Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview of Crime and Criminology



Lecture NotesChapter 1: Introduction and Overview of Crime and CriminologyLearning Objectives Be able to describe the difficulties attached to defining crime and the difference between crime and criminality Explain the difference between mala in se and mala prohibita crimes Understand the legal process required to “officially” become criminal Realize how thinking about crime and criminality is time and culture bound Understand what theory is, how it is formulated, and how theory functions in science Be aware of the role of ideology in criminology Understand the relationship between theory and policy in criminologyChapter SummaryCriminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals. It is an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary study, although criminology has yet to integrate these disciplines in any comprehensive way. The definition of crime is problematic because acts defined as criminal vary across time and culture. Many criminologists believe that because crimes are defined into existence we cannot determine what constitutes real crimes and criminals. However, there is a stationary core of crimes that are universally condemned and always have been. These are predatory crimes that cause serious harm and are defined as mala in se, or “inherently bad” crimes, as opposed to mala prohibita, or “bad because they are forbidden” crimes. A person is not “officially” a criminal until such time as he or she has been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of having committed a crime. In order to prove that he or she did, the state has to prove corpus delicti (“the body of the crime”), which essentially means that he or she committed a criminal act (actus reus) with full awareness that the act was wrong (mens rea—guilty mind). Other basic principles—concurrence, harm, and causation—are proven in the process of proving corpus delicti. The history of criminology shows that the cultural and intellectual climate of the time strongly influences how scholars think about and study crime and criminality. The Renaissance brought more secular thinking, the Enlightenment more humane and rational thinking, the Industrial Revolution more scientific thinking, and the Progressive Era a reform-oriented criminology reminiscent of the classical school. Advances in any science are also constrained by the tools available to test theories. The ever-improving concepts, methods, and techniques available from modern genetics, neuroscience, and other biological sciences should add immeasurably to criminology’s knowledge base in the near future. Theory is the “bread and butter” of any science, including criminology. There are many contending theories seeking to explain crime and criminality. Although we do not observe such theoretical disagreement in the more established sciences, the social/behavioral sciences are young, and human behavior is extremely difficult to study. When judging among the various theories we have to keep certain things in mind, including the predictive accuracy, scope, simplicity, and falsifiability. We must also remember that crime and criminality can be discussed at many levels (society-wide, subcultural, family, or individual) and that a theory that may do a good job of predicting crime at one level may do a poor job at another level. Theories can also be offered at different levels of analysis—whole societies, subcultures, neighborhoods, families, and individuals. They may focus on the evolutionary history of the species, the individual’s subjective appraisal of a situation, or any other temporal level in between. A full account of an individual’s behavior may have to take all these levels into consideration because any behavior arises from an individual’s propensities interacting with the environmental situation as that individual perceives it. This is why we approach criminology from social, psychosocial, and biosocial perspectives. Criminologists have traditionally examined only aspects of criminal behavior that they find congenial to their ideology and, unfortunately, often malign those who focus on other aspects. The main ideological dividing line in criminology is between constrained visionaries (primarily conservatives who tend to favor explanations of behavior that focus on the individual) and unconstrained visionaries (mostly liberals who tend to favor structural or cultural explanations). All theories have explicit or implicit recommendation for policy since they posit causes of crime or criminality. Removing those alleged causes should reduce crime if the theory is correct, but the complex nature of crime and criminality make policy decisions based on them very risky indeed. Policymakers must consider many other issues demanding scarce resources, so the policy content of a theory should never be used to pass judgment on the usefulness of theory for criminologists.Annotated Chapter OutlineWhat is Criminology?Criminology is an interdisciplinary science that gathers and analyzes data on crime and criminal behavior.Criminology utilizes the scientific method to answer questions about crime.What is Crime?Crime is an act in violation of a criminal