Week 2 Complete

crime

a socially constructed concept defining certain behaviours as requiring formal control and social intervention

latin: accusation

defined socially, culturally, and/or legally as wrong or anti-social

normative concept

Canada: federal legislation codified in the criminal code

Misdemeanor

less serious OFFENCES (public drunkness)

• often constitutes house arrest, community service, provincial prison (less than two years), and/or suspension

• you will have a criminal record

summary offences

Felony

a serious CRIME (such as murder or arson)

• means the charge you go to the trial (may be a jury or judge); if you are convicted you go to federal prison (the sentence is more than two years)

  • fairly rare occurrence as most crimes are not this serious

indictable offences

Offence

specific infraction of the law

indictable offence

a serious offence such as assault, theft over $5,000, robbery (with or without a firearm), or murder

summary offence

a less serious offence such as theft under $5,000, impersonating a police officer, or taking a motor vehicle without consent

conventional crimes

illegal activity committed by individuals or small groups, involving some degree of direct or indirect contact (e.g., robbery, motor vehicle theft, and break and enter)

non-conventional crime

explains that crime cannot be readily explained by customary references to the personality of the offender, it may be more difficult for the criminal justice system to pursue

deviance

behaviour that violates a social or moral norm but is not necessarily prohibited by law (e.g., butting in line at a supermarket or certain sexual practices)

decriminalization

the reduction or removal of criminal penalties attached to an act without legalizing it

relative

when applied to crime, the idea that what is defined as crime can vary with time and location

evolutive

when applied to crime, the idea that what comprises crime can change, taking different forms and meaning over time

Hagan's Pyramid: Consensus versus Conflict

How definitions change over time and forces behind such changes

social diversions

minor forms of deviance such as unconventional dress or use of offensive language

social deviations

consists of behaviours considered disreputable in certain social settings and thus regulated: for example, swearing at a police officer or in court

conflict crimes

activities that are not universally considered crimes, although they are legally defined as such (e.g., procuring the services of a sex worker)

consensus crimes

activities generally considered very harmful therefore, there is strong support for sanctioning and controlling them

criminology

an interdisciplinary science that studies criminal behaviour, crime causation, crime prevention, and the punishment and rehabilitation of offenders

criminologist

a behavioural scientist who specializes in the identification, classification, and description of criminal behaviour

interdisciplinary approach

in criminology, the integration of knowledge from a variety of disciplines to formulate explanations or theories of criminal behaviour

Conceptualizing Criminological Thinking

bottom green portion of this is dismissive as sociology is looking at the root cause of crime (considering race, age, gender, and social class)

Sir Leon Radzinowicz

early advocate of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of criminology

The Canadian Criminal Justice Process: A Simplified Flow Chart

Paul Topinard and Raffaele Garofalo

1879, used term criminology to refer to the study of punishment and treatment of criminals

Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham

18th century

founders of classical school

argued for penal reform on humanitarian and philosophical principles.

Maurice Parmelee

published the first criminology textbook.

The Core Sub-Areas of Criminology

Etiology

The study of the origins or causes of a phenomenon.

penology

the study of how crime is punished

Cesare Lombroso

father of criminology

identified criminal typologies as "the born criminal," "criminals by passion," "criminaloids," and others

crime rate

the number of criminal offences in a category, recorded in a fixed ratio, such as per 100,000 people

victimless crime

no one is harmed by the activity, typically because the activity is consensual

public-order crimes

Activities deemed illegal because they are viewed as immoral or harmful, even though the parties who engage in them do so by choice.

protect society from behaviours that society considers immoral and/or harmful

Primary Purpose of Law

consensus perspective

A criminological perspective that sees laws as representing the interests of society. Function to express and uphold a popular notion of public morality.

One of two general theoretical orientations that are not mutually exclusive

conflict perspective

A criminological approach that sees laws as representing the interests of specific groups in society.

One of two general theoretical orientations that are not mutually exclusive

criminalistics

the science of crime detection and investigation, including such areas of specialization as weapons and DNA analysis. Alphonse bertillon was the first to apply this technique to law and criminology

Alphonse Bertillon

Father of criminal identification

Hans Gross

observed that police were good at maintaining order, but bad at solving crimes as they would rely on evidences from informers engaged in criminal activity

forensic science

The application of scientific knowledge to questions of civil and criminal law.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

A scientific approach that seeks to change environmental conditions to make them more crime resistant

Tadeusz Grygier

champion of the social protection code

established university undergraduate program in criminology

academic interests in social justice, fair sentencing, and correctional practices

Denis Szabo

Father of Canadian Criminology

established Canada’s first criminology program and research centre for comparative criminology

believes criminology is inseparable from criminal policy: one cannot be studies without the proper consideration of the other

Patricia Brantingham and Paul Brantingham

leading Environmental Criminologists in Canada