Overheads Criminology Fall 2006 RDM
Defining Crime
Mala in se Mala prohibita Consensus Assumption Conflict Assumption
Eight Approaches to the Definition of Crime. 1. Legal-Consensus Approach: Paul Tappan. Who is the Criminal? (1947). Crime is an intentional act in violation of the criminal law (statutory and case law), committed without defense or excuse, and penalized by the state as a felony or misdemeanor. In studying the offender there can be no presumption that arrested, arraigned, indicted, or prosecuted persons are criminals unless they also be held guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (1947:100) 2. Socio-Legal Approach: Edwin Sutherland. White Collar Crime (1949). Social Harm The essential characteristic of crime is that it is behavior which is prohibited by the State as an injury to the State and against which the State may react, at least as a last resort, by punishment. (1949:31) 3. Cross-Cultural Approach: Thorsten Sellin. Culture Conflict and Crime (1938). Primary Cultural Conflict Secondary Cultural Conflict Makarewicz`s Conduct-Norm Definition: A crime is an act by a member of a given social group, which by the rest of the members of that group is regarded as so injurious or as showing such a degree of antisocial attitude in the actor that the group publicly, overtly and collectively reacts by trying to abrogate some one of his rights. (quoted in Sellin 1938:31).
2 4. Statistical Approach: Leslie Wilkins. Social Deviance (1964).
5. Labeling Approach: Howard Becker. Outsiders ([1963] 1991). 6. Human Rights Approach: Herman and Julia Schwendinger. Defenders of Order or Guardians of Human Rights? ([1970] 2001). Human rights include fundamental prerequisites for well-being, including food, shelter, clothing, medical services, challenging work, and recreational experiences, as well as security from predatory individuals or repressive and imperialistic social elites." ([1970] 2001:85) Milovanovic and Henry. Constitutive Definition of Crime: Power as Harm (2001). Harms of reduction occur when an offended party experiences a loss of some quality relative to their present standing.` Harms of repression occur when an offended party experiences a limit or restriction preventing them from achieving a desired position or standing.` (2001:166-67) 7. Utopian-Anarchist Approach: The New Criminologists--Ian Taylor, Paul Walton and Jock Young The New Criminology: For a Social Theory of Deviance (1973). Crime as human diversity.
3 8. Integrated Approaches. The Crime Pyramid: John Hagan. Modern Criminology: Crime, Criminal Behavior, and Its Control. (1985).
4 The Crime Prism: Mark Lanier and Stuart Henry (2004).
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The History and Logic of Criminology
Thomas Hobbes (1588 1678) Cesare Beccaria (1738 1794) On Crimes and Punishments (1764) Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species (1859) Adolphe Quetelet (1796 1874) Cesare Lombroso (1835 1909) Social Contract Mercantilism Classical Criminology Neoclassical Criminology Positivist Criminology Determinate Sentencing Atavism Stigmata Indeterminate Sentencing Severity Celerity Deterrence
Quetelet`s Statements of Criminological Positivism. In the study of human affairs we rely on the same principles used to study other natural causes. The crimes which are annually committed seem to be a necessary result of our social organization. . . . Society prepares the crime, and the guilty are only the instruments by which it is executed. The share of prisons, chains, and the scaffold appears fixed with as much probability as the revenues of the state. We are able to enumerate in advance how many individuals will stain their hands with the blood of their fellow creatures, how many will be forgers, [and] how many poisoners.
(Quoted in Vold, George B., Thomas J. Bernard and Jeffrey B. Snipes. 1998. Theoretical Criminology. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 30-31.)
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Source: Gould, Stephen Jay. 1996. The Mismeasure of Man. New York: Norton.
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Crime Data: Seeing Crime Patterns.
