Week 1
Introduction to Criminology and Social Construction of Crime
- What does crime entail? What is the object of study of criminology? -
Criminology is a multidisciplinary social science that draws insights from various disciplines such as law, eco-
nomics, sociology, psychology, and others.
Mainstream criminology studies only individual acts that violate criminal law, but alternates include corpo-
rate/state acts, violations of regulatory laws, and/or blameworthy harmful behavior regardless of illegality –
unto humans or otherwise (environment/animals). Global south approach critiques Euro-made criminological
theory: Global South criminology: This perspective is associated with collectivism and anti-liberalism, offering
a different viewpoint from mainstream Western criminology:
• Global South criminology argues that Euro-made theories often fail to account for the unique cultural, social,
and economic contexts of non-Western societies.
• Emphasizes the need to consider the lasting impacts of colonialism on legal systems, social structures, and
crime patterns in Global South countries. Euro-made theories often overlook these historical influences.
• Global South criminology highlights the power imbalances in knowledge production, where Western theories
are often assumed to be universally applicable. This approach calls for more diverse voices and perspectives
in criminological research.
• Emphasizes the importance of incorporating local knowledge and indigenous perspectives in understanding
crime and justice, rather than relying solely on imported Western concepts.
• It aims to develop alternative frameworks that better reflect the realities of crime and justice in these regions.
Criminology differs from the study of law in that it is an objective, not normative, scientific discipline. It focuses
on developing theories and conducting empirical research rather than interpreting legal rules.
Definition
Why certain behaviors are defined as criminal? This question relates to concepts
1. like the harm principle, moralism, and paternalism.
• Explores the social construction of crime and deviance
• Considers how laws and societal norms shape the definition of criminal behavior
Scope
The size of crime problems and how crimes are committed? (the methodologies
2. used to quantify them)
• Develops and applies methodologies to measure crime rates and patterns
• Examines criminal "business processes" and how crimes are committed
The discipline addresses Explanation
five main questions Theoretical perspectives on why and where crimes occur, including factors that
contribute to criminal behavior (personal, social, and institutional factors)?
3.
• Personal level: biological and psychological factors
• Social environment: family and neighborhood influences
• Societal level: economic, political, historical, and cultural explanations
Consequences
4. Impact of crime on perpetrators, victims, societies, and ecosystems (e.g., environ-
mental crimes)? This topic is connected to concepts like moralism and paternalism.
Evaluation
5. How to tackle or prevent crime and the effects of punishment? (assessing methods
and strategies developed to tackle and prevent crime)
, Cultural criminology focuses on interpreting and explaining criminal behavior
and societal responses without attributing crime and deviance to specific social
Cultural Criminology structural forces. It emphasizes the role of culture in shaping criminal behavior
and societal reactions. Criticized for not evaluating societal factors that may
cause criminal behavior
Mainstream Criminology focuses on studying the nature and causes of human
behavior that violates criminal law, as well as societal and governmental re-
sponses to such behavior. (Van Dijk) This approach has been criticized for being
Mainstream narrow and surface-level, as it may overlook harmful behaviors that are not
Criminology legally defined as criminal.
Does not consider underlying problems or contributing factors
Mainstream criminology focuses on violations of criminal law, but misses harm-
ful and blameworthy behavior that is not criminalized.
Critical criminology examines biases within the criminal justice system and so-
cietal responses to crime, particularly regarding social classes and ethnic
groups. This approach challenges power structures and seeks to understand
Critical Criminology
how the criminal justice system may perpetuate inequalities.
Examines how the criminal justice system constructs the idea of crime
Analyzes how justice is served differently for various groups
The Industrial Revolution played a significant role in the development of crimi-
nology. Rapid urbanization and the growth of cities led to:
• Increased poverty among the working class
Origins of Criminology
• Overcrowded living conditions
• A shift in criminal behavior patterns
• The emergence of new forms of crime associated with urban environments
This theory argues that the economic system's focus on continuous growth
leads to environmental degradation and unsustainable resource use. It empha-
Treadmill of Production
sizes how capitalist economies prioritize production and profit over environ-
mental concerns.
The basic proposition is that societal reactions to individuals, especially labeling
Labeling Theory them as "criminals" or "deviants," can contribute to continued criminal behav-
ior.
Expansion of the concept of criminology
It encompasses acts or omissions by the state that violate human rights or in-
State crime ternational law. This can include actions like genocide, war crimes, or systemat-
ic police brutality.
