Crime and Society

9 Key excerpts on "Crime and Society"

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  eBook - ePub

  Toward a Unified Criminology

  Integrating Assumptions about Crime, People and Society

  • Robert Agnew(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • NYU Press

    (Publisher)

  This chapter begins with a description of the leading definition of crime. Mainstream criminologists define crime as acts that violate the criminal law, and they focus their research on what are sometimes called “street crimes,” which include individual acts of violence, theft, and drug use. Next, I describe the major criticisms of the legal definition of crime and the associated focus on street crimes. I then examine and evaluate the major alternatives to the legal definition, most proposed by critical criminologists. I conclude by presenting an integrated approach to defining crime that draws on the legal definition and these alternatives. This integrated approach substantially expands the scope of criminology, directing attention to a range of new “crimes” and research questions.

  The Mainstream Definition of Crime

  Even though the discipline of criminology is built around the topic of crime, mainstream criminologists spend surprisingly little time discussing the actual definition of crime. The major criminology texts usually devote only one or a few pages to definitional issues, and crime is typically defined in terms of violations of the criminal law (Henry and Lanier, 2001; Kramer, 1982).1 Consider, for example, these definitions of crime from three leading criminology texts:

  We define crime as all behaviors for which a society provides formally sanctioned punishment (Hagan, 2008:15). A crime is any human conduct that violates a criminal law and is subject to punishment (Adler et al., 2007:13). Crime is a violation of social rules of behavior as interpreted and expressed by a criminal legal code created by people holding social and political power (Siegel, 2006:17).

  Likewise, the research on crime is largely based on this legal definition. Research reports usually do not present a formal definition of crime, but the large majority focus on acts that are in violation of the criminal law. The failure to present a formal definition reflects the “taken for granted” status of the legal definition: this definition is so pervasive in mainstream criminology that it is no longer necessary to present or defend it.

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  An Introduction to Sociology

  • Ken Browne(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Polity

    (Publisher)

  5Crime and Deviance

  Contents

  1. Key issues
  2. Social control, deviance and crime
  3. The social construction of crime and deviance
  4. The difficulty of defining deviance
  5. Why are some deviant acts defined as criminal while others are not?
  6. Public debates over crime and deviance
  7. Crime as a social issue – its impact on society
  8. Fear of crime
  9. Violent crime
  10. Youth crime and antisocial behaviour
  11. The prison system – an expensive way to make ‘bad’ people worse
  12. Crime, deviance and the media
  13. The media, labelling and deviancy amplification
  14. Biological and psychological theories of crime and deviance
  15. Sociological theories (or perspectives) on crime and deviance
  16. Functionalist theories of crime and deviance
  17. Marxist theories of crime and deviance
  18. Feminist theories of crime and deviance
  19. Interactionist theories of crime and deviance: labelling theory
  20. The pattern of crime
  21. The pattern of offending
  22. Explanations for the pattern of crime shown in official statistics
  23. Why is the crime rate higher in urban areas?
  24. Why are most convicted criminals young?
  25. Why are most convicted criminals male?
  26. Why are most convicted criminals working class?
  27. White-collar and corporate crime
  28. Examples of corporate crimes
  29. The under-representation of white-collar and corporate crime

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  Contemporary Society

  An Introduction to Social Science

  • John A Perry, Erna K Perry(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 6 © Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Deviance and Criminality: The Need for Social Control IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL LEARN • what is meant by the term deviance; • the functions and relative nature of deviance; • the various explanations of deviance furnished by the social sciences; • the nature, extent, and classification of crime; and • the inadequacies of the criminal justice system. T he media overwhelm us daily with the horrible deeds of some people. It is impossible to turn on the radio, or television, or browse the Internet, without hearing or reading or seeing shooters who kill schoolchildren, boyfriends who kill their partners, and strangers who kill patrons in movie theaters. There is no need to provide examples; a number of such events occur every day so that a reader, viewer, or listener often feels overcome with revulsion at the world. Why do some people commit such atrocious acts? What should society do to keep such persons from doing further harm? What can be done to prevent such acts from ever happening? These questions have been asked a great many times, and neither theologians, nor philosophers, nor scientists have been able to answer them satisfactorily, though each has tried. The presence of “evil”—the term applied by religion and philosophy to acts deemed damaging to others and to the social group as a whole—was acknowledged long ago and has been experienced in all societies of the world. The extent and frequency of “evil,” however, is not the same everywhere. Nor is the effect or the result of “evil” the same everywhere (the result of evil that science can discuss is crime). In societies that are homogeneous and well integrated, such as Japan or Finland, although crime exists, it does so to a much lesser extent than in multiethnic, heterogeneous societies. The reason is that a great majority of Japanese and Finns hold the same values, follow the same norms, honor the same traditions, and aim for the same goals

