respond;
to encourage a revolution, e.g.,
PLO
• State-Sponsored Terrorism
Terrorist activities by
governments against their own
citizens or other countries, e.g.,
Khmer Rouge
• Religious Terrorism
Promoting a religious system or
protect a set of religious beliefs,
e.g., use of Jihad or holy war by
Islamic fundamentalists

Terrorism
Punishment?
• Symbolic
• Retributive
• Desert
• Expressive
• Restorative

Criminal Statistics:
The Death Penalty
• How many people have been
executed since 1608?
executed this year?
• How many executions have taken
place since the death penalty was
reinstated in 1976?
• How many jurisdictions have death
penalty statutes?
• Which states do not permit the
death penalty?
• What percentage of
defendants executed since
1976 were white?
• What percentage of
defendants executed were
convicted of killing a white
victim?
• Which two states can claim
credit for more than 40% of
all executions since 1976?
• Do states still execute
inmates either by hanging or
with a firing squad?

•
Criminal Statistics: Death Penalty
How many people have been
executed since 1608? (19,500)
How many people have been
executed this year? (48)
How many executions have taken
place since the death penalty was
reinstated in 1976? (731)
How many states have death
penalty statutes? (38)
Which states do not permit the death
penalty? Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa,
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode
Island, Vermont, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, and the District of
Columbia
What percentage of defendants
executed since 1976 were
white? (45%)
What percentage of defendants
executed were convicted of
killing a white victim? (81%)
Which two states can claim
credit for more than 40% of all
executions since 1976? (Texas
and Virginia)
Do states still execute inmates
either by hanging or with a firing
squad? Delaware, Montana,
and New Hampshire (H); Idaho,
Oklahoma, Utah (FS)

The Death Penalty
• How many documented
innocent people have been
executed this century?
released since 1972 as a result
of being wrongfully convicted?
• What percentage of Texas and
California death row
populations are people of
color?
• How many countries still
execute people for crimes
committed as children?
• How many children have been
sentenced to death in the U.S.
since 1973?
• The youngest person executed
since WWII in the United States
was___?
• What is the youngest person
ever to be executed in the
United States?
• How many people on death row
today are known to be retarded?
• How much evidence exists to
prove or suggest that the death
penalty deters murder?

The Death Penalty
• How many documented innocent
people have been executed this
century? (23)
released since 1972 as a result
of being wrongfully convicted?
(98)
• What percentage of Texas and
California death row populations
are people of color? (60%)
• How many countries still execute
people for crimes committed as
children? (6) Nigeria, Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and
U.S.
• How many children have been
sentenced to death in the U.S.
since 1973? (160)
• The youngest person executed
since WWII in the United States
was___? (14)
• What is the youngest person
ever to be executed in the
United States? (10)
• How many people on death row
today are known to be
retarded? (300)
• How much evidence exists to
prove or suggest that the death
penalty deters murder?

Penology
• What is punishment?

Goals of Punishment
Retribution
Deterrence
Incapacitation
Rehabilitation
Proportional Penalty - Offense Determinative
Deserved Penalty - Harm Determinative
Expressive Penalty - Message Determinative
Individualized Sentences
Offender Culpability - Offense
Offender Change - Intervention
Crime Rates - Fear of Consequences
Power of Deterrence - Swift, Certain***,
Sufficiently Severe, Laws Known to Public
Types: General and Specific (or Special)
Collective Incapacitation
Selective Incapacitation
Restorative Justice
Repairing the harm between
Offender and victim

The Forgotten Criminology
of Genocide
• Genocide is a Political Act Reflecting the Will of
Sovereignty
Genocide, it has been said, is a political rather than
criminal act most often employed to enhance the
solidarity and unification of nation-states.
Decisions to liquidate, exterminate, and cleanse a
minority population are matters of political policy
reflecting the will and ideologies of sovereignty.
Genocide results from a modern, developed, state
bureaucratic apparatus that moves the conception of
systematic torture and killing from the criminal to the
political.

of Genocide
• Genocide as a Breach of International Norms and
International Law
To understand the law of genocide, one mustTo understand the law of genocide, one must
appreciate its place in law as an internationalappreciate its place in law as an international
crime.crime.

of Genocide
• Genocide is Committed by the State
Of all the many revelations over the last fifty
years, criminologists seem to have the most
difficulty with the notion that an organization
or entity, whether a corporation or nation
state, may commit a crime.
When crimes are imputed from an individual
to an inanimate entity, the intellectual
challenge becomes: Should an individual be
blamed as well?

of Genocide
• The Magnitude of Victimization in Genocide
Defies Belief
Criminological research confirms intuitive ratings of
crime seriousness from multiple murder to shoplifting.
The differences in seriousness ratings for virtually all
offenses are highly objective and quantifiable.
The extent of victimization and harm in genocide,
however, strains any assessment of seriousness.
Who appreciates differences in seriousness where
the offense is, for example, 100,000, 250,000, or
500,000 butchered Hutus or Tutsis?

of Genocide
• The Problems of Denying and Admitting Atrocity
Two prominent themes that emerge from the
literature on genocide capture an
ambivalence hard felt by some survivors and
refugees of genocide.
This ambivalence is captured in the titles of
two recently published books on the
Holocaust—Deborah Lipstadt’s Denying the
Holocaust (1994) and Lawrence L. Langer’s
Admitting the Holocaust (1995).

