WK 2 CRCJ 1000d What is a crime? What is criminology? Required ...
WK 2 CRCJ 1000d What is a crime? What is criminology? Required readings: Henry, Stuart and Mark Lanier (2001). “Crime in Context: The Scope of the Problem,” in What is Crime? Controversies over the nature of crime and what to do about it. Edited by Mark Lanier and Stuart Henry. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield, Pp. 1-18. Rafter, Nicole (2011). “Origins of Criminology” in What is criminology? Edited by Mary Bosworth and Carolyn Holye. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, Pp 143-154. ================ Outline and Core Concepts What is criminology? History of criminology as a ‘science’ of crime and society Rafter Gold digging ‘procedural approach’ Pre-criminology 1. Social Contract Liberalism: Crisis of middle ages Rule of law harm Beccaria Rationalism Penal invention freedom 2. Industrialization Marxism Social Reforms 3. Positivism Scientific revolution Def of positivism Emergence of criminology; Rafter’s two stages Cottage industry Barriers to criminological development Multi disciplinary Multiple languages Earl Lombroso Lombroso & The Italian School Emergence of criminology as a discipline Scientific racism BREAK Rafter’s three core themes
1. Moral insanity 2. Human evolution 3. Crime as a social phenomena .> centred around topic But what is a crime? Definitions of crime Classical Positivist Legal Normative (Durkheim) Critical Contemporary debates around legal definition-plus Lanier and Henry: “The problem of context” Understanding criminalization / decriminalization Contemporary criminology Walklate’s 5 ties that bind Rafter’s ‘procedural approach’ Next week’s readings. What is Criminology? Term criminology comes into disciplinary standing in late 19 th century: .> ‘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. Rafter advocates a “procedural approach” for the ‘science’ of criminology .> “[an approach] that conceives of criminology more like a river, an ongoing effort flowing through time, hitting rocks, absorbing current, from other fields, picking up new methods or concepts as it travels, eddying back to reconsider earlier findings, sometimes allowing work – even good work – to wash up on the rivers banks” Pre-criminology Three prominent transformations to western society are the undercurrent to the development of criminology as a structured discipline: 1) social contract (liberal revolution); 2) urbanizaiton/industrialization; 3; scientific revolution (positivism) 1. social contract (liberal revolution); Social Contract Liberalism: early process of democratization: initial architecture of the rule of law theories of individual rights and the Harm principle
Harm principle On Liberty [Book]: John Stuart Mill's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z03OXBbLr40 Rationalism and the rule of reason; Beccaria “On Crimes and Punishment” (1764) .> major figure in ‘classical’ school of criminology. “In order that punishment should not be an act of violence perpertrated 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” (Beccaria, 1764: 113). “penitentiary invention”” .> prison reformist movement (late 18c) .> birth of modern prison and a definite form of punishment 2. Industrialization .> Mass urbanisation. .>High rates of crime, deluge of social problems .>Marxism and social inequity as basis for understanding crime .>Engels' Condition of the Working Class in Britain (1845). Engels: The working class, "with no means of making fitting use of its freedom" turns to drink and sex which are carried to excess [423]. This excess is related to poverty and insecurity: what is the point in deferred gratification and 'respectability' when there is no security in life [4:424] “ Social Reforms 3. positivism .>Scientific revolution .>Def of positivism: “Muncie (2001): “A theoretical approach that emerged in the early nineteenth century which argues that social relations and events (including crime) can be studied scientifically using methods derived from the natural sciences. Its aim is to search for, explain and predict future patterns of social behaviours.” .>based on the urban too. ‘the threat of the urban crowd’ ‘surplus population’ .> boom of literature about the dangers and menace of the crowd .> centrality of science, scientific methods. Rafter’s Barriers to Criminological emergence .> 1. Language .> 2. multi-disciplinarily
