Lecture notes
Criminology Class Notes W1-4
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The document includes Notes for Literature and Lectures from W1-4 (4 Literature only partly) for the Minor Criminology at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
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Criminology - Summary (Minor, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Year 2022/2023)Term Definition Implications / Example / …
WEEK 1 Lecture 1, Ch. 1 & 11
Criminology Crimen [Latin] = act of breaking a law, or the judical process, and/or ● Multi-disciplinary social science (Disciplinary hybridity)
process of criminalisation ○ Sociology, psychology, legal studies, public
-Logy = systematic (scientific, methodological) study of.. management, economics,
● Term goes back to 1850s ○ Also uses insight from exact sciences
● Criminology originated in England, Italy, France, US ● Purpose: Defining, Understanding & Controlling Crime
● Sociological & critical approach (Society’s influence, power
“Criminology has many meanings but at its widest and most commonly dimensions, global vs local)
accepted it is taken to be the study of crime, criminals and criminal
justice.” (Carrabine et al., 2009)
Sociology ● systematic study of human society
● society = a collection of people doing things together
Sociological ● focus on human society, not so much the individual
perspective ● Social divisions: class, race/ethnicity, gender, age
Sociological ● questioning common sense
imagination ● personal problems → public & political issues
● looking at role of society in individuals problems
(C. Wright Mills, ● connect history, biography & society
1959) ● includes..
○ tracing interconnection between individual’s
behavioral patterns & the larger social forces
○ learning to identify the system generated behaviors
○ identifying social forces shaping the behavior
Criminological ● crime as a sociological concept The criminological imagination involves appreciating that crime is a
imagination ● crime as a social construct truly social concept. It does not exist autonomously but is regarded
● biography - history - society as a social construct which varies across time, place and people.
● crime control & punishment shaped by history & society What is a criminal act and how these acts are controlled/punished is
● Critical criminology: power dimensions & inequalities also socially constructed.
● Cultural: meaning may vary
,Crime - different 1. Legalistic/Traditional Moving away frim state-defined acts
definitions over time - violation of criminal law → crime 4. Human rights
- Paul Tappan: only when prosecuted & found guilty - Herman & Julia Schwendinger
- State defines what crime is - violation of human rights of individuals → crime
- including imperialistic war, racism, sexism, poverty
- highlights dangers of state: any state can make laws to suit
purposes of ruling political parties (e.g. Nazi Germany)
- Criminologists as guardians of human right
2. Criminal & Civil 5. State-organized crime
- Edwin Sutherland - what about white-collar crime? - Chambliss
- social injury + possible legal sanctions - criminal AND civil - Violation of state’s own laws
3. Crime as social construct 6. Different types
- Howard S. Becker - David Friedrichs
- Crime is an act that is labelled as crime - criminologists must distinguish between…
- “Deviance” (violation of social norms) - governmental or political actions prohibited by
- social context matters state’s law
- actions defined as criminal by international law
- actions regarded as criminal on other criteria of
harmfulness, not necessarily recognized by state
or international law
Crime - ● critical criminology
Social harms ● harm instead of law
● challenges power
perspective ● includes mass harms (e.g. caused by states)
● allocates responsibility
● focuses policy responses on reducing harm
Broadening - over time, the perspective on crime has broadened
perspective on crime ‘Crime’ as contested concept to use as basis for a scientific discipline
1. Legalistic approach: formal legal definition; defined by the state; proscribed by criminal law, state sanction
2. Legalistic but beyond criminal law: also civil and administrative penalties (e.g. corporate crime)
3. Social constructionist approach: labelling : crime exists only when a particular act is labelled as crime by the state and/or by
society; should not necessarily attract penalty (e.g. drug use)
4. Social constructionist: social harm conception: some type of harm (e.g. economical, environmental, social); harm should attract
some sort of penalty (e.g. green crimes)
5. Universalist approach: crime is what violates human rights – also by states
,Examples; Criminality Drug Legalisation Killings without criminal responsibility;
depends on context ● Cannabis policies, regulations & stricter policies in NL - overdose opiod deaths bc of wrong advertisment by
● Financial profit through legalisation due to taxes & fees on Johnson & Johnson
recreational & medical marijuana use Illegal, but no law enforcement:
○ money goes in schools, prevention & treatment, - lynching of African Americans in 1890s in US
regulating merijuana industry - Journalist Ida B. Wells exposed it
Defining Crme ● perception of society moralistic vs. consequentialist logic: wrong & harm represent different rationales
Take-aways ● legality & illegality of behaviour varies widely according to (national, cultural, historical) context
○ still often reflects interest of those with most political-economic power & influence
● cultural & historical variation, but similar implicit assumption: power of determining what is crime resides in the nation state
●
CHAPTER 11
Property crime ● most commonly reported crime
● stealing, dishonestly obtaining, or damaging another’s (tangible or intangible) property
6 Types of crime 1. Offences against the person
(1830s UK) 2. Offences against property (with violence)
3. Offences against property (without violence)
4. Malicious offences against property
5. Offences against the currency
6. Miscellaneous offences
Theories on what VIVA model CRAVED model
gets stolen ● Cohen & Felson ● Concealable Removable Available Enjoyable Disposable
● Value Intertia Visibility Access ● Thiefs target what is easy to steal, not what they crave
○ of a product determine its likelihood to become
stolen
○
Theories on crime in Relative Deprivation Thesis
industrialized ● founded on the idea that anyone can feel deprived of something irrespective of the person's place in the social hierarchy
● a feeling of economic deprivation in comparison with one’s peers
countries Changes in police practices & priorities
● e.g. high profile planned operations will lead to increase in arrests on official crime data
Variations in types of goods stolen
● developing countries: goof, money, simple objects
● affluent countries: phones, art, ..
, 3 Types of Burglars 1. Low-level burglar
(Maguire, 1982) a. juveniles and young adults. Lacking a commitment to crime, opportunistic
2. Middle-level burglars
a. begin their criminal careers at a young age and move in and out of crime. Older, more skillful and experienced. Wider areas.
3. High-level burglars:
a. well connected with sources of information about goods to steal. Plan their crimes and possess skills and technical expertise.
Neutralization ● many committing crime are ordinary people (e.g. insurance claim fraud)
● Skyes & Matza: concept of neutralization
● way of justifying the crime
● e.g. shoplifting: “it does not really hurt anyone”
Victimization ..becoming a victim to crime ● property crime victimization is unevenly distributed
○ more likely: hispanics, young people, poorer
households with fewer home security
Reapeated when the same location, person, household, object, business suffers more than 1 crime over a specified time period
victimization
Controlling property ● quantity of offences is treated as more important than the quality of offences
crime ● Legislation is slow in keeping pace with opportunities for large-scale theft & fraud
● inconsistency of criminal justice system: “crime of the powerless” vs. “crime of the powerful”
○ responses against low-level property crime offenders impact those who are already economically & socially marginalized
■ e.g. rise in women’s prosecutions correlates with rise in female poverty
● social control as critical element in crime rate trends
3 other forms of 1. Theft and illegal export of cultural property
property crime 2. Theft of intellectual property
3. Biopiracy
Article: Hulsmann (1986): Critical Criminology & the concept of crime
Problematizing - the public regards..
normal outlook on - criminal law & the justice system as devised by society & under its control
- crime = exceptional events
crime - number of convicted people slowly decreasing (not true, it’s a rapid cyclic movement)
- problems
- lack of cohesion within criminal justice system
- ones events have been defined as criminal → lack of any event of those who have experienced the actual event
- criminal events are not intrinsically different from other difficult or unpleasant situations
- general problem: no ontological reality of crime
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