CRM 1300

Midterm 1

Week 1 & 2: What is Crime?

Definitions:

-​ ​Crime (legalistic):​ any intentional act or omission in violation of the criminal law, committed
without defence or justification and sanctioned by the state.
-​ ​Criminology (Sutherland and Cressy):​ “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 knowledge regarding the process of law, crime, and treatment”
-​ ​Crime:​ “A crime is an act or omission that violates the criminal law and is punishable with a

jail term, a fine, and/or some other sanction”

-​ ​Deviance:​ behaviour that violates social norms. Not all crime is deviant, not all deviance is

criminal
-​ ​The Rule of Law:​ principle under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable

to laws that are: publicly promulgated. Equally enforced.

-​ ​Folkways:​ Everyday norms based on custom, tradition, etiquette. Violations are generally not

seen as serious but may cause one to be viewed as odd or even avoided.
-​ ​Mores:​ Moral norms based on social values. Violations seen as more of a threat to social

order, and the offender is seen as “bad” and perhaps harmful to society and its institutions.
-​ ​Laws:​ Strongest norms since supported by formal code of sanctions. Violations may lead to

imprisonment or even death.

-​ ​Ethnocentrism:​ The practice of judging a culture by its own standards.

Concepts/Theories:

-​ ​Agency/trinity of justice:
-​ ​Difference between formal and informal control:
o​ ​Formal social control:​ anything connected to the state (police, military, CPS, bylaw,
etc)
o​ ​Informal social control:​ much more complicated, as we internalize norms, we respond
critically to our own behaviour through shame or guilt. Learned from a very young
age through family, friends, school, religious institutions, etc.
-​ ​Problems with legalistic definition of Criminology:

o​ ​States can commit crimes themselves

o​ ​What if the crime is non-intentional?
-​ ​Labelling Theory:​ It’s not the quality of the act but the label that others attach to the act that

makes it a crime.
o​ ​Criminal act + conviction = criminal
o​ ​No criminal act + conviction = criminal
 o​ C
​ riminal act + no conviction = not a criminal

-
-​ ​Consensus Theory:
o​ ​People agree on what is repugnant
o​ ​The law is fair and impartial
o​ ​People are treated fairly under the law
o​ ​Predominates North American criminology
-​ ​Conflict Theory:

o​ ​Laws are a tool used by the ruling class to maintain their privileged position by
keeping “common people” under control.
o​ ​Laws reflect the power structure of society.
o​ ​Focus should be on the crimes of the powerful.
-​ ​Interactionist Theory:

o​ ​Laws are constantly changing as a result of interactions between individuals and

groups
o​ ​Moral entrepreneurs try to get their values enacted in law
o​ ​The focus is on the process of deviance and changing definitions
-​ ​State’s connection to crime:

o​ ​As feudalism and the power of the monarchy declined, the state became the dominant
institution for regulating social order and settling disputes.
o​ ​Laws are enforced by punishment administered by the state.
-​ ​The Saints and the Roughnecks:

o​ ​The story of the Saints and the Roughnecks shows great the impact that appearance,
background, and action can have on a reputation following the future.
o​ ​While both groups participated in deviant behaviour, only one (the roughnecks) were
perceived as bad within the community and received punishment.
o​ ​Deals with class conflicts
-​ ​Hagan’s varieties of deviance:

o​ ​(1) Evaluation of harm (very harmful, somewhat harmful, not very harmful)
o​ ​(2) Agreement about the norm (strong agreement, strong disagreement, confusion,
apathy)
o​ ​(3) Severity of society response (very severe, moderate, mild)

Week 3: Crime and State

Definitions:

-​ ​Anti-terrorismact (Bill C-36):​ Enacted December 18, 2001. Brought on a discussion of how
terrorism should be defined.
-​ ​Monarchy:​ Transfers power from generation to generation within a single family. Earlier

monarchies were absolute. Modern ones are generally constitutional.

 -​ ​Democracy​: Generally representative rather than fully participatory. Affluent industrial
societies tend to be democracies.
-​ ​Authoritarianism​: A political system that denies popular participation in government.

