DEFINING CRIMINOLOGY THE CRIMINAL LAW DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC

DEFINING CRIMINOLOGY THE CRIMINAL LAW DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC CRIMINOLOGY THEORIES OF CRIME POLITICS/IDEOLOGY INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY

DEFINING CRIMINOLOGY • Edwin Sutherland’s definition • The scientific study of lawmaking, lawbreaking, and the response to lawbreaking • Lawmaking = how laws are created/changed • Lawbreaking = nature/extent of crime • Reaction = police, courts, corrections • Science vs. other ways of knowing stuff

CRIMINOLOGY VS. CRIMINAL JUSTICE • Criminal Justice • The study of agencies related to the control of crime • Criminology • The study of crime trends, nature of crime, theories of crime • Reality? Two sides of the same coin

CRIMINOLOGY VS. DEVIANCE • Criminology focuses on crimes • Crime = violation of criminal law • Deviance focuses on violations of societal norms • These may or may not also be law violations • Can you think of a norm violation that is not a law violation? • How about a law violation that does not violate a norm?

TYPES OF LAW • Criminal Law • Procedural vs. Substantive • Statutory vs. Common • Civil Law • Tort law 5

SUBSTANTIVE VS. PROCEDURAL LAW • Substantive Law • Written code that defines crimes and punishments • Procedural Law • Governs actors in the criminal justice system (e. g. , when can the police search your vehicle? ) 6

COMMON LAW V. STATUTORY LAW Common Law is judge-made law. The law is found in previously decided cases. Statutory Laws are derived from legislative acts that decide the definition of the behavior that is codified into law. 7

CRIMINAL AND TORT LAW • A public offense • Enforcement is state business • Punishment is often loss of liberties or sometimes death • Fines go to the state • State doesn’t ordinarily appeal • Proof beyond a reasonable doubt • A civil or private wrong • Individuals bring action • Sanction is normally monetary damages • Both parties can appeal • Individuals receives the compensation for harm done • “Preponderance of the evidence” is required for a decision. 8

SERIOUSNESS OF CRIMES I Mala in se • Wrong or evil in themselves • Core of legal code • Homicide • Robbery Mala prohibita • Wrong because they are prohibited • Change over time and across society • Prostitution • Gambling

SERIOUSNESS OF CRIMES II FELONY MISDEMEANOR More serious offenses Less serious offenses Punishable by death or imprisonment for more than a year in a state prison. Punishable by incarceration for less than a year in a local jail or house of correction. 10

A CRIMINAL LAW MUST INDICATE A TYPE OF INTENT AND A SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR • Actus Reas • Physical act must be voluntary • If crime is“Failure to act, ” there must be legal obligation. • Statutory Obligation, Relationship between parties, Contract • Mens Rea • General or specific intent • Transferred Intent • Negligence • Strict Liability Offenses 11

SPECIFIC CRIMINAL DEFENSES • Deny the Actus Reas (I didn’t do it) • Deny the Mens Rea • Ignorance / Mistake • Intoxication? • Insanity Defense 12

WHO DOES THE LAW SERVE? Consensus view • Law results from societal agreement on what behaviors are most harmful • Laws apply to all citizens equally Conflict view • Law results from conflict over what behavior should be criminalized • Those with the most power define what is criminal and often use the law to protect their interests Which is correct?

CRIMINOLOGY AS A DISCIPLINE Until the 1970 s, there was no “criminology” or “criminal justice” degree � Sociology became the dominant disciple Still contributions from biology, psychology, political science 1980 -Present � Criminology emerging as separate entity Ph. D in Criminology/Criminal Justice now the norm � Still debate about whether Criminology is a distinct discipline � Organized around a class of behaviors rather than a distinct way of looking at the world Sociologists still see criminology as a “sub-discipline” of sociology

SOCIOLOGICAL CRIMINOLOGY—GOOD & BAD • Good: Focus on social structure and inequality; healthy skepticism (debunking) • Bad: Ignore/ridicule “outside” disciplines and their focus on individual differences • The Irony? Psychologists and biologists believe that social forces are as (or more) important than individual differences • This class will explore crime from a multidisciplinary lens

