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Three women in the pillory, China Criminology (from Latin crmen, "accusation"; and Greek -, -logia) is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in the behavioral sciences, drawing especially upon the research of sociologists (particularly in the sociology of deviance), psychologists and psychiatrists, social anthropologists as well as on writings in law. Areas of research in criminology include the incidence, forms, causes and consequences of crime, as well as social and governmental regulations and reaction to crime. For studying the distribution and causes of crime, criminology mainly relies upon quantitative methods. The term criminology was coined in 1885 by Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo as criminologia. Around the same time, but later, French anthropologist Paul Topinard used the analogous French term criminologie.[1]
Contents
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1 Schools of thought o 1.1 Classical School o 1.2 Positivist School 1.2.1 Italian School 1.2.2 Lacassagne School 1.2.3 Sociological positivism 1.2.4 Differential Association (Subcultural) o 1.3 Chicago School 2 Theories of crime o 2.1 Social structure theories 2.1.1 Social disorganization (neighborhoods) 2.1.2 Social ecology 2.1.3 Strain theory (social class) 2.1.4 Subcultural theory 2.1.5 Control theories o 2.2 Symbolic interactionism
2.2.1 Labeling Theory 2.3 Contemporary cultural and critical criminology 2.4 Individual theories 2.4.1 Trait theories 2.4.2 Rational choice theory 2.4.3 Routine activity theory 3 Types and definitions of crime 4 Causes and correlates of crime 5 Subtopics 6 See also 7 References o 7.1 Notes o 7.2 Bibliography o o
8 External links
The Positivist school presumes that criminal behavior is caused by internal and external factors outside of the individual's control. The scientific method was introduced and applied to study human behavior. Positivism can be broken up into three segments which include biological, psychological and social positivism. [edit] Italian School Cesare Lombroso, an Italian prison doctor working in the late 19th century and sometimes regarded as the "father" of criminology, was one of the largest contributors to biological positivism and founder of the Italian school of criminology.[3] Lombroso took a scientific approach, insisting on empirical evidence, for studying crime.[4] Considered as the founder of criminal anthropology, he suggested that physiological traits such as the measurements of one's cheek bones or hairline, or a cleft palate, considered to be throwbacks to Neanderthal man, were indicative of "atavistic" criminal tendencies. This approach, influenced by the earlier theory of phrenology and by Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, has been superseded. Enrico Ferri, a student of Lombroso, believed that social as well as biological factors played a role, and held the view that criminals should not be held responsible when factors causing their criminality were beyond their control. Criminologists have since rejected Lombroso's biological theories, with control groups not used in his studies.[5] [edit] Lacassagne School Lombroso's Italian school was rivaled, in France, by Alexandre Lacassagne and his school of thought, based in Lyon and influential from 1885 to 1914. The Lacassagne School rejected Lombroso's theory of "criminal type" and of "born criminals", and strained the importance of social factors. However, contrary to criminological tendencies influenced by Durkheim's social determinism, it did not reject biological factors. Indeed, Lacassagne created an original synthesis of both tendencies, influenced by positivism, phrenology and hygienism, which alleged a direct influence of the social environment on the brain and compared the social itself to a brain, upholding an organicist position. Furthermore, Lacassagne criticized the lack of efficiency of prison, insisted on social responsibilities toward crime and on political voluntarism as a solution to crime, and thus advocated harsh penalties for those criminals thought to be unredeemable ("recidivists") for example by supporting the 1895 law on penal colonies or opposing the abolition of the death penalty in 1906. Hans Eysenck (1964, 1977), a British psychologist, claimed that psychological factors such as extraversion and neuroticism made a person more likely to commit criminal acts. He also includes a psychoticism dimension that includes traits similar to the psychopathic profile, developed by Hervey M. Cleckley and later Robert Hare. He also based his model on early parental socialization of the child; his approach bridges the gap between biological explanations and environmental or social learning based approaches, (see e.g. social psychologists B.F. Skinner (1938), Albert Bandura (1973), and the topic of "nature vs. nurture".)
