Schmall crim today8e_ppt_ch1

Criminology TodayAn Integrated Introduction

CHAPTER

Criminology Today: An Integrated Introduction, 8eFrank Schmalleger

Copyright © 2017 by Pearson Education, Inc.All Rights Reserved

What is Criminology?

1



Introduction

• Crime-related entertainment is extremely popular today.

• Inexplicability of crime fascinates people.

• This text examines causative factors in effect when a crime is committed.

• It encourages an appreciation of the challenges of crafting effective crime-control policy.



What is Crime?

• Four definitional perspectives Legalistic• Used in this book

Political Sociological Psychological

• Perspective determines assumptions about how crime should be studied.



Legalistic Perspective

• Crime Human conduct in violation of the

criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction that has the power to make such laws

continued on next slide



Legalistic Perspective

• Key shortcoming Yields moral high ground to powerful

individuals who can influence lawmaking Allows them to escape the label of

"criminal"• Laws are social products.

Crime is socially relative, created by legislative activity.



Political Perspective

• Crime The result of criteria that have been

built into the law by powerful groups and are then used to label selected undesirable forms of behavior as illegal

• Laws serve the interests of the politically powerful.

• Crimes are behaviors those in power perceive as threats to their interests.



Sociological (Sociolegal) Perspective

• Crime An antisocial act of such a nature that

its repression is necessary or is supposed to be necessary to the preservation of the existing system of society

• Crime is an offense against human relationships first, a violation of law second.



Psychological (Maladaptive) Perspective

• Crime A form of social maladjustment Problem behavior, especially human

activity that contravenes the criminal law and results in difficulties in living within a framework of generally acceptable social arrangements




Psychological (Maladaptive) Perspective

• Any maladaptive behavior would be considered crime.

• Could include any harmful or potentially harmful behaviors



Crime and Deviance

• Deviant behavior Human activity that violates social

norms• Deviance and crime overlap but are not

identical.



Figure 1–2 The Overlap between Deviance and CrimeSource: Schmalleger, Frank, Criminology. Printed and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey ISBN0132966751.



What Should Be Criminal?

• "What is crime?" not the same as "What should be criminal?"

• Lack of agreement in society about appropriate legal status of many behaviors (drug use, gambling, etc.)

• Two contrasting perspectives Consensus perspective Pluralist perspective





• Consensus Laws enacted to criminalize behaviors

when members of society agree Applies to homogeneous societies Consensus hard to achieve in diverse

multicultural societies





• Pluralist Behaviors criminalized through a

political process, after debate over appropriate course of action

Involves legislation, appellate court action

Most applicable to diverse societies



What Is Criminology?

• Many definitions available• Text definition

An interdisciplinary profession built around the scientific study of crime and criminal behavior, including their forms, causes, legal aspects, and control

• Includes consideration of possible solutions to crime problem



Criminology's Basic Questions

• Why do crime rates vary?• Why do individuals differ as to

criminality?• Why is there variation in reactions to

crime?• What are the possible means of

controlling criminality?



Key Terms

• Criminology• Criminality• Crime• Deviance• Criminal behavior



What Is Criminology?

• An interdisciplinary social science• Contributes to criminal justice

Application of the criminal law and study of the components of the justice system

Focus on control of lawbreaking



Figure 1–3 Criminology’s Many RootsSource: Schmalleger, Frank, Criminology. Printed and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.



What Do Criminologists Do?

• Criminologist Studies crime, criminals and criminal

behavior• Criminalist

A specialist in the collection and examination of the physical evidence of crime





• Criminal Justice Professionals Do the day-to-day work of the criminal

justice system





• Academic/research criminologists Ph.D. in criminology, CJ, related field Teach in universities Conduct research to advance

criminological knowledge Publish in journals





• Other career tracks Work in CJS Private security or private investigation Law school Work for legislative bodies, provide

expertise to civic organizations



Theoretical Criminology

• Subfield of general criminology mainly found in colleges and universities

• Posits explanations for criminal behavior

• Theory Made up of clearly stated propositions

that posit relationships between events and things under study




Theoretical Criminology

• General theory Tries to explain all/most forms of crime

through a single overarching approach• Unicausal theory

Posits a single identifiable source for all serious deviant and criminal behavior

• Integrated theory Tries to explain crime by merging

concepts from different sources



Criminology and Social Policy

• Translational criminology Focuses on translating research results

into workable social policy• Sound social policy needs to be linked

to objective findings of well-conducted criminological research.



The Theme of This Textbook

• Social Problems Crime a manifestation of underlying

social problems Public health model to deal with crime Macro approach




The Theme of This Textbook

• Social Responsibility Crime a matter of individual

responsibility Personalized crime-reduction strategies Micro approach Substantially influenced national crime-

control policy



Figure 1–6 The Theme of This Text: Social Problems versus Social Responsibility



The Social Context of Crime

• Crime does not occur in a vacuum; every crime has a unique set of: Causes Consequences Participants

• Crime provokes reactions from many sources.

• Reactions to crime may affect future criminal events.



The Causes and Consequencesof the Criminal Event

• Crime is a social event, not an isolated individual activity.

• Apply concept of social relativity Social events interpreted differently

according to cultural experiences of initiator, observer, or recipient of behavior

Crime means different things to offender, criminologist, police, victim.



Figure 1–7 Interpreting the Criminal Event



The Causes and Consequencesof the Criminal Event

• Crime results from the coming together of inputs provided by the offender, the victim, the criminal justice system, and society. Foreground• Features that immediately determine the

nature of the crime (inputs) Background causes• Generic contributions to the crime



Crime and the Offender

• Background Life experiences Biology/genetic inventory Personality Values/beliefs Skills/knowledge



Crime and the Offender

• Foreground Motivation Specific intent State of mind (drug-induced)



Crime and the Criminal Justice System

• Background CJS contributes to crime through failure

to:• Prevent crime• Identify/inhibit specific offenders• Prevent release of recidivists




Crime and the Criminal Justice System

• Foreground Proper system response may reduce

crime. Presence/absence of police officers Availability of official assistance Willingness of officers to intervene pre-

crime Response time



Crime and the Victim

• Background Passive presence Lifestyle

• Foreground Victim precipitation• Active victim participation in initial stages

of criminal event• Victim instigates chain of events resulting

in victimization



Crime and Society

• Background Legislation defining crime Generic social practices and conditions Socialization process

• Foreground Distribution of resources Accessibility of services



The Consequences of Crime

• Outputs/immediate consequences affect those parties directly involved.

• Real impact mediated by perceptual filters Results in ongoing interpretations

before, during, after crime Everyone associated with a crime

engages in interpretations.



Integrative Approach to Crime

• Text takes a 3-D integrative view of crime. Try to identify, understand causes of

crime Highlight processes involved in the

criminal event Analyze interpretation of the crime

phenomenon




Integrative Approach to Crime

• Crime viewed along temporal continuum as emergent activity that: Arises out of past complex causes Assumes a course building on

immediate interrelationships Elicits formal response from CJS, shapes

public perceptions, may lead to changes in social policy



The Primacy of Sociology?

• Many disciplines have made important contributions to criminology.

• Primary perspective today is sociological.

• Many modern theories of criminal behavior based in sociology

• New and emerging perspectives being recognized, but sociological perspective dominates