MIAN ALI HAIDER LLB LLM Cum Laude UK It is criminal to steal a purse It is daring to steal a fortune It is a mark of greatness to steal a crown The blame diminishes as the guilt increases ID: 488088
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Slide1
Nature & Origin of Crime
MIAN ALI HAIDER
L.L.B., L.L.M(
Cum Laude
) (UK)
Slide2
It is criminal to steal a purse,
It is daring to steal a fortune.
It is a mark of greatness to steal a crown.The blame diminishes as the guilt increases.
Johann
Schiller (1759-1805
)
We sow an act and reap a habit:
We sow a habit and reap a character:
We sow a character and reap a destiny.
William
Black (1893)Slide3Slide4
Crime can be defined…
Form of normal behavior
Violation of behavioral normsForm of deviant behavior
Legally defined behavior
Violation of human rights
Social harm/injury
Form of inequality
Social, Legal, and Moral dimensions involved Slide5
Emile Durkheim (1893)
Made three specific claims about the nature of crime:
Crime is normal
Crime is inevitable
Crime is usefulSlide6
Crime is normal
As normal as birth and marriage
Crimes occur in all societiesThey are closely tied to the facts of collective life
Crime rates tend to increase as societies evolve from lower to higher phasesSlide7
Crime is normal
In societies with mechanical solidarity punishment was more severe
Criminal act offends the strong, well-defined common consciousness
A crime against another person=crime against the entire society
Rejection was the most terrible punishmentSlide8
Crime is inevitable
No society can ever be entirely
rid of crime
Imagine a community of saints in a perfect and exemplary monastery
Faults that appear venial to the ordinary person will arouse the same scandal as does normal crime
Absolute conformity to rules is impossible
Each member is society faces variation in background, education, heredity, social influencesSlide9
Crime is useful
Crime is indispensable to the
normal evolution of law and morality
Crime often is a symptom of individual
originality
and a preparation for changes in society
Rosa Parks (was a criminal) is a hero now
Her simple act of protest galvanized America's civil rights revolutionSlide10
What is crime?
Crime can be defined in a variety ways
At least four definitional perspectives
Legalistic
Political
Sociological
Psychological Slide11
Crime as legally defined behavior
Rooted in the criminal law (without law there can be no crime
The most precise
definition
The
narrowest
definition
Classic definition of crime is often quoted from Paul Tappan’s writings “crime is an intentional act in violation of the criminal law committed without defense or excuse, and penalized by the state as a felony” (1947)Slide12
Legalistic definition
Crime
is human conduct in violation of the criminal laws of state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction that has the power to make such laws
Is anything wrong with this definition?
Moral definitions of crime suggests that a lot
more victimization
and
injury occurring than is accounted for by the legal order.Slide13
Political view of crime
Powerful groups of people label selected undesirable forms of behavior as illegal
Powerful individuals use their power to establish laws and sanctions against less powerful persons and groups
Official statistics indicate that crime rates in inner-city, high-poverty areas are higher than those in suburban areas
Self-reports of prison inmates show that prisoners are members of the lower classSlide14
Political perspective
Crime of inequality includes a lot of behaviors that are omitted by legalistic definition
Crime is a political concept used to protect powerful people Crimes of power (price fixing, economic crimes, unsafe working conditions, nuclear waste products, war-making, domestic violence, etc)Slide15
Sociological perspective
A more comprehensive sociological definition of crime was offered by Julia and Herman Schwendinger (1975)
“Crime encompasses any harmful acts, including violations of fundamental prerequisites for well-being (such as food, shelter, clothing, medical service, challenging work and recreational experiences, as well as security from predatory individuals or repressive and imperialistic elites” Slide16
Sociological perspective
Schwendingers have challenged criminologists to be less constrained in what they see as a crime
Violation of human rights
When a man who steals a paltry sum can be called a criminal while agents of the State can legally reward men who destroy food so that price level can be maintained while a sizable portion of population suffers from maltinutritionSlide17
Psychological perspective (moralistic view)
Any behavior which stands in the way of an individuals developing to his/her fullest potential would be considered crime
If criminologists adopted this view of crime, the scope of criminology would be greatly expanded..Slide18
Introduction to Criminological Theory
Several
theories
attempt to explain criminal behavior. Some theories assume:
Crime is part of human nature.
