Theories Regarding Crime and Criminal Deviance What is crime? Who are criminals?

The Sand Brothers Robert (b. 1978) and Danny Sand (b. 1980) Albertan family Father (Dennis), Mother (Elaine) Father spent time in jail when he was young- after became a productive law abiding citizen (runs a business, member of community groups etc…) As youngsters, were constantly in trouble (along with their friends)

The Sand Brothers only mixed-race boys in their town difficulty in school, frequently suspended at 15 Danny beat up another student- spent time in youth custody *see description by Staples 2002

The Sand Brothers 1998 Robert- 7 year jail sentence for armed robbery Danny also spent years in jail for several crimes, all violent (attacking a police officer) Danny joined Robert in the same jail after ramming a police officer with a truck Danny has a tattoo on his belly that reads “Fearless, Painless, Senseless” and on his knuckles- TCOB

The Sand Brothers Oct. 2001 Robert released to a halfway house- reunited with gf (Laurie Bell), who was a heavy drug user Dec. 2001, Robert, Laurie and Danny, all on parole, left for the maritimes Initiated a crime spree: robbing banks, B+Es, theft of vehicles The spree led them to the town of Russell, Man.

The Sand Brothers Dec. 21 2001 Danny is stopped in his truck, with Robert and Laurie by RCMP As the constables approached the truck, Robert fired several shotgun blasts at them The RCMP fled to their car and attempted to get away- Danny chased them into town Danny rammed the RCMP’s SUV in front of their headquarters, Robert jumped out, and fired at one of the constables who was trapped in the SUV- killed RCMP tracked the trio to a motel back in Sask.- police sniper killed Danny; Robert and Laurie were captured

The Sand Brothers Robert is serving a life sentence for first degree murder (see diary entry)- he attacked his own lawyer in the court room Laurie Bell was convicted of manslaughter- was heard yelling “Kill Him”

Criminology Why did they lead such undisciplined lives? Why did they pursue the RCMP officers instead of taking off? Look at how Robert saw the world- “us vs them, at war”- why? Is there anything that can be done to prevent this type of tragedy from occurring? That is criminology in a nutshell

Crime Even if we could solve those questions- the answer may not relate to other types of crimes The case of Diego Zepeda-Cordera The case of Conrad Black

Crime The Sands’, Conrad Black and Zepeda-Corera have little in common, except for their criminal convictions Criminal behaviour is diverse and the task of criminologists, police officers and social workers to deal with the diverse nature is incredibly hard And then relate to the job of legislators- deter? Punish? Allow? Rehabilitate?

What is Criminology? Body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon Includes the process of making laws, breaking laws and of reacting to the breaking of laws The objective is to develop a body of principles related to the above

What is Criminology? Criminal behaviour and society’s response to the behaviour The USA has a much higher rate of violent crime than Canada- they also have a much harsher justice system Understanding crime before we reduce it So...why is crime committed?

What is Criminology? Study by R. Tremblay- boys whose violent behaviour did not mitigate by 16 Almost all were sons of young mothers with low levels of education Government of Quebec has created programs for mothers who fit this profile to help reduce potential criminality of their children

Ideas Picture in your head who commits crimes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRZUMA6VhjE What are the common characteristics of people who commit crimes? Read page 240- 2000 National Council of Welfare- Justice and the Poor List the characteristics of the people who actually commit crime in Canada

LABELLING THEORY Labelling theory recognizes relativity of crime and deviance, and argues the following: Crime and deviance may be universal, but there are no universal forms of crime and deviance What counts as deviant or criminal behaviour varies by time and place including… Killing (acceptable in time of war or in line of duty) Opiate-use in Canada (was once legal- and then 1908 happened…) Incest (are significant variations across cultures in what constitutes incest)…* Because what was once illegal is now illegal, and vice versa, we need to understand that while the study of crime and deviance is about rule-breaking behaviour, it is not just about rule-breaking behaviour. It is also about how members of society react to some behaviours. This understanding is the starting point for a second approach to the study of deviance and crime, one that sees deviance and crime as a matter of definitions or labels that have been applied to some behaviours but not others. Opiate drugs were also used for recreational purposes in smoking dens on Canada’s West Coast. Their main users were Chinese immigrants who were brought to Canada to build the transcontinental railroad and received much lower wages than their European counterparts did. Public concern about the morality of recreational drug use served as a conduit for anti-Asian sentiment rooted in stiff competition for jobs after the Canadian Pacific Railroad was completed. The first Canadian antinarcotics legislation introduced in 1908 targeted the opium dens, making the recreational usage of opiates a criminal offence for which there were heavy penalties. No such penalties accompanied the medicinal use of opiates (Cook, 1969). Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd.

