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Criminal Justice Policy
Exploring
Crime
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Government Intervention
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In a market-oriented society, the question
becomes: Is the market performing
satisfactorily in this area, and if not, why
not?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Defining Intervention or Policy
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Clarke E. Cochran, et al.: "The term public policy always
refers to the actions of government and the intentions
that determine those actions."
Clarke E. Cochran, et al.: "Public policy is the outcome of
the struggle in government over who gets what."
Thomas Dye: Public policy is "Whatever governments
choose to do or not do."
Charles L. Cochran and Eloise F. Malone: "Public policy
consists of political decisions for implementing programs
to achieve societal goals."
B. Guy Peters: "Stated most simply, public policy is the
sum of government activities, whether acting directly or
through agents, as it has an influence on the life of
citizens."
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Criminal Justice Policy
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Most policy-making in criminal justice is
“based on criminological theory, whether
the people making those policies know it
or not. In fact, most of the failed policies
(what doesn't work) in criminal justice are
due to misinterpretation, partial
implementation, or ignorance of
criminological theory.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Simply Put
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Understanding criminal justice policy,
requires and exploration of crime and
theories of crime.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Every criminological theory
contains
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Assumptions
Description of the phenomena to be explained
Explanation, or prediction, of that phenomenon
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Assumptions
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about human nature
social structure,
and the principles of causation, to name a
few)
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Description of the phenomena to
be explained
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“The description is a statistical profile,
figure, diagram, or table of numbers
representing the patterns, trends, and
correlates of the type of crime taken as an
exemplar (most appropriate example) of
all crime.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Explanation or Prediction
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“The explanation is a set of variables
(things that can be tweaked or changed)
arranged in some kind of causal order so
that they have statistical and meaningful
significance.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Classical theory
“A product of the Enlightenment, based on the
assumption that people exercise free will and are thus
completely responsible for their actions. In classical
theory, human behavior, including criminal behavior,
is motivated by a hedonistic rationality, in which
actors weigh the potential pleasure of an action
against the possible pain associated with it.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Classical Theory
“In 1764, criminologist Cesare Beccaria wrote
An Essay on Crimes and Punishments, which
set forth classical criminological theory.
He argued that the only justified rationale for
laws and punishments was the principle of
utility.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Utility
The principle that a policy should provide “the
greatest happiness shared by the greatest number.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Classical Theory
“Beccaria believed the basis of society, as
well as the origin of punishments and the right
to punish, is the social contract.”
“The only legitimate purpose of punishment is
special deterrence and general deterrence.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Neoclassical Theory
What might prevent free will?
What about premeditation?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Neoclassical Theory
Classical and neoclassical theory are the
foundation of the criminal justice system in
the United States.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Legalistic or Normative
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“Almost all criminologists today use a legalistic
rather than normative definition of crime. A
legalistic definition of crime takes as its starting
point the statutory definitions.”
“A normative definition sees crime as a violation
of norms (social standards of how humans ought
to think and behave)”
“However, there are times when criminology can
shed light on norms and norm violators.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Positivist Approaches to Explaining
Crime
“The theory of the positivist school of
criminology grew out of positive philosophy
and the logic and methodology of
experimental science.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
The Positivist School of Thought
Key Points:
 “Human behavior is determined and not a matter of free
will.
 Criminals are fundamentally different from noncriminals.
 Social scientists can be objective in their work.
 Crime is frequently caused by multiple factors.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Positivist Approaches
At present, criminologist tend to believe crime
is a result of a “complex interactions” of
different variables.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
As an example
“Biology or genetics gives an individual a
predisposition to behave in a certain way.”