law for which a punishment is prescribed; the person committing it must have intended to do so and must have done so without legally acceptable defense or justification.Only the state has the power to define crime.Legislative bodies are continually revising, adding to, and deleting from, their criminal statutes. Crime as a Moving TargetLaws vary within the same culture from time to time as well as across different cultures.For example, it was illegal to burn the US flag until 1989 when the US Supreme Court ruled those statutes unconstitutional.What constitutes “crime” is constantly changing, as it can be defined in and out of existence by the courts or by legislators.Some criminologists argue that crime is a socially constructed phenomenon that lacks any ‘real’ objective essence, but even socially constructed classification schemes are not arbitrary.Crime as a Subcategory of Social HarmsHarmful acts can be placed on a continuum in terms of the seriousness of harm involved, with crime only being one category of these acts.Those acts that come to be regulated by criminal law are typically those deemed the most socially harmful.The harm that results from criminal activity can carry a huge financial and emotional priceHarm can be direct, such as victim harm and cost of running the criminal justice system.Harm can be indirect, such as rising insurance costs or protective devices (guns, security systems, etc).Beyond Social Construction: The Stationary Core CrimesCriminologists use the term mala in se to designate the core of criminal activities, which are nearly universally condemned, such as murder, assault, rape, and theft.Mala in se crimes are inherently evil.Crimes that are time and culture bound are considered mala prohibita (evil because they are prohibited).Examples may include jaywalking or speed limits.CriminalityCriminality is a clinical or scientific term, not a legal designation. When criminologists study criminality, they study individuals who commit predatory harmful acts, regardless of the legal status of the acts.Criminality is a trait that exists on a continuum, from saint to sociopath; it is not a trait that one does or does not possess.Criminality is a continuously distributed trait that is a combination of other continuously distributed traits that signal the willingness to commit harmful acts such as the use of force, fraud or guile to deprive others of their lives, limbs or property for personal gain.The Legal Making of a CriminalA criminal is defined by lawThe label of criminal may only be applied once a person is caught and convicted.What Constitutes a Crime?Corpus delicti is a Latin term that means “body of the crime” and refers to the elements that must be present in order to legally define an act as a crime.This includes five principles but only actus rea and mens rea required. The others typically accompany these primary principles.Actus rea means “guilty act.” A person must commit a forbidden act or neglect a mandatory act.Mens rea means “guilty mind” and refers to the wrongful purpose in mind when carrying out an actThis may be considered intent.However, lack of intent does not excuse the behavior from criminal prosecution under mens rea.Examples include negligence, recklessness, or carelessness.Concurrence means that the act and mental state must occur together.Causation established a causal link between the criminal act and the harm suffered.Harm is the negative impact that a crime has to individual victims or the general public.An Excursion Through the American Criminal Justice SystemThe stage and procedures that are common in the court systems around the country:Arrest occurs when a person has been legally detained to answer criminal chargesSome arrests are based on search warrants that explain the evidence and must be signed by a judge.Police may also initiate arrest based on probable cause, which is the set of facts that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the suspect has committed a crime. Preliminary Hearing occurs after arrest and booking.This hearing has two purposes:To advise the suspect of his or her constitutional rights and of the charges against him or her.To determine if bail should be set.Preliminary Arraignment is a hearing before a magistrate or judge in which three matters must be decided:Whether or not a crime was actually committedWhether or not there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person before the bench committed it.Whether or not the crime was committed in the jurisdiction of the court.These determine if the arrest and detention are legal.The Grand Jury is composed of citizens chosen from auto registration lists and contains 7 to 23 members.Some states require that prosecutors seek in indictment from a grand jury.An indictment is a document formally charging the suspect with a specific crime or crimes.Arraignment is the first time that the suspect may respond to the charges again him or her.Charges are read to the defendant and the defendant will plead guilty, not guilty, or no contestA guilty plea may be the result of a plea bargain.About 90% of all felony cases in the US are settled by plea bargain.Trial by a jury of one’s peers in a 6th Amendment constitutional guarantee.Adversarial