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Title: Sociology 371 Criminology


1
Sociology 371 Criminology
  • Robert Crutchfield

2
Getting Started
  • An event at Carnegie Mellon University
  • Has a crime been committed?
  • Why or why not?
  • Why did the event occur?
  • What is the best way to respond?

3
Course Introduction
  • Class Structure
  • LecturesOne Minute Papers
  • Review Sessions
  • Lab sessions
  • Office Hours
  • Grading
  • Readings

4
Course Objectives3 critical questions
  • How do we control crime?
  • Why is there crime?
  • What is crime?
  • There are many answers to all 3 questions
  • Examples and the range of answers
  • Science, evidence, opinions policy

5
Your challengedont fall prey to this
  • From noindoctrination.org
  • From the Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Robert D. Crutchfield, a professor of sociology
    at the University of Washington, is accused by
    an anonymousstudent of "thoroughly
    indoctrinating" students in his"Introduction to
    the Sociology of Deviance" course.According to
    the student, the professor believes
    thatcriminals must be rehabilitated rather than
    punished

6
Your challengedont fall prey to this
  • "What embarrasses me is that this student so
    completely misunderstood what I was teaching on
    these topics,
  • What I actually told the reporter was that I was
    embarrassed that any UW student could get it SO
    wrong.

7
My Challenge
  • Deliver a quality course
  • Intellectually challenging
  • Evidence based
  • The substance of criminology
  • What we know
  • What we dont know
  • Address challenging issues
  • Do not duck the hard questions
  • Focus on evidence based answers to those question

8
Introduction to Criminology
  • Academic criminology vs. Sherlock Holmes
  • Beccaria Bentham Classical School
  • Why was it needed? Foucault from Discipline and
    Punish
  • Hobbs, Locke, the social contract and criminal
    justice
  • Lombroso company Positivism
  • Science
  • Determinism
  • An interdisciplinary area of study and research
  • Is crime a problem? (tables)
  • Hard to answer until crime is defined

9
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
10
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
11
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
12
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
13
Defining crime
  • Why is this important?
  • The definition influences the questions and
    issues raised
  • The definition makes some questions more likely
    to be asked than other questions.
  • Why defining crime is not so simple
  • A legalistic definitioncrime is a human act that
    violates the criminal law.

14
The legalistic definition
  • BehaviorActus Reus
  • Positive aspects of legal definitions
  • Negative aspects of legal definitions
  • Modifications of the legalistic definition
  • When is a crime not a crime?
  • Mens Rea
  • Criminal capacity

15
Incapacity for criminal intent
  • Acting under duress
  • Nonage and delinquency
  • Mental incapacity
  • MNaughten Rule
  • Irresistible Impulse or Control Test
  • Durhams Rule

16
Legalistic definition continued
  • Criminal Law vs. Civil Law
  • Criminal law and formal social control
  • Crime and informal social control
  • William Graham SumnerFolkways
  • A study of norms and social control
  • Folkways, mores, and laws

17
VI. Non-legalistic definitions of crime
  • Act is only a crime when it has been processed by
    the criminal justice system
  • A labeling theory definition Crime is not the
    quality of an act, but rather of the actorHoward
    Becker
  • A Marxist definition Crime is behavior so
    designated by the elites in order to serve their
    interests

18
VII. Consequences of choosing particular
definitions
  • The definition selected influences the types of
    questions that are asked.
  • Legalistic definitions focus is on who commits
    crimes, how much crime is there, and how do
    societies control crime.
  • Non-legalistic definitions focus on the above
    questions, but also on the sources of law, the
    processes of law, the interests of law.

19
Enduring and Changing Patterns of Crime
  • The specialization debate
  • Has the nature of crime changed?
  • Technological change and crime
  • Social and cultural changes and crime
  • Changes in criminals?
  • Changes in the amount of crimes?

20
Organized Crime and Gangs
  • Organized vs. organized
  • Important distinction because of how we explain
    and control
  • Local vs. national
  • Ethnicity and mobs and gangs
  • Images vs. realityThe Sicilian Mafia
  • Ethnic succession and crime

21
Organized crime
  • Why they thrive
  • Consistent with pro business norms of society
  • They provide desired goods and services
  • Chambliss, On the Take
  • A study of organized crime in Seattle
  • OC arises out of the contradictions that are
    created by society

22
Gangs
  • Where do gangs come from?
  • The invasion thesis
  • Thrasheremerging from the community
  • Contemporary gangs
  • Crips and bloods folks and peoplethe reality of
    gang nations and sets
  • Gang cities, non-gang cities and the appearance
    of gangs in the 80s and 90s
  • TerritorialexampleVenkateshs study of Chicago
    housing projects
  • Drugs and gangsWaldorf et.al.

