Criminology Lecture Notes January 14 What is criminology? Doesn't ...
Criminology Lecture Notes January 14 What is criminology? Doesn’t have its own history Criminology as a discipline for the structured/systematic study of crime and society in the late 19th century Rafter’s two conceptual frameworks: the gold digging and the procedural Procedural method – much like a river… flowing through time, hitting rocks, absorbing current, picking up new methods or concepts as it travels Social Contract (liberal revolution) Liberalism: early process of democratization Initial architecture of the rule of law Theories of individual rights Rationalism and the rule of reason Cesare Beccaria (1738 – 1794) “On crimes and punishment“ (1764) Rationalism and the rule of reason Major figure in classical school of criminology “In order that punishment should not be an act of violence perpetuated by one or many upon a private citizen. It is essential that it should be public, speedy, necessary, the minimum possible in the given circumstances, proportionate to crime, and determined by the law” Penitentiary Invention Prison reformist movement (late 18 century) Birth of modern prison as a definite form of punishment Industrialization Mass urbanization High rates of crime, deluge of social pro Marxism and social inequity as basis for understanding crime Pre Criminological forces: Positivism Muncie “A theoretical approach that emerged in the early nineteenth century, which argues that social relations and events (including crime) can be studied scientifically using method derived from the natural sciences. Its aim is to search for, explain and predict future patterns of social behavior” Based on the urban too “the threat of the urban crowd” surplus populations Boom of literature about the dangers and menace of the crowd Centrality Rafter’s Emergence of criminology: two stages Cottage industry: late 18 th to criminal man Criminal man, post 1876 to early 1890s when the term criminology was typified Cesare Lombroso (18351909)
The Italian School Shift to the Nature of the criminal; vs rationalism of Beccaria Concept of atavism Atavistic individuals were ‘the born criminals’ Concept of atavism: according the theory of “recapitulation” an individuals ontogeny – i.e. the development of each individual belonging to a species, would in fact “recapitulate phylogeny, i.e. the development of the species. According to Lombroso, there would be individuals whose development would not progress beyond previous stages of human development. The man who believed that certain facial structures and features would better identify whom is a criminal or not
ASSIGNMENT 1 PAGE 500 WORDS single spaced typed quoting from the book – page number only just name student number at the top no title page demonstrating I understand and engage with the text pick a character, symbol, event no right or wrong answers reflection piece engagement attempt exceptionally generous with marks bless you not a summary of the entire book only one series of narrative one event have to read the whole book for the midterm Rafter: crystallization of criminology Centered around the topic of crime o Moral Insanity o Human evolution and its implications for understanding the cause of crime o Crime as a social phenomena What is Crime? Lanier and Henry: Definition of crime should: Be holistic in its approach Incorporate diverse/multiple theories simultaneous, without ‘excluding their differences’ Sensitive to the experiences of harm, victimization, stigma and social unease No need for a fixed definition; needs to move with time, space, culture and society 5 frameworks of crime: Classical (Beccaria; rationalist; free will) Positivist (Italian school; scientific methods) Normative (Durkheim)
Legal Critical
Classical theories of crime Beccaria Crime as irrationality Individuals choose crime Counterforce to Christian law Emerged in concert with liberalism and the rule of law Emphasis on fairness and rule of law Clear rules; lessen discretion; more systematic; Positivism Proponents of the scientific method Crime was a product of radical deviance; abnormality The product of defective minds and bodies Crime stats Later fFeud and psych, issues of maladjustment Individualfocused Durkheim; crime as normal. Necessary and functional The division of labor in society (1893) Organic solidarity Law as an ‘indicator’ of the type of society Anomie theory Durkheim on crime Not only normal, but necessary to HOLD SOCIETY TOGETHER Division of labor in society (1893) and suicide (1897); anomie theory For Durkheim, anomie is a lack, or the inadequacy of moral norms. Faced with the development of the division of labor The condition of anomie results from the coming into being of what we could call a ‘gap’ between the progress in the division of labor and the forms of solidarity that allow society to keep up with such progress Durkheims four: What we deem to be acceptable and unacceptable Social solidarity for a law abiding folk Innovation – deviant behavior allows for innovation Serves as an indicator of social health Legal Definition The law defines crime, the issue is how to identify, classify types of crimes and offenders Adapt criminal code Crime as “acts prohibited, prosecuted, and punished by criminal law” Michael and Alder: “criminal law gives behavior its quality of criminality”
Contemporary; but lets call it critical Chicago school; crime as social harm White collar crime Crime is about social injury and harm. Regardless of the criminal code Crime has to account for social harm; focus on the powerful “Because there are so many possible wrongs and because ‘crime’ denotes only a select sample of all disapproved acts, the definition of crime various from time to time and from place to place and there is continuing controversy about what should or should not be called ‘crime’” Nettler The “problem of context” Lanier and Henry: “The context in which one views social action and events shapes whether the event is deemed criminal” Definitions of crime change; are different in different times/spaces/cultures The Criminalization process & the decriminalization process Criminalization process: the social process by which problematic behaviors or problematic persons are targeted by institutions (and actors) of the criminal justice system Decriminalization process: the social process by which behaviors or persons (which may or may not be considered problematic) are disengaged from formal processes of the criminal justice system Sandra Walklate (2003:13): five key features of criminology: 1. Held together by one substantive concern: crime. 2. It is multidisciplinary so it is important to understand the conceptual apparatus with which a particular criminologists might be working. 3. Criminologists disagree with each other especially over how to ‘solve’ the crime problem they are nevertheless concerned to offer some advice on policy 4. What criminologies do sometimes resonates with common sense thinking about crime but often challenges that thinking 5. All of these features of criminology need to be situated within societies increasingly pre-occupied with crime, risk, and insecurity.
