Week 8: Winding Things Up Lesson CMRJ303 – Criminology Week/Lesson 8: Winding Things Up: Recap of Main Points of Course When I see the Ten Most Wanted Lists... I always have this thought: If we'd made them feel wanted earlier, they wouldn't be wanted now. - Edie Cantor Lesson 1: Understanding Criminology (Chapters 1-3) Criminologist seek to find answers as to the characteristics of specific crimes and those that commit a specific crime by looking for answers as to why people want to harm others and pursue a life of crime. A criminologist collects data from various sources to gain knowledge to help law enforcement agencies in their approaches to crime as they try to prevent and control it. This is why criminologists spend time counting crime and measuring criminal behavior. Throughout history there have been two primary schools of thought about causes of crime and the approach to crime and punishment - classical and positivist. You may recall that the classical approach is to let the punishment fit the crime, while the positivist approach is to let the punishment fit the criminal. In addition to these two approaches is theorizing with respect to ethics – in other words, what is right or moral given the time, culture, environment, and even the belief system of those involved and those affected. On the whole, the ethical pendulum regarding criminal behavior between the two extremes of classical and positivism seems to be staying more toward the positivist side today with minor elements of classical coming into play. Lesson 2: Explanations of Crime and Criminal Behavior (Chapters 4 & 5) Nonetheless, no one really knows for sure why certain people seem more prone to commit crimes than others. The main issue of debate is nature versus nurture. While there are multiple theories such as strain, bio-criminological, cultural deviance, life-course, and ENA, there is an even greater degree of research indicating support for various elements of the various theories. Examples from the text included twin studies, studies of intelligence, and even gender as well as health studies. However, it is important to note that whether the theory states the cause or reason for criminal behavior to be based on psychology, cognition, environmental, or heredity, there are almost always studies and findings that refute or counter the suppositions upon which the theory is based. The most important “take away” from this lesson is that by being familiar with the various views, one can gain further insight into the criminal mind and apply these in the carrying out of treatment and or punishment. Lesson 3: Continuation of Explanations of Crime and Criminal Behavior (Chapters 6 & 7) In this lesson, the focus shifted from the why people choose to commit crimes to the possible reasons for their actions, which is the premise of social control theory. The main issue within social control theory is the delving into a study of subcultures. You may recall that subcultures exist within a larger society, not apart from it. A subculture’s members are usually expected to have loyalty to its members by showing that they “have each other’s back,” no matter the consequences. Subcultures commonly emerge when people in similar circumstances find themselves isolated from the mainstream and so band together for mutual support. These circumstances may be related to social economical influences, role models, or a lack of strong external and internal control structures. Subcultures may or may not be criminal, but regardless, they do signify a discontinuity of the expected norms, beliefs, and values of the larger society. In addition, a subculture is frequently created via spoken or unspoken alliances created within the larger society based on the selfinterests of the subculture’s own perceived benefits by its members. As explained in subcultural theory, looking at how a delinquent subculture develops and why it has particular characteristics could lead to further understanding and insight into the deviant and or criminal choices and behavior. This understanding and insight could lead to development of more appropriate and successful deterrents to crime as well as rehabilitation or retraining methods to be used with delinquents and criminals. Lesson 4: Final Continuation of Crime and Criminal Behavior (Chapters 8 & 9) The text centered on the role the environment and society (environmental sociology) plays with respect to crime and criminal behaviors. Environmental sociology is premised on the belief that factors outside of a person exert more influence than internal or biological psychological factors. With regard to crime and criminal behavior, these outward or environmental sociological factors tend to be negative. Labeling is one commonly experienced concept that is theorized to have the power to either encourage an individual to choose to believe the label and act accordingly. Environmental risk factors, such as poverty and high-crime areas, are a component of labeling and are theorized to further influence an individual toward acceptance of a negative label and consequent lifestyle. Under the umbrella of environmental sociology, there are several subtheories, such as strain, social learning, control, and social disorganization. Each of these are posited to exist in connection with the criminal justice system and society’s responses, therefore here is a brief overview of each of the subtheories in relation to environmental sociology. - Strain theory is the concept that due to the loss of attaining a goal, the individual will turn to committing crime in order to regain what was lost. - Social learning theory is the concept that by observing and having criminal behavior modeled, the person learns to be criminal. - Control theory is termed the “opposite theory” in that the focus in on why criminal behaviors are not chosen by both individuals given that they both come from identical environmental and sociological circumstances and yet one made positive choices and the other did not. - Social disorganization theory is based primarily on the economic condition of an area and how some will leave in order to seek a “better life” and others will stay, most likely due to being unable to leave. However, it is important to bear in mind that criminologist today often consider not only the sociological environmental factors, but the psychological biological factors as well as the type of crime, including who the victims were. Lesson 5: Types of Crimes (Chapters 10-12) The lesson as well as the text centered on three general categories of crime in which there is some overlap dependent of additional factors such as the victims and how widespread public knowledge and outcry is regarding the action. Additionally, the “new” crime, cybercrime, commonly falls within multiple categories due to the damage it not only causes to property, but also may be viewed as a violent or heinous crime in terms of cyber rape or abuse. The three types of crime are white collar/corporate crime, property crimes, and violent crimes. Corporate or white collar crimes commonly involve businesses and typically have widespread destruction of individuals in terms of financially defrauding or damaging the environment. Property crimes deal exactly as the name implies – property, one’s belongings. Lastly, violent crimes encompass nearly all other criminal acts, particularly those against individuals’ personal welfare in terms of causing bodily harm and or death. Society’s responses to crimes does affect the decision of the justice system, albeit, violent crimes do tend to carry the most