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CMY1501 Summary Notes
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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CMY1501CRIME, OFFENDERS AND CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR
UNIT 1.1
Key Concepts
Criminology: Applied discipline within human sciences.
Field of study:
Study of crime
Offenders and victims
Punishments
The prevention and control of crime
The Law: Written statute enacted by those legislative bodies that have authority to make
laws.
Consists of all forms of law.
Criminal Law: All legal rules that identify crimes and set down punishments.
Common Law: Legal rules not originally written down but have come to be accepted as law
of the land.
Criminology?
Criminology: Scientific approach to study of criminal behaviour.
Term was 1st used by Toppinard.
Walsh: Science that gathers analyses data on various aspects of criminal, delinquent and
general antisocial behaviour.
Father of American Criminology: Edwin H. Sutherland
His def includes:
Making laws against crime
Causes of crime
Work of the police, courts
Criminologist
Someone whose professional training, occupational role and earnings relate to a scientific
approach to the study and analysis of crime phenomena and criminal behaviour.
Basic point of departure:
Identify the complex causes of crime
Explain in terms of existing theories
Develop and scientifically test new theories
Functions of Criminologists:
lecturing
researching
community service
The role of the criminologist includes which of the following:
, Identifying causes of crime
Studying role of socialisation.
Requirements to qualify as independent discipline:
Own object of study.
Possible to identify a unique, clear area of study.
Own procedures or scientific methodology.
Sturdy theoretical foundation.
Knowledge applicable to society.
Taught or practised at educational institution.
Criminal Justice in SA was influenced by Roman Dutch and British law.
SA unis teaching criminology since 1949.
Statutory Law: Law passed by Parliament.
Common Law: Court verdict sets precedent for similar cases in future.
Civil Law: Resolves disputes between private individuals.
The two approaches to the study of crime:
juridical
nonjuridical
Juridical def of Crime: (legal)
Before an act / omission can be defined as crime-criminal law must regard it as such and a
suitable punishment must be in place.
The four elements of the juridical crime concept:
the act itself
the unlawfulness of the act
the element of guilt and the element of punishment
Qualify as crime:
Under control of human will\
Voluntary act
Capable of being observed
Juridically speaking modes of action
transgressing a prohibition
ignoring a prohibition
committing an act that has harmful consequences
Element of guilt
deliberate intent (dolus)
negligence (culpa)
Crime is constituted when following is present:
Define it as an act according to law.
, Wrongful act (according to the law).
Punishable by criminal laws of the land.
Actor is guilty of committing act.
Nonjuridical def of crime
Sutherland- criminologist must study all illegal behaviour which harms society.
In order for an act to be considered a non-judicial crime, there must be a violation of
behavioural norms. The following 3 factors must occur:
Social harm
Violate human rights
Social deviance
, UNIT 1.2
Key Concepts
Classical criminology: Theoretical perspective suggesting:
People have free will to choose criminal or conventional behaviours
People choose to commit crime for reasons of greed or personal need
Crime can be controlled only by the fear of criminal sanctions
Critical criminology: Perspective where crime is defined in terms of the concept of
oppression and argues that the crimes of the working class are insignificant when compared
to the crimes of the powerful that largely go unpunished.
Rational choice: The view that crime is a function of a decision-making process in which
the potential offender weighs up the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act.
Social process approach: The view that criminal behaviour is a function of people’s
interactions with various organisations, institutions and processes in society.
Social structure approach: This approach concentrates on the social structure and
organisation of a community, with the view that disadvantaged economic class position is a
primary cause of crime.
Classical school derives from Cesare Beccaria.
Classical Criminology
Classical School makes the following assumptions:
All people are self-seeking
To live in harmony people agree to give up certain freedoms in order to be protected
Punishment is necessary to deter crime and the state has the prerogative to
administer it.
Punishment should be proportionate to the crime and not be used to rehabilitate the
offender.
Use of the law should be limited and due process rights should be observed.
Each individual is responsible for his or her actions
Problems associated with the classical school of criminology:
Presents overly rational vision of human nature, arguing that people only behave in a
purely self-interested and ‘free’ fashion.
Classicism regards crime as resulting from free choice.
Classicism assumes that individuals live in societies that are organised in fair and
just ways.
Neo- Classical School
Presents criminal behaviour because of individual circumstances and rational thought and
places crime outside of the framework of society.
Neo- classicists argue that free will can be inhibited by pathology, incompetence, mental
disorder.
Crime Control Model
Based upon supposition that the fundamental goal of the criminal justice system is
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