A CRUDE HISTORY OF CRIMINOLOGY • Demonic Perspective pre-1750 s • Crime as god’s will, result of demonic possession • Classical School (1750 s-1900; 1970 s to now) • Utilitarian philosophy (Becarria, Bentham) • • A response to an unjust/arbitrary legal system Free will, humans use a “hedonistic calculus” Rational legal code less crime Basis of deterrence theory

CRUDE HISTORY—PART II • Positive School (1900 -present) • Crime is “caused” by outside forces (determinism) • Solution is to fix these causes (medical model, rehab) • Scientific research on offenders, crime (not law) • Different types of positivism • • Bio/psych determinism (1900 -1920 s) Sociological theory (1920 s-Present) Critical theories (1960 s-early 1970 s) Developmental Theory (1990 s-present)

CRIME THEORY • Backbone of criminology • Scientific Theory • Must be able to test theory • A GOOD theory survives empirical testing • Empirical = real world observations • Some theories are sexier than others • Parsimony • Scope • Usefulness of policy implications

FLOW CHART FOR EVALUATION NO = Useless, stop here Falsifiable? Logical? YES Yes Empirical Evidence? Evaluate the Following: • Scope • Parsimony • Policy Implications NO: Modify/Discard

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE IS THE KEY • Theories attempt to demonstrate cause-effect • Criteria for causation in social science using a poverty crime example • Time ordering: poverty happens before crime • Correlation: X is related to Y • Relationship is not spurious (e. g. , low self-control causes both poverty and crime)

METHODS FOR GENERATING EVIDENCE • Experiment • Key is randomly assigned groups • Only factor that effects outcome is group difference at start of experiment • Limit = artificial nature

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

METHODS FOR GENERATING EVIDENCE II • Non-experimental • Survey research • Cross sectional Stimulant Study • Longitudinal • Limit = how to rule out spuriousness • Upside = ask whatever you want

IDEOLOGY IN CRIMINOLOGY • Walter Miller • Ideology is the “permanent hidden agenda of Criminal Justice” • What is “Ideology? ” • American Political Ideology • Liberal/Progressive Ideology • Conservative Ideology • Radical Ideology

DOMINANT IDEOLOGIES IN U. S. CONSERVATIES LIBERALS • Value order/stability, respect for authority • Value equal opportunities and individual rights • People get what they deserve • Success depends on outside forces & where you start • Crime is caused by outside influences • Crime caused by poor choice (Free will)

IMPLICATIONS OF IDEOLOGY FOR CRIME AND JUSTICE • Conservatives tend to fit with “Classical School” • “Neo-Classical” = deterrence, incapacitation • James Q. Wilson’s “policy analysis” • Liberal/Progressive fit with positive school • Favor decriminalizing some acts • “Root causes” of crime only fixed by social change • Rehabilitation may be possible • Elliott Currie = ample evidence that government can address social ills and prevent crime • Radical = Marxist/conflict theory

IDEOLOGY AS “HIDDEN AGENDA” • Many policies and programs are driven more by ideology than empirical evidence • Intensive supervision probation (conservatives) • Restorative justice (liberals)

THE “MARTINSON REPORT” (MR) • The “Martinson Report” was review of studies on rehabilitation published in the early 1970 s • Concluded that not much is working • Used by politicians as the reason for abandoning rehab • Social Context of the 1960 s • Hippies, Watergate, Attica, Viet Nam, Kent State… • Conservatives? SKY IS FALLING • Liberals? Cannot trust the government • Reality = liberals and conservatives were both “ready” to pull the plug on rehabilitation

THE LIMITS OF EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE • Criminologists tend to be cautions with conclusions • All studies are flawed in some way • Politicians and public tend to “over generalize” from a single study • This can lead to bad policy • RAND Felony Probation study • Domestic Violence Experiments

GOOD THEORY MAKES GOOD POLICY… • In a perfect world, programs and policies would flow from empirically supported theories of crime • Unfortunately, people often “shoot from hip” • Policy without Theory • The “panacea” problem: scared straight, intensive probation, boot camps, warm and fuzzy circle… • Some hope in “evidence-based” movement • Multisystemic Therapy (MST) • Targets for change = parental supervision, delinquent friends, reducing rewards for deviance…