[edit] Sociological positivism Sociological positivism postulates that societal factors such as poverty, membership of subcultures, or low levels of education can predispose people to crime. Adolphe Quetelet made use of data and statistical analysis to gain insight into relationship between crime and sociological factors. He found that age, gender, poverty, education, and alcohol consumption were important factors related to crime.[6] Rawson W. Rawson utilized crime statistics to suggest a link between population density and crime rates, with crowded cities creating an environment conducive for crime.[7] Joseph Fletcher and John Glyde also presented papers to the Statistical Society of London on their studies of crime and its distribution.[8] Henry Mayhew used empirical methods and an ethnographic approach to address social questions and poverty, and presented his studies in London Labour and the London Poor.[9] mile Durkheim viewed crime as an inevitable aspect of society, with uneven distribution of wealth and other differences among people. [edit] Differential Association (Subcultural) Crime is learned through association. The criminal acts learned might be generally condoning criminal conduct or be justifying crime only under specific circumstances. Interacting with antisocial peers is a major cause of crime. Criminal behavior will be repeated and become chronic if reinforced. When criminal subcultures exist, many individuals can learn associatively to commit crime and crime rates may increase in those specific locations .[10]
Theoretical perspectives used in criminology include psychoanalysis, functionalism, interactionism, Marxism, econometrics, systems theory, postmodernism, etc.
Following on from the Chicago school and Strain Theory, and also drawing on Edwin Sutherland's idea of differential association, subcultural theorists focused on small cultural groups fragmenting away from the mainstream to form their own values and meanings about life. Albert K. Cohen tied anomie theory with Freud's reaction formation idea, suggesting that delinquency among lower class youths is a reaction against the social norms of the middle class.[16] Some youth, especially from poorer areas where opportunities are scarce, might adopt social norms specific to those places which may include "toughness" and disrespect for authority. Criminal acts may result when youths conform to norms of the deviant subculture.[17] Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin suggested that delinquency can result from differential opportunity for lower class youth.[18] Such youths may be tempted to take up criminal activities, choosing an illegitimate path that provides them more lucrative economic benefits than conventional, over legal options such as minimum wage-paying jobs available to them.[18] British subcultural theorists focused more heavily on the issue of class, where some criminal activities were seen as 'imaginary solutions' to the problem of belonging to a subordinate class. A further study by the Chicago school looked at gangs and the influence of the interaction of gang leaders under the observation of adults. Sociologists such as Raymond D. Gastil, have explored the impact of a Southern culture of honor on violent crime rates.[19] [edit] Control theories Another approach is made by the social bond or social control theory. Instead of looking for factors that make people become criminal, those theories try to explain why people do not become criminal. Travis Hirschi identified four main characteristics: "attachment to others", "belief in moral validity of rules", "commitment to achievement" and "involvement in conventional activities".[20] The more a person features those characteristics, the less are the chances that he or she becomes deviant (or criminal). On the other hand, if those factors are not present in a person, it is more likely that he or she might become criminal. Hirschi expanded on this theory, with the idea that a person with low self control is more likely to become criminal.[21] A simple example: someone wants to have a big yacht, but does not have the means to buy one. If the person cannot exert self-control, he or she might try to get the yacht (or the means for it) in an illegal way; whereas someone with high self-control will (more likely) either wait or deny themselves that need. Social bonds, through peers, parents, and others, can have a countering effect on one's low self-control. For families of low socioeconomic status, a factor that distinguishes families with delinquent children from those who are not delinquent is the control exerted by parents or chaperonage.[22] In addition,
theorists such as Matza and Sykes argued that criminals are able to temporarily neutralize internal moral and social behavioral constraints through techniques of neutralization.
depict the tense opposition between inclusion and exclusion. Simon Hallsworth and Keith Hayward adopt a similar approach in their respective works Street Crime[32] and City Limits,[33] and in further work[34] Hayward reintroduces the Freudian term 'narcissism' to explain the insecure yet aggressive, acquisitive sentiments and motivations behind criminality. In Criminal Identities and Consumer Culture,[35] Steve Hall, Simon Winlow and Craig Ancrum draw upon Continental philosophy and Lacanian psychoanalysis to take late-modern hybrid theories to a new level of sophistication as they explain how the dynamic tension between inclusion and exclusion prolongs the narcissistic subject throughout the life-course in an aggressive struggle for identities of social distinction expressed by the acquisition and display of consumer culture's status-symbols.
