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 Classical and Neoclassical Perspectives Lesson 4

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 Classical and Neoclassical Perspectives Lesson Overview From theology to science –Causes of crime and deviance: gods and demons –Age of reason –Classical school of criminology –Rise of positivism Neoclassical Perspectives: –Rational Choice Theory –Deterrence Theory –Types of Deterrence –Routine Activities theory

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 Understanding Theories of Crime Theories of crime try to answer at least 1 of 3 questions: –Why are some people more likely than others to commit crime? –Why are some categories of people more likely than others to commit crime? –Why is crime more common in some locations than in others?

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 Biological and psychological explanations tend to focus on the individual –Biological explanations place the cause of crime inside the individual Neoclassical and sociological explanations tend to focus on categories of people and locations –Sociological explanations place the cause of crime outside the individual Understanding Theories of Crime

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 From Theology to Science Gods and Demons as Causes of Crime and Deviance –People in ancient times were thought to act deviantly for several reasons:  God was testing their faith  God was punishing them  God was using their behavior to warn others to follow Him  They were possessed by demons

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 Enlightenment –Belief that people have their own free will and reason  God does not directly control human behavior –Despite this age of reason, the death penalty was used for over 200 crimes in England The Age of Reason

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 : Cesare Beccaria (father of modern criminology) –On Crimes and Punishments –Utilitarianism : Jeremy Bentham –Law was more severe than it needed to be to keep rational people from committing crime The Classical School of Criminology

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 Use of scientific method to study human behavior Postulated human behavior is affected by outside forces Founded by August Comte One problem is theory assumes criminals are different from “the rest of us” The Rise of Positivism

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 Neoclassical Perspectives Rational-choice theory assumes people choose to commit crime after calculating whether its rewards outweigh risks –Derek B. Cornish and Ronald V. Clarke  Rational choice perspective assumes that offenders choose to commit crime because of the benefits it brings them

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 Evaluating Rational Choice Theory Studies of active robbers, burglars, and other offenders –Offenders who plan vs. offenders who give very little thought to their crime Focus on the criminal event –Situational factors and opportunities that affect decisions to commit crime  Situational crime prevention Drugs and alcohol

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 Deterrence Theory Neoclassical perspective Assumes that potential and actual legal punishment can deter crime Rational choice theory and deterrence theory often considered synonymous –Assumptions underlie the “get tough” approach, involving harsher punishments and more prisons

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 Types of Deterrence –Marginal: The effect of increasing the severity, certainty, and/or swiftness of legal punishment –General: Members of public decide not to break the law because they fear punishment –Specific: Offenders already punished decide not to commit another crime Deterrence Theory

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 Deterrence Theory Considerations that affect the size of any impact the criminal law may have on deterrence: –Type of criminal offense  Instrumental offenses  Expressive offenses –Whether offenders have high or low commitment to criminal behavior –Whether a crime tends to occur in public or private –Additional considerations

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 Research on Deterrence Most research has focused on the certainty (likelihood of being arrested) of punishment and on the severity (whether someone is incarcerated and if so how long) of punishment –Early research results  marginal deterrent effect is small

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 Is the Death Penalty an effective Deterrent?

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 Things to Consider…

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 Routine Activities Theory Neoclassical perspective –Also known as routine activity theory Focus on criminal victimization patterns –Rational choice assumptions of criminal decision- making Assumes that crime is more likely when 3 factors are simultaneously present: –Motivated offenders –Attractive targets –An absence of guardianship

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 Routine Activities Theory 1979: Lawrence E. Cohen and Marcus Felson For crime to happen, offenders, targets, and the absence of guardians must all converge at the same time and in the same location –When people’s routine activities change, crime rates change as well –There will always be a supply of motivated offenders

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 Routine Activities Theory Focus on changes in the supply of attractive targets and in the presence/absence of guardianship as key variables affecting changes in crime rates –Criminal opportunity structure Opportunity theory of crime Routine activities inside or near one’s home result in less victimization than activities that occur away from home

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 19 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Routine Activities Theory Crime results in part from the activities that so many people ordinarily enjoy –“Rather than assuming that predatory crime is simply an indicator of social breakdown, one might take it as a byproduct of freedom and prosperity as they manifest themselves in the routine activities of everyday life”

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 20 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Evaluating Routine Activities Theory Popular because: –It seems to explain important aspects of differences in crime rates among different categories of people and among different locations –It seems to explain important aspects of changes in crime rates over time

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 21 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Evaluating Routine Activities Theory Certain studies have deepened the understanding of the factors that contribute to target availability and the absence of guardianship Some researchers have used it to explain offending May ignore factors that motivate offenders to commit crime

Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006, 2001, 1997 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved 22 Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/e Steven E. Barkan Situational Crime Prevention Efforts in specific locations that aim to “reduce exposure to motivated offenders, decrease target suitability, and increase capable guardianship” –Examples:  Installing/increased lighting and camera surveillance on city streets and in public parks  Providing/installing better security systems for motor vehicles, commercial buildings, and homes  Hot-spot policing