Criminology

Criminology is the study of crime as a social phenomenon, including the causes and consequences of crime, criminal behaviour, as well as the development of, and impact of laws. Research in criminology applies the scientific method to test hypotheses and ultimately develop theories that help explain the causes and other aspects of crime. Though both deal with crime, criminology differs from criminal justice in that latter focuses on the components of the justice system including police, courts, and corrections.

Schools of thought

Over time, several schools of thought have developed and are listed in the infobox. The main thematic distinction has been between the: Classical School associated with Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, and others who have argued that:

People have free will to choose how to act.
Deterrence is based upon the utilitarian ontological notion of the human being a 'hedonist' who seeks pleasure and avoids pain, and a 'rational calculator' weighing up the costs and benefits of the consequences of each action. Thus, it ignores the possibility of irrationality and unconscious drives as motivational factors.
Punishment (of sufficient severity) can deter people from crime, as the costs (penalties) outweigh benefits.

and the Positivist School which presumes that criminal behaviour is caused by biological, psychological, or social determining factors that predispose some people towards crime. Cesare Lombroso, an Italian prison doctor working in the late 19th century and sometimes regarded as the "father" of criminology, was one of the largest contributors to biological positivism, which alleged that physiological traits such as the measurements of one's cheek bones or hairline, or a cleft palate, considered to be throwbacks to Neanderthal man, were indicative of "atavistic" criminal tendencies. This approach, influenced by the earlier theory of phrenology and by Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, has been superseded, but more modern research examines genetic characteristics and the chemistry of nutrition to determine whether there is an effect on violent behaviour (see Natural Justice). Hans Eysenck (1964, 1977), a British psychologist, claimed that psychological factors such as Extraversion and Neuroticism made a person more likely to commit criminal acts. He also includes a Psychoticism dimension that includes traits similar to the psychopathic profile, developed by Cleckley and later Hare. He also based his model on early parental socialization of the child; his approach bridges the gap between biological explanations and environmental or social learning based approaches, (see e.g. social psychologists B. F. Skinner (1938), Albert Bandura (1973), and the topic of "nature vs. nurture".) Sociological positivism (the father of which is considered to be Emile Durkheim) postulates that societal factors such as poverty, membership of subcultures, or low levels of education can predispose people to crime.

Theories of crime

There are many theories, including:

Strain theory

Based on the work of American sociologist Robert Merton, this theory suggests that mainstream culture, especially in the United States, is saturated with dreams of opportunity, freedom and prosperity; as Merton put it, the American Dream. Most people buy into this dream and it becomes a powerful cultural and psychological motivation. Merton also used the term anomie, but it meant something slightly different for him than it did for Durkheim; he saw the term as meaning a dichotomy between what society expected of its citizens, and what those citizens could actually achieve. Therefore, if the social structure of opportunities is unequal and prevents the majority from realising the dream, some of them will turn to illegitimate means (crime) in order to realise it. Others will retreat or drop out into deviant subcultures (gang members, "hobos": urban homeless drunks and drug abusers).

Symbolic interactionism

Drawing on the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and George Herbert Mead, subcultural theory and conflict theory, this school of thought focused on the relationship between the powerful state, media and conservative ruling elite on the one hand, and the less powerful groups on the other. The powerful groups had the ability to become the 'significant other' in the less powerful groups' processes of generating meaning. The former could to some extent impose their meanings on the latter, and therefore they were able to 'label' minor delinquent youngsters as criminal. These youngsters would often take on board the label, indulge in crime more readily and become actors in the 'self-fulfilling prophecy' of the powerful groups. Later developments in this set of theories were by Howard Becker and Edwin Lemert, in the mid 20th century; also by Stanley Cohen who developed the concept of "moral panic" (describing societal reaction to spectacular, alarming social phenomena such as post-World War Two youth cultures (e.g. the Mods and Rockers in the UK in 1964), AIDS and football hooliganism.

Controlling theories

Another approach is made by the so called "controlling theories". Instead of looking for factors that make people become criminal, those theories try to explain why people do NOT become criminal. T. Hirschi (1969: Causes of Delinquency) identified four main characteristics: "attachement to others", "belief in moral validity of rules", "committement to achievement" and "involvement in conventional activities". The more a person features those characteristics, the less are the chances that he or she becomes deviant (or criminal). If - on the other hand - those factors are not present in a person, it is more likely that he or she might become criminal. Hirschi followed up on his own theory with the theory of low self-control. According to that theory a person is more likely to become criminal, if he or she has low self control (a simple example: someone wants to have a big yacht, but does not have the means to buy one - if the person cannot control herself - he or she might try to get the yacht (or the means for it) in an illegal way; whereas someone with high self-control will (more likely) either wait or deny himself that need.

British and American subcultural theory

Following on from the Chicago School and Strain Theory, and also drawing on Edwin H. Sutherland's idea of differential association, subcultural theorists focused on small cultural groups fragmenting away from the mainstream to form their own values and meanings about life. Some of these groups, especially from poorer areas where opportunities were scarce, might adopt criminal values and meanings. British subcultural theorists focused more heavily on the issue of class, where some criminal activities were seen as 'imaginary solutions' to the problem of belonging to a subordinate class.

Types and definitions of crime

Both the Positivist and Classical Schools take a consensus view of crime – that a crime is an act that violates the basic values and beliefs of society. Those values and beliefs are manifested as laws that society agrees upon. However, there are two types of laws:

Natural laws are rooted in core values shared by many cultures. Natural laws protect against harm to persons (e.g. murder, rape, assault) or property (theft, larceny, robbery), and form the basis of common law systems.
Statutes are enacted by legislatures and reflect current cultural mores, albeit that some laws may be controversial, e.g. laws that prohibit marijuana use and gambling. Marxist Criminology, Conflict Criminology and Critical Criminology claim that most relationships between State and citizen are non-consensual and, as such, criminal law is not necessarily representative of public beliefs and wishes: it is exercised in the interests of the ruling or dominant class. The more right wing criminologies tend to posit that there is a consensual social contract between State and citizen.

Therefore, definitions of crimes will vary from place to place, in accordance to the cultural norms and mores, but may be broadly classified as:

Educational programs

There is now a huge number of undergraduate and postgraduate criminology degrees available around the world. The present popularity of such degrees may in part be due to criminal and police television dramas that capture people's imaginations, but could also be because of growing awareness as to the continuing importance of issues relating to law, rules, compliance, politics, terrorism, security, forensic science, the media, deviance, and punishment.

Criminology is a multi-disciplinary field; criminologists may have degrees in criminology, law, sociology, psychology, social policy, political science, anthropology, or other subjects. Criminology may involve crime statistics, criminal psychology, forensic science, law enforcement, and investigative methods; academically, these areas are somewhat marginal to criminology.

External links

British Society of Criminology. Criminology Benchmarks (including Police Studies and Criminal Justice Studies) [1]
American Society of Criminology
Criminology Mega-Site — Dr. Tom O'Connor (Associate Professor of Justice Studies, North Carolina Wesleyan College)
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)
Introduction to Criminology
Stockholm Criminology Symposium