severe punishment allowable by law. Additionally, the intent or plan of the criminal does have a bearing on the decision regarding punishment. Lesson 6: Types of Crimes: Public Order Crimes and International & Comparative Criminology (Chapters 13 & 14) Public order crimes, as you may recall, are commonly referred to as victimless crimes as the only individuals who are seeming hurt or affected by the crime as those who were agreeable to the action in the first place. However, the actions of one do affect innocent others, known as collateral damage. The decision as to what is or isn’t a public order crime is based upon the norms and morals of society as a whole as well as the culture. While in the United States, there is general consensus as to what actions are publicly criminal, when one considers the global community, the line between right and wrong is not quite as clear. In terms of gambling or bribery, while they are considered illegal for the most part within the United States, in other countries these activities are considered normal and acceptable. However, it was noted in the text and lesson, that certain crimes, such as human trafficking, property theft, and organized crime are criminal regardless where they occur. The means of developing a consensus from an international perspective is achieved by criminologists through the application of comparative criminology. Criminologists apply three theoretical frameworks (grand, structural, and demographics) to narrow the scope of comparing the various aspects of a crime in order to hopefully uncover the whys of crime and criminal behavior. Lesson 7: Process and Decisions Enforcing the Law: Practice and Research of the Nature and Functioning of Courts (Chapters 15-18) The criminal justice process is comprised of law enforcement, the judiciary process (courts), and corrections (jails, prisons, rehabilitation, etc.). Each of these is separate, yet entwined within the others in an effort to preserve the rights of society to be safe and protected. Due to issues of inefficiency and problems, the process is sometimes viewed as a nonsystem rather than system; however, the point is still that this is a necessary entity. In brief review of the text, the criminal justice system (or process) begins with law enforcement – police, security forces, sheriffs, FBI, and even the CIA. The next step is the courts or legal judicial process. The courts can be local, county, or state based with the Supreme Court being more or less the nation’s court, the highest authority in the land. Although, it should be noted that while the judicial court process was established as the means to provide justice, the courts are dependent upon the interpretation and application of the law. The final step is corrections, which again involves numerous individuals, concepts, programs, and entities. Furthermore, within this particular lesson, the point made was that society’s opinion or view of legal decisions made by any of the three components of the criminal justice system is frequently based upon personal perspective. This personal perspective can change based upon multiple factors, such as current happenings, the past, and the who, what, and why of the crime. This is where the criminologist’s work is most applicable and helpful. Wrap-Up In conclusion, no one really knows for sure why certain people seem more prone to commit crimes than others. However, there are numerous theories to explore and more study to be conducted for those wishing to do it to find the reasons or at least develop further insight. Obviously, the more that is learned by criminologists, the closer they and society are to acquiring a better understanding. In addition, the gaining of more knowledge can be applied to assisting law enforcement in being able to more successfully apprehend those committing various types of crime, such as homicide, manslaughter, rape, prostitution, and illegal drugs as well as guiding the judiciary process and correction decisions regarding the criminal behavior and crime. References Adler, F., Mueller, G. O. W., & Laufer, W. S. (2013). Criminology (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Agnew, R. (n.d.). Crime causation: Sociological theories – strain theory, social learning theory, control theory, labeling theory, social disorganization theory, critical theories. Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/824/Crime-Causation-Sociological-Theories.html Bright Hub Engineering. (2012). The Exxon Valdez oil spill and its consequences on the environment. Retrieved from http:// http://www.brighthubengineering.com/ marine-history/66248-the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill-and-its-consequences-on-theenvironment/ Carcach, C. 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Peterson (Eds.), Human nature and public policy: An evolutionary approach (pp. 97-120). New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan. Forbes. (2015). The 10 biggest frauds in recent U.S. history [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efik45ekdjl/1-enron-2/ Hagan, F., (2011). Public order crime. In Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior, 7th ed. (pp. 405-426). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Howard, G. J., Newman, G., & Pridemore, W. A. (2000). Theory, method, and data in comparative criminology. Criminal Justice, 4, 139-211. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/ Hutchison, E. D. (2011). A life course perspective. In Dimensions of human behavior: The changing life course (4th ed., pp. 1-38). Los Angeles, CA: Sage. International crime. (n.d.). In Duhaime’s legal dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/I/InternationalCrime.aspx Joseph Hazelwood v. Exxon Corporation. 97-35191 to 97-35193 and 97-35235, (9th Cir. 2001). Kempf-Leonard, K., & Morris, N. A. (2012). Social control theory. Oxford Bibliographies [online]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780195396607-0091 Misdemeanors. (n.d.). In FindLaw. Retrieved from http://criminal.findlaw.com/ criminal-law-basics/misdemeanors.html Neubauer, D., & Fradella, H. (2012). America’s courts and the criminal justice system. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Plummer, K. (2001). Labeling theory. In Volume: Historical, conceptual and theoretical issues (191-194). Sussex, UK: Brunner-Routledge. Rehabilitation. (2011). In American heritage of the English language, (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Rimke, H. (2011). The pathological approach to crime: Individually based theories. In Criminology: Critical Canadian perspectives (pp. 78-92). Toronto, Canada: Pearson Education Canada. Roberts, A. (n.d.). Crimtim: A criminology and deviancy theory history timeline. Retrieved from http://studymore.org.uk/crimtim.htm U.S. Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Ocean Service. (2015, September 18). Exxon Valdez oil spill. Retrieved from http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/significant-incidents/ exxon-valdez-oil-spill Wulf-Ludden, T., & Meier, R. (2015, September 24). Public order crimes. Criminology [online]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780195396607-0019 eReserves Additional course materials are available in eReserves. Click on the following eReserve link and search by course number to access the materials. Readings that are supplemental and not available in e-Reserves may be obtained via interlibrary loan. Click on the following interlibrary loan link to request those materials.
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