-​ ​Totalitarianism:​ A political system that extensively regulates people’s lives.

Concepts/Theories:

-​ ​Criminal vs. Civil Law:

o​ ​Criminal Law: Public offence that may result in fines or prison. Government initiates
punishment, any fines may go to the state. Guilt goes beyond reasonable doubt. Can
only be made by the federal government.
o​ ​Civil Law: property laws, contract laws, etc.
-​ ​Tort Law:

o​ ​When an individual seeks compensation for personal harm by another person. For
example, you are assaulted and cannot go to work after, so you sue the person.
o​ ​Victim seeking compensation for a private wrong.
-​ ​Summary vs Indictable offences:

o​ ​Summary:
§​ ​Things like loitering, speeding, etc.
§​ ​6-month limitation on prosecution, maximum fine of 2000$, maximum prison
time of 6 months
§​ ​Typically heard in provincial court.
o​ ​Indictable:
§​ ​Serious offences like murder.
§​ ​No limit on prosecution, allows jury trial, 2 years or more in prison, heard in
higher court
-​ ​Mala in se vs Mala prohibita

o​ ​Mala in se:
§​ ​Latin term meaning “bad in and of themselves”
§​ ​Consensus crimes where there’s wide-spread agreement, such as sexual assault
o​ ​Mala prohibita;
§​ ​Latin term meaning “bad because it is banned”
§​ ​Falls under conflict crimes like obscenity or sex trade work
§​ ​Reflects community standards, so we ban it
-​ ​Actus reus vs Mens rea

- Actus Reus: “guilty act”

- Mens rea: “guilty mind”
-​ ​Functions of criminal law:

o​ ​(1) provides the function of public control, used to maintain a peaceful society
o​ ​(2) discourages revenge, in Canada, you give up your right to revenge and the state
takes over
 o​ (​ 3) way of expressing public opinion in morality (ex, decriminalization of
homosexuality)
o​ ​(4) maintaining the social order: law functions as a veneer in society to make sure we
follow the rules and norms set out
-​ ​General deterrence vs specific deterrence:

o​ ​General:
§​ ​You hear of other people being punished for crimes; you don’t want to be
punished so you don’t commit crimes
o​ ​Specific: If you go to jail you are specifically deterred from committing another crime

-​ ​Opium Act 1908:

o​ ​Opium (used as a pain reliever) is criminalized, origins of Mackenzie King, Deputy
Labour Minister
o​ ​Anti-Asiatic Riots of 1907, racial conflict
o​ ​Payment of compensation
o​ ​Mackenzie King finds that opium is easy to purchase
o​ ​60% of opiate users from 1880-1890 were female, average age of 40, educated,
middle-upper class, more likely to be white
-​ ​Ford Pinto case

o​ ​Ford Pinto car would explode if hit at the right spot, Ford decided not to fix the issue
since the potential liability lawsuits would cost less than repairing all the cars
-​ ​State legitimacy:

o​ ​Legitimacy of the state is questioned if it cannot provide peace and protection from
harm
o​ ​The citizenry must perceive the state as legitimate
o​ ​Crisis of legitimacy: a situation where the state no longer maintains the authority to
govern.
-​ ​Creation of Bill C-36:

o​ ​Anti-terrorism act enacted on December 18, 2001

o​ ​Brought on a discussion of how terrorism should be defined
-​ ​ ​William Chambliss – Vagrancy Laws

o​ ​Vagrancy law: if you are on the King’s land, able-bodied, and jobless, you are
violating the law. You are either given a job or put in jail.
o​ ​England 14​th​ century, crusades, black plague, church
o​ ​Constituted an abundance of cheap labour to England’s ruling elite, during a period
when serfdom was breaking down and the pool of labour was depleting.
o​ ​Vagrancy laws today:
§​ ​Loitering Laws
§​ ​Safe streets act
§​ ​Used to control “problem” populations
Week 4: Patterns of Criminology in Canada

Definitions:

-​ ​Causation:​ Cause and effect is a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in
another.
-​ ​Correlation:​ Exists when two or more variables are related in some way

-​ ​Stratified sample:​ Population is grouped by key characteristics. A random selection of groups

is made, and a random selection of people is chosen from these groups.

