Criminology and Crime - Criminology - Lecture Slides, Slides of Criminal Justice

Download Criminology and Crime - Criminology - Lecture Slides and more Slides Criminal Justice in PDF only on Docsity! Crime and Criminology 1. What is crime? 2. What is deviance? Docsity.com Crime can be defined… • Form of normal behavior • Violation of behavioral norms • Form of deviant behavior • Legally defined behavior • Violation of human rights • Social harm/injury • Form of inequality Social, Legal, and Moral dimensions involved Docsity.com Crime is normal • In societies with mechanical solidarity punishment was more severe • Criminal act offends the strong, well-defined common consciousness • A crime against another person=crime against the entire society • Rejection was the most terrible punishment Docsity.com Crime is inevitable • No society can ever be entirely rid of crime • Imagine a community of saints in a perfect and exemplary monastery • Faults that appear venial to the ordinary person will arouse the same scandal as does normal crime • Absolute conformity to rules is impossible • Each member is society faces variation in background, education, heredity, social influences Docsity.com Crime is useful • Crime is indispensable to the normal evolution of law and morality • Crime often is a symptom of individual originality and a preparation for changes in society • Rosa Parks (was a criminal) is a hero now • Her simple act of protest galvanized America's civil rights revolution Docsity.com Legalistic definition • Crime is human conduct in violation of the criminal laws of state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction that has the power to make such laws • Is anything wrong with this definition? • Moral definitions of crime suggests that a lot more victimization and injury occurring than is accounted for by the legal order. Docsity.com Violence against women • Twenty-five years ago, police, prosecutors, and judges did not view rape and battering as real crimes but rather as private matters where the woman to blame Docsity.com Shortcomings of Legalistic Definition • Some activities are not crimes even though they are immoral (watching pornography, torturing animals, creating poor working conditions) • Powerful individuals are able to influence the making laws • Powerful individuals may escape the label “criminal” Docsity.com Gap • The clothing company Gap • Report revealed terrible working conditions in its factories in Mexico, China, Russia and India • Report disclosed details of child labour, the virtual slavery of workers and working weeks in excess of 80 hours. Docsity.com Political view of crime • Powerful groups of people label selected undesirable forms of behavior as illegal • Powerful individuals use their power to establish laws and sanctions against less powerful persons and groups • Official statistics indicate that crime rates in inner-city, high-poverty areas are higher than those in suburban areas • Self-reports of prison inmates show that prisoners are members of the lower class Docsity.com Political perspective • Crime of inequality includes a lot of behaviors that are omitted by legalistic definition • Crime is a political concept used to protect powerful people • Crimes of power (price fixing, economic crimes, unsafe working conditions, nuclear waste products, war-making, domestic violence, etc) Docsity.com Sociological perspective • A more comprehensive sociological definition of crime was offered by Julia and Herman Schwendinger (1975) • “Crime encompasses any harmful acts, including violations of fundamental prerequisites for well-being (such as food, shelter, clothing, medical service, challenging work and recreational experiences, as well as security from predatory individuals or repressive and imperialistic elites” Docsity.com Sociological perspective • Schwendingers have challenged criminologists to be less constrained in what they see as a crime • Violation of human rights • When a man who steals a paltry sum can be called a criminal while agents of the State can legally reward men who destroy food so that price level can be maintained while a sizable portion of population suffers from maltinutrition Docsity.com Psychological perspective (moralistic view) • Any behavior which stands in the way of an individuals developing to his/her fullest potential would be considered crime • If criminologists adopted this view of crime, the scope of criminology would be greatly expanded.. Docsity.com Prostitution • Prostitution legalized in Netherlands from October 1, 2000 • Prostitutes will be able to act officially as freelance workers • According to estimates published by the de Graaf Foundation, some 25,000 people work as prostitutes in the Netherlands. Docsity.com New interpretations of present law (new view on crime) • Moral movements lead to new judicial interpretations • Law of self-defense: immediate danger of being killed or gravely injured (not for cases where one kills to preserve one’s life) • Concern with battered wives introduced a new claim (history of abuse rather than immediate danger permits plea of self- defense) Docsity.com Social Context of crime • Crime is socially constructed (Burger, 1968 on social construction of reality) • An criminal act can be the same but the interpretation of it can be different Docsity.com Defining crime • Anthropologists have been unable to find behavior that is universally defined as crime • Every society sets boundaries b/w life and death, justifiable homicide and murder • Societies disagree over what constitutes murder • Certain cultures place little value on human life and in fact believe that life should be sacrificed to their Gods Docsity.com Sati tradition • Within the Indian culture there is a custom in which a woman burns herself either on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband or by herself with a momento after his death • Proof of her loyalty to husband Docsity.com Palestinian Suicide Bombers • Claim that it is merely a tactic of war in defense of their land and homes • They see it as a heroic act of martyrdom, not suicide Docsity.com Deviance is commonplace • We are all deviant from time to time • Each of us violates common social norms in certain situations • Being late for class is categorized as deviant act • Dressing too casually for a formal wedding Docsity.com Deviance • Deviation from norm is not always negative: • A member of an exclusive club who speaks out against its traditional policy of excluding women, or poor people • Police officer who speaks against corruption within the department Docsity.com Deviance • Deviant behavior is human activity that is statistically different from the average • Deviance and crime are concepts that do not always easily mesh • Some forms of deviance are not violations of the criminal law and the reverse is true as well Docsity.com