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CRM Final Notes
Introduction to Criminology (CRM1300)
University of Ottawa
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LECTURE 2: What is a crime? Criminology vs criminal justice Criminology: the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes and management or control of criminal behaviour Criminal justice: involves describing, analyzing, and explaining the agencies of justice ex: police, courts, corrections Sociologists: study deviance which is the study of acts that depart from social norms NOT crime What do criminologists do: the criminological enterprise 1. Criminal statistics Create valid, reliable measures of crime International crime trends 2. Sociology of law Interested in the role of criminal law in shaping society 3. Theory construction Explaining, predicting criminal behaviour 4. Criminal behaviour Determining nature, cause of rime patterns 5. Penology Correction and control of criminal behaviour 6. victimology Nature, cause of victimization Some concepts about society Norms are rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviour of its members. They may be either prescriptive(don’t) or proscriptive (do) There are two special types of norms that were identified by William Graham and Sumner: Mores(right and wrong) and folkways (right and rude) As we internalize norms, we respond critically to our own behaviour through shame or guilt Social control Some definitions Crime: any form of human behaviour that is designated by law as criminal and subject to penal sanction Law: a rule with consequences Rule of law: we accept that laws are rules of society and when transgressed will have repercussions Criminology “Criminology is the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes the processes of making laws, of breaking laws and of reacting to the breaking of laws. The objective of criminology is the development of a body of general and verified principles and other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime and treatment…” Sutherland and Cressey, 1960 What is a crime? (Sutherland and Cressey) Criminal behaviour is behaviour in violation of the criminal law: Behaviour is not a crime unless it is prohibited by the criminal law Laws are usually defined conventionally as a body of specific rules regarding human conduct Laws are enforced by punishment administered by the state (does not include everyone) Who is excluded? Legalistic definition of crime A crime is any intentional act or omission in violation of the criminal law, committed without defense or justification and sanctioned by the state Problems with this definition Labeling definition of crime Not the quality of act but the label that others attach to the act Who applies the label and who is labelled? Exercise: Criminal act + conviction= criminal No criminal act + conviction = criminal, because label has been applied Criminal act + no conviction= technically innocent Is applied uniformly to everyone in society Therefore, crime is a social phenomenon John Hagan’s Varieties of Deviance Three interacting variables 1. Evaluation of social harm: very harmful, somewhat harmful, not very harmful 2. Agreement about the norm: strong agreement, strong disagreement, confusion or apathy 3. Severity of societal response: very severe, moderate, mild Hagan’s varieties of deviances Chambliss The Saints and Roughnecks (1973) Saints- middle-class Roughnecks-- lower-class Same levels of delinquency Different treatment by society adulthood How are crimes determined? Deviant behaviours: behaviours that violate the social norms Are all deviations from social norms criminal? Marijuana use? Not all crime is a deviation: a 2012 survey showed 53% of Canadians believe cannabis should be legal Bystander apathy? Not all deviation is criminal What is a crime? This approach implies that the definition of crime is a function of The beliefs, morality, and direction of social authorities and Types of Crime and Deviance Consensus crimes: murder, rape, robbery, arson Conflict crimes: pornography, prostitution, drugs Social deviations: alcoholism, sexual fetishes Social diversions: body piercing, tattoos, cross-dressing Who used opiates (1880-1890s) 60% were female Average age (40) Educated and from the middle/upper classes More likely to be white Narcotics Legislation Opium act of 1908 Origins with Mackenzie King deputy labour minister → anti- Asiatic riots 1907 → payment of compensation → finds that opium is easy to purchase → racial conflict Racial conflict + cultural stereotypes Drug acts Another view → Asians cheap labour → diffuses the growing power of unions → Asians paid ½ of whites → gambies and smoked opium → legal but immoral → legal but immoral → construction expansion over → no need for excess labour force → causes labour unrest Shift in user “The law would serve to socially construct a criminal pathology. The greater severity of punishment naturally led to increased business risks, risks that were passed on to the consumer in the form of high prices. The addict became quite literally an individual who had to steal to support a craving. The legal creation of false scarcity was socially responsible for the self-fulfilling assertion- the addict as lowly predator.” Some conclusions Lack of political advocacy by the medical and scientific community on behalf of drug users Vocal, racist, and politically powerful moral reform movement International diplomacy relating to China. At this time, China didn’t have much power, Britain did. Specifically, in the U an effort by the medical profession to gain control of prescribing powers Law and transition to capitalism The growth of commerce and trade, spurred by the industrial revolution, required greater uniformity and