-​ ​Convenience sample​: A sample of people who are readily available. Non-representative and

usually lacks external validity.

-​ ​Simple random sample:​ Units have an equal probability of being included in the sample.

Systematic. Requires a complete list of members of the population and high response rate to
be representative.
-​ ​Qualitative:​ The nonnumerical examination and interpretation of observations for the purpose

of discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationships (observational research and

interviews)
-​ ​Quantitative:​ The numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose

of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations represent (surveys and
experiments)
-​ ​Mixed methods:​ Employment of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

-​ ​Triangulation:​ Employment of 3 or more types of methodology.

-​ ​Uniformed crime report (UCR):​ Collects information about each crime with the goal of

providing uniform and comparable national statistics.

-​ ​UCR1 (aggregate):​ Collects summary data for 100 separate criminal offences.

-​ ​UCR2 (incident based):​ Collects more detailed information on each incident, victims, and

accused.
-​ ​Seriousness rule-implications:​ Only the most serious crime is scored in an incident involving

several crimes.
-​ ​Crime rate formula:​ Expressed as number of criminal incidents for every 100,000 Canadians.

-​ ​Crime severity index:​ Addresses the matter of the crime being driven by high volumes of less

serious offences. Calculated by assigning each offence a weight derived from sentences given
by the criminal courts.
-​ ​Victimization surveys:​ Asks a sample of people, via a questionnaire survey, whether they

have been a victim of crime.

-​ ​Self-report studies:​ Rather than relying on official data, why not just ask criminals what they

do and how often they do it?

Concepts/Theories
-​ ​Limits to scientific research
o​ ​(1) Human behaviour is too complex to allow social scientists to predict any
individuals’ actions precisely.
o​ ​(2) Because humans respond to their surroundings, the mere presence of a researcher
may affect the behaviour being studied (Hawthorne effect)
o​ ​(3) Social patterns change. What is true in one time and place may not hold in another.
o​ ​(4) Because social scientists are part of the social world they study, objectivity in
social research is especially difficult.
-​ ​Author bias:

o​ ​Author of a study may have biases based on their personal experiences.

-​ ​Subjective interpretation:

o​ ​Always an important element in the analysis

o​ ​Sometimes when you think you saw something, it’s not actually what you saw
-​ ​Ethics:

o​ ​Explanation of the purpose of the research and a description of any foreseeable risks of
participation. Description of any benefits to the participant.
o​ ​How may the research affect other people’s lives?
o​ ​Do you have informed consent?
o​ ​Are they free to not participate?
o​ ​Do they know what they’re getting into?
o​ ​List of resources available in the case of adverse effects.
o​ ​Researchers should offer to answer questions about the study.
o​ ​Right to terminate their participation at any time.
o​ ​Most important in scientific research.

-​ ​Research methods:
-​ ​Qualitative methods:

o​ ​Interviews
§​ ​Structured: Approx. 5-15 minutes each, respondents are asked the same
questions
§​ ​Semi-structured: Approx. 30-60 minutes each, can go longer depending on the
participant, generally no longer than 3 hours. Uses a set of questions but
allows respondents to guide the interview in areas they think are important.
§​ ​Unstructured: No predetermined questions, interview proceeds
conversationally. Can last for days or even weeks, (not all at once). For
example, meeting with someone on a regular basis.
§​ ​Once you collect the data, it must be analyzed and studied
o​ ​Participant: involves active participation in the daily life activities of those he she is
observing. Uses processes of induction as opposed to deduction.
§​ ​Covert: Those in the field are not informed of the researcher’s status
§​ ​Semi-covert: only some people involved are aware
 §​ O​ pen: everyone is aware of the researcher’s status

