Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827;
Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Enhanced Instructor Manual
Siegel/McCormick, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Table of Contents
Summary .......................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter Overview .............................................................................................................. 3
Special Features................................................................................................................. 4
Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................ 4
What are common student misconceptions and stumbling blocks and how can I help students to
overcome these?................................................................................................................ 4
How can I generate discussion in my course and assess my students? ................................... 5
Applying Criminology .......................................................................................................... 6
How can I engage my students? ......................................................................................... 6
What can I do in the way of assignments and projects? ........................................................ 7
What can I do online? ........................................................................................................ 7
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website, in whole or in part.
, Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827;
Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Summary
Criminology is the academic multidisciplinary science devoted to the study of crime patterns and
trends, as well as the development of valid and reliable information regarding the causes of
those patterns and trends. It deals with the processes of making laws, breaking laws, and
society’s reaction to the breaking of laws. The study of criminal justice refers to a field of study
that aims to describe and analyze the work of the police, courts, and correctional facilities, and
how to better design effective methods of crime control. Although the two fields are different,
they do overlap. Criminologists must know how criminal justice agencies operate, and criminal
justice experts must understand the nature of crime and often use criminological research and
theory.
There are many branches of criminology theory. Classical criminology developed in the 19th
century with Beccaria arguing that people have free will and that crime can be controlled by
punishment if it is severe, certain, and swift. On the other hand, Comte developed the positivist
ideology, believing that an individual’s behaviour was a product of social, biological,
psychological, and economic forces, and argued that not everything related to our behaviour is
under our direct control. In disagreement, other positivists, such as Lombroso, claimed a more
biological origin to crime, stating that serious offenders had inherited criminal traits. Around the
same time, more sociological approaches were developed: Quetelet used statistics in
criminological research to identify crime-related factors; and Durkheim pioneered sociological
research on crime focused on the mismatch between an individual’s norms and societal norms
(anomie). In the beginning of the 20th century, the Chicago School conducted research in social
ecology and found that some neighbourhoods are natural areas for crime because of poverty
and broken social institutions. The socialization view followed, proposing that people learn
criminal attitudes or develop an inadequate self-image. Then the 1960s and 1970s brought
conflict criminology that applied Marxist principles to the study of crime, stating that the power
of those leading society is integral to our understanding of what constitutes crime.
In contemporary criminology, classical theory has evolved into rational choice and
deterrence theories; positivism now considers how biological and psychological traits interact
with the environment to influence criminality; sociological theories examine social structure,
learning experiences, and socialization; conflict theorists examine how unfair economic
structures impact high crime rates; and criminologists integrate developmental theories with
personal, situational, and social factors.
Criminology has six major subareas in terms of the work criminologists do:
First, criminal statistics describe and measure crime.
Second, the sociology of law analyzes how society shapes the law and how the law
shapes society.
Third, theory construction focuses on crime causation.
Fourth, criminal behaviour systems focus on crime typology.
Fifth, penology deals with corrections, rehabilitation, and treatment.
Sixth, victimology focuses on the role of victims in crime.
There are three main perspectives of how criminologists view crime:
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website, in whole or in part.
, Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827;
Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
First, the consensus view holds that the criminal law reflects the values, beliefs,
and opinions of society’s mainstream and that there is a consensus in society on
what behaviours should be illegal. It views the law as fair and impartial. This view
is held primarily in North America.
Second, the conflict view holds that society is a collection of diverse groups that are
in constant and continuous conflict and that there exist power differentials between
the groups. The powerful use the law and the criminal justice system to advance or
maintain their economic and social position.
Third, the interactionist view says that people (1) act according to their own
interpretations of reality, according to the meaning things have for them; (2) learn
the meaning of a thing from the way others react to it, either positively or
negatively; and (3) re-evaluate and interpret their own behaviour according to the
meanings and symbols they have learned from others.
There are six broad categories for how criminologists conduct research:
Survey research, where the researcher solicits comments from many subjects about
how they feel about a topic at the time of sampling.
Longitudinal (cohort) research, which involves the researcher conducting
observations of a cohort of people over a period.
Aggregate data research, where a researcher uses a large database of information
gathered by a larger agency such as Statistics Canada to explore trends and
patterns.
Experimental research, in which the researcher develops a situation where they can
manipulate events and observe the behaviours of subjects in reaction to those
events.
Analyzing policy, where researchers review present or past policies for their impacts
on offenders and the public.
Observational and interview research, by which researchers acquire in-depth data
through longer interviews and observations of situations.
Chapter Overview
What Is Criminology?
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Criminology and Deviance
A Brief History of Criminology
Classical Criminology
19th-Century Positivism
Positivist Criminology
Cesare Lombroso and the Criminal Man
The Development of Sociological Criminology
The Chicago School and the McGill School
Conflict Criminology
Criminology Today
What Criminologists Do: The Criminological Enterprise
Criminal Statistics
Sociology of Law
Theory Construction
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website, in whole or in part.
, Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827;
Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Criminal Behaviour Systems
Penology
Victimology
How Do Criminologists View Crime?
The Consensus View of Crime
The Conflict View of Crime
The Interactionist View of Crime
Defining Crime
The Politics of Crime
Doing Criminology
Survey Research
Longitudinal (Cohort) Research
Aggregate Data Research
Experimental Research
Analyzing Policy
Observational and Interview Research
Ethical Issues in Criminology
Summary
Special Features
Key Court Case: R. v. Sharpe (2001)
Crime, Conflict, and Disorder: Unmarked Burials Found at Former Residential School
Focus on Research: Canadian Crime Trends, 2019
Profile of a Crime: Canada’s Deadliest Serial Killers
Applying Criminology
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter, the student should be able to:
1. Understand the scope of the field of criminology.
2. Be familiar with different parts of the ―criminological enterprise.‖
3. Know the elements of what constitutes a crime.
4. Discuss the different views of crime.
5. Explain different criminological research methods and their use.
What are common student misconceptions and stumbling
blocks and how can I help students to overcome these?
The difference between criminology and criminal justice
o Have students create a visual that differentiates the two.
o Have students in small groups create their own definitions for each and discuss
these in class.
Differences between the theories
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website, in whole or in part.