enforceability of trading arrangements The king sought to further consolidate power and threw his support behind merchant class In return for taxes and loans, the Crown created laws of commerce (e. contract law) that benefited merchants → this strengthened their class position and increased their fortunes → it also paved the way for lawyers in the new legalistic capitalist mode of production Contemporary State power The state became the dominant instrument of settling disputes backed by the police and military. Laws, created by the state, became the principal means of regulating human activity and ensuring social order Laws and regulations became the legal apparatus that created the basis of modern nation states → property, commerce, real estate, labour and contractual agreements are all regulated by law. Interest Groups and the Law Some laws embody consensus or agreement that the act is wrong; assault, theft, etc. History also reveals the influence of special interest groups and “moral entrepreneurs.” Criminalizing certain drugs. A failure to regulate Transnational corporations are some of the most powerful special interest groups They greatly influence state policies and laws and have the resources to resist government efforts to regulate them Cases of failure to regulate the crimes of transnational corporations → the Ford Pinto case → workers’ exposure to asbestos → exploitation of free trade zones A coming Crisis in State Legitimacy Legitimacy of the state is questioned if it cannot provide peace, security, good government and protection from harm. The inability of the state to regulate the following harms may cause a crisis of legitimacy → the under regulated practices of big corporations → pollution of air, water, soil, and the food chain → ecocide: an assault on an entire ecosystem → growing and extreme levels of inequality Political Crime May be defined as the use of force, terror, violence, grad, deception, economic pressure, bribery or blackmail to create, maintain or enhance the power, interests or ideology of a group, organization or institution to the detriment or destruction or civil groups, often causing fear in and victimization of innocent people Crimes against the state → treason, riots, assassination → Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr Crimes by the state → human rights violations-→ concentration camps-- Nazi Germany, WW2 → internment camps-- Japanese Canadians, Italians etc. Crimes against other groups → hate crime Criminal Law in Canada British common law is major source of law in Canada Under BNA act, only federal government can make criminal law Criminal code of Canada (1892) Uneven development of law enforcement across Canada Civil Law All law except criminal law Contract law Laws of personal agreements Tort law Individual victim seeks compensation for personal harm caused by another E. trespass, assault, libel, slander Measurement and relationships Measurement requires reliability the quality of consistent measurement and validity- the quality of measuring precisely what one intends to measure Relationships among variables Cause and effect are a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another Correlation exists when two or more variables are related in some way Relationship between variables Cause ---------> effect Independent variable ------> dependent variable Limitations of Scientific Research Human behaviour is too complex to allow criminology to predict any individual’s actions precisely Because humans respond to their surroundings, the mere presence of a researcher may affect the behaviour being studied Social patterns change constantly; what is true in one time or place may not hold in another Because criminologists are part of the social world they study, objectivity in social research is especially difficult Subjective interpretation is always an important element in criminology analysis Type of Research Qualitative Research The non-numerical examination and interpretation of observations for the purpose of discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationships (babbie, 1999) Quantitative Research The numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations represent (Babbie, 1999) Survey Research Uses interviews and questionnaires Is cross sectional Compares different groups at one point in time Measures attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values and behaviours Limitations of Survey Research How do you find a representative sample? Will people respond to your survey? Will people tell the truth about their behaviour and opinions? Longitudinal Research Studies the same group (cohort) over a period of time Prisoners on parole Maybe use diaries, interviews, health and employment records Time consuming Sample attrition People may drop out of the research Aggregate Data Research Government stats, social indicators, uniform crime reports Used to detect relationships and trends E. unemployment rates and property crimes Can you depend on the agencies taking the count or are they biased? Experimental research Requires willing subjects (human guinea pigs) Needs an experimental and control group for comparison Subjects must be randomly assigned to groups Seeks out cause and effect under highly controlled conditions. Typically, experiments are explanatory, that is, used to test hypotheses, unverified statements of a relationship between variables. Difficulties with experimental research Is it ethical? Is it realistic? Can you generalize from such a small group? Can you really control all the relevant factors? Quasi-experimental research Uses a real situation for experimental purposes E. compare the recidivism rates of young offenders sent to boot camp or given community service Hard to control assignment