Crime is based on biological, psychological, sociological, and/or economic aspects.Slide19
Classical Theory
One of the earliest approaches to explaining the causes of crime was
classical theory
.
In
1764, criminologist
Cesare
Beccaria
wrote
An Essay on Crimes and Punishments
, which set forth classical criminological theory.
He argued that the only justified rationale for laws and punishments was the principle of
utility
.Slide20
utility
The principle that a policy should provide “the greatest happiness shared by the greatest number.”Slide21
Classical Theory
Beccaria believed the basis of society, as well as the origin of punishments and the right to punish, is the
social contract
.
The only legitimate purpose of punishment is
special deterrence
and
general deterrence
.Slide22
classical theory
A product of the Enlightenment, based on the assumption that people exercise free will and are thus completely responsible for their actions. In classical theory, human behavior, including criminal behavior, is motivated by a hedonistic rationality, in which actors weigh the potential pleasure of an action against the possible pain associated with it
.Slide23
special deterrence
The prevention of individuals from committing crime again by punishing them.
social contract
An imaginary agreement to sacrifice the minimum amount of liberty to prevent anarchy and chaos.
continued…Slide24
general deterrence
The prevention of people in general or society at large from engaging in crime by punishing specific individuals and making examples of them.Slide25
Neoclassical Theory
Classical theory was difficult to apply in practice. It was modified in the early 1800s and became known as
neoclassical theory
.Slide26
neoclassical theory
A modification of classical theory in which it was conceded that certain factors, such as insanity, might inhibit the exercise of free will.Slide27
Neoclassical Theory
Neoclassical theory introduced the idea of:
Premeditation as a measure of the degree of free will.
Mitigating circumstances as legitimate grounds for diminished responsibility.Slide28
Neoclassical Theory
Classical and neoclassical theory are the basis of the criminal justice system in the United States.Slide29
Positivist Approaches to Explaining Crime
The theory of the positivist school of criminology grew out of positive philosophy and the logic and methodology of experimental science. Slide30
The Positivist School of Thought
The key assumptions of the positivist school of thought were:
Human behavior is determined and not a matter of free will.
Criminals are fundamentally different from
noncriminals
.
Social scientists can be objective in their work.
Crime is frequently caused by multiple factors.Slide31
Biological Theories
Biological theories of crime causation (biological positivism) are based on the belief that criminals are physiologically different from
noncriminals
. The cause of crime is
biological inferiority
.Slide32
biological inferiority
According to biological theories, a criminal’s innate physiological makeup produces certain physical or genetic characteristics that distinguish criminals from noncriminals.Slide33
Heredity Studies
Several studies have attempted to determine if criminality is hereditary by studying:
All of these methods fail to prove that criminality is hereditary, because they cannot separate hereditary influences from environmental influences.
family trees
statistics
identical and fraternal twins
adopted childrenSlide34
Modern
Biocriminology
Ongoing research has revealed numerous biological factors associated either directly or indirectly with criminal or delinquent behavior:
chemical, mineral, and vitamin deficiencies in the diet
diets high in sugar and carbohydrates
hypoglycemia
continued…Slide35
Modern Biocriminology
ingestion of food dyes and lead
exposure to radiation
brain dysfunctionsSlide36
Positivist Approaches
Today, most criminologists believe that criminal behavior is the product of a complex interaction between biology and environmental or social conditions.Slide37
Positivist Approaches
Biology or genetics gives an individual a predisposition to behave in a certain way.
Whether a person actually behaves in that way and whether that behavior is defined as a crime depend on environmental or social conditions.Slide38
Psychological Theories
There are many theories regarding psychological causes of crime, including:
Intelligence and
crime
Psychoanalytic theoriesSlide39
Intelligence and Crime
The idea that crime is the product primarily of people of low intelligence has been popular occasionally in the United States.
A study in 1931 showed no correlation between intelligence and criminality.Slide40
Psychoanalytic Theories
Psychoanalytic theories of crime causation are associated with the work of Sigmund Freud who believed that people who had unresolved deep-seated problems were
psychopaths
.Slide41
psychopaths
Persons characterized by no sense of guilt, no subjective conscience, and no sense of right and wrong. They have difficulty in forming relationships with other people; they cannot empathize with other people. They are also called sociopaths or antisocial personalities.Slide42
Sociological Theories
Sociologists emphasize that human beings live in social groups and that those groups and the social structure they create influence behavior.