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  White-collar Criminal

  The Offender in Business and the Professions

  • Renssalaer Lee(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  5

  It is obvious that not every act or failure to act could, or should, be regulated by the criminal law. Crimes are only those acts or failures to act that are considered to be so detrimental to the well-being of society, as judged by its prevailing standards, that action regarding them cannot be entrusted to private initiative, civil courts, or government agencies and bureaus, but must be taken by organized society in accordance with especially devised procedures. In fact, even if the victim of a crime takes no action, opposes it, forgives the criminal, or tries to conceal the crime, the state can and may press the charges.

  How Do We Know a Crime Has Been Committed? On the basis of what has been said thus far, it might appear that anyone who commits a crime is a criminal, but this definition immediately suggests an important question: How do we know that a person has committed a crime? Thus, in any particular case, it becomes clear that the definition of a criminal as one who violates the criminal law is not adequate. We must supplement it by establishing definite, exact, stable criteria to determine whether the accused actually committed a crime.

  But why is it so important to have definite, exact, stable criteria to determine the guilt of the accused? The answer to this question can be found in the fact that a person’s rights and reputation are involved. To apply the term “criminal” to a person is not only to lower his social status by publicly stigmatizing him, but also to declare that his guilt has been proved, that certain of his rights have been forfeited, and that he should be punished. The law, which defines the term “crime,” is deeply aware of the serious implications of the term “criminal.” Down through the years, it has carefully, and at times painfully, built up a definite procedure to determine the guilt of the accused and at the same time to protect his rights. By clearly defining terms, by precisely formulating methods, and by judiciously introducing changes, the law has promoted stability, dependability, and security of justice in its criminal procedure.6

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  Criminology

  Explaining Crime and Its Context

  • Stephen E. Brown, Finn-Aage Esbensen, Gilbert Geis(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Just as our understanding of crime and deviance are relative, changing across time and space, so is the content of criminal law. Criminalization of behaviors is a political process and, therefore, the content of criminal codes varies. This chapter establishes a criminological framework by examining the concept of criminal law and its creation. It will become clear that criminal law, and thus official recognition of “crime” and “criminals,” is entirely relative to time and space.

  The Concept of Law

  Law provides the baseline for formal social control. From a

  consensus

  perspective, law is thought to contribute to fair and orderly functioning within complex societies. The law is viewed as serving the interest of all. From a

  conflict

  vantage point, law serves to preserve existing power relationships. So it is seen as favoring the interests of some, while minimizing or even spurning, the goals and desires of others. Whichever perspective one subscribes to, law is a large, substantive mass that can be subdivided into criminal, civil, and administrative components. Each is designed to control behavior, but there are important differences among them.

  Crimes may be acts of commission (i.e., a prohibited act such as rape or intentional marketing of unsafe products) or acts of omission (i.e., failure to perform a required act such as filing an income tax return or providing proper care to a child in one’s custody). Under

  criminal law

  there is no crime unless the conduct prohibited or required is enunciated in the federal or state criminal code in clear and precise language. The code must also specify sanctions that may be applied as a consequence of violations.

  Felonies

  are the most serious offenses, punishable by execution or by imprisonment for one year or more.

  Misdemeanors

  may be subject to incarceration in jail for a period up to 11 months and 29 days. The least serious category of crimes are violations (sometimes called infractions or offenses), punishable by relatively small fines.

  Every crime consists of specific elements that must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt to support a conviction. The

  actus reus

  , or “guilty act,” is the physical element in a crime. It is comprised of conduct that is prohibited or of failure to act in a manner required by the criminal law. The

  mens rea

  , or “guilty mind,” is the mental element of crime, generally termed intent. Intent ordinarily is an essential element of crime, although in some cases it may be inferred or there may be strict liability. A common example of the latter is statutory rape. The law forbids sexual intercourse with a person under a specified age, typically 18, whether or not the relationship is consensual. Table 2.1

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  Criminality and Criminal Justice in Contemporary Poland

  Sociopolitical Perspectives

  • Konrad Buczkowski, Beata Czarnecka-Dzialuk, Witold Klaus, Anna Kossowska, Irena Rzepli?ska, Dagmara Wo?niakowska-Fajst, Dobrochna Wójcik(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 3Social Change and Criminality: Mutual Relationships, Determinants and Implications