Gary Becker, for example, acknowledged that many people operate under a high moral and ethical constraint, but considered that criminals rationally see that the benefits of their crime outweigh the cost such as the probability of apprehension, conviction, punishment, as well as their current set of opportunities. From the public policy perspective, since the cost of increasing the fine is marginal to that of the cost of increasing surveillance, one can conclude that the best policy is to maximize the fine and minimize surveillance. With this perspective, crime prevention or reduction measures can be devised that increase effort required to commit the crime, such as target hardening.[40] Rational choice theories also suggest that increasing risk of offending and likelihood of being caught, through added surveillance, police or security guard presence, added street lighting, and other measures, are effective in reducing crime.[40] One of the main differences between this theory and Jeremy Bentham's rational choice theory, which had been abandoned in criminology, is that if Bentham considered it possible to completely annihilate crime (through the panopticon), Becker's theory acknowledged that a society could not eradicate crime beneath a certain level. For example, if 25% of a supermarket's products were stolen, it would be very easy to reduce this rate to 15%, quite easy to reduce it until 5%, difficult to reduce it under 3% and nearly impossible to reduce it to zero (a feat which would cost the supermarket so much in surveillance, etc., that it would outweigh the benefits). This reveals that the goals of utilitarianism and classical liberalism have to be tempered and reduced to more modest proposals to be practically applicable. Such rational choice theories, linked to neoliberalism, have been at the basics of crime prevention through environmental design and underpin the Market Reduction Approach to theft [41] by Mike Sutton, which is a systematic toolkit for those seeking to focus attention on "crime facilitators" by tackling the markets for stolen goods [42] that provide motivation for thieves to supply them by theft.[43] [edit] Routine activity theory Routine activity theory, developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence Cohen, draws upon control theories and explains crime in terms of crime opportunities that occur in everyday life.[44] A crime opportunity requires that elements converge in time and place including (1) a motivated offender (2) suitable target or victim (3) lack of a capable guardian.[45] A guardian at a place, such as a street, could include security guards or even ordinary pedestrians who would witness the criminal act and possibly intervene or report it to police.[45] Routine activity theory was expanded by John Eck, who added a fourth element of "place manager" such as rental property managers who can take nuisance abatement measures.[46]
Both the Positivist and Classical Schools take a consensus view of crime that a crime is an act that violates the basic values and beliefs of society. Those values and beliefs are manifested as laws that society agrees upon. However, there are two types of laws:
Natural laws are rooted in core values shared by many cultures. Natural laws protect against harm to persons (e.g. murder, rape, assault) or property (theft, larceny, robbery), and form the basis of common law systems. Statutes are enacted by legislatures and reflect current cultural mores, albeit that some laws may be controversial, e.g. laws that prohibit cannabis use and gambling. Marxist criminology, Conflict criminology and Critical Criminology claim that most relationships between state and citizen are non-consensual and, as such, criminal law is not necessarily representative of public beliefs and wishes: it is exercised in the interests of the ruling or dominant class. The more right wing criminologies tend to posit that there is a consensual social contract between State and citizen.
Therefore, definitions of crimes will vary from place to place, in accordance to the cultural norms and mores, but may be broadly classified as blue-collar crime, corporate crime, organized crime, political crime, public order crime, state crime, state-corporate crime, and white-collar crime. However, there have been moves in contemporary criminological theory to move away from liberal pluralism, culturalism and postmodernism by introducing the universal term 'harm' into the criminological debate as a replacement for the legal term 'crime' [47].