White-collar Crime, a concept introduced by Edwin Sutherland, refers to crimes
committed by individuals of high social status and respectability in the course of
their occupation. This theory emphasizes that crimes committed by the upper
class are often overlooked or treated less severely than those committed by
White Collar Crime lower classes. Usually non-violent, involving fraud and abuse of trust
Theory
Three types:
a) State-corporate (e.g., corruption) introduced by Michalowski and
Kramer, examines the relationship between corporations and states in
criminal activities. It can be:
, • State-initiated: the state actively engages in or encourages illegal
corporate behavior by adopting policies to achieve political gov-
ernance goals. (to boost economic growth) (Key words: actively
promotes or engages)
• State-facilitated: the policies and practices pursued by economic
institutions (corporations) to achieve their goals of production
and distribution, which the state fails to prevent through regula-
tory negligence. (Key words: allows through inaction)
b) Occupational (e.g., insider trading by politicians)
c) Corporate (e.g., environmental pollution by companies)
This type of crime is often overlooked by mainstream criminology.
Green criminology (incorporating knowledge from various fields such as ecology, envi-
ronmental science, and public health) examines environmental crimes and harms
that affect human and non-human life, ecosystems, and the biosphere (and con-
siders these as potential victims of crime). (Brisman and South)
Green criminology broadens the scope of criminology to include not just human
actors (perpetrators and victims) but also non-human entities such as animals,
Green Criminology ecosystems, and the biosphere.
Three main categories of harmful behavior:
a) Environmental crimes (illegal activities)
b) Violations of environmental regulations
c) Lawful but awful behavior (actions that are legally permitted but cause
significant environmental harm)
This approach focuses on crime in rural areas, which differs from urban crime
patterns:
• Less crime overall due to lower population density
• Significantly less property crime (e.g., burglary, pickpocketing) compared to
Rural criminology urban areas
• More violent or emotional crime, often attributed to factors like isolation and
limited law enforcement resources
• Unique rural crimes such as illegal logging, illegal mining, poaching, and crop
theft
How is criminality defined?
This theory critiques traditional criminological theories for failing to address the
subjective experiences and immediate rewards of committing a crime. It sug-
Seduction of Crime
gests that personal factors and the allure of criminal acts are important in un-
Theory
derstanding criminal behavior. Emphasizes the importance of personal factors
in understanding criminal behavior.
Crime has no inherent existence outside of social context. What constitutes
Defining crime without criminal behavior varies across cultures and time periods. There is no universal,
ontological reality objective definition of deviant behavior. Societies construct norms that define
acceptable and unacceptable conduct.
Social norms are continuously created and redefined at various levels of socie-
ty, from small groups to entire cultures.
Norms and criminality
• Norms are constructed at micro and macro levels of societies
• Criminality is defined at the legislative level
, Harmful and While criminality is defined by penal codes, many harmful or blameworthy acts
blameworthy acts may not be criminalized.
Universally rejected Only a few behaviors, such as indiscriminate lying, stealing, and violence, are
behaviors universally rejected across cultures.
Harm Principle
Power should only be exercised to prevent harm to others.
(John Stuart Mill)
Paternalism Limiting liberties to prevent self-harm
Moralism Limiting liberties when society rejects behavior
Offense Principle Limiting liberties if behavior visibly offends others
As societies grow, direct personal interactions become insufficient for norm-
setting. Laws emerge as formalized codifications of social norms.
Social network theory and symbolic interactionism provide frameworks for
understanding how definitions of crime emerge and spread through social in-
Social construction
teractions.
Social norms regulate human behavior and are constantly redefined
Larger communities codify norms into law, which can lead to a lag between
societal acceptance and legal status
Problems with Laws may become outdated compared to evolving societal norms
codification E.g., Homosexuality remaining illegal even after societal acceptance
Week 2
Responses to crime I
- Criminology of punishment -
Cesare Beccaria, an Italian philosopher, introduced two revolutionary ideas in the 18th
century:
• Punishments should be proportionate to the offense committed. (Proportionality)
(Advocated for punishments to be "duly proportioned to the offence")
• The purpose of punishment is to prevent future crimes by deterring both the offender
Philosophical Views and others. (Primitive Deterrence)
on punishment Beccaria argued that if a minor sentence could achieve these goals, it would be suffi-
cient, marking a shift from purely retributive approaches to more utilitarian ones.
• Advocated for punishment to be swift, certain, proportional, and aimed at deterrence
rather than retribution
• Opposed torture and capital punishment as unjust and ineffective
• His ideas were revolutionary for his era
