1. Introduction to Criminology
Defining Criminology
The Criminal Law
Development of Academic Criminology
Theories of Crime
Politics/Ideology
Introduction to Criminology

2. Defining Criminology Edwin Sutherland’s definition
The scientific study of lawmaking, lawbreaking, and the response to lawbreaking
Lawmaking = how laws are created/changed
Lawbreaking = nature/extent of crime
Reaction = police, courts, corrections
Science vs. other ways of knowing stuff

3. Criminology vs. Criminal Justice
The study of agencies related to the control of crime
Criminology
The study of crime trends, nature of crime, theories of crime
Reality? Two sides of the same coin

4. Criminology vs. Deviance
Criminology focuses on crimes
Crime = violation of criminal law
Deviance focuses on violations of societal norms
These may or may not also be law violations
Can you think of a norm violation that is not a law violation?
How about a law violation that does not violate a norm?

5. Types of Law Criminal Law Civil Law Procedural vs. Substantive
Statutory vs. Common
Civil Law
Tort law

6. Substantive vs. Procedural Law
Substantive Law
Written code that defines crimes and punishments
Procedural Law
Governs actors in the criminal justice system (e.g., when can the police search your vehicle?)

7. Common Law v. Statutory Law
Common Law is judge-made
law. The law is found in
previously decided cases.
Statutory Laws are derived from
legislative acts that decide the
definition of the behavior that is
codified into law.

8. Criminal and Tort Law A public offense Enforcement is state business
Punishment is often loss of liberties or sometimes death
Fines go to the state
State doesn’t ordinarily appeal
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt
A civil or private wrong
Individuals bring action
Sanction is normally monetary damages
Both parties can appeal
Individuals receives the compensation for harm done
“Preponderance of the evidence” is required for a decision.

9. Seriousness of Crimes I
Mala in se
Mala prohibita
Wrong or evil in themselves
Core of legal code
Homicide
Robbery
Wrong because they are prohibited
Change over time and across society
Prostitution
Gambling

10. Seriousness of Crimes II
More serious offenses
Punishable by death
or imprisonment for
more than a year in a
state prison.
FELONY
Less serious offenses
Punishable by incar-
ceration for less than a
year in a local jail or
house of correction.
MISDEMEANOR

11. A criminal law must indicate a type of intent and a specific behavior
Actus Reas
Physical act must be voluntary
If crime is“Failure to act,” there must be legal obligation.
Statutory Obligation, Relationship between parties, Contract
Mens Rea
General or specific intent
Transferred Intent
Negligence
Strict Liability Offenses

12. Specific Criminal Defenses
Deny the Actus Reas (I didn’t do it)
Deny the Mens Rea
Ignorance / Mistake
Intoxication?
Insanity Defense

13. Who does the law serve? Consensus view Conflict view Which is correct?
Law results from societal agreement on what behaviors are most harmful
Laws apply to all citizens equally
Conflict view
Law results from conflict over what behavior should be criminalized
Those with the most power define what is criminal and often use the law to protect their interests
Which is correct?

14. Criminology as a Discipline
Until the 1970s, there was no “criminology” or “criminal justice” degree
Sociology became the dominant disciple
Still contributions from biology, psychology, political science
1980-Present
Criminology emerging as separate entity
PhD in Criminology/Criminal Justice now the norm
Still debate about whether Criminology is a distinct discipline
Organized around a class of behaviors rather than a distinct way of looking at the world
Sociologists still see criminology as a “sub-discipline” of sociology

15. Sociological Criminology—Good & Bad
Good: Focus on social structure and inequality; healthy skepticism (debunking)
Bad: Ignore/ridicule “outside” disciplines and their focus on individual differences
The Irony? Psychologists and biologists believe that social forces are as (or more) important than individual differences
This class will explore crime from a multidisciplinary lens