Rafter’s Emergence of criminology; two stages 1. Cottage industry: late 18th to Criminal Man 2. Criminal Man, post-1876 to early 1890s when the term ‘criminology’ was typified .> much disagreement, but concensus on the science of crime Lombroso and The Italian School .> shift to the NATURE of the criminal; vs rationalism of Beccaria .> concept of atavism. .> atavistic individuals were ‘the born criminals’ “Whoever has read this book will have to come to the conclusion that many of the characteristics found in savages, and among the colored races, are also very often to be found in habitual criminals. They are: thinning hair, lack of strength and weight, low cranial capacity, receding foreheads, highly developed frontal sinuses, a high frequency of media-frontal sutures… darker skin, thicker, curly hair, large or handle-shaped ears, a greater analogy between the two sexes, a lesser corrigibility in women, a lesser sensitivity to pain, a complete lack of moral awareness, sloth, the lack of any remorse, improvidence that appears at times as courage, and courage mixed with cowardice, a great vanity, a passion for gambling, alcohol, and their surrogates, fleeting but violent passions, a facile superstition, an exaggerated susceptibility as to one’s ego, and even a relative concept of divinity and morality.” (Lombroso 1878 L'uomo delinquente). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29YBwBUTxM ================ BREAK ================ Criminology as a scientific effort to define crime and society in the late 19 th century. .> centered around the TOPIC of crime. Rafter on three major themes that brought criminology together 1 Moral insanity 2 Human evolution and its implications for understanding the cause of crime 3 Crime as a social phenomena Crystallization of criminology AROUND THE TOPIC OF CRIME… but… What is a Crime? .> disagreement over definitions. Lots. Lanier and Henry (pg2): 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 w/ time/space/culture/society 5 frameworks of crime: - Classical (Beccaria; rationalist; free will) - Positivist (Italian school; scientific methods; crime stats; later Freud and psych, issues of maladjustment, individual-focused) - Normative (Durkheim) - Legal - Critical (constructivist; Sutherland et al) Classical theories of crime .> Beccaria .> crim as irrationality .> individuals choose crime .> counter-force to Christian laws .> emerged in concert with liberalism and the rule of law .> emphasis on fairness and rule of law .> clear rules; lessen discretion; more systematic, procedural fairness. .> consistency of law Positivism .> proponents of the scientific method .> crime was a product of radical deviance; abnormality. .> The product of defective minds and bodies. .> crime stats; .> later Freud and psych, issues of maladjustment, .> individual-focused Durkheim; crime as normal, necessary and functional The Division of Labour in Society (1893). .> focus on social complexity .> ‘organic solidarity’; complex society, and how people are morally bound .> law is an “indicator” of the type of society ; .> anomie theory. .> for Durkheim, anomie is a lack, or the inadequacy, of moral norms, faced with the development of the division of labour. .> the condition of anomie results from the coming into being of what we could call a ‘gap’ between the progress in the division of labour, and the forms of solidarity that allow society to ‘keep up’ with such progress. .> all societies are more or less anomic.
Durkheim on Crime. .> not only normal, but necessary to HOLD SOCIETY TOGETHER. Durkheim offers four central points on the functions of crime in society 1. Deeming of acceptable and unacceptable 2. Social solidarity for law-abiding public 3. innovation 4. Serves as an indicator of social health. Legal definition .> the law defines crime, the issue is how to identify, classify tyes of crimes and offenders. .> adapt criminal code .> refers to crime as “acts prohibited, prosecuted, and punished by criminal law” (Pg6). .>Michael and Adler (1933): “criminal law gives behaviour 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 (1984) .> defs of crime change; are different in different times/spaces/cultures Lanier and Henry: “Relying on a strict legal definition of crime may be appropriate for study at an elementary level, but it is sorely lacking for students of criminology or for the thinking criminal justice professional” (pg 8). The “problem of context” Lanier and Henry: “The context in which one views social action and events shapes whether the event is deemed criminal” The Criminalization process & The de-Criminalization process Criminalization process: the social process by which problematic behaviours or problematic persons are targeted by institutions (and actors) of the criminal justice system. de-Criminalization process: the social process by which behaviours or persons (which may or may not be considered problematic) are disengaged from formal processes of the criminal justice system.