The Italian School Shift to the Nature of the criminal; vs rationalism of Beccaria Concept of atavism Atavistic individuals were ‘the born criminals’ Concept of atavism: according the theory of “recapitulation” an individuals ontogeny – i.e. the development of each individual belonging to a species, would in fact “recapitulate phylogeny, i.e. the development of the species. According to Lombroso, there would be individuals whose development would not progress beyond previous stages of human development. The man who believed that certain facial structures and features would better identify whom is a criminal or not
ASSIGNMENT 1 PAGE 500 WORDS single spaced typed quoting from the book – page number only just name student number at the top no title page demonstrating I understand and engage with the text pick a character, symbol, event no right or wrong answers reflection piece engagement attempt exceptionally generous with marks bless you not a summary of the entire book only one series of narrative one event have to read the whole book for the midterm Rafter: crystallization of criminology Centered around the topic of crime o Moral Insanity o Human evolution and its implications for understanding the cause of crime o Crime as a social phenomena What is Crime? Lanier and Henry: Definition of crime should: Be holistic in its approach Incorporate diverse/multiple theories simultaneous, without ‘excluding their differences’ Sensitive to the experiences of harm, victimization, stigma and social unease No need for a fixed definition; needs to move with time, space, culture and society 5 frameworks of crime: Classical (Beccaria; rationalist; free will) Positivist (Italian school; scientific methods) Normative (Durkheim)
Legal Critical
Classical theories of crime Beccaria Crime as irrationality Individuals choose crime Counterforce to Christian law Emerged in concert with liberalism and the rule of law Emphasis on fairness and rule of law Clear rules; lessen discretion; more systematic; Positivism Proponents of the scientific method Crime was a product of radical deviance; abnormality The product of defective minds and bodies Crime stats Later fFeud and psych, issues of maladjustment Individualfocused Durkheim; crime as normal. Necessary and functional The division of labor in society (1893) Organic solidarity Law as an ‘indicator’ of the type of society Anomie theory Durkheim on crime Not only normal, but necessary to HOLD SOCIETY TOGETHER Division of labor in society (1893) and suicide (1897); anomie theory For Durkheim, anomie is a lack, or the inadequacy of moral norms. Faced with the development of the division of labor The condition of anomie results from the coming into being of what we could call a ‘gap’ between the progress in the division of labor and the forms of solidarity that allow society to keep up with such progress Durkheims four: What we deem to be acceptable and unacceptable Social solidarity for a law abiding folk Innovation – deviant behavior allows for innovation Serves as an indicator of social health Legal Definition The law defines crime, the issue is how to identify, classify types of crimes and offenders Adapt criminal code Crime as “acts prohibited, prosecuted, and punished by criminal law” Michael and Alder: “criminal law gives behavior its quality of criminality”
Contemporary; but lets call it critical Chicago school; crime as social harm White collar crime Crime is about social injury and harm. Regardless of the criminal code Crime has to account for social harm; focus on the powerful “Because there are so many possible wrongs and because ‘crime’ denotes only a select sample of all disapproved acts, the definition of crime various from time to time and from place to place and there is continuing controversy about what should or should not be called ‘crime’” Nettler The “problem of context” Lanier and Henry: “The context in which one views social action and events shapes whether the event is deemed criminal” Definitions of crime change; are different in different times/spaces/cultures The Criminalization process & the decriminalization process Criminalization process: the social process by which problematic behaviors or problematic persons are targeted by institutions (and actors) of the criminal justice system Decriminalization process: the social process by which behaviors or persons (which may or may not be considered problematic) are disengaged from formal processes of the criminal justice system Sandra Walklate (2003:13): five key features of criminology: 1. Held together by one substantive concern: crime. 2. It is multidisciplinary so it is important to understand the conceptual apparatus with which a particular criminologists might be working. 3. Criminologists disagree with each other especially over how to ‘solve’ the crime problem they are nevertheless concerned to offer some advice on policy 4. What criminologies do sometimes resonates with common sense thinking about crime but often challenges that thinking 5. All of these features of criminology need to be situated within societies increasingly pre-occupied with crime, risk, and insecurity.
