Transcript criminology

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For most of it’s history, almost all
criminology was sociological criminology
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Criminology was concerned with issues
of poverty, race and ethnicity
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Also focused on the structure of
communities and social relationships
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In the past few decades, criminology has
moved away from a structural focus to
emphasize individualistic explanations
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Disciplines such as biology and
psychology have also increased their
engagement with the study of crime.
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Other disciplines often fail to address
questions that sociologists view as
central to the examination of crime:
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1. Why do rates of crime differ across
locations and over time?
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2. why do rates of crime differ
according to the key factors in inequality
such as race, ethnicity, class and
gender?
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3. How and why is the legal response to
rime shaped by race, ethnicity, class and
gender and other extra legal variables?
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A sociological perspective stresses that
people are social beings more than
individuals
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This means that society profoundly
shapes their behavior, attitudes and life
chances.
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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
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Stressed that social
forces influence our
behavior and
attitudes.
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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
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Refers to how a society is organized in
terms of social relationships and social
interaction
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Vertical and horizontal social structure
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Refers to the social and physical
characteristics of communities and the
networks of social relationships to which
an individual belongs.
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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
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>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
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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
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From Cesare Beccaria’s
essay, “On Crimes and
Punishment” four general
principles can be identified
that typify the classical
doctrine:
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Equality - All should be
treated equally under the
law.
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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.
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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.
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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
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The interest in the
social roots of crime
was eclipsed by
growing interest in
the biological roots
of crime