Case study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmmLH7a1exQ So….. what is criminology??? 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. Importance of Rafter’s procedural def. NEXT WKs Required readings: Seigel, Larry J. and Chris McCormick (2010). “Chapter 2: The Criminal Law and its Processes” in Criminology in Canada: Theories, Patterns, and Typologies (fourth edition). Pp. 31-60.
1. Moral insanity 2. Human evolution 3. Crime as a social phenomena .> centred around topic But what is a crime? Definitions of crime Classical Positivist Legal Normative (Durkheim) Critical Contemporary debates around legal definition-plus Lanier and Henry: “The problem of context” Understanding criminalization / decriminalization Contemporary criminology Walklate’s 5 ties that bind Rafter’s ‘procedural approach’ Next week’s readings. What is Criminology? Term criminology comes into disciplinary standing in late 19 th century: .> ‘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. Rafter advocates a “procedural approach” for the ‘science’ of criminology .> “[an approach] that conceives of criminology more like a river, an ongoing effort flowing through time, hitting rocks, absorbing current, from other fields, picking up new methods or concepts as it travels, eddying back to reconsider earlier findings, sometimes allowing work – even good work – to wash up on the rivers banks” Pre-criminology Three prominent transformations to western society are the undercurrent to the development of criminology as a structured discipline: 1) social contract (liberal revolution); 2) urbanizaiton/industrialization; 3; scientific revolution (positivism) 1. social contract (liberal revolution); Social Contract Liberalism: early process of democratization: initial architecture of the rule of law theories of individual rights and the Harm principle
Harm principle On Liberty [Book]: John Stuart Mill's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z03OXBbLr40 Rationalism and the rule of reason; Beccaria “On Crimes and Punishment” (1764) .> major figure in ‘classical’ school of criminology. “In order that punishment should not be an act of violence perpertrated 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” (Beccaria, 1764: 113). “penitentiary invention”” .> prison reformist movement (late 18c) .> birth of modern prison and a definite form of punishment 2. Industrialization .> Mass urbanisation. .>High rates of crime, deluge of social problems .>Marxism and social inequity as basis for understanding crime .>Engels' Condition of the Working Class in Britain (1845). Engels: The working class, "with no means of making fitting use of its freedom" turns to drink and sex which are carried to excess [423]. This excess is related to poverty and insecurity: what is the point in deferred gratification and 'respectability' when there is no security in life [4:424] “ Social Reforms 3. positivism .>Scientific revolution .>Def of positivism: “Muncie (2001): “A theoretical approach that emerged in the early nineteenth century which argues that social relations and events (including crime) can be studied scientifically using methods derived from the natural sciences. Its aim is to search for, explain and predict future patterns of social behaviours.” .>based on the urban too. ‘the threat of the urban crowd’ ‘surplus population’ .> boom of literature about the dangers and menace of the crowd .> centrality of science, scientific methods. Rafter’s Barriers to Criminological emergence .> 1. Language .> 2. multi-disciplinarily
Rafter’s Emergence of criminology; two stages 1. Cottage industry: late 18th to Criminal Man 2. Criminal Man, post-1876 to early 1890s when the term ‘criminology’ was typified .> much disagreement, but concensus on the science of crime Lombroso and The Italian School .> shift to the NATURE of the criminal; vs rationalism of Beccaria .> concept of atavism. .> atavistic individuals were ‘the born criminals’ “Whoever has read this book will have to come to the conclusion that many of the characteristics found in savages, and among the colored races, are also very often to be found in habitual criminals. They are: thinning hair, lack of strength and weight, low cranial capacity, receding foreheads, highly developed frontal sinuses, a high frequency of media-frontal sutures… darker skin, thicker, curly hair, large or handle-shaped ears, a greater analogy between the two sexes, a lesser corrigibility in women, a lesser sensitivity to pain, a complete lack of moral awareness, sloth, the lack of any remorse, improvidence that appears at times as courage, and courage mixed with cowardice, a great vanity, a passion for gambling, alcohol, and their surrogates, fleeting but violent passions, a facile superstition, an exaggerated susceptibility as to one’s ego, and even a relative concept of divinity and morality.” (Lombroso 1878 L'uomo delinquente). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29YBwBUTxM ================ BREAK ================ Criminology as a scientific effort to define crime and society in the late 19 th century. .> centered around the TOPIC of crime. Rafter on three major themes that brought criminology together 1 Moral insanity 2 Human evolution and its implications for understanding the cause of crime 3 Crime as a social phenomena Crystallization of criminology AROUND THE TOPIC OF CRIME… but… What is a Crime? .> disagreement over definitions. Lots. Lanier and Henry (pg2): 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 w/ time/space/culture/society 5 frameworks of crime: - Classical (Beccaria; rationalist; free will) - Positivist (Italian school; scientific methods; crime stats; later Freud and psych, issues of maladjustment, individual-focused) - Normative (Durkheim) - Legal - Critical (constructivist; Sutherland et al) Classical theories of crime .> Beccaria .> crim as irrationality .> individuals choose crime .> counter-force to Christian laws .> emerged in concert with liberalism and the rule of law .> emphasis on fairness and rule of law .> clear rules; lessen discretion; more systematic, procedural fairness. .> consistency of law Positivism .> proponents of the scientific method .> crime was a product of radical deviance; abnormality. .> The product of defective minds and bodies. .> crime stats; .> later Freud and psych, issues of maladjustment, .> individual-focused Durkheim; crime as normal, necessary and functional The Division of Labour in Society (1893). .> focus on social complexity .> ‘organic solidarity’; complex society, and how people are morally bound .> law is an “indicator” of the type of society ; .> anomie theory. .> for Durkheim, anomie is a lack, or the inadequacy, of moral norms, faced with the development of the division of labour. .> the condition of anomie results from the coming into being of what we could call a ‘gap’ between the progress in the division of labour, and the forms of solidarity that allow society to ‘keep up’ with such progress. .> all societies are more or less anomic.
Durkheim on Crime. .> not only normal, but necessary to HOLD SOCIETY TOGETHER. Durkheim offers four central points on the functions of crime in society 1. Deeming of acceptable and unacceptable 2. Social solidarity for law-abiding public 3. innovation 4. Serves as an indicator of social health. Legal definition .> the law defines crime, the issue is how to identify, classify tyes of crimes and offenders. .> adapt criminal code .> refers to crime as “acts prohibited, prosecuted, and punished by criminal law” (Pg6). .>Michael and Adler (1933): “criminal law gives behaviour 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 (1984) .> defs of crime change; are different in different times/spaces/cultures Lanier and Henry: “Relying on a strict legal definition of crime may be appropriate for study at an elementary level, but it is sorely lacking for students of criminology or for the thinking criminal justice professional” (pg 8). The “problem of context” Lanier and Henry: “The context in which one views social action and events shapes whether the event is deemed criminal” The Criminalization process & The de-Criminalization process Criminalization process: the social process by which problematic behaviours or problematic persons are targeted by institutions (and actors) of the criminal justice system. de-Criminalization process: the social process by which behaviours or persons (which may or may not be considered problematic) are disengaged from formal processes of the criminal justice system.
Case study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmmLH7a1exQ So….. what is criminology??? 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. Importance of Rafter’s procedural def. NEXT WKs Required readings: Seigel, Larry J. and Chris McCormick (2010). “Chapter 2: The Criminal Law and its Processes” in Criminology in Canada: Theories, Patterns, and Typologies (fourth edition). Pp. 31-60.