23
Elite Crime
  • Occupational crime
  • White collar crime
  • Blue collar crime
  • Corporate crime
  • Crime that benefits the company
  • Political crime
  • Crimes against and by the state

24
Violence
  • The U.S. has high rates of violence compared to
    most western industrialized nations
  • Rates of violence have declined in recent years,
    but is slightly up in the last year
  • The risk of violence is not equally distributed
    across the population

25
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
26
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
27
How do you explain violence and recent trends?
  • According to social disorganization theory?
  • According to conflict theory?
  • According to control theory?
  • According to differential association theory?

28
Drugs and Crime
  • 2 interpretations of the relationship
  • The pharmacology of drugs
  • The cost of procurement
  • The drug business
  • Combating drugs as a crime control strategy
  • DARE
  • Drug courts
  • Incarceration

29
From Bureau of Justice Statistics http//bjs.ojp.u
sdoj.gov/index.cfm?tykfa
30
Emerging Crime in the 21st Century
  • Old crimes with new interest
  • Sex offenses
  • Terrorism
  • Fraud
  • Crimes of the Twenty-first century
  • Cyber crime
  • ID theft

31
VIII. Studying Crime
  • Official measures of crime delinquency
  • Bureau of Justice Statistics
  • E.g. Census of Jails and Prisonswith the Census
    Bureau
  • National Prisoner StatisticsBureau of Prisons
  • Local and State data
  • FBIs Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

32
                                               
D
33
UCRIndex Crimes
  • Murder0.1
  • Forcible Rape0.9
  • Robbery1.6
  • Agg. Assault7.7
  • M.V.T.10.4
  • Burglary17.9
  • Larceny61.4

34
http//www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/violent_cri
me/index.html
35
http//www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/offenses/property_cr
ime/index.html
36
National Crime Victimization Survey
  • Victimization Surveys
  • NCVS
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses

37
http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/viort.htm
38
(No Transcript)
39
http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/house2.htm
40
National Center for Health Statistics, Vital
Statistics
http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/hmrt.htm
41
Self Reports of Crime and Delinquency
  • How they work
  • The UW student example
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses

42
Self Reports--Fights
43
Self Reports--Weapons
44
Which data to use?
  • The best answer is based on the research or
    policy question that is being asked
  • All of these data are biased in some way
  • Examplethe more you penetrate the criminal
    justice system, the greater the processing biases
    that occur
  • ExamplesVictims perceptions and self-report
    subjects honesty

45
St. Louis is ranked most dangerous city
City rankings                                     
  The most and least dangerous cities overall,
as compiled by Morgan Quitno Press, which bases
the rankings on FBI figures released in
June. Most dangerous cities 1. St. Louis 2.
Detroit 3. Flint, Mich. 4. Compton, Calif. 5.
Camden, N.J. 6. Birmingham, Ala. 7. Cleveland 8.
Oakland, Calif. 9. Youngstown, Ohio 10. Gary, Ind.
Safest cities 1. Brick, N.J. 2. Amherst, N.Y. 3.
Mission Viejo, Calif. 4. Newton, Mass. 5. Troy,
Mich. 6. Colonie, N.Y. 7. Irvine, Calif. 8. Cary,
N.C. 9. Greece, N.Y. 10. Coral Springs, Fla
Out of 371 cities ranked, from safest to most
dangerous, Seattle was 262nd, Everett was 283rd
and Tacoma was 324th. Seattle Times, 10/30/06
46
From Seattle Times, 10/30/06
  • Cities are ranked based on more than just their
    crime rate, Morgan said. Individual crimes such
    as rape or burglary are measured separately,
    compared with national averages and then compiled
    to give a city its ranking. Crimes are weighted
    based on their danger to people.

47
Violence in 3 Washington Cities--2005
  • Bellevue
  • Number of violent acts reported 172,
  • Rate 145.15 per 100,000 people
  • Seattle
  • Number of violent acts reported 4,109,
  • Rate 709.41 per 100,000 people
  • Tacoma
  • Number of violent acts reported 2,014,
  • Rate 1,013.35 per 100,000 people

48
What is Qualitative Research?
  • In depth research (often case studies) that look
    at the behaviors, motivations and norms of
    certain groups.
  • Participant observation
  • Non participant observation
  • In depth interviews

49
When and Why do we use Qual. Research?
  • It depends on the questions about crime we want
    to ask.
  • Qualitative studies answer the HOW and WHY
    questions about criminology.
  • Quantitative studies answer the WHAT, WHEN WHERE
    questions.

