Download Understanding Crime: Legal Description, Characteristics, Causes, and White Collar Crimes - and more Study notes Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! LECTURE 10 04/12/2011 A. What Is crime? Legal description Intentional act Violation of written criminal law Committed with out defense Penalized by the state guarantee B. Characteristics of Crime Geographical location- some countries don’t have same laws Time dimension-abortion, drinking, many crimes against women Punishment C. Why Crime? Biological Theories o Lombroso and Followers- physical characteristics different from others, symmetrical cranium, long lower jaw, flat nose, unfull beard, no sensitivity to pain o Recent Theories Sugar intake- behavior is associated with high/low sugar Vitamin deficiency- certain deficiencies change behavior Hormonal influences- XYY syndrome-tend to be more aggressive Twin studies- did not conclude any good results Adoption studies- no conclusive results, slightly more behavior problem children with criminals Social biology- genes inherited by parents, FAS babies, skin color Psychological Theories o Freud Id (animalistic)- cruel selfish, not good against the law Superego (socialized) -hero Ego (compromise between Id and superego) o Sociological Theories- Durkheim Anomie Theories- break down of social norms o Differential Association- cooley people are puppets Sutherland- individuals do things the way they are taught, learning process Conformist- most people are conformist Innovators- reject traditional ways of conduct Ritualists- reject means, don’t care about money and goals. Reject everything, spiritualism Retreatists-drawn from society Rebellious- reject goals and mean of society and redefine how to live their life. Labeling Theory- nothing can be a crime, unless we associate a label with the crime Labeling Of Act Labeling of Individual Karl Marx Economic classes Classes leading to poverty Poverty leads to crime Socialism eliminates most crimes William Bonger Criminal Law and the ruling class Capitalism and selfish individualism Capitalism, poverty, and crime All groups commit crimes but the rich are rarely caught and punished Socialism eliminates most crimes D. White Collar Crimes o A. rule of capitalists calss o Direct mechanism Participation in political process-rich people vote, poor people don’t Money and politics Business lobbies Policy planning groups-bias o Indirect mechanism of influence Control of mass media Advertising What is acceptable and what is not acceptable 04/12/2011