Individualist and Sociological Explanations

Why do people commit crimes?Why do people commit crimes?
- lots of theories- lots of theories
- need to be careful:- need to be careful:
spurious correlationspurious correlation

The Role of Theory in Criminology
Theory Making: Trying to grasp how all the known
correlates of a phenomenon are linked together in non-
coincidental ways to produce an effect.
Criminologists are interested in finding out factors that
cause crime and criminality.
227

 The very first step in detected causes is to discover correlates,
which are factors that are linked or related to the phenomenon
a scientist is interested in.
 Scientists have never uncovered a necessary cause (a factor that
must be present for behavior to occur) or a sufficient cause (a
factor that is able to produce criminal behavior without having
been augmented by some other factor.
08/10/14 228

 Theories help us to make sense of a diversity of
seemingly unrelated facts and propositions, and
they even tell us where to look for more facts.
08/10/14 229

What is a Theory?
 Theory: Set of logically interconnected propositions explaining how
phenomena are related, and from which a number of hypotheses can be
derived and tested.
 Hypotheses: Statements about relationships between and among factors
we expect to find based on the logic of our theories.
 Criteria for judging the merits of a theory:
 Predictive accuracy: A theory has merit and is useful to the extent that it
accurately predicts what is observed.
08/10/14 230

 Predictive scope: Refers to the scope or range of the theory and
thus the scope or range of the hypotheses that can be derived
from it.
 Simplicity: If two competing theories are essentially equal in
terms of the first two criteria, then the less complicated one is
considered more ‘elegant.’
 Falsifiability: A theory is never proven true, but it must have the
quality of being falsifiable or disprovable.
231
What is a Theory?

How to Think About Theories
 There are theories that deal with different levels of
analysis, or that segment of the phenomenon of interest
that is measured and analyzed.
 Questions of cause and effect must be answered at the
same level of analysis at which they were posed.
 Causal explanations are offered at different temporal levels:
Ultimate (distant in time) and proximate (close in time).
 Theory testing looks for causal explanations rather than
simple descriptions.
232

08/10/14 233
Figure 1.2 The Ultimate-Proximate Levels of Explanation
___________________________________________________________________
Evolution  Genetics  Temperament  Developmental History  Personality
Evolutionary Each person's CNS and PNS Family factors, attachment, Enduring traits
history of the genetic inheritance functioning school, peers, etc. experiences of person forged
species from genes and
experience
 Immediate Situation  Subjective Appraisal  Behavior
Each person brings to a People react differently
situation everything he or she to similar situations
has become due to the because they have
preceding factors different genes and
different experiences
Figure 1.2
The Ultimate-Proximate Levels of Explanation
Note: Evolutionary forces lead to species-specific genomes. Each person has a fairly unique genotype. These
genotypes lead to differential central and peripheral nervous system (CNS and PNS) functioning. This functioning is
modified by the person's developmental history. Working together, the person's temperament and developmental
history forms his or her personality. This personality may often lead the person to different situations and lead him or
her to appraise it different from other persons. The behavior elicited from that appraisal is thus the result of
everything that preceded it, plus pure chance.

08/10/14 234
Figure 1.3 Interaction of Environmental and Individual Factors in the
Probability of Moving from Law Abiding to Law Breaking Behavior
Note: Angled lines each represent a hypothetical individual. Person A has a low underlying criminal disposition and
thus requires strong environmental instigation to cross the threshold from law abiding to law breaking behavior. Person
B has a strong underlying criminal disposition and will cross the threshold even under extremely low environmental
instigation. (From A. Walsh, 2003. Reprinted with permission from Nova Science)

Ideology in Criminological Theory
 Ideology: A way of looking at the world, a general emotional
picture of ‘how things should be’
 Constrained vision: Believers in this vision view human activities
as constrained by an innate human nature that is self centered
and largely unalterable
 Unconstrained vision: Denies innate human nature, viewing it as
formed anew in each different culture.
235

Ideology in Criminological Theory
 Ideal types: Conceptual tools that accentuate differences
between competing positions for the purposes of guiding the
exploration of them.
 A theory of criminal behavior is at least partly shaped by the
ideological vision of the person who formulated it, and that in
turn is due to the ideological atmosphere prevailing in society.
236