to groups Observational research Participant observation Join the group you wish to observe for a firsthand look Non-participant observation Go undercover Difficulties with observational research It may be dangerous Is it ethical How will you affect the behaviour of the group? Interviews In depth interviews with criminals E. serial killers Very time consuming How do you gain trust of the criminal? How do you avoid being used by the criminal? Ethics How may the research affect other people’s lives? Who will be studied? What pressure is placed on research by funding agencies and vested interests? Do you have informed consent? Are people free to not participate Do they know what they are getting into? Other Methods archival/ historical: using existing sources is a research method in which a researcher utilizes data collected by others Meta-analysis: a stat analysis that review a large body of extent literature Case study: in depth investigation of one or few phenomenon Cyber research. New info technology and the internet provide researchers up to date resources Crime rates Reporting sensitive Is the public willing to call police? Policing sensitive What are police looking for Definition- sensitive Has the law changed? Media sensitive → do news stories encourage citizens to report more incidents? → do news reports encourage police to crack down? → how does media reporting influence public perception of crime? Can cause feedback loop Can cause decrease in crime rate → The media selectively report crime The public reads the reports, and rime becomes politicized What’s the consequence? Methodological practices → how are the crimes counted? → how do police decide if a crime is founded? Self-Report Surveys Interviews with those arrested or in jail Telephones at home Mailed or online surveys: people report their criminal activities anonymously Usually quite accurate Problems with accuracy → lying, forgetting, bragging Emphasis on minor offences → drug and alcohol use Are the most deviant the least likely to respond → truants Victim surveys US since 1966; Canada since 1988 → mainly through telephone interviews Canadian urban victimization survey (CUVS) General social survey (GSS) Violence against women survey (VAWS) Problems with victim surveys overreporting → loss is reported as theft telescoping → identifying past victimization as recent Under reporting → forgetting to report Doesn’t include personal criminal activity Sampling problems → excludes people without phones, undergo victims Question format → poor format may invalidate answers Are crime stats sources compatible? NO Measure different things Survey rates are higher than reported rates Self-report depends on the honesty, accuracy and integrity of criminals YES Are complementary Often show similar trends and patterns Agree on personal characteristics of serious crime and criminals Agree on location and time of crime Alternative sources of info → commissions of inquiry Both federal and provincial examples Royal commission on the Wrongful incarceration of Donald Marshall Jr Inquiry into systematic racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System (1995) Air India commission of inquiry (2007) Official crime trends in Canada General trends and patterns Increases in property and violent crime from 1960-1990 Decreases in violent and property crime since the early 1990s to 2003 Homicide rate down Interprovincial difference in crime rates LECTURE 5: Theories of Crime and Criminality Theory and our Everyday Life What is it? A theory is a set of interrelated propositions, constructed and fitting together logically, which claims to explain one or more aspects of the world around us Why is it important? Explanations can be described as the stories we tell each other in attempts to produce some order in our lives → a set of conditions will cause or influence another set of conditions which will produce an outcome Theories outline paths that lead to particular outcomes. They allow us to feel that we know why something happened, and whether, or not under what conditions, it is likely to occur again Aspects of a good theory Logically sound Conflicting positions Sensitizing ability What has been ignored popularity Popularity does not mean validity How do we evaluate a theory? scope The range of phenomena that a theory can explain accuracy Does the theory match empirical reality? Parsimony Can the theory be falsified? Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) Italian doctor Known as “father of criminology” “Born criminal” theory- biological determinism Serious criminals have inherited defects Atavistic anomalies-- evolutionary throwbacks Sociobiology: The Selfish Gene Social patterns reflect biological imperatives Edmund O Wilson’s sociobiology (1975) Selfish gene controls all human destiny Accounts for racism, sexism, nepotism, “double standard” of sexuality Research on genetics XYY theory Hyper masculinity, rare condition Some forms of delinquent behaviour may be the result of displaced hostility and/or an unconscious desire for punishment Criminals have an unconscious need to alleviate their sense of guilt and anxiety Psychoanalysis: Freud’s approach to treating internal conflict and tension that results from certain unresolved, often unconscious childhood experiences Learning Theories Cognitive explanations In psychology the term cognition refers to the mental processes -- including attention, perception, memory, and language-- through which we organize our thoughts and make sense of the world around us including attention, perception, memory and language frustration- aggression theory → anti-social behaviour is often attributed to aggression resulting from frustration. When people perceive that they are being prevented from achieving