1. Chapter 1 Crime and Criminology
Lee Ayers-Schlosser, Southern Oregon University

2. Chapter Objectives (1 of 2)
Define criminology and understand how this field of study relates to other social science disciplines.
Understand the meaning of scientific theory and its relationship to research and policy.
Recognize a “good” theory of crime, based on criteria such as empirical support, scope, and parsimony.

3. Chapter Objectives (2 of 2)
Know the criteria for establishing causation and identify the attributes of good research.
Understand the politics of criminology and the importance of social context.
Define criminal law and understand the conflict and consensus perspectives on the law.
Describe the various schools of criminological theory and the explanations that they provide.

4. You Are the Criminologist
Hackers
Illegal access to computer networks to gain information
Don’t think what they are doing is wrong—just “looking around”
How many people engage in hacking?
Why do certain people engage in hacking?
Why do some people commit crimes and others do not?

5. Introduction Crime commands attention. Something must be done!
Crime is not cheap!
How do policy makers deal with crime?
How do we explain criminal behavior?
What are social reactions to crime?

6. Defining Criminology (1 of 3)
Criminology is the scientific study of crime.
Sutherland: Criminology is the study of law making, law breaking, and the response to law breaking.

7. Defining Criminology (2 of 3)
Criminology: law breaking (the nature, extent, and causes of crime)
Criminal justice: response to criminal behavior (policing, courts, and corrections)

8. Defining Criminology (3 of 3)
Overlap between criminology and criminal justice
Response to crime depends on one’s view of the cause of crime
Deviance—violating social norms

9. Criminology and Academics (1 of 2)
Criminology is organized around a class of behaviors (crime), not a way of understanding these behaviors (like other social sciences).
Social sciences organized on common:
Assumptions
Guiding insights
Specific research methodologies

10. Criminology and Academics (2 of 2)
Discipline
Area of Interest
Psychology
Intelligence
Political science
Voting behaviors
Sociology
Social movements

11. The Dominance of Sociology (1 of 2)
Ernest Burgess and W.I. Thomas
The Chicago School of Crime
Robert Merton
Anomie
Sociological imagination
Debunking motif

12. The Dominance of Sociology (2 of 2)
Sociology and Criminology
Distinct academic area
Independent degrees
Interdisciplinary study (sociology, biology, psychology)

13. The Role of Criminologists (1 of 2)
Study various aspects of criminal behavior and law-breaking dynamics
Manage research projects
Work for think tanks specializing in research and policy issues
Engage in scientific research

14. The Role of Criminologists (2 of 2)
PhD: use research expertise to study aspects of criminal behavior and law-breaking dynamics
Master’s degree: positions in state and federal agencies within criminal justice system
Bachelor’s degree: entry-level positions within local, state, and federal agencies

15. A Primer on the Criminal Law
Criminologists do not typically receive extensive training in law.
The foundation of law is philosophy, not science.
JD or Doctorate of Juris Prudence (law degree) involves little, if any, scientific training.

16. Brief History of Criminal Law (1 of 3)
Dates back over 2000 years
Code of Hammurabi (1792 BC): the punishment should fit the crime
Mosaic Code of the Israelites (1200 BC): the Ten Commandments

17. Brief History of Criminal Law (2 of 3)
The root of American law is English common law.
Common law developed from English “circuit” courts and standardized legal code across different communities.

18. Brief History of Criminal Law (3 of 3)
Statutory law
Case law
Constitutional law

19. Defining the Criminal Law
Substantive criminal law
Prohibited behaviors
Possible sanctions
Each state has its own criminal code, as does the federal government.

20. Defining Crime (1 of 2) Specific act (actus reas)
Criminal intent (mens rea)—a person’s mental state
Purpose
Knowledge
Negligence
Recklessness

21. Defining Crime (2 of 2)
Strict liability offenses (such as traffic offenses) do not require criminal intent.
Punishments can include imprisonment, fine, probation, etc.