LABELLING THEORY Labelling theory recognizes relativity & argues the following: (cont’d) Publicly recognizing somebody as criminal or deviant is important cause of criminal or deviant behavior Application of label of criminal or deviant often linked to lower social class (e.g., the lower the status of the user, the more likely the drug will be criminalized)* 1908 Opium laws Think how this might relate to “thug culture” Sociologists who study the social reaction to drug use conclude that the legality of a drug is determined as much by the status of its users as by the amount of harm done by the drug. Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd.

Classical Theory Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)- Free will determines all individual`s actions Human beings are rational and make decisions with the capability of understanding the consequences Punishment should fit the crime

Positivist Theorists Cesare Lombarso (1835 – 1909) Italian physician and psychiatrist Studied cadavers of executed criminals in an effort to determine scientifically whether criminals were physically any different from non-criminals He believed that people were born criminals and facial features of criminals included things like enormous jaws and strong canine teeth.

Pictures of murderers that Lambarso believed carried facial features tied to criminal activity.

Does this mean Sean Penn is a Criminal? Murderer Sean Penn See any similarities!? Does this mean Sean Penn is a Criminal?

Biological Theory In the 1960s, positivist criminologists argued that criminal behaviour lies in abnormal chromosomes The XYY theory argued that violent male criminals have an abnormal XYY chromosome (XY is the normal pattern in males) However, researchers soon found out that this was not true and that criminals had normal chromosomes and that non-criminals also had abnormal chromosomes. The Positivist theory of criminals being born rather than made died out. There were moral implications with this.

Philippe Rushton University of Western Ontario psychology professor Rushton's book Race, Evolution, and Behavior (1995) tries to show that East Asians and their descendants average a larger brain size, greater intelligence, more sexual restraint, slower rates of maturation, and greater law abidingness and social organization than do Europeans and their descendants, who average higher scores on these dimensions than Africans and their descendants. Modern Day Example

Strain Theory (Sociological): Theory of Anomie Sociological Theorist: Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) People who live in cities feel more anonymous and isolated (as compared to rural life). No longer restrained by the strict norms of society (in rural life) and given the anonymity in a big city certain individuals turned to crime.

Kitty Genovese Young woman stabbed to death on a street in New York City -1964 As many as 37 neighbours and bystanders all heard her screams for help. No one called the police because they all thought someone else would take action. Sociologists call this Diffusion of Responsibility Kitty Genovese Article Anomie cont…

Strain Theory (Sociology) Current societies stress the goals of acquiring wealth, success, and power. However, the means to achieve these goals require education and economic resources. These means are frequently denied or unavailable to those who are economically disadvantaged or have little opportunity for formal education. Therefore those who do not see any value in abiding by the laws of society will act outside of it to achieve the things societies expects

Control Theory Control theory (Travis Hirschi) Holds that a set of ties bind young people to the conventional world, and when those ties are weak, deviance & crime occur No special motivation is required because we all have natural inclination for rule breaking that is only kept in check because of our (i) attachments to family and friends; (ii) commitments to conventional ambitions and activities in school and work; (iii) prosocial values & beliefs; and (iv) conventional activities at school and work* Control theory has a solid reputation as a predictor of relatively minor and occasional deviance involving adolescents. However, when more serious crime and delinquency is involved, and when the deviant behaviour in question appears more motivated or has a political underpinning, it is less plausible. Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd.

Control Theory Variant of control theory  General Theory of Crime Argues that all deviance has a common cause in low self-control Personality characteristics of individuals with low self-control include impulsivity, a taste for risk, an action orientation, and short-term thinking Low self-control presumably originates in early socialization because of lack of parental involvement or attention to deviant behaviour* Low self-control presumably originates in early socialization when parents are too busy or unconcerned to police their children’s behaviour and unable or unwilling to teach them the difference between right and wrong. Canadian research finds that low self-control predicts driving under the influence of alcohol and school-related behavioural problems among high school students (Keane, Maxim, and Teevan, 1993; Nakhaie, Silverman, and Lagrange, 2000). Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd.

Cont… According to Sigelman and Rider (2009), children who are raised in abusive environments can grow up to become abusers and to learn that violence is an integral part of human relationships. Furthermore, abusers are often insecure individuals with low self-esteem. Abusers can form negative internal working models of themselves and others, which are most likely rooted in unhappy experiences in insecure relationships with parents and negative experiences in romantic relationships.

Psychological Theory Social psychology is the study of the relations between individuals and people. They are interested in how ‘regular’ people can commit atrocious crimes. Stanley Milgram was specifically interested in how Nazi’s were able to commit horrible acts of genocide – he focused on how people could do this just by following orders. Milgram Experiment

Psychological- Psychoanalytical Theory Sigmund Freud believed that all humans have criminal tendencies. It is through socialization that these tendencies are controlled during childhood. If a child has an identity problem with his/her parent, this problem may cause the child to direct its antisocial tendencies outward and thus become a criminal.

Application Criminology Theories will help determine types of punishments/rehabilitation but also help develop deterrence mechanisms Possible help change legislation to determine what crimes are actually crimes