process where prosecutor and defense are both trying to win.Prosecutor must prove case beyond a reasonable doubt.Probation is one possible outcome of a guilty verdict.A presentence Investigation report (PSI) is completed prior to sentencing and the prosecutor makes a recommendation as to sentencing.Probation is a suspended commitment to jail or prison.Probation is the most common sentence in the US.Incarceration is the commitment of the guilty person to a jail, prison, or county work release program.Parole is a conditional release from prison prior to completion of one’s full sentence.A Short History of CriminologyThe Supernatural EraIn pre-scientific days, explanations for bad behavior were often of a religious or spiritual nature, such as demonic possession or the abuse of free will.The RenaissanceThe Renaissance period lasted from 1450 to 1600.Physiognomy was a theory of human personality that claimed that the study of physical appearance, particularly the face, could reveal much about a person’s personality and character.The EnlightenmentThe Enlightenment period lasted from 1650 to 1800.The classical school, which emphasizes human rationality and free will and was characterized by a concern for human rights and a belief in the dignity and worth of individuals. The Industrial Revolution and the Age of ScienceModern criminology began to take shape with positivism, characterized by the increasing faith among intellectuals that science could provide answers for everything.Positivism was the root of theories of character, such as phrenology.The largest contribution in early criminology was Cesare Lombroso’s theory of atavism.Positivist theories began to shift from biological to social explanations of crime with the Progressive Era (about 1890 to 1920).By the mid-1900s, theories began to integrate the psychological and social influences on criminality, stressing topics such as socialization and social control.Role of Theory in CriminologyCriminologists are interested in finding out factors that cause criminal behavior.The first step is to identify correlates, which are factors that vary along with the phenomenon of interest.Theorists must then establish whether correlates have a causative influence on crime.What is a Theory?A theory is a set of logically interconnected propositions explaining how phenomena are related, and from which a number of hypotheses can be derived and tested.Hypotheses are statements about relationships between and among factors that we expect to find based on the logic of our theories.Theories help us make sense of a diversity of seemingly unrelated facts.Theories are devised to look for causal relations, rather than simple associations.Probabilities, not absolutesCriminologists have never uncovered necessary or sufficient causes of crimeWhat is a Good Theory?Many competing theories in criminologyTerm “truth” is never used, rather, what is more usefulCriteria for judging merits of a theoryPredictive accuracyTheory has merit and is useful to the extent that it accurately predicts what is observed.Most important criterionPredictive scopeRefers to scope or range of theory and thus scope or range of the hypothesis that can derived from itSimplicityIf two competing theories are essentially equal in terms of the first two criteria, the less complicated theory is considered more “elegant”FalsifiabilityA theory is never proven true, but must have the quality of being falsifiable or disprovableHow to Think About TheoriesDifferent theories use different levels of analysis (the segment of the phenomenon of interest that is measured and analyzed) to explain changes in the crime rate.Levels of analysis include whole societies, subcultures, neighborhoods, families, or individual Questions of cause and effect must be answered at the same level of analysis at which they were posed.Ideology in Criminological TheoryIdeology is a way of looking at the world, a general emotional picture of “how things should be.”Believers of a constrained vision view human activities as constrained by an innate human nature that is self-centered and largely unalterable.An unconstrained vision views human nature as being formed anew in different cultures.A theory of criminal behavior is at least partly shaped by the ideological vision of the person who formulated it, and that in turn is due to the ideological atmosphere prevailing in society.Connecting Criminological Theory and Social PolicyTo identify conditions that affect crime implies that changing those conditions can reduce or prevent crime; thus, every theory has potential policy implications.A policy is a course of action designed to solve some problem that has been selected from among alternative courses of action.While theories give us a starting point, only policy choices that are ideologically palatable are likely to be implemented.Every theory has policy implications deducible from its primary assumptions and propositionsKey TermsActus reusArraignmentArrestCausationConcurrenceConstrained visionCorpus?delictiCrimeCriminalityCriminologyGrand juryHarmHypothesesIdeologyLevel of analysisMala in seMala prohibitaMens reaPolicyTheoryUnconstrained vision ................
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