their goals, their frustration is likely to turn aggression. Moral development explanations Moral development theory → the theory that morality develops in stages Behaviour explanations Behavioural learning theory is a psychological theory maintaining that all behaviour is learned through some type of external stimulus (negative or positive) Classical conditioning → a process of behaviour modification in which a subject comes to respond in a particular manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response → avoidance learning is a form of behavioural learning in which the individual learns to associate an undesirable behaviour with punishment and therefore to avoid it → psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by lack of empathy and remorse, an inability to learn from experience, low arousal levels, and antisocial behaviour; a growing body of literature suggests that many chronic criminal offenders suffer from some degree of psychopathy → low arousal is a condition in which an individual experience lower than normal emotional arousal to external stimuli often leading to restlessness, impulsivity, and sensation seeking → paraphilia is a condition characterized by abnormal sexual desires, typically involving activities, situations or objects that most people do not consider sexually arousing → pedophilia is a psychological disorder in which an adult (or older adolescent) is sexually aroused primarily by underage (usually prepubescent) children The place of Psychology in criminology today Problems Theories of criminal and delinquent behaviour rooted in psychology tend to have little regard for contexts within which people act The assessment tools used for evaluation tend not to consider factors such as age, social class, culture gender or race They focus on defective or abnormal personalities or personality traits Benefits Psychological explanations have been able to explain geographic or temporal variations in crime rates They have also provided insight into the various arousal mechanisms that are, or can be, influenced by the social environment Psychological perspectives also play a vital role in criminal justice system’s efforts to determine the criminal responsibility of defendants Summary Criminality can be explained by individual differences → biological or psychological → may be genetic, neurological or chemical Focus on basic human drives, not legal definitions: → aggression, impulsivity Traits work in combination with environmental and social factors - anomie → a condition of normlessness → results from rapid social change like industrialization - rapid change → creates anomie → increases deviance Merton’s typology of Adaptation to Anomie RESPONSE SUCCESS GOALS LEGITIMATE GOALS conformity accept accept innovation(criminals) accept reject Ritualism E. senior professors, bureaucrats reject accept Retreatism E. drug addicts reject reject Rebellion E. left-wing subculture Reject and replace Reject and replace Cohen’s delinquent subcultures (1955) Durkheim’s Theory of Anomie Society of saints No matter how many people you’re around there is still deviance Humans are egoistic → need social control to regulate human wants and behaviours Status frustration: delinquent boys engage in nonutilitarian behaviour Can’t measure up in middle class school Get attention by breaking laws Develop their own rules Family violence, physical and sexual abuse, physical punishment, inconsistent discipline Drugs Alcohol increases aggression Trafficking creates disputes Addiction creates need for money Firearms availability Explains US- Canada differences In Canada, 14000-gun related deaths over 10 years Mainly suicides (81%) and accidents - Sexual Assault Historical Masculinity Related Issues Women were viewed as property of men Rape was an offence against the father or husband Rape diminished the value of wife or daughter Rape and the military Canadian and American military → complaints of sexual assault in 1990s Rape has long been associated with warfare Women were considered to be spoils of war → Vietnam, Bosnia, Africa Incidence of Sexual assault Only 1 in 10 are reported to police Embarrassment, self-blame, mistrust of police Greater willingness to report as a result of public attitudes Most occur in summer and on weekends 39% of women over 18 report having been Types of Rapists (Groth and Birnbaum, 1979) Anger rape Means of expressing rage Excessive brutality Power rape Exert control over women Less violence used Sadistic rape Abusive and degrading Involves rituals and torture Gang rape Peer pressure Types of Rapes Stranger rapes More violent More predominant in official statistics More likely to involve weapons Acquaintance rapes Less likely to be reported Probably make up the majority of rapes About one half of reported rapes Also, family members Date rape Canadian college women survey (1993) ⅓ experienced physical, verbal or psychological coercion 25% in the previous year Increased use of date rape drugs Cases of gang rapes campaigns Fight back No means no Marital Rape Sexual assault is common as part of domestic violence Marital exemption Sexual consent was seen as part of the marriage contract Abolished in Canada in 1983 Also, in many other countries Explaining rape evolutionary/biological factors Aggression gives reproductive advantage Male socialization Stereotypes of masculinity Mental illness/personality disorder Social learning and pornography Rape and the Law Legal barriers Resulted in under reporting, under charging and reluctance to convict 1983, rape was replaced by three degrees of sexual assault Common sexual assault Assault with a weapon Aggravated sexual assault Law Reform Issue of consent 1992, no means no legislation Rape shield laws 2000, limited access to