§​ ​Difficulties with observational research: (1) it can be dangerous, (2) is it

ethical? (3) how will you affect the behaviour of the group? (4) time
consuming
o​ ​Observation
o​ ​Unobtrusive methods
§​ ​Content analysis: the analysis of texts including movies, TV shoes, magazines,
blogs, etc. Can be qualitative, quantitative, or both.
§​ ​Secondary analysis: Uses existing (archival) data: librairies, government
documents, churches, information records, newspapers, magazines
§​ ​Case study: In depth investigation of one or few phenomenon
§​ ​Cyber research: New information technology and the internet provide
researchers up to date resources
-​ ​Quantitative methods:

o​ ​Surveys: a method for collecting information by asking members of a population a set

of questions and recording their responses.
§​ ​Uses interviews and questionnaires
§​ ​Measures attitudes, opinions, beliefs, values, and behaviours to determine if
there is a relationship between two or more attributes of interest
§​ ​Disadvantages to surveys: (1) lower response rates, (2) how do you get a
representative sample, (3) will people respond to your survey? (4) will people
be truthful about their behaviour and opinions
o​ ​Experiments: primary purpose is to establish causal relationships between variables
under highly controlled conditions.
§​ ​Requires consenting participants, manipulation of one or more IV, and random
assignment
§​ ​Laboratory experiments: allow for more control of stimuli, tasks, information,
or situations faced by the participant.

o​ C​ ross-sectional/Longitudinal research: research conducted over time

§​ ​Diaries, health records, etc.

§​ ​Disadvantaged include: (1) time consuming, (2) sample attrition (people
dropping out of research)
o​ ​Quassi-experimental/field research: when investigators manipulate variables in a
natural, non-laboratory setting. They use real situations for experiment purposes.
§​ ​Disadvantages include: (1) hard to control assignment groups, (2) high external
validity compared to lab settings, (3) participants less conscious of their
status as experimental participants, (4) less control over extraneous variables
o​ ​Meta-analysis and aggregate data research
§​ ​Meta-analysis: statistical technique that allows the researcher to combine the
quantitative results from all previous studies on a question.
§​ ​Useful for making sense of large numbers of studies on the same phenomena
that may produce divergent findings.
§​ ​Can be used to detect relationships and trends
 §​ ​Can you depend on the agencies taking the count or are they biased?
-​ ​Neil Malamuth’s study on violent pornography:

o​ ​2 groups: university aged boys, one group was shown violent pornography and the
other was shown random films. Both groups were asked to write stories about what
they watched.
o​ ​The men who watched the porn had violent imagery in their stories.
o​ ​Concluded that violent pornography causes males who watch it to be more aggressive
towards women.
-​ ​Crime Statistics methods: UCR, Victimization Surveys, Self-Report Studies

o​ ​UCR
§​ ​Limitations: (1) it is not always clear what is being counted, (2) is it a criminal
code offence, violations of other federal and provincial statues, or violations
of municipal bylaws? (3) crime rate does not differentiate between serious
and less serious offences – gross counts are misleading
§​ ​Strengths: (1) provides uniform and comparable statistics (2) tells us more
about police activities
o​ ​Victimization Surveys
§​ ​Limitations: (1) not all crimes are captured (ex. Murder) (2) crimes that keep
victims unaware of victimization cannot be captured accurately in UCR or
VS (3) survey may not be reliable or may be skewed (4) well-educated
responders are more likely to talk to interviewers and give full accounts of
their victimization.
§​ ​Strengths: (1) captures many crimes not included in the UCR data.
o​ ​Self-report studies
§​ ​Limitations: (1) those who are typically law-abiding are more likely to report
their occasional infractions, (2) respondents tend to report minor infractions
and downplay more serious infractions, (3) some demographic groups are
more apt to underreported criminal behaviour, (4) it is often difficult to
survey serious, chronic offenders
-​ ​Why do crime rates change?

o​ ​(1) there is a legitimate change in society

o​ ​(2) media practices
o​ ​(3) criminal justice system: reporting practices, police practices, legal definitions
o​ ​(4) methodological practices