Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Enhanced Instructor Manual Siegel/McCormick, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Table of Contents Summary .......................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter Overview .............................................................................................................. 3 Special Features................................................................................................................. 4 Learning Objectives ............................................................................................................ 4 What are common student misconceptions and stumbling blocks and how can I help students to overcome these?................................................................................................................ 4 How can I generate discussion in my course and assess my students? ................................... 5 Applying Criminology .......................................................................................................... 6 How can I engage my students? ......................................................................................... 6 What can I do in the way of assignments and projects? ........................................................ 7 What can I do online? ........................................................................