Introduction to Criminal Justice

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Introduction to Criminal Justice

• Explaining Crime
• Chapter Three
• Bohm and Haley

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Theory

• A theory is an assumption (or set of assumptions)
  
• that attempts to explain why or how
• things are related to each other.
• A theory of crime attempts to explain
• why or how a certain thing or certain things
• are related to crime and criminal behavior.
• Key word Causation

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From Classical Choice Theories to Modern Rational
Choice Views(Beccaria)

• The basis of this perspective over time has dealt
  with four key relationships
• 1) Law
• 2) Crime
• 3) Punishment
• 4) Deterrence

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Core Concepts of Choice or Classical Criminology
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Structuring Crime(Classical Theory)

• Not only do criminals structure their career but
  they rationally choose
• The type of crime to commit
• Where it occurs
• Who or what will be the target
• The time the crime will be committed

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Question

• Do you think that a criminal act
• is a matter of rational choice?
• In order for behavior to be rational -
• should behavior be learned first,
• in order to make a structured choice of crime?

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How Are These Behaviors the Product of Rational
Thought?

• Street Crime
• Drug Use
• Violence

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Deterrence

• The punishment philosophy that says
• punishments aim
• is
• to prevent future offenses
• by setting an example
• for both the offender and others
• i.e., specific and general deterrence.

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General Deterrence

• The version of deterrence that seeks to
• prevent crime by using punishment to show others
  who are considering a criminal act
• that they will suffer painful consequences
• if they commit that act.

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Specific Deterrence

• The version of deterrence that seeks to prevent
  crime by using punishment to show the criminal
  that the criminal act was undesirable because it
  brought more pain than pleasure.
• Possible problems include
• Chronic offenders may increase their rate of
  offending or defiance.
• Juveniles may experience leniency in punishment.
• The effect of specific deterrence as a punishment
  strategy is uncertain.

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Foundations of Biological Trait Theory

• The biological explanation of criminal behavior
  first became popular during the middle part of
  the 19th Century with the introduction of
  positivism.
• What is positivism?

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Positivism

• Positivism rejects the concept of free will.
• Positivism assumes that human behavior is
  determined.
• Crime can only be understood if it is studied by
  the scientific method (cause and effect).
• Human behavior is a function of internal and
  external forces multiple factors, i.e., social,
  biological, psychological, or socio-economic
  forces.

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Early Positivists

• Early positivists included
• Lombroso (belief that certain physical
  characteristics indicate a criminal nature).
• Garofalo (certain physical characteristics and
  psychological characteristics indicate criminal
  nature).
• Ferri (belief in biological, social and organic
  factors as a cause of crime and delinquency).
• Sheldon (belief in body types which were
  susceptible to certain types of delinquent
  behavior).

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TRAIT THEORIES(Positivist Approach)

• Trait theories are made up of biosocial and
  psychological theories.
• The primary focus of trait theories is human
  behavior and the link to
• anti-social behavior, i.e., aggression,
  violence, and criminality.

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Biological and Psychological Traits

• Both biological and psychological traits have
  been linked to criminal behavior, but not as
  causal linkages.
• It is the multiple factor approach or the
  interaction of mental and physical traits with
  environmental and social factors that either
  suppress or trigger criminal behavior.
• The focus is generally on persistent or chronic
  offenders.

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Biosocial Trait Theories

• Biochemical Conditions and Crime
• Neurophysiological Conditions and Crime
• Genetics and Crime
• Evolutionary Views and Crime

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PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAIT THEORIES(Freud)

• Psychodynamic
• Behavioral
• Cognitive

• Social Learning
• Mental Illness and crime
• Personality and Crime
• Intelligence and Crime

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Personality and Crime - Trait
Personality can be defined as the reasonably
stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts
and emotions that distinguish one person from
another. Personality reflects a characteristic
way of adapting to lifes demands and problems.
Psychopaths
Sociopaths
Anti-Social Personalities I Abnormal Affect
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SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES(Positivist Approach)

• Criminal Behavior Patterns
• Are Affected By
• Places - Places not people cause crime, i.e.,
  deteriorated lower-class areas.
• Socioeconomic placement in society can influence
  the potential for criminal behavior, i.e., unable
  to attain social or economic success.