Most sociological theories of crime causation assume that a criminal’s behavior is determined by his or her social environment and reject the notion of the born criminal.Slide43
The Theory of the
Chicago School
In the 1920s, a group of sociologists known as the
Chicago School
attempted to uncover the relationship between a neighborhood’s crime rate and the characteristics of the neighborhood.Slide44
The Theory of the
Chicago School
Studies found that neighborhoods that experienced high delinquency rates also experienced
social disorganization
.Slide45
social disorganization
The condition in which the usual controls over delinquents are largely absent, delinquent behavior is often approved of by parents and neighbors, there are many opportunities for delinquent behavior, and there is little encouragement, training, or opportunity for legitimate employment.Slide46
Anomie or Strain Theory
Robert Merton in 1938 wrote about a major contradiction in the U.S. between cultural goals and social structure. He called the contradiction
anomie
.Slide47
anomie
For Merton, the contradiction between the cultural goal of achieving wealth and the social structure’s inability to provide legitimate institutional means for achieving the goal. Slide48
Anomie or Strain Theory
Merton argued that the limited availability of legitimate institutionalized means to wealth puts a strain on people. People adapt through:
Conformity—playing the game.
Innovation—pursuing wealth by illegitimate means.
continued…Slide49
Anomie or Strain Theory
Ritualism—not actively pursuing wealth.
Retreatism—dropping out.
Rebellion—rejecting the goal of wealth and the institutional means of getting it.Slide50
Learning Theories
Edwin H. Sutherland—in his theory of
differential association
—was the first 20th-century criminologist to argue that criminal behavior was learned.
This theory, modified, remains one of the most influential theories of crime causation.Slide51
differential association
Sutherland’s theory that persons who become criminal do so because of contacts with criminal patterns and isolation from anticriminal patterns.Slide52
Learning Theories
Among the policy implications of learning theory is to punish criminal behavior effectively, according to learning theory principles. This is not done effectively in the U.S.
Probation does not function as an aversive stimulus.
Most offenders are not incarcerated.
continued…Slide53
Learning Theories
Punishment is not consistent and immediate.
Offenders are generally returned to the environments in which their crimes were committed.
There is no positive reinforcement of alternative, prosocial behaviors.Slide54
Social Control Theories
The key question in the
social control theory
is not why people commit crime and delinquency, but rather why don’t they? Why do people conform?Slide55
Social Control Theories
The most detailed elaboration of modern social control theory is attributed to Travis Hirschi who wrote the 1969 book,
Causes of Delinquency
.Slide56
Social Control Theories
Hirschi argued that delinquency should be expected if a juvenile is not properly socialized by establishing a strong bond to society, consisting of:
Attachment to others
Commitment to conventional lines of action
Involvement in conventional activities
Belief in the moral order and lawSlide57
Social Control Theories
More recently, Hirschi wrote with Michael Gottfredson that the principal cause of deviant behaviors is ineffective child rearing, which produces people with low self-control.Slide58
Critical Approaches to
Explaining Crime
Critical theories grew out of the changing social landscape of the American 1960s.
Critical theories assume that human beings are the creators of institutions and structures that ultimately dominate and constrain them.
Critical theories assume that society is characterized primarily by conflict over moral values.Slide59
Labeling Theory
The focus of
labeling theory
is the
criminalization process
rather than the positivist concern with the peculiarities of the criminal.Slide60
criminalization process
The way people and actions are defined as criminal.
labeling theory
A theory that emphasizes the criminalization process as the cause of some crime.Slide61
Labeling Theory
The labeling theory argues that once a person commits a first criminal act and gets processed in the system, they are labeled negatively as a criminal.
The label becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.Slide62
Conflict Theory
Conflict theory
focuses on the conflict in society between rich and poor, management and labor, whites and minorities.Slide63
conflict theory
A theory that assumes that society is based primarily on conflict between competing interest groups and that criminal law and the criminal justice system are used to control subordinate groups. Crime is caused by relative powerlessness.Slide64
Radical Theory
Radical theories
argue that capitalism requires people to compete against each other in the pursuit of material wealth.
The more unevenly wealth is distributed, the more likely people are to find persons weaker than themselves that they can take advantage of in their pursuit of wealth.Slide65
radical theories
Theories of crime causation that are generally based on a Marxist theory of class struggle.Slide66Slide67