22. Classification of Crime (1 of 2)
Mala in sec crimes (evil in themselves, such as homicide, robbery)
vs.
Mala prohibita crimes (wrong because they are prohibited, such as gambling, prostitution)

23. Classification of Crime (2 of 2)
According to the seriousness of the offense (felony and misdemeanors)
According to degree (first-, second-, or third-degree offenses)

24. Procedural Law
What actions actors within the criminal justice system may legally take
For example: search-and-seizure law (how police interact with citizens) or how criminal trials proceed (admissibility of evidence)

25. Civil Law
Contract law
Property law
Tort law

26. Defining the Criminal Law
Laws are dynamic and influenced by:
Current events
Politics
Economics
Other external factors (e.g., new technology)

27. Perspectives on the Criminal Law
Functions of criminal law
Discourage revenge
Express public opinion and morality
Warning to other citizens

28. Consensus Perspective
Laws are set to keep people from harming others.
Laws are in place to be fair to all members of society.

29. Conflict Perspective
Laws are the result of a continuous competition among members of society.
Laws reflect the interests, values, and beliefs of the group in power.

30. Defining Scientific Theory
A testable set of principles or statements that attempt to explain how concepts are related (e.g., how one or more factors lead to criminal behavior)
vs.
Circular (tautological) reasoning
Crime causes crime
Lack of conscience causes crime

31. Evaluating Theory (1 of 4)
Empirical evidence
When applied to the real world, does this theory work?
Does research support this theory?
Must consider the weight of the evidence.

32. Evaluating Theory (2 of 4)

33. Evaluating Theory (3 of 4)
Demonstrating cause and effect
Causal relationship (e.g., hanging around with criminal friends causes criminal behavior)
Spurious—related factors but no causal relationship

34. Evaluating Theory (4 of 4)
Correlation
Having criminal friends is related to criminal behavior.
Time ordering
Having criminal friends happens before engaging in criminal behavior.
Longitudinal study (extended time period)
Relationship between criminal friends and criminal behavior is not spurious.

35. Experimental Design (1 of 2)
Most efficient way to:
Establish cause-and-effect relationships
Exclude spuriousness
Many theoretical concepts cannot be studied experimentally.

36. Experimental Design (2 of 2)

37. Nonexperimental Design (1 of 2)
Most crime research involves nonexperimental methods
Surveys and questionnaires
Common problem—useful to establish correlation but not effective to exclude spuriousness

38. Nonexperimental Design (2 of 2)
Demonstration of cause-and-effect relationships
Identify and measure those factors that might render a relationship spurious
Control for these factors in a mathematical model

39. Scope and Parsimony Scope—what a particular theory can explain
Grand theories (wide scope)—try to explain all types of criminal behavior
Parsimony—simple formulation of a theory
Good theories have both large scope and parsimony (they explain a lot with few concepts)

40. Organizing Theories of Crime
Law breaking
Why do people commit crimes?
What makes some countries more prone to crime than others?
Law making
Why are some acts outlawed while others are not?
Why do legal acts become illegal over time?
Reaction to law breaking
Why do police arrest certain offenders and not others?
Why are certain laws enforced more stringently than others?

41. Macro and Micro Explanations
Micro level—why some individuals engage in crime and others do not
Most crime theories operate at the micro level
Macro level—explain differences in groups of people (e.g., why some neighborhoods have higher crime rates)

42. Academic Disciplines and Theoretical Traditions
Traditions evolve
Basic thrust remains the same
Details updated or revised

43. Origins of Criminological Theory
Demonic perspective
Devil makes people commit crimes
Middle Ages—witches
Torture and corporal punishment

44. The Classical School of Crime (1 of 2)
The Age of Enlightenment
God instilled in humans the capacity to exercise free will and the ability to choose a course of behavior through reason.