Theory Construction, Development, and
Validation
• Intuitive criminology
poverty
biological causes?
genetic predispositions?
social learning?
control – impulse, self and social?
social structure?
culture? subculture?
crimecrime

Individual Explanations
• Sociobiology
• Free Will
• NeoClassical
• Psychological
• Biology

Sociological explanations for
criminal and deviant behavior
• Subcultural
• Social Disorganization
• Anomie
• Drift
• Control theory
239

Deviant Subcultures
• Cloward and Ohlin (1966)
– Deviance or conformity depends on the relative
opportunity structure that frames a person’s life
– Conflict subcultures
• Violence is ignited by frustration and a desire for respect
– Retreatist subcultures
• Deviants drop out and abuse alcohol or drugs

• Cohen (1977)
– Criminality is most common among lower-class
youths-least likely to experience success
• Miller (1970) characterized deviant subcultures
– Trouble-arising from frequent conflict
– Toughness-value placed on size, strength, and
agility
– Smartness-ability to succeed on the streets
• A need for excitement
• A belief in fate-no control over their own lives
• A desire for freedom-anger towards authority

Subculture and Code of the Streets
• Anderson (1994)
– In poor urban neighborhoods, most people manage
to conform to conventional values
– “Street Code”
• Lifestyle of some young men
• Neighborhood crime and violence
• Indifference or hostility from the police
• Parental neglect
– Risk of jail is high 242

Subculture
There is differentiation amongst subcultural theorists but all share
the belief:
People who commit crime share a different set of values which isPeople who commit crime share a different set of values which is
different from the values of society as a whole. They have adifferent from the values of society as a whole. They have a
differentdifferent subculturesubculture
Brought up by their parents to have values sympathetic to crimeBrought up by their parents to have values sympathetic to crime
243

Chicago Ecological School 1920’s
• Found that inner city and working class areas had more recorded
crime than middle class suburban areas
• J B Mays 1954: growing up in the city found that criminal
subcultures are most likely in areas of acute social disadvantage
(British sociologist examining Liverpool)
• E.g. James Patrick, A Glasgow gang observed, 1973 (theory and methods,
participant observation)
• Cloward and Ohlin, Delinquency and Opportunity, 1961 found
delinquent groups are most common in socially disadvantaged
areas
• Research your crime stats and find if this is representative ofResearch your crime stats and find if this is representative of
contemporary society…crime links at bottom of crime page…trycontemporary society…crime links at bottom of crime page…try
to research your local police statsto research your local police stats
244

Sutherland’s Differential
Association Theory
• Sutherland’s theory of Differential Association
– A person’s tendency toward conformity or
deviance depends on the amount of contact with
others who encourage or reject conventional
behavior
– The likelihood of engaging in crime is determined by
the values and attitudes of the people one
associates with…

Cohen and ‘Status deprivation’
Albert Cohen -
Delinquent Boys 1955 found that Status
deprivation was a key factor in joining a
delinquent group.
Status failure at school becomes a ‘king’ in the
streets.
W. Belson, Juvenile theft, 1975, a study of thieves
in London found that they stole so as to be
‘accepted as part of the group, to gain prestige’
Graffiti spraying?
246

Anomie: Merton
• All societies motivate people…they can achieve
through hard work
• For the majority this is impossible/difficult to
attain (suggest who and when)
• Merton argues this to an increased level of crime
as people turn to crime to achieve financial
success
• This situation when the goals of society are not
possible by conventional means anomieanomie
247

Evaluations
Again like Durkheim this theory has been criticized for
being too deterministic
Ignores FreechoiceIgnores Freechoice
What sociologists believe this to be?What sociologists believe this to be?
Action v System, positivists v interpretivists, etc;Action v System, positivists v interpretivists, etc;
David Matza, Delinquency and Drift, 1964, says that
individuals use techniques of neutralisation to explain
their deviant behaviour away
Suggest two reasons why people explain theirSuggest two reasons why people explain their
criminal/delinquent behaviourcriminal/delinquent behaviour
248

David Matza
• Subterranean values of pleasure seeking and
risk-taking are found in mainstream suburban
society as well as ‘areas’
• Everyone is deviant sometimes and young
people are more prone to this
Neo-Marxists theory sees some sub-cultures asNeo-Marxists theory sees some sub-cultures as
representing challenge to the stabilised orderrepresenting challenge to the stabilised order
249

Hirschi’s Control Theory
• Control Theory
– Social control depends on people anticipating the
consequences of their behavior
• Conformity is linked to four different types of
social control
– Attachment, Opportunity, Involvement, Belief

But where are the girls?
• Again examining sociological studies we find
that women have been ignored.
• Early sociology failed to take account of
women.
Suggest reasons why sociologists would haveSuggest reasons why sociologists would have
ignored womenignored women
251

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