[edit] Subtopics
Areas of study in criminology include:
Comparative criminology, which is the study of the social phenomenon of crime across cultures, to identify differences and similarities in crime patterns.[48] Crime prevention Crime statistics Criminal behavior Criminal careers and desistance Domestic violence Deviant behavior Evaluation of criminal justice agencies Fear of crime
The International Crime Victims Survey Juvenile delinquency Penology Sociology of law Victimology
Anthropological criminology Taboo Crime Crime science Criminal law Forensic science Market Reduction Approach Social cohesion Sociology of deviance The Mask of Sanity
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
1. ^ Deflem, Mathieu (2006). Sociological Theory and Criminological Research: Views from Europe and the United States. Elsevier. pp. 279. ISBN 0762313226. 2. ^ Beccaria, Cesare (1764). Richard Davies, translator. ed. On Crimes and Punishments, and Other Writings. Cambridge University Press. pp. 64. ISBN 0521402034. 3. ^ Siegel, Larry J. (2003). Criminology, 8th edition. Thomson-Wadsworth. pp. 7. 4. ^ McLennan, Gregor, Jennie Pawson, Mike Fitzgerald (1980). Crime and Society: Readings in History and Theory. Routledge. pp. 311. ISBN 0415027551. 5. ^ Siegel, Larry J. (2003). Criminology, 8th edition. Thomson-Wadsworth. pp. 139. 6. ^ Beirne, Piers (March 1987). "Adolphe Quetelet and the Origins of Positivist Criminology". American Journal of Sociology 92 (5): pp. 11401169. doi:10.1086/228630. 7. ^ Hayward, Keith J. (2004). City Limits: Crime, Consumerism and the Urban Experience. Routledge. pp. 89. ISBN 1904385036.
8. ^ Garland, David (2002). "Of Crimes and Criminals". In Maguire, Mike, Rod Morgan, Robert Reiner. The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 3rd edition. Oxford University Press. pp. 21. 9. ^ "Henry Mayhew: London Labour and the London Poor". Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science. 10. ^ Anderson, Ferracuti. "Criminological Theory Summaries". Cullen & Agnew. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 11. ^ Hester, S., Eglin, P. 1992, A Sociology of Crime, London, Routledge. 12. ^ Shaw, Clifford R. and McKay, Henry D. (1942). Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226751252. 13. ^ a b c Bursik Jr., Robert J. (1988). "Social Disorganization and Theories of Crime and Delinquency: Problems and Prospects". Criminology 26 (4): p. 519 539. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1988.tb00854.x. 14. ^ Morenoff, Jeffrey, Robert Sampson, Stephen Raudenbush (2001). "Neighborhood Inequality, Collective Efficacy and the Spatial Dynamics of Urban Violence". Criminology 39 (3): p. 51760. doi:10.1111/j.17459125.2001.tb00932.x. 15. ^ Merton, Robert (1957). Social Theory and Social Structure. Free Press. ISBN 0029211301. 16. ^ Cohen, Albert (1955). Delinquent Boys. Free Press. ISBN 0029057701. 17. ^ Kornhauser, R. (1978). Social Sources of Delinquency. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226451135. 18. ^ a b Cloward, Richard, Lloyd Ohlin (1960). Delinquency and Opportunity. Free Press. ISBN 0029055903. 19. ^ raymond D. Gastil, "Homocide and a Regional Culture of Violence," American Sociological Review 36 (1971): 412-427. 20. ^ Hirschi, Travis (1969). Causes of Delinquency. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0765809001. 21. ^ Gottfredson, M., T. Hirschi (1990). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford University Press. 22. ^ Wilson, Harriet (1980). "Parental Supervision: A Neglected Aspect of Delinquency". British Journal of Criminology 20. 23. ^ Mead, George Herbert (1934). Mind Self and Society. University of Chicago Press. 24. ^ Becker, Howard (1963). Outsiders. Free Press. ISBN 0684836351. 