External conditions (social, etc.) cause a
person to act in or against that predisposition
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Criminological Theory
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13 theories
Three are considered “mainstream”
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Stain
Learning
Control
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Biological Theories
“Biological theories of crime causation
(biological positivism) are based on the belief
that criminals are physiologically different
from noncriminals. The cause of crime is
biological inferiority.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Psychological Theories
Among the primary are:
Intelligence and crime
Psychoanalytic theories
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Intelligence and Crime
Prior to 1931, “The idea that crime is the
product primarily of people of low
intelligence has been popular occasionally in
the United States.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Psychoanalytic Theories
“Psychoanalytic theories of crime causation
are associated with the work of Sigmund
Freud who believed that people who had
unresolved deep-seated problems were
psychopaths.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Sociological Theories
“Most sociological theories of crime causation
assume that a criminal’s behavior is determined by
his or her social environment and reject the notion of
the born criminal.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Chicago School
“In the 1920s, a group of sociologists known
as the Chicago School attempted to uncover
the relationship between a neighborhood’s
crime rate and the characteristics of the
neighborhood.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Chicago School
High delinquency correlated to high
disorganization
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Anomie or Strain Theory
“Robert Merton in 1938 wrote about a major
contradiction in the U.S. between cultural
goals and social structure. He called the
contradiction anomie.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Strain
“ the contradiction between the
cultural goal of achieving wealth and
the social structure’s inability to
provide legitimate institutional means
for achieving the goal.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Anomie or Strain Theory
“Merton argued that the limited availability of
legitimate institutionalized means to wealth
puts a strain on people. People adapt through:
 Conformity—playing the game.
 Innovation—pursuing wealth by illegitimate
means.”
continued…
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Theories
“Edwin H. Sutherland—in his theory of
differential association—was the first 20thcentury criminologist to argue that criminal
behavior was learned.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Theories
“Among the policy implications of learning theory is
to punish criminal behavior effectively, according to
learning theory principles. This is not done
effectively in the U.S.”
 Probation does not function as an aversive
stimulus.
 Most offenders are not incarcerated.
continued…
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Theories
 Punishment is not consistent and immediate.
 Offenders are generally returned to the
environments in which their crimes were
committed.
 There is no positive reinforcement of alternative,
prosocial behaviors.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Social Control Theories
Why don’t people commit crime?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Social Control Theories
“The most detailed elaboration of modern
social control theory is attributed to Travis
Hirschi who wrote the 1969 book, Causes of
Delinquency.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Social Control Theories
“Hirschi argued that delinquency should be
expected if a juvenile is not properly
socialized by establishing a strong bond to
society, consisting of:”
 Attachment to others
 Commitment to conventional lines of action
 Involvement in conventional activities
 Belief in the moral order and law
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Labeling Theory
“once a person commits a first criminal act
and gets processed in the system, they are
labeled negatively as a criminal.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Conflict Theory
“Conflict theory focuses on the conflict in
society between rich and poor, management
and labor, whites and minorities.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Radical Theory
“capitalism requires people to compete
against each other in the pursuit of material
wealth.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Legal positivism
laws are rules made by human beings; and
 That there is no inherent or necessary
connection between law and morality
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Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Relativism
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“The view that the meaning and value of
human beliefs and behaviors have no
absolute reference. Relativists claim that
humans understand and evaluate beliefs
and behaviors only in terms of, for
example, their historical and cultural
context. Philosophers identify many
different kinds of relativism depending
upon which classes of beliefs allegedly
depend upon what.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Hermeneutics
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is a particular approach used in the study
and interpretation of texts. It seeks to
understand what an author of a particular
text is attempting to convey to
others. The term refers to the act of
interpreting
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Is there interpretation in…
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Assumptions
Description of the phenomena to be
explained
Explanation, or prediction, of that
phenomenon. . .
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
References
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Bohm, R. & Haley, K. Introduction to Criminal Justice,
McGraw-Hill (2003)
NewBurn, T., Crime and Criminal Justice Policy, Longman
(2003)
Siegel, L. Criminology Wadsworth (1998)
O'Connor, T. In Crime Theories, MegaLinks in Criminal
Justice. Retrieved from
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/111/111lect03.htm
Frey, R. Contemporary Issues in Anthropological Theory,
retrieved from
http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/410hermeneuti
cs.htm
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Criminal Justice Policy
Exploring Crime
Discover Forensic Science at
www.forensicprofiles.com
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster