Download Criminology

Criminology
Are criminals made or born?
Introduction to Criminal Law
Crime Takes Place
Justice?
•Legal Criminal Defenses,
•Sentencing,
•Wrongful Convictions
Crime Scene
investigated
The Criminal Trial:
Police Responsibilities:
•Principles and Processes,
•Courtroom Participants
•Search and Seizure,
•Arrest,
•Detention,
•Charge
Pretrial:
•Bail,
•Plea Bargaining,
•Jury Selection
Criminology
• What makes a criminal a criminal? Is it as simple
as it seems?
• You may not be familiar with the theories of
criminology but you might be familiar with TV
shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and
Law & Order
• These shows show how technology has changed
crime detection and how convicting criminals is
neither an easy or simple task
Criminology on TV
• What do you think?
– Are these portrayals on TV accurate?
– Do you believe the science is accurate and how
the programs portray criminals, victims, police
officers, lawyers and defence attorneys?
– What is our perception of criminals? What do they
look like? Are they strangers among us or do they
eat at our table?
The Classical Scholars
 Modern criminology is the
product of two main schools
of thought: The classical
school originating in the 18th
century, and the positivist
school originating in the 19th
century.
Pre-Classical Notions of Crime & Criminals
Prior to the eighteenth century,
explanations of a wide variety of
phenomena tended to be of a religious or
spiritual nature.
Demonological explanations of crime
began to wane in the 18th century with
the beginning of a period of historians call
The Enlightenment, which was essentially a
major shift in the way people began to
view the world and their place.
Pre-Classical Notions of Crime & Criminals
 Enlightenment thinkers focused on the dignity
and worth of the individual.
 A view that would eventually find expression in
the law & the treatment of criminal offenders.
The Classical School:
Cesare Beccaria and Reform
 The father of classical criminology is generally
considered to be Cesare Beccaria.
 Dei Delitti e della Pene (On Crimes and Punishment)
(1764): This book is an impassioned plea to
humanize and rationalize the law and to make
punishment more just and reasonable.
Classical Criminology Theories
Theories
Theorists/Time Periods
Classical Criminology Cesare Beccaria
(1738-1794)
Key Ideas
On Crimes and
Punishments
-humans are driven
by self interest
- We usually weigh
the consequences
and act rationally
Jeremy Bentham and Human Nature
 Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) is
a philosophy of social control based on the
principle of utility, which prescribed “the
greatest happiness for the greatest number.”
 Any human action at all should be judged
moral or immoral by its effect on the
happiness of the community.
 Hedonism: A doctrine with the central tenet
that the achievement of pleasure or
happiness is the main goal of life.
Jeremy Bentham and Human Nature
 Rational behavior is behavior that is
consistent with logic.
 Hedonism and rationality are
combined in concept of the
hedonistic calculus, a method by
which individuals are assumed to
logically weigh the anticipated
benefits of a given course of action
against its possible costs.
Jeremy Bentham and Human Nature
 Free will enables human beings to
purposely and deliberately choose
to follow a calculated course of
action.
 If crime is to be deterred,
punishment (pain) must exceed the
pleasures gained from the fruits of
crime.
Theories
Theorists/Time
Periods
Classical Criminology Jeremy Bentham
(1748 – 1832)
Key Ideas
Utilitarianism
- Law should ensure
the greatest good for
the greatest number
of people. Laws are
based on a social
contract between the
people and the
government
The Legacy of the Classical School
 All modern criminal justice systems
in the world assume the classical
position that persons are free agents
who deserve to be punished when
they transgress the law.
The Legacy of the Classical School
 Many of the ideas championed by Beccaria are
contained in the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms and other documents at the heart of
Western legal systems today. :
 the right to a speedy trial,
 freedom from cruel and unusual punishment,
 the right to confront one’s accusers, and
 equality under law,
What is Positivism?
 In the 19th century criminologists began to move
away from the classical assumptions, especially
the assumption of free will as it is commonly
understood, and toward a more scientific view of
human behavior.
 The increasingly popular view among
criminologists of this period was that crime
resulted from internal and/or external forces
impinging on individuals, biasing, or even
completely determining, their behavior choices.
What is Positivism
This position became known as
determinism, and its adherents were known as
positivists.
 Positivistic criminologists were more concerned
with discovering the biological, psychological, or
social determinants of criminal behavior than
with the classical concerns of legal and penal
reforms.
Positivism
Cesare Lombroso
(1835 – 1909)
Criminals are Born
not Made
Focused on biological
and psychological
factors to explain
1960s
criminal behaviour
- Serious offenders
had inherited criminal
traits – such as
physical features – a
large jaw
XYY Theory
-A chromosomal
abnormality might
explain criminal
bahviout
Pictures of
murderers
that
Lambarso
believed
carried facial
features
tied to
criminal
activity.
Murderer
Sean Penn
See any similarities!?
Does this mean Sean Penn is a Criminal?
Those in group "A" are all shoplifters, "B" are swindlers, "H" are purse snatchers, "E" are
murderers, etc
The Legacy of Positivism
 The legacy of the positivist school was the
shift from the armchair philosophizing about
human behavior to utilizing the concepts and
methods of science.
 Positivism did not disprove or destroy
classical principles; it simply shifted emphasis
from crime and penology to the individual
offender.
Sociological Theories
• Sociologists emphasize that human beings
live in social groups and that those groups
and the social structure they create
influence behavior.
• assume that a criminal’s behavior is
determined by his or her social
environment
• reject the notion of the born criminal.
Sociological Perspectives
Criminals are Made not
Born
Emile Durkheim (18581917)
Bystander Effect I
Bystander Effect II
1930s Chicago School
Theory of Anomie
- As society moved (from
rural to urban
communities, individuals
gained anonymity living in
a big city and were no
longer restricted by small
towns
Ecological School
- Communities that suffer
from high rates of poverty
have more criminal
activity
Sociological Perspectives
Criminals are Made not
Born
Karl Marx and Fredrick
Engels
Social Conflict Theory
- We live in a capitalist
society ( high competition
for wealth) crime is
inevitable. Political power
is controlled by the
wealthy, more likely to
punish economically
disadvantaged
Consensus Theory
- We all agree on what's
right or wrong regardless
of social class. Criminals
don’t accept the views of
the majority.
Contemporary Sociological
Theories
We now believe more in the
idea of rational choice and
deterrence theories. This
means that criminals will
carefully calculate the costs
and benefits of engaging in
criminal activity.
1970s- present
Strain Theory:
- People commit crimes when
they believe they cannot
achieve their desires and
goals through legitimate
means
Socialization Theory:
- We are influenced by peers,
our upbringing, and role
models
Social Conflict Theory:
- Root cause of crime is the
unfair economic structure
Contemporary Biological
Theories
1970s – present
Biological Trait Theory:
- Human traits such as
intelligence, personality,
chemical and genetic makeup
predispose people to criminal
behaviour
Neurophysiological Theories:
- Focus on the study of brain
activity and argues certain
neurological dysfunctions are
connected to criminal activity
The Twinkie Defence
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9trkizKP
08
The Warrior Gene
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mbe3SS
Ij-4
3 Ingredients for Murder
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx8RxRn
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