  Anna Kossowska

  Introduction

  The links between social changes and criminality and, although not always obvious, the processes and phenomena concealed behind these two ideas, have long been of interest to sociologists and criminologists. Against this backdrop, ‘criminality’ is most often taken to mean conduct defined as such in official registers (i.e. discourse on criminality is generally published). This may exclude a whole raft of relevant issues connected with the social perception of the dangers of actual crime, i.e. crime that now shows up in statistics and does not provoke a response from the state or its institutions. The concept of ‘social change’ finds application in the description of some very diverse social processes, both progressing on the macro level and observable at the level of local communities. We can discuss social change in its associations with criminality once we have analysed the effects of such events as wars, revolutions, peaceful regime changes, industrialisation, urbanisation and the economic situation. Mass migration, revolutions brought about by technological changes (and all their ramifications), demographic changes, lifestyle changes, the structure of the labour market, the way social functions are performed and the internationalisation of social problems often need to be considered in this context. To all this can be added changes taking place in social consciousness, such as attitudes towards social inequality (and to social organisation generally), the presence of risk in everyday life, ‘truths’ about criminality and how to control it, and cultural diversity. It seems impossible to cite a single commonly acknowledged and universal definition of social change. Piotr Sztompka lists a range of definitions that simultaneously apply in contemporary sociology and then proposes his own (Sztompka 2005). This is fairly general, but for that reason useful, in preliminary deliberations.

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  Mental Health and Crime

  • Jill Peay(Author)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Routledge-Cavendish

    (Publisher)

  Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Maguire et al, 2007) Paul Rock’s, on ‘Sociological Theories of Crime’, and Clive Hollin’s, on ‘Criminological Psychology’, quickly confirms that the causes of crime are complex, multi-factorial, contingent and contentious. A brief synopsis of some of the common ground follows, although its interaction with mental disorder is dealt with more extensively below. Moreover, whilst this brief synopsis should be read in the light of Garland’s aspirational notion that criminology is the ‘science of the causes of crime’, the assertion by David Downes that criminology is a ‘rendez-vous discipline’ more properly emphasises, as Rock notes, the degree of pragmatism and blurring of disciplines entailed. Theoretical purity is neither the goal, nor the grail; understanding ‘mere parts and fragments of larger totalities’ is the stuff of criminologists’ concerns (Rock, 2007:35).

  To argue that criminal behaviour is a consequence of an interaction between an individual and his [intentionally his] social and cultural environment, and the legal variables that define and locate crime, is a starting place. But all of those terms require further analysis. Individuals are constituted by their unique genetic endowment, their upbringing, their personality, their emotional and social resources, their cognitive processes, their education, and their life experiences. Each of these can be unpacked further into such applicable factors as age and gender. Concepts like ‘hegemonic masculinity’, namely the way power, wealth and physical strength, which are all arguably encouraged in men and in turn underpin risk-taking and aggression, are also relevant (Connell, 1987). Given the male bias in offending such analyses, albeit vague, cannot be ignored. Whether the make-up of our personality interacts with our ability to learn control over our impulses and actions is another potentially crucial issue (Eysenck, 1977, 1996); can our identities and behaviour change over time in a dynamic relationship with the society in which we find ourselves and the society we keep? Social learning theory, social information processing and operant conditioning will all have a part to play in why we are who we are (see generally Hollin, 2007).

  Then there are those factors that relate to an individual’s adherence to social norms. Explanations of crime that instrumentally combine opportunities for crime with intermittent lack of controls have an inherent appeal. That crime occurs in ‘hot-spots’ might favour some kind of environmental or opportunity based explanation, but attractive as an explanation based in routine activities might seem, hot-spots are hot because of the interaction between people and these locations. Not everyone who routinely passes through them invariably indulges in criminal activity. So what motivates some people to break the law, and others to restrain themselves? Is it that society promises too much and then frustrates our abilities equally to achieve those goals, a position that would crudely reflect a Durkheimian analysis (Durkheim, 1964; see also, on ‘Anomie’, Merton, 1995)? This is not to argue that poverty causes crime, for the relief of deficit is relative: the rich can equally experience relative deprivation and resort to illegal means to relieve it (Hagan, 1977). Is it more that given free rein, people will break the law if it is to their advantage, which in turn raises the question of whether some people are inherently less able to control themselves; or is it that others have the necessary skills successfully to commit crime? Or is it that people’s desires get shaped by their environment, including their peers, and a heady cocktail of leisure time, alcohol and drugs supersedes any inherent moral order to which people might otherwise claim allegiance? Certainly it would be wrong to think of all crime as being mundane or calculated and rational; as Jock Young asserts, much crime is, rather, expressive, relying on an adrenaline rush and the pleasure to be derived from the illicit risk-taking; joyriding, vandalism and even a significant proportion of crimes with instrumental value, for example, shoplifting, would fall into this net (Young, 2007:19, drawing on the work of Presdee, 2000 and Hayward, 2004). What role then does emotion and emotional arousal play? What cognitive factors are at play; are some of us more reflective than others, more able to see things from another’s perspective and thus to moderate our behaviour? The further one unpacks and defines the possibilities, the more compelling the answer becomes that crime is contingent. It is not abnormal or confined to a pathological few; it is all around us.