counselling records corroboration No longer mandatory Homicide First degree murder Requires that the action be planned and deliberate Second degree murder Involves malice but no premeditation manslaughter The killing of another person through gross negligence infanticide Killing of an infant Homicide Trends in Canada: 2013 505 homicides reported, 38 fewer than the previous year Homicide rate: 1 per 100,000 population Provinces → high/low Manitoba 3 Saskatchewan 2 Alberta 2 PEI 0 Quebec 0 New Brunswick 0 CMA’s census metropolitan area→ high/low Regina (3) Winnipeg (3) Thunder Bay (2) Edmonton (2) Hamilton (2) Trois rivieres (0) Kingston, Sudbury, Windsor (0) Quebec City (0) Victoria (0) Vancouver (1) Modern definition of White collar crime much broader o Includes middle-income earners, corporate execs (income tax evasion, credit card fraud, soliciting bribes, embezzlement) o Corporate crimes: (Anti-trust violations, price fixing, false advertising) Criminal conspiracy designed to improve profitability of corporation. 2009 Global Economic Crime Survey: 30% of companies reported being a victim of an economic crime in previous year >50% of Canadian companies In over half of cases, loses >500000$ 2012 BC survey 17% Canadians ages 50+ believe they were victim to investment fraud, 30% of active investors believe the same. WCC can also damage property and kill Stings and Swindles Involves stealing by deception People use institutional or business position to trick people out of their money, ex: selling faulty merchandise on Internet, passing of counterfeit stock certificates Usually charged with theft or fraud Chiselling Regularly cheating an organization, its customers, or both May involve: charging for bogus repairs, tampering with scales used to weigh products, selling company policy secrets Professional Chiselling: using position to chisel clients Securities Fraud (stock or investment fraud) Deceptive, illegal practices that take place on the commodities or stock markets Types of Chiselling, churning (stockbroker chiselling: repeated, excessive, unnecessary buying/selling of stock) front running (stockbroker chiselling: broker places personal orders ahead of large customer orders to profit from effects of the trade) Bucketing (skimming customer trading profits by falsifying trade information) Insider Trading (buying/selling securities based on business information gained from position of trust, not available to general public) 2004- Bill C-13: criminal offences of insider trading, tipping, and whistle-blowing retaliation established. Individual exploitation of institutional position Exploitation of power/position in an organization Extort money from people who do business with organization Achieved through threatening to withhold services that the victim has the right to expect (ex: fire inspector threatens non-existent fire code violations unless paid) Influence Peddling and Bribery Important people selling power, influence, information to outsiders who either have no legitimate interest in organization; or wait to obtain a favourable position by influencing activities of institutions. Ex: government officials selling information about future government activities Corruption of the CJ system, police officers particularly vulnerable to info peddling, RCMP investigation 2003 Corruption in Government Rob Ford Employee theft/fraud Use of position to steal company funds or obtain property for themselves Company is the victim, not an outsider Pilferage, employee theft of company property, Blue-collar workers, related to job dissatisfaction Client fraud Theft from an organization that advances credits to clients or reimburses for service Health Care Fraud: intentional deception that the individual makes knowing that it could result in unauthorized benefit to the individual (billing for services not rendered, waving, deductibles/copayments) Bank fraud, to obtain money or property from financial institution by false pretences (forgery or misrepresentation), cheque forgery, bank credit card fraud, illegal transactions with offshore banks Tax Evasion, victim is the government, Canada Revenue Agency responsible for enforcement Corporate Crime Powerful institutions willfully violate laws that restrain institutions from doing social harm or that require them to do social good. Socially injurious acts, further business interests, crime targets (general public, environment, company workers) Illegal restraint (contract or conspiracy designed to stifle competition create monopoly, interfere with free market competition) of trade and price fixing (conspiracy to set/control price of necessary commodity) Pushes small companies out of business Deceptive Pricing (contractors provide misleading information on costs of a job they are bidding on, uses mischarges once contracts have been signed) False Claims and Advertising (making claims about products that cannot be justified, cannot knowingly/purposefully advertise product qualities that don’t exist) Environmental Crimes: using company practices to violate environmental protection laws, maintain unsafe conditions in plants/mines, thus endangering workers High Tech Crimes Pornography, stalking, hate crimes, get rich quick scams, theft of data, use of fata, fraud to obtain assets, theft, viruses. Easy to rationalize effects, acts do not resemble street crimes Government regulators do not understand business world, even when caught do not see error in their ways Everyone violates business laws, rationalizing greed Need, to keep or improve jobs, satisfy egos, support family. Blue-collar workers pilfer to keep up with the others
CRM Final Notes
Course: Introduction to Criminology (CRM1300)
University: University of Ottawa
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