45. The Classical School of Crime (2 of 2)
Beccaria: properly designed legal system will deter criminal behavior
Bentham: hedonistic calculus
Neoclassical theories

46. The Positive School of Crime
More rational, scientific understanding
Scientific method to study the causes of crime

47. The Classical and Positive School
Rehabilitation
Punishment
Scientific determinism
Free will
Study of the individual
Study of criminal law

48. Crime Policy (1 of 2) Criminology = applied social science
Criminologists investigate crime in order to generate practical solutions to the problem.

49. Crime Policy (2 of 2)
Gibbs: major questions criminologists attempt to answer
Why does the crime rate vary?
Why are crimes committed by certain individuals and not others?
Why is there variation in reactions to alleged criminality?
What are the possible means of controlling criminality?

50. Policy Without Theory Intensive supervision programs
Solution to crowding in American jails and prisons
Research initially found higher rates of probation revocation and little influence on recidivism.
Lack of any truly successful theory
Rehabilitative aspects of the program have been proven effective.

51. Theoretically Informed Policy
Multisystemic Therapy
Based on well-known and empirically tested theories

52. Limitations of Criminological Research
Most common conclusion of research is that more information is needed. Why?
Criminology is a part of the sociology research tradition.
Most criminological studies are based on limited data.
Criminological studies are not always methodologically sound.
Overgeneralization

53. Overgeneralization Martinson report
Studies of felony probation—Rand Corporation in California
Impact of mandatory arrest in domestic violence cases—Sherman and Berk

54. Theory Versus Streetwise Criminology
Failure of criminology to provide certain clear-cut answers
Street smarts more valuable than book knowledge of criminal behavior

55. Politics: The “Left” and “Right” of Criminal Justice Policy (1 of 4)
Criminal justice policy fits within a political ideology
Relatively unquestioned assumptions about how the world works

56. Politics: The “Left” and “Right” of Criminal Justice Policy (2 of 4)
Political examples
Johnson “Great Society”
Distributive justice (increased economic opportunity best defense against crime)
Clinton
Community policing
Nixon, Ford, and Bush
Law-and-order stance emphasizing individual responsibility, deterrence, and retribution

57. Politics: The “Left” and “Right” of Criminal Justice Policy (3 of 4)
Left (liberal)
Right (conservative)
Dissatisfied with present social order
Crime = bad choice made freely by the offender
Emphasizes dysfunc-tional elements of the criminal justice system
Values discipline and respect for authority

58. Politics: The “Left” and “Right” of Criminal Justice Policy (4 of 4)
Left (liberal)
Right (conservative)
Positive school
Classical school
Seeks root causes of criminal behavior
Deals with symptoms of crime
Calls for social reform
Focuses on correlates of social problems

59. Influences of Social Context (1 of 2)
Social context shapes scientific research
Martinson report
Reviewed effectiveness of correctional treatment
Found that rehabilitative efforts had no appreciable effect upon recidivism

60. Influences of Social Context (2 of 2)
Social context impacts:
Which theories of crime gain popularity
How research findings are interpreted
What areas within criminology are deemed important enough to study

61. Crime as a Natural Phenomenon
Crime is something that can and must be eliminated.
Durkheim: Deviance is a prerequisite for social change.
Cohen: The deviant makes positive social contributions.

62. How to Study Crime (1 of 2) Personal experience Studies by others
Limited experiences
Limited perspective
Studies by others
Problems with generalizations
Interpretations subject to the influence of social context
Scientific method—best understanding
Construction of theory
Development of hypothesis
Empirical testing

63. How to Study Crime (2 of 2) Keep an open mind.
Don’t discount theories based on exceptional cases—there are always exceptions to the rule.
Don’t expect easy answers and don’t accept them without reservation—criminological theory often cannot provide literal answers to the crime problem.
Good theory should be linked to reality through research.

64. Conclusion
Crime should be viewed not as a single phenomenon, but as one in which many kinds of behavior occur in different situations and under different conditions.
No single theory can provide all the explanations or answers for crime.
Criminological theory attempts to explain the causes of criminal behavior, not to excuse crime or criminals.