Sociological Criminology, Criminology & Cultural Criminology

Sociological Criminology, Criminology & Cultural

Criminology

For most of it’s history, almost all criminology was sociological criminology

Criminology was concerned with issues of poverty, race and ethnicity

Also focused on the structure of communities and social relationships

In the past few decades, criminology has moved away from a structural focus to emphasize individualistic explanations

Disciplines such as biology and psychology have also increased their engagement with the study of crime.

Other disciplines often fail to address questions that sociologists view as central to the examination of crime:

1. Why do rates of crime differ across locations and over time?

2. why do rates of crime differ according to the key factors in inequality such as race, ethnicity, class and gender?

3. How and why is the legal response to crime shaped by race, ethnicity, class and gender and other extra legal variables?

A sociological perspective stresses that people are social beings more than individuals

This means that society profoundly shapes their behavior, attitudes and life chances.

People within a given society growing up in different locations and within different social networks and under diverse socioeconomic circumstances tend to act and think differently

Stressed that social forces influence our behavior and attitudes.

Studies of Suicide

deviance affirms cultural values and norms -condemning something as “deviant”

clarifies moral boundaries -constructing an act as deviant can unify

social groups -what is constructed as deviant may often

be reconstructed as a social or commercial good

Refers to how a society is organized in terms of social relationships and social interaction

Vertical and horizontal social structure

Refers to the social and physical characteristics of communities and the networks of social relationships to which an individual belongs.

Refers to social inequality or how a society ranks different groups of people.

Mills emphasized that social structure lives at the root of “private troubles”

*example of employment

>for Mills the ability to understand the structural and historical basis for personal troubles is an example of the “sociological imagination”

For much of European recorded history, people attributed crime and deviance to religious forces

Individuals committed crimes because God or the gods were punishing or testing them

During the Middle Ages deviance was blamed on the devil

In the 18th century, what is known as the “classical school” of criminology stressed that criminals rationally chose to commit crimes after deciding that the potential rewards outweigh the risks.

>scholars then suggested that legal punishment needed to be severe enough only to deter potential criminals from breaking the law

From Cesare Beccaria’s essay, “On Crimes and Punishment” we’ll identify three of his general principles can be identified that typify the classical doctrine:

Equality - All should be treated equally under the law.

Liberty - We have the right to be protected from the potential abuses of power by the state.  The law cannot be applied retroactively and there can be no punishment without law.

Utilitarianism – Because the major goal of the state should be the greatest happiness for the greatest number, justice should focus on utility rather than retaliation and retribution.

In the 19th century scholars began to investigate the causes of criminal behavior through scientific investigation

Gathered and analyzed crime data in France

Found that crime rates remained fairly stable over time and were higher for young adults, men and the poor

The interest in the social roots of crime was eclipsed by growing interest in the biological roots of crime

Public Opinion, the News Media and the Crime Problem

Democratic theory assumes that public opinion should influence the decisions of public officials

Is elite opinion as important or should it be?

1. Crime is rampant 2. Crime is overly violent 3. people of color are more heavily

involved in crime and drugs and less likely to be crime victims

4. teenagers are heavily involved in violent crime

5. crime victims are particularly virtuous

Accurate measurement of crime is essential to understand geographical and demographic differences in crime rates and gauge whether crime is rising or falling.

How complete is the picture that our crime data gives us??

Nation’s official crime source and is based on police reports of crime to the FBI.

Problems with UCR:1.Many crime victims don’t report2.Citizens may become more or less likely to report

crimes to police3.Changes in how police record crimes may affect

stats4.Police in different communities may have

different definitions and understandings of certain crimes

Measures the nature and extent of victimization

Began in early 70’s

Does not cover commercial crime and respondents don’t always disclose victimizations

Is it as accurate as the UCR??

Focus mainly on adolescents and measures the extent of their offending

How have self-report studies helped in the development and testing of criminological theory

Study of Victimization limited usually to street crime

Patterned geographically and sociodemographically

What does data from National Crime Victimization Survey Show? (pg 95)

What increases your chance of being victimized?

What is the cost of victimization?