50
Studying Crime--Qualitative Research
  • ChamblissOn The Take
  • Interviews and participant observation
  • Could not observe with other methods
  • Mercer SullivanGetting Paid
  • A study of groups of juveniles in 3 disadvantaged
    neighborhoods
  • Life chances depend on classworking vs. severely
    disadvantaged and race
  • The type of crime depends on class and race too

51
Qualitative Research (continued)
  • Mary Patillo-McCoyBlack Picket Fences
  • A study of a black middle class community
  • Differs from white MC communities
  • Proximity to underclass MC status is fragile
  • Gangs, drugs, and crime
  • Philippe BourgoisIn Search of Respect
  • Study of a crack housemoved family into
    neighborhood
  • The organization and functioning of the house
    dealers

52
Benefits and Limitations
  • Benefits
  • - in depth research
  • - can study specific populations
  • - few researchers needed
  • Limitations
  • - hard to generalize
  • - subjective rather than objective
  • - takes a long time to complete

53
Correlates of Crime
  • Correlations vs. causality
  • Theory and methods in discussions of causality
  • Spuriousness
  • Minor crime correlates
  • Population size, region, crowding/density,
    religion, etc.
  • Major crime correlates
  • Sex, age, social class, race ethnicity

54
Correlations between perpetrator and victim
characteristics
  • Perpetrators tend to have characteristics very
    similar to those they victimize
  • The young victimize the young
  • Crime continues to be primarily intraracial
  • Low SES perps victimize low SES victims
  • Does not hold for sexWomen usually victimized by
    men

55
Sex and Crime
56
Age and Crime
57
SES and Crime
  • In 2001-- Persons in households with an annual
    income under 25,000 were robbed at a
    significantly higher rate than persons in
    households earning more.
  • Persons whose household had an annual income
    under 50,000 were slightly more likely than
    person in higher income households to experience
    assault

58
Race, Ethnicity and Crime
LOW HIGH _________________________
_________________________________
Asians Whites Asians Native Am.
Hispanics Blacks (older groups) (newer
groups) Rates vary substantially for
different Hispanic national groups
59
Race and Crime
60
Ethnicity and Crime
  • During 2001--Latinos were victims of overall
    violence at somewhat higher rates than
    non-Latinos
  • Latinos were significantly more likely to be
    robbed than non-Latinos.
  • There were no difference between Latinos and
    non-Latinos for other violent crimes

61
How do we explain the observed correlations?
  • Research methods
  • Experiments
  • Other kinds of observations
  • Theory
  • Qualities of good theories
  • Logical consistencyinternal and external
  • Empirically verifiablefalsifiable

62
Theory and researchan example
  • From the literature
  • Unemployment and crime
  • Labor market segmentation
  • Hypothesesneighborhoods with more unemployed in
    marginally employed workers will have higher
    crime rates
  • Results
  • Conclusions?

63
(No Transcript)
64
Social Disorganization Theory
  • Social solidarity and informal social control
  • Rapid social change concentric zones
  • Ethnic succession in neighborhoods and crime
  • Some problems with S.D. Theory
  • Biased conception of organization
  • Accuracy
  • Tautological process descriptions

65
Contemporary versions of Social Disorganization
theory
  • Systemic model
  • Bursikfocus on the capacity of neighborhoods to
    mobilize institutions
  • Collective efficacy
  • Sampsonsocial capital collective efficacy
  • CE2 componentscohesiveness informal social
    control
  • Explaining the race/crime correlation w/ S.D.
    Theory
  • Ethnic succession?
  • The rise of the underclass
  • Racial residential segregation

66
Differential Association
  • Differential Group/Social Organization
  • D.A.an excess of definitions favorable to
    violation over defs. unfavorable to viol.
  • Crime is learned
  • Not who you associate withdefinitions
    attitudes
  • 2 Major related problems
  • Measuring and testing
  • Tautological statements

67
Resurrecting Differential Association Theory
  • Matsueda--use of newer analytic
    techniquesstructural equation modelingto
    measure definitions
  • Found support for Sutherlands formulation
  • Importance of learning
  • Importance of interactive identity development
  • Hochstetler et al.-is this a true test of DA?