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Sociological TheoriesThe Underlying Premise

• The real crime problem is a lower class
  phenomenon.
• Those that live in equivalent social environments
  tend to behave in a predictable fashion. If the
  environment did not affect human behavior, then
  crime rates would be dispersed equally across the
  social structure.

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ELEMENTS OFSOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY(Shaw
and McKay)

• Poverty
• Social Disorganization
• Breakdown of Social Control
• Criminal Areas
• Cultural Transmission
• Criminal Careers

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STRAIN THEORIES

• Crime is a direct result of the
• frustration and anger of the lower-class
• to achieve culturally defined goals, i.e.,
  wealth, success, power
• however,
• the means to acquire these goals
• are stymied by the stratification
• of class and status in society.

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ANOMIE

• Durkheim Norms have broken down because of
  rapid social change, i.e., traditions and values.
• Merton Culturally defined goals and socially
  approved means for obtaining them have broken
  down, i.e., education and hard work.
• Messner and Rosenfeld The American Dream as a
  goal and a process. Crime becomes the strategy
  for attaining wealth.

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Cultural Deviance TheoryCohens Theory of
Delinquent Subcultures
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Cultural Deviance TheoryCloward and Ohlins
Theory of Differential Opportunity
MAJOR PREMISE Blockage of conventional
opportunities causes lower-class youths to join
criminal, conflict, or retreatist gangs.
STRENGTHS Shows that even illegal opportunities
are structured in society. Indicates why people
become involved in a particular type of criminal
activity. Presents a way of preventing crime by
providing the means for juveniles to obtain
success.
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The goal of social conflict theorists is to
explain crime within economic and social contexts
and to express the connections among social
class, crime and social control. Crime is an
outcome of class struggle. Issues of concern to
them include

• The role government plays in creating a
  criminogenic environment.
• The relationship of personal or group power in
  controlling and shaping the criminal law.
• The role of bias in the operations of the justice
  system.
• The relationship between a capitalist
  free-enterprise economy and crime rates.

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Conflict Theory(Vold andTurk)
STRENGTHS Accounts for class differentials in the
crime rate. Shows how class conflict influences
behavior.
MAJOR PREMISE Crime is a function of class
conflict. The definition of the law is controlled
by people who hold social and political power.
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Marxist Theory(Radical Theory)
MAJOR PREMISE The capitalist means of production
creates class conflict. Crime is a rebellion of
the lower class. The criminal justice system is
an agent of class warfare.
STRENGTHS Accounts for the associations between
economic structure and crime rates.
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Social Conflict TheoriesDeconstructionism
(Postmodernists)
MAJOR PREMISE Language controls the meaning and
use of the law.
STRENGTHS Provides a critical analysis of
meaning.
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Social Conflict TheoriesPeacemaking
Restorative Justice
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Social Learning TheoryDifferential Association

• Sutherland and Cressey.
• Criminal behavior and criminal techniques are
  learned. Learned behavior is a byproduct of
  interacting with others.
• Learned behavior begins when a person is in their
  adolescence from close friends and relatives.
• Criminal behavior occurs when the definitions
  toward crime outweigh the definitions against
  crime.

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Social Control Theories

• Reckless containment theory a strong
  self-image insulates a youth from crimogenic
  influences.
• Hirshis social bond theory onset of
  criminality is linked to the weakening of social
  ties or bonds.

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Elements of the Social Bond
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Hirschis Control Theory
MAJOR PREMISE A persons bond to society prevents
him or her from violating social rules. If the
bond weakens, the person is free to commit crime.
STRENGTHS Explains the onset of crime can apply
to both middle- and lower-class crime. Explains
its theoretical constructs adequately so they can
be measured. Has been empirically tested.
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LABELING THEORY(Edwin Lemert)

• This theory holds that
• criminality is promoted by
• becoming negatively labeled
• by significant others.
• Key Word Secondary Deviance

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Labeling Theory The Basis for Self-Concept
Decision to Label
Initial Criminal Act
Detection by the Justice System
Creation of a New Identity
Acceptance of Labels
Deviance Amplification