25. ^ Slattery, Martin (2003). Key Ideas In Sociology. Nelson Thornes. pp. 154+. 26. ^ Kelin, Malcolm (March 1986). "Labeling Theory and Delinquency Policy: An Experimental Test". Criminal Justice & Behaviour 13 (1): 4779. doi:10.1177/0093854886013001004. 27. ^ Ferrell, J., Hayward, K., Morrison, W. and Presdee, M. (2004) Cultural Criminology Unleashed, London: Glasshouse Press 28. ^ Katz, J. (1988), The Seductions of Crime, New York: Basic Books 29. ^ Presdee, M. (2000), Cultural Criminology and the Carnival of Crime, London: Routledge 30. ^ Reiner, R. (2007) Law and Order, Cambridge: Polity
31. ^ Young, J. (1999), The Exclusive Society, London: Sage 32. ^ Hallsworth, S. (2005), Street Crime, Cullompton: Willan 33. ^ Hayward, K. (2004), City Limits, London: Glasshouse 34. ^ Hayward K., Yar M. (2006). "'The 'Chav' Phenomenon: Consumption, Media and the Construction of a New Underclass'". Crime, Media, Culture 2 (1): 928. doi:10.1177/1741659006061708. 35. ^ Hall, S., Winlow, S. and Ancrum, C. (2008) Criminal Identities and Consumer Culture, London: Willan/Routledge 36. ^ Rhodes, Richard (2000). Why They Kill: The Discoveries of a Maverick Criminologist. Vintage. ISBN 0375402497. 37. ^ Gary Becker, "Crime and Punishment", in Journal of Political Economy, vol. 76 (2), MarchApril 1968, p.196-217 38. ^ George Stigler, "The Optimum Enforcement of Laws", in Journal of Political Economy, vol.78 (3), MayJune 1970, p. 526536 39. ^ a b Cornish, Derek, and Ronald V. Clarke (1986). The Reasoning Criminal. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0387962727. 40. ^ a b Clarke, Ronald V. (1992). Situational Crime Prevention. Harrow and Heston. ISBN 1881798682. 41. ^ Sutton, M. Schneider, J. and Hetherington, S. (2001) Tackling Theft with the Market Reduction Approach. Crime Reduction Research Series paper 8. Home Office. London. http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/crrs08.pdf 42. ^ Sutton, M. (2010) Stolen Goods Markets. U.S. Department of Justice. Centre for Problem Oriented Policing, COPS Office. Guide No 57. http://www.popcenter.org/problems/stolen_goods/ 43. ^ Home Office Crime Reduction Website. Tackling Burglary: Market Reduction Approach. http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/burglary/burglaryminisite07.htm 44. ^ Felson, Marcus (1994). Crime and Everyday Life. Pine Forge. ISBN 0803990294. 45. ^ a b Cohen, Lawrence, and Marcus Felson (1979). "Social Change and Crime Rate Trends". American Sociological Review (American Sociological Association) 44 (4): 588608. doi:10.2307/2094589. JSTOR 2094589. 46. ^ Eck, John, and Julie Wartell (1997). Reducing Crime and Drug Dealing by Improving Place Management: A Randomized Experiment. National Institute of Justice. 47. ^ Hillyard, P., Pantazis, C., Tombs, S., & Gordon, D. (2004). Beyond Criminology: Taking Harm Seriously. London: Pluto 48. ^ Barak-Glantz, I.L., E.H. Johnson (1983). Comparative criminology. Sage.
[edit] Bibliography
Wikibooks: Introduction to sociology Cesare Beccaria, Dei delitti e delle pene (17631764)
Barak, Gregg (ed.). (1998). Integrative criminology (International Library of Criminology, Criminal Justice & Penology.). Aldershot: Ashgate/Dartmouth. ISBN 1-84014-008-9 Pettit, Philip and Braithwaite, John. Not Just Deserts. A Republican Theory of Criminal Justice ISBN 978-0-19-824056-3 (see Republican Criminology and Victim Advocacy: Comment for article concerning the book in Law & Society Review, Vol. 28, No. 4 (1995), pp. 765776) Catherine Blatier, Introduction la psychocriminologie. Paris : Dunod, 2010. Catherine Blatier, La dlinquance des mineurs. Grenoble: Presses Universitaires,2e Edition, 2002. Catherine Blatier, The Specialized Jurisdiction: A Better Chance for Minors. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 2, 115-127.1998.