68
Anomie or Strain Theory
  • DurkheimA state of normlessness
  • MertonA disjunction between the legitimate goals
    and means in a society
  • CohenDelinquent subcultures
  • Del. is non-utilitarian and negativistic
  • Cloward and Ohlincriminal, conflict, and
    retreatest gangs

69
Anomie or Strain Theory today
  • Problems w/ original theory
  • Empirical evidence did not support
  • SES and crime correlation
  • 2 contemporary versions
  • Agnew et al.general strain theory
  • Messner and RosenfeldInstitutional Anomie
  • Kim Pridemorestudy in Russia after fall of
    Soviet Unionpartial support for IA

70
Subcultural Theories
  • Subculture of violence
  • Pro-violence values and beliefs
  • Southern subculture of violence
  • All Gods ChildrenFox Butterfield
  • Subculture of poverty
  • Miller,Banfield, Murray
  • Anderson, Pattillo-McCoy, Bourgois

71
Subcultural Theories--problems
  • Subculture of Violencetautological, lack of
    parsimony, over prediction (OP)
  • Subculture of Poverty--blaming the victim,
    theory is removed from social structural
    conditions, OP
  • Pachin et aladdress OPviolence exposure
  • Putting structure back inAnderson, Codes of The
    Streets

72
Control Theory
  • The question is different
  • Early control theoristsReckless Nye
  • Hirschi Bond Theory
  • Elements of the bondattachment, commitment,
    involvement, belief
  • Unitsfamily, school, peers, community
  • Weis and Hawkinssocial development model

73
Low Self Control as a Cause of CrimeGottfredson
and Hirschi
  • Self control developed early in lifeusually
    before 8 or 10
  • Developed in the context of family
  • Stability of deviance over the life course
  • Implications for the study of delinquency and
    crime
  • Low self control and the age/crime relationship

74
Crime and control over thelife-course
  • A control theorysocial ties and bonds to society
    from childhood to adulthood
  • Childrenfamily, school, peer groups
  • Young adultshigher ed/vocation, work, marriage
  • Adulthoodwork, family, community, CJS

75
Labeling Theory
  • Labeling as an independent variable--symbolic
    interaction and the development of identity
  • Not what you do, but who you are that causes the
    label to be applied
  • Labeling as a dependent variablewhose rules
    are they?

76
Conflict Theory
  • Cultural conflict
  • Conflict theoryfocus on important divisions in
    society and how conflict between them are
    negotiated
  • Marxist theoryBonger to Quinney
  • ChamblissOn the Takestructural contradictions
    cause the form of crime
  • Critical TheoryHudson--Potter

77
The Routine Activities Approach
  • Cohen and Felson
  • Crime/victimization is most likely when three
    conditions converge
  • Motivated actors
  • Potential victims
  • Absence of guardians

78
Bio-social Explanations
  • Wilson and Herrnstein
  • Genetic predispositions behaviorism
  • Race and biological explanations
  • Raine
  • Interaction of biological and social causes
  • The example of social class and violencethe role
    of led paint poisoning
  • Brain scan research with serial killers
  • Savage and Villalinking individuals and ecology

79
Psychological Theories
  • Moffittlife course persistent (LCP) and
    adolescent limited (AL) trajectories
  • LCP is a product of the interaction between the
    individual and environment that culminates in a
    disordered personality
  • AL accompanies normal adolescent development
  • The psychological effects of victimization--Breite
    nbecher

80
Controlling Crime
  • Criminal justice system or criminal justice
    industry?
  • Criminal justice vs. other solutions
  • Root causes vs. direct reaction
  • 3 models of criminal justice
  • The crime control model
  • The rehabilitation model
  • The due process model

81
Crime control strategies
  • Deterrence
  • Special general deterrence
  • Speed, certainly severity
  • 3 strikes, etc.
  • Broken windowsthe NYC miracle
  • Rebuilding institutionse.g. families, schools,
    communities, churches

82
An alternative to consider--Restorative justice
  • Braithwaite and restorative justice in Australia
  • Making the victim of crime whole again
  • Making the community whole again
  • The traditional Zimbabwe example
  • Limits on RJ RJ in the U.S.

83
Conclusions
  • What should you remember?
  • Knowing something about criminology
  • What is crime like?
  • What are the causes?
  • What do we know about controlling it?
  • Knowing something about sociology society
  • The value of critical thinking
  • For scholarship
  • For citizens

84
What do we mean by critical thinking?
  • Being thoughtfully informed asking questions
  • Avoiding knee jerk positions and bumper sticker
    policies
  • Do not erase data banksyou need to remember
    after the test
  • Using what you know

The secret to critical thinking3 simple questions
85
The secret to critical thinking3 simple questions
  • WHO CARES?
  • SO WHAT?
  • HOW DO YOU KNOW?
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