Andre-Michel Guerry (1802 1866) Essay On the Moral Statistics of France (1833) Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Crime in the United States National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) The Clery Act (1990/1998) The Hate Crimes Statistics Act (1990) The Dark Figure of Crime Ecological Fallacy Index Volume Rate Clearance Rate Exceptional Clearances Hierarchy Rule
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Durkheim's Original Conceptualization of Anomie
mile Durkheim (1858 1917) The Division of Labor in Society (1893) Suicide (1897) Mechanical Solidarity Organic Solidarity Collective Conscience Division of Labor Crime in the Community of Saints Anomie
Functions of Crime. 1. Solidarity Function. 2. Transformative Function. 3. Diagnostic Function.
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Merton: Social Structure and Anomie.
Robert K. Merton (1910 2003) Structural-Functionalism Deprivation Theory Effective Equilibrium Malintegrated Culture Disjuncture
Merton's Model of Society
Social Structure Upper Class
Cultural Structure
Goals Adaptations
Middle Class
Lower Class
Means
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Merton's Typology of Modes of Adaptation. Modes of Adaptation Conformity Innovation Ritualism Retreatism Culture Goals Rebellion Institutionalized Means
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Messner and Rosenfeld: Institutional Anomie Theory. Crime and the American Dream (2001) Why does the United States have outstandingly higher crime rates compared to other western industrial nations?
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The American Dream. "The American Dream refers to a commitment to the goal of material success, to be pursued by everyone in society, under conditions of open individual competition." (Messner and Rosenfeld 2001:62) 1. Achievement. 2. Individualism. 3. Universalism. 4. The Fetishism of Money.
Institutional Anomie and Crime Culture (Internal Social Controls) Anomie Goal: Monetary Success; Means: Technical Efficiency. Weak Alternatives Social Structure (External Social Control) ECONOMY
Polity Education Family Religion
High Crime Rates
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Effects of a Dominant Capitalist Economy on Other Social Institutions.
1. Devaluation 2. Accommodation 3. Penetration
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Strain and Criminal Opportunities.
Albert Cohen Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang (1955) Richard A. Cloward & Lloyd E. Ohlin. Delinquency and Opportunity (1960)
Class Status Social Disorganization Legitimate Social Structure Illegitimate Social Structure Overconformity Double Failures
Cloward and Ohlin's Typology of Lower-Class Youth Orientation of Lower-Class Youth Toward Membership in Categories of Middle Class Lower-Class Youth (Status Dimension) Type I Type II Type III Type IV Toward Improvement in Economic Position (Class Dimension)
Types of Delinquent Subcultures. 1. Criminal Subculture 2. Conflict Subculture 3. Retreatist Subculture
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Agnew's General Strain Theory (1992)
The Major Types of Strain. 1. Strain as the Failure to Achieve Positively Valued Goals. A. Strain as the Disjunction Between Aspirations and Expectations/Actual Achievements. B. Strain as the Disjunction Between Expectations and Actual Achievements. C. Strain as the Disjunction Between Just/Fair Outcomes and Actual Outcomes. 2. Strain as the Removal of Positively Valued Stimuli From the Individual. 3. Strain as the Presentation of Negative Stimuli. 4. Vicarious Strain (Agnew 2002). 5. Anticipated Strain (Agnew 2002).
Adaptations to (Coping Strategies For) Strain. 1. Cognitive Coping Strategies. A. Ignore/Minimize the Importance of Adversity. B. Maximize Positive Outcomes/Minimize Negative Outcomes. C. Accept Responsibility for Adversity. 2. Behavioral Coping Strategies. A. Maximizing Positive Outcomes/Minimizing Negative Outcomes. B. Vengeful Behavior. 3. Emotional Coping Strategies.
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Agnew's General Strain Model of Community Crime (1999:129).
