Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 0 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Criminology and the Sociological Perspective Lesson Overview The Sociological Perspective Crime, Deviance and Criminal Law Research Methods in Criminology Qualitative Research Research Using Existing Data Comparative and Historical Research

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 1 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Introduction U.S. crime rate has declined since 1990s, but prison/jail population has increased Media distorts our knowledge about crime Crime is both an individual problem and a social problem Sociological criminology: Sociological understanding of crime and criminal justice

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 2 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan The Sociological Perspective People are social beings, more than just individuals –Society shapes individuals’ behavior, attitudes, and life chances  Emile Durkheim, French sociologist and founder of the discipline, stressed social forces influence our behavior  Famous study on suicide

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 3 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan The Sociological Perspective Social structure: Refers to how a society is organized in terms of social relationships and interactions –Social inequality: Tefers to how a society ranks different groups of people –Sociologist C. Wright Mills emphasized social structure lies at root of private troubles –Public issues

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 4 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan The Sociological Imagination The ability to understand structural and historical basis for personal troubles Berger observed that sociology studies false claims about reality and “unrespectable” elements of social life –Debunking motif

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 5 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Mutual Relevance of Sociology and Criminology Crime, victimization, and criminal justice cannot be fully understood without appreciating their structural contexts Crime and victimization are public issues rather than private troubles (Mills) –Rooted in:  Social and physical characteristics of communities  In the network of relationships in which people interact  In the structured social inequalities of race and ethnicity, social class, and gender

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 6 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan The Rise of Sociological Criminology Basic concepts –Norms: standards of behavior; present in all societies. –Deviance: behavior that violates norms and arouses negative social reactions. –Customs: norms that remain unwritten and informal –Social control: society’s restraint of norm-violating behavior. –Laws: formal norms; written or codified.

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 7 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan History of Criminology Throughout much of history, crime and deviance attributed to religious factors During 19 th century scholars studied causes of crime through scientific investigation Emile Durkheim made major contributions Growing interest in biological roots of crime

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 8 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan History of Criminology In U.S., sociology began developing at University of Chicago (early 20 th century) Edwin Sutherland –Differential association theory  Criminogenic conditions of urban neighborhoods –White collar crime Robert K. Merton –Anomie 1960s and 1970s turbulent era

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 9 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Crime, Deviance, and Criminal Law Criminology: The study of the making of laws, breaking of laws, and society’s reaction to breaking of laws Crime: Behavior considered so harmful that it is banned by a criminal law. –Who decides what behavior is harmful? –Deviance is relative  In concept  In space  In time

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 10 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Theoretical Perspectives Consensus and Conflict in the Creation of Criminal Law –Why do criminal laws get established? –Whom do criminal laws benefit? Consensus theory: Assumes a consensus of opinion about social norms of behavior Conflict theory: Assumes public disagrees on many social norms

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 11 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Criminal Law Goals of Criminal Law –Keep public safe –Articulate societal moral values and concerns –Protect rights and freedoms of citizens from potential government abuses Overview of Criminal Law –Law in U.S. has roots in English common law –English judges had power to create case law –Juries’ importance grew in 1670

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 12 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Legal Distinctions in Types of Crime Retention of common law concepts of the types of crime and the elements of criminal law violation that must be proved before a defendant can be found guilty –Mala in se: Evil in themselves; violate traditional norms and moral codes (i.e. murder, theft) –Mala prohibita: Wrong only because prohibited by law (i.e. drug use, white collar) –Felony: Punishable by more than 1 year in prison –Misdemeanor: Punishable less than 1 year

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 13 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Components of Criminal Intent For a defendant to be found guilty, the key elements that must be proved are: –Actus reus: The actual criminal act –Mens rea: Guilty mind or criminal intent  Defendant committed a criminal act knowingly  When is criminal intent difficult to prove? Too young Mentally incapable of understanding In fear of life/safety

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 14 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Criminal Liability Legal Defenses to Criminal Liability –Accident or mistake –Ignorance –Duress –Self-defense –Entrapment –Insanity

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 15 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Research Methods in Criminology Theory and research lie at the heart of any natural, physical, or social science Criminological research often asks whether one variable influences another variable –Independent variable –Dependent variable

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 16 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Research Methods in Criminology Types of Research –Survey: Involves the administration of questionnaire to group of respondents.  Face-to-face interviews  Mailed surveys  Telephone surveys  Generalize results from the sample to the population –Experiments

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 17 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Qualitative Research Methods Observing and Intensive Interviewing –Field studies/ethnographies involve observing various groups (i.e. homeless women, urban African American men) –Intensive interviewing –Longitudinal studies: Same people are studied over a period of time

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 18 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Research Methods in Criminology Research using existing data –Using existing statistics from government agencies and other resources to examine a particular issue Comparative and Historical Research –Cross-cultural or international research –Examining an issue throughout time