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  Criminology: The Basics

  • Sandra Walklate(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  It is without doubt that this particular event and the migrant crisis more generally are having ramifications across Europe and it is also without doubt that you may have found answering some of the questions above easier than others. Arguably this example puts to the fore the interconnected nature of global events, not only through the pervasive nature of the ever present mediated nature of social life (through social networking, the Internet and so on) but also the interconnected nature of those events in real time and over time. For instance, the unsettled nature of the Middle East takes its toll elsewhere in the world and the powerful, whether they are governments or big businesses, play a role here both by acts of omission and commission, and in the harms that result. Thus, referring back again to the notion of crimes of globalisations as discussed earlier. We shall consider the nature of these interconnections again below as we consider the potential questions associated with terrorism as a substantive topic for criminology, particularly critical criminology.

  Summary

  The discussion thus far has tried to extend what it is that might count as crime and who as a consequence might count as a victim of crime. It can be seen that extending our understanding in this way is highly problematic both in terms of common sense understandings of these issues and in terms of legal understandings of these kinds of activities. There is a fine line between what might be considered sharp business practice and criminal fraud, for example. However, extending our understanding of what might count as criminal has been an important aspect of criminology so now we shall move on to consider what kinds of ideas criminology has used to make sense of this kind of criminality.

  HOW HAS CRIMINOLOGY ATTEMPTED TO EXPLAIN CRIMES OF THE SUITES?

  Much of the discussion above has drawn implicitly on an understanding of crime and the problem of crime that might be best understood as being the ‘criminality of the state’. This view of crime and criminology relies, in different ways, on the work of Karl Marx. Marx drew attention to the way in which the powerful in society use the range of resources available to them, including the law, to secure and maintain their dominant position. In this view of society, the law and the processes that underpin the law and its practice are at the centre of critical scrutiny. Such scrutiny puts to the fore the way in which some groups in society are targeted by the law and its practice and others are not. Put simply, the law and its enforcement become arenas in which the powers of the state are made legitimate. For a criminologist working within this kind of framework, these powers express themselves especially along class, race and gender lines. Hence, the rich get richer and the poor get prison. This way of thinking about the nature of crime and criminal victimisation is an important dimension to criminology, though it takes a variety of forms and we shall discuss three of them briefly here: Marxist criminology, radical criminology and critical criminology.

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  Classic Writings in Law and Society

  Contemporary Comments and Criticisms

  • A. Javier Trevino(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Quinney states that those segments in society that have the power to translate their interests into public policy shape the enforcement and administration of criminal law. He further notes that the probability of powerful segments formulating criminal definitions becomes greater with an increase in the conflict of interests between segments of a society. The substantive and procedural laws that emerge from this conflict reflect the interests of the powerful in protecting themselves from the competing interests of the powerless. Conduct that is perceived to threaten or conflict with the interests of the dominant groups is designated as criminal. The dominant groups see to it that their particular definitions of criminality become enacted as law, ensconced in public policy, and protected by the operation of the criminal justice system.

  When the behavior of members of subordinate groups clash with the law, they are less able to resist apprehension, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration for criminal charges. Because society’s power segments formulate criminal definitions that reflect their own set of values, members of those segments of society whose behavior patterns are not represented in the development, application, and construction of these criminal definitions engage in actions that have relative probabilities of being labeled as criminal. Structural sources such as age, sex, social class, ethnicity, and race (as well as ecological areas and general cultural themes), influence who runs the greatest risk of officially being defined as delinquent or criminal. Youth, women, the economically disadvantaged, and minorities—that is to say, those with interests that are likely to conflict with the interests represented in law—will tend to be differentially processed thorough the criminal justice system.

  The more the powerful are concerned about crime, the greater the likelihood that both criminal definitions and criminal behavior itself will increase. Furthermore, because of their reliance on power relations, criminal definitions are constantly changing so that they reflect the politically organized society. Thus, a particular criminal law may be intended for a particular interest at a particular time and then amended, implemented, or abolished at another time for some other interest. “Law,” as Quinney puts it, “has its element of fashion” (p. 85).

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