Intervening Mechanisms Selection/Retention Of Strained Individuals Goal-Blockage Economic Strain Status Deprivation Discrimination Relative Deprivation Economic Deprivation Inequality Large, Dense, Overcrowded High Population Mobility High % Nonwhite Loss of Positive Stimuli/ Presence of Negative Stimuli Economic/Job Adversity Family Disruption Incivilities Social Cleavages Vicarious Strain Frequency of Interaction with Angry/Frustrated People Aggregated Negative Affect Crime Rate
Community Characteristics
Conditioning Variables Alternative Goals/Identities Public Nature of Adversity External Attribution of Blame Low Coping Ability Low Social Support Low Social Control Opportunities for Crime Values Conducive to Crime Others
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The Criminal Social Ecology of Crime: Shaw and McKay.
Robert Park Ernest Burgess Clifford Shaw & Henry McKay. (1942) Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas Concentric Zone Theory Social Disorganization Replication
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Crime in the Contemporary Inner City.
Robert J. Sampson William Julius Wilson Elijah Anderson Code of the Street (1999) Materialist Fallacy Concentration Effects Social Networks Network Density Social Isolation
From Sampson, Robert J. and W. Byron Groves. 1989. Community Structure and Crime: Testing Social-Disorganization Theory. American Journal of Sociology 194:774-802.
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Current Socioecological Criminology
Robert J. Sampson Robert J. Bursik and Harold G. Grasmick James Q. Wilson & James Kelling Broken Windows (1982) Bursik and Grasmick`s Systemic Model of Neighborhood Crime The only assumption concerning consensus that is necessary . . . is that citizens of American communities desire to live in residential communities that are relatively free from the threat of serious crime. 1. Systemic approaches emphasize ongoing patterns of information exchange as reflected in the networks and ties among the components of a system. a. Private Level of Control. b. Parochial Level of Control. 2. Social organization is characterized by varying degrees of systemness. 3. Aspects of a system`s structure may change from time to time or even continuously without the dissolution of the system itself. 4. A system is open. This means not only that it engages in interchanges with the environment, but that this interchange is an essential factor underlying the system`s viability, its reproductive ability or continuity, and its ability to change. Public Level of Control. Collective Efficacy
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Cohen and Felson: The Routine Activities of Criminals and Victims.
Elements of Direct-Contact Predatory Violations 1. Motivated Offenders. 2. Suitable Targets. 3. Absence of Capable Guardians.
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Sutherland: Differential Association Theory
Edwin H. Sutherland Donald R. Cressey Historical/Genetic Theory Mechanistic/Situational Theory Communication of Gestures Copresence Linguistic Constructs Rationalization Differential Social Organization Sutherland`s Propositions of Differential Association. 1. Criminal behavior is learned. 2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication. 3. The principle part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. 4. When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes (a) techniques of committing the crime, which are sometimes very complicated, sometimes very simple. (b) the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. 5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. 6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of law. 7. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. 8. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anticriminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning. 9. While criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values since non-criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.
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Sykes and Matza: The Neutralization of Guilt
Gresham Sykes & David Matza (1957) Thorstein Veblen Moshe Hazani Subterranean Values Leisure Class Techniques of Neutralization
Subterranean Values: Values . . . which are in conflict or in competition with other deeply held values but which are still recognized and accepted by many.
Techniques of Neutralization 1. Denial of Responsibility. 2. Denial of Injury. 3. Denial of the Victim. 4. Condemnation of the Condemner. 5. Appeal to Higher Loyalties.
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Akers: Learning Crime
Ronald Akers Gerald Patterson Respondent Behavior Operant Behavior Differential Reinforcement Matching Function Imitation Modeling Mutual Training Coercion Model Nattering Peer Influence Selection Effect Amplification Effect Discriminative Stimuli Neutralizing Definitions
Types of Reinforcement and Punishment REINFORCEMENT (probability of response increases) POSITIVE (something is introduced) NEGATIVE (something is taken away) PUNISHMENT (probability of response decreases)
Something of value is added
Something aversive is added
Something aversive is removed
Something valued is removed
(Simons, Simons and Wallace 2004, table 3.1:37)
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Akers' SSSL Model
(A Simplified Version)
Conforming Behavior Social Structure Social Learning Process Criminal Behavior Crime Rates
Adapted from Akers (1998:331)
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Social Control
"Why Don't We Do It?: Interpersonal Bonds to the Normative Order Travis Hirschi (1969) Causes of Delinquency Virtual Supervision Direct Control Stakes in Conformity Expectations Aspirations