16. A Crude History of Criminology
Demonic Perspective pre-1750s
Crime as god’s will, result of demonic possession
Classical School (1750s-1900; 1970s to now)
Utilitarian philosophy (Becarria, Bentham)
A response to an unjust/arbitrary legal system
Free will, humans use a “hedonistic calculus”
Rational legal code  less crime
Basis of deterrence theory

17. Crude History—Part II Positive School (1900-present)
Crime is “caused” by outside forces (determinism)
Solution is to fix these causes (medical model, rehab)
Scientific research on offenders, crime (not law)
Different types of positivism
Bio/psych determinism ( s)
Sociological theory (1920s-Present)
Critical theories (1960s-early 1970s)
Developmental Theory (1990s-present)

18. Crime Theory Backbone of criminology Scientific Theory
Must be able to test theory
A GOOD theory survives empirical testing
Empirical = real world observations
Some theories are sexier than others
Parsimony
Scope
Usefulness of policy implications

19. Flow Chart for Evaluation
NO = Useless, stop here
Evaluate the
Following:
Scope
Parsimony
Policy Implications
Falsifiable?
Logical?
Yes
Empirical
Evidence?
YES
NO: Modify/Discard

20. Empirical Evidence is the KEY
Theories attempt to demonstrate cause-effect
Criteria for causation in social science using a poverty  crime example
Time ordering: poverty happens before crime
Correlation: X is related to Y
Relationship is not spurious (e.g., low self-control causes both poverty and crime)

21. Methods for generating evidence
Experiment
Key is randomly assigned groups
Only factor that effects outcome is group difference at start of experiment
Limit = artificial nature

22. Experimental Design

23. Methods for generating evidence II
Non-experimental
Survey research
Cross sectional  Stimulant Study
Longitudinal
Limit = how to rule out spuriousness
Upside = ask whatever you want

24. Ideology in Criminology
Walter Miller
Ideology is the “permanent hidden agenda of Criminal Justice”
What is “Ideology?”
American Political Ideology
Liberal/Progressive Ideology
Conservative Ideology
Radical Ideology

25. Dominant Ideologies in U.S.
CONSERVATIES
LIBERALS
Value order/stability, respect for authority
People get what they deserve
Crime caused by poor choice (Free will)
Value equal opportunities and individual rights
Success depends on outside forces & where you start
Crime is caused by outside influences

26. Implications of Ideology for Crime and Justice
Conservatives tend to fit with “Classical School”
“Neo-Classical” = deterrence, incapacitation
James Q. Wilson’s “policy analysis”
Liberal/Progressive fit with positive school
Favor decriminalizing some acts
“Root causes” of crime only fixed by social change
Rehabilitation may be possible
Elliott Currie = ample evidence that government can address social ills and prevent crime
Radical = Marxist/conflict theory

27. Ideology as “hidden agenda”
Many policies and programs are driven more by ideology than empirical evidence
Intensive supervision probation (conservatives)
Restorative justice (liberals)

28. The “Martinson Report” (MR)
The “Martinson Report” was review of studies on rehabilitation published in the early 1970s
Concluded that not much is working
Used by politicians as the reason for abandoning rehab
Social Context of the 1960s
Hippies, Watergate, Attica, Viet Nam, Kent State…
Conservatives? SKY IS FALLING
Liberals? Cannot trust the government
Reality = liberals and conservatives were both “ready” to pull the plug on rehabilitation

29. The Limits of Empirical Evidence
Criminologists tend to be cautions with conclusions
All studies are flawed in some way
Politicians and public tend to “over generalize” from a single study
This can lead to bad policy
RAND Felony Probation study
Domestic Violence Experiments

30. Good theory makes good policy…
In a perfect world, programs and policies would flow from empirically supported theories of crime
Unfortunately, people often “shoot from hip”
Policy without Theory
The “panacea” problem: scared straight, intensive probation, boot camps, warm and fuzzy circle…
Some hope in “evidence-based” movement
Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
Targets for change = parental supervision, delinquent friends, reducing rewards for deviance…