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CRIM chapter 1 notes

Introduction to Criminology (Simon Fraser University)

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Chapter 1
What is Criminology?

o Criminology: The study of crime and criminal behavior, which are defined by
reference to criminal law (study of crime)
o Crime: an act punishable by law; an evil act; a shame, senseless act
o Crime is dependent on how crime is defined, reported, and then processed

Criminology as an academic discipline

“Investigate”
o Study of crime began during the 1950s, at UBC as Department of Social
Sciences
- The new program (1951) argued that offenders could no longer be
seen as “born criminals” -> closed in 1959
o Denis Szabo: “a new discipline” and “a new discipline” when criminology
was added into the University of Montréal (1963)
o J.L.J Edwards: created centre of Criminology in University of Toronto (1963)
o Tadeusz Grygier: department of criminology created at the University of
Ottawa (1967)
o Ezzat Fattah: led his program at SFU (1973)
o Deviance: behavior that differs from accepted social norms (example:
picking one’s nose, sexual behaviours, acts that challenge accepted values)
- Definition of deviance can differ across societies
- Example: Abortion doctors in the 19th century were subject to criminal
conviction and today they are no criminal penalties for having an
abortion
-
The emergence of criminology in the postwar

“Exposure”
o Urbanization and industrialization were important for social life in Canada,
UK, and US
o Crime arose as migration changed from rural to urban areas
o New immigrants meant threat to the established labour force
o The immigrants also brought parts of their culture which created more laws
like “deport foreign drug peddlers” and “restrict immigration”
o More urban & more global meant more tension because of the change
o Crime rate escalated in the time of youth rebellion
o Demographic: statistical data relating to characteristics of a population
o Babies born between 1946-1964 entered their crime-prone years
o Alcohol consumption increased which was tied to criminal behaviours
o Some changes in family structures:
- birth control introduced
- divorce rate increased
- women in work force increased
o End of 2nd world war= HUGE CHANGES, as with social conflicts they became
social threats

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o Correlation of crime: to understand crime we must first define it, and then be
able to report it, process it, and give to the police to count
- Both age and sex are important correlates of crime- they are factors
that do not cause crime, but are strongly linked to criminal behaviour

Criminology: A discipline, or a home for established disciplines

o The field of criminology has typically been interdisciplinary

- Some fields include sociology, psychology, biology, geography, and
economics
- some other disciplines include: medicine, study of law, political
science, and engineering
- each make different kinds of contributions to criminology therefore
considered a multidisciplinary science
- with development of technology and the use of DNA and forensic
entomology CHEMISTRY and BIOLOGY are now involved with the study
of criminology
o Psychology: study of individual behaviour which focuses on criminals,
classifying them, trying to predict if they would recommit the offense, and
looking out for rehab programs or treatment
- Psychological explanations have evolved over the years
o Sociological analyses focus on social order
- Social forces work to define crime and create conditions in which crime
might flourish or diminish
- Try to understand how social context of our lives works to creates law,
crime, and crime rates
- Sociological approaches the social forces/factors that fall towards
crime
o Study of law: defines landscape of crime as it sets prohibited behavior and
consequences attached to them
- History of criminal law tells what’s changed crime wise and indicates
why new forms criminality are formed
o Economics: analyses of the cost and benefits of various crime reduction
initiatives
o Biological approaches focus on the genetics
o Criminality: state of being criminal

What do criminologist study?

o Crime is home to many disciplines, so questions that criminologist ask vary

depending on their field
o Criminologist study
- “Criminalization” process: how certain behaviors become criminalized
while others are decriminalized
- “Stigmatization” process: how some offenders are labelled and
demonized
- changing crime rates (what variables contribute to an increase in
certain kinds of crime? What can we do to push in the opposite
direction?)

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Crime rates: why do they go up?

o The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey helps report criminal acts/types

- Risk of incorrect data because not all people report what goes on
o Criminal justice system (CJS): various institutions and processes through
which an offender passes, such as the police and court
o Combination of police reports and surveys of individual victimization provide
an understanding of changing crime rates
o In order to reduce the impact of crime on our everyday lives, we need to
understand how and why certain types of crime increase and decrease

Studying the criminal pathways of crime

o It is important in understanding why particular individuals commit crime and

why some continue to do so
o Most convicted to crime are males, typically between the ages of 15-34, also
tend to have few resources and less support
o It appears some people have personality traits and characteristics that
influence them to crime
o Sarnoff Mednick, William Gabriella, and Barry Hutchings:
- Sample of more than 14 000 Danish adoptions
- These kids were more likely to commit crime if their biological father
had criminal records
- This met with disbelief
- Biology may not determine criminality, but we are learning that it is
not as Unimportant as we once thought
o Trauma can have significant impact on predisposition to crime (frontal lobe
damage can likelihood lead to impulsively aggressive behaviour)
o Now we consider crime is influenced by biological risks and environmental
influences
o Sex offenders classified as antisocial deviants who commit a range of crimes
and there are low rates of reoffending
o Much can be learnt through the study of offenders including
- the difficulties some offenders can face due to stigmatization
- risk of involvement for men and women
- ways to prevent harm and reoffending

Technologies of crime control

o Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) originated from C.
Ray Jeffery (go over)
- Uses landscape and lighting design to increase natural surveillance
- CPTED purpose is to manage crime by decreasing the opportunity and
an individual’s motivation in committing the crime + increasing the
risk for the criminal
- Its interventions (strategies intended to shape the physical
environment to ease crime) apply to an urban environment
o Some critics of CPTED
- Only displaces the crime, moves it, and to less-protected environment
(does not address root cause of crime)

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o Geographic Profiling: tool that permits police officers to focus on the likely
residence of offenders in cases of serial crimes
- Aligned with CPTED
- Together is draws on an understanding of urban environments and the
behaviours of serial predatory offenders& uses mathematical tools to
determine the likely residence of the offender
o Electronic monitoring aka electronic tagging
- When offender wears a tag that monitors where they are
- Controlled by control center and is a form of release or home detention
- Advantage: avoids cost of placing the person in a facility and prevents
negative impacts of incarceration
- Concerns have to do with Net widening -> imposing a form of control
on individuals who might otherwise not be subject to such control
- Electric monitor must deal with to respond quickly when offender
either removes or travels outside of the range
o Forensic science of DNA is used widely in criminal trials
- DNA evidence can be mishandled but it has become a valuable tool in
the detection of crimes

The study of crime: What theories, what methods?

o Some theorist describes themselves as

- Critical criminologist- focus on the power of state and its potential for
abuse
- Rational choice theorists- argue that crime occurs as a consequence of
rational choices made by willing actors
o Some theories include: labeling theory, differential association, Marxists
theories of crime, and Social control theory
o Discussions of method focus on the difference between qualitative and
quantitative approaches
o Qualitative: study based not on measurements but an exploration of the
reasons for human behavior and the qualities of subjective experience
(lawyers and sociologists use this method)
- Interviews with police officers
- Interviews with the offenders
- Lack of reliability for this data can be small number of participants
o Quantitative: study based on measurements of something…. Its quantity
(psychologists and economists use this method)
- Numerical data
- Depending on mathematical and statistical techniques
o Combination of qualitative and quantitative methods are known as mixed
methods approach
- This approach provides a better chance at creating a clear
understanding of crime and criminal justice

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