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soc 225 lecture week 1

Terms

undefined, object
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what is criminology
-the objective of criminology is the devpt of a body of general and verified principles and of other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime, and treatment
criminology contains:
(5)
a. the scientific study of human behavior
b. crime causation (what causes crime)
c. prevention (ex. laws)
d. punishment & rehabilitation of offenders
e. historical perspectives & research
laws
-are dynamic, always changing
latin word for crime
-crimen, meaning accusation
what is a crime?
-an act that is in contradiction with the criminal code
crime
(legal definition)
NB
-what the law proclaims it to be & an act punishable by law
2 parts of a crime
a. actus reus (the act)
b. mens rea (the guilty mind)
which groups are considered incapable of committing deviance
a. mentally ill
b. childen (under 12)
c. under the influence
doli in capax
-incapable of crime
what is deviance
-conduct that violates norms of society
deviance and crime
-are not static
defining deviance
-difficult b/c not everyone agrees on what is deviant by culture, religion, and ethnicity
5 main research methods employed by criminologists
a. official statistics
b. survey methods
c. ethnography or participant observation
d. in-depth interviewing
e. historical research
the ABC definition of deviance
a is for attitudes
b is for behaviours
c is for conditions
a is for attitudes
-alternative attitudes or belief systems may brand ppl deviant
ex. a. supernatural (satanistics)
b. extreme political attitudes (terrorists)
b is for behaviors
-ppl are considered deviant for their actions- what they do
behavior deviance
-ppl MUST achieve this label and is difficult to reverse
ex. pervert, ex-con
c is for conditions
-something acquired from birth, biology, psychology, or family environment
-nothing you can do to get rid of it, it is ascribed to someone
positive and negative deviance
-deviance is anything that deviates substantially from the norm
media discourse
-images transferred through mass media in two forms:
a. news and info
b. entertainment: blurring of the two
media and statistics
-crime is one of the most popular news categories, but little relation to actual statistics of crime
urban legends
-plays on our fears, mostly how crime talk is committed
what is a fallacy?
-an erroneous belief
-2 kinds:
a. dramatic fallacy
b. ingenuity fallacy
dramatic fallacy
-pop understanding of crime is high drama, but most crime is not dramatic, nor well planned
ingenuity fallacy
-offenders posess remarkable powers
ed. high intelligence
C for conditions (continued)
-ppl can become deviant through a societal labeling process
ex. SES, race
conditional deviant status
-achieved through actions
ex. get a tatoo
social harmfulness argument
-ppl assume deviance is harmful behaviors and should be controlled or prevented
2 versions of the social harmfulness argument
a. the physical argument
b. the social reality argument
the physical argument
-deviance causes physical damage to the deviant, to other people, or objects
social reality argument
-it is harmful b/c it is "world destroying"
-shakes the idea that life is orderly, understandable, and meaningful
4 problems with the social harmfulness argument
a. not all deviance is harmful in the same way
b. some conduct labeled deviant is less harmful than other
c. some deviance that's harmful is celebrated and the perpetrator is held in high regard
d. can't deal with positive outcomes of deviance, and there are benefits "the silver lining"
weaknesses in police statistics
-different police use different procedures
-not all recorded consistenty
-not all arrested are guilty
-dark figure of crime
dark figure of crime
-majority of crimes not reported
limitations of victimizations surveys
-ppl can lie
-cost
-difficult to measure
-ppl don't know what a crime is

Deck Info

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