1. Attachment. 2. Commitment. 3. Involvement. 4. Belief.
Attachment Commitment Belief
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Gottfredson and Hirschi: Self-Control, The Ability to Resist Crime
Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi A General Theory of Crime (1990) Crime Criminality Homology Analogue Activities Versatility Positivist Theory Classical Theory
Self-Control: The differential tendency of people to avoid criminal acts whatever the circumstances in which they find themselves (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990:87). Crime: Acts of force or fraud undertaken in pursuit of self-interest (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990:16). Indicators of Low Self-Control Easy and Immediate Gratification Exciting, Risky, Thrilling Activities No Concern or Ability to Plan for Long Term Minimal Toleration for Frustration or Conflict Analogue Activities Smoking Drinking Gambling Using Drugs Illicit Sex Illegitimate Children Accidents
Child Rearing and Self-Control. Attachment of the Parent to the Child. Parental Supervision. Recognition of Deviant Behavior. Punishment of Deviant Acts. Parental Criminality.
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Phenomenological Criminology: The Criminal Experience. Jack Katz. (1988). Seductions of Crime: Moral and Sensual Attractions in Doing Evil.
Righteous Slaughter. Rage Righteousness Humiliation
(Katz 1988:47).
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Labeling Theory: Criminal Labels and Their Effects.
Harold Garfinkel Howard Becker Outsiders (1963) Edwin Lemert (1912 1996) Labeling as a Dependent Variable Status Degradation Ceremony Retrospective Interpretation Master Status Labeling as an Independent Variable Symbolic Interactionism The Looking Glass Self Original (Ultimate) Causes Effective (Proximate) Causes Primary Deviance Secondary Deviance
Becker's Types of Deviant Behavior Obedient Behavior Perceived as Deviant Not Perceived as Deviant Falsely Accused Conforming Rule-Breaking Behavior Pure Deviant Secret Deviant
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Reintegrative Shaming
John Braithwaite Punishment Social Embeddedness Shaming Stigmatization/Disintegrative Shaming Reintegrative Shaming
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Developmental Criminology
Terrie Moffitt Desistance Adolescence-Limited Antisocial Behavior Life-Course-Persistent Antisocial Behavior Contemporary Consequences Cumulative Consequences Maturity Gap Social Capital
Robert J. Sampson & John H. Laub
From Hirschi, Travis and Michael Gottfredson. 1983. Age and the Explanation of Crime. American Journal of Sociology 89:552-84.
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(Moffitt 1993:677)
(Moffitt 1993:692)
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A Discussion of Simons et. al.'s Families Delinquency and Crime
Rand Conger Colvin and Pauly Family Stress Model Integrated Structural-Marxist Theory Common Couple Violence Intimate Terrorism Albert Bandura Modeling/Vicarious Learning Specialization Parent-Oriented Parenting Child-Oriented Parenting Parental Buffering Hypothesis Evaporation Hypothesis Transitivity of Antisocial Behavior Gottfredson and Hirschi Sampson and Laub Population Heterogeneity Age-Graded Control Theory State Dependent Theory Cumulative Disadvantage Assortative Mating Amplification Effect Selection Effect
Baumrind's Typology of Parenting Styles. High Control (Demandingness) High Responsiveness Low Responsiveness Authoritative Authoritarian Low Control (Demandingness) Permissive Neglecting/Rejecting
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Feminist Criminology
Freda Adler (1975) Sisters in Crime Generalizability Problem Gender Ratio Problem Liberation Thesis
Postmodern Criminology
Modernity Discourse Deconstruction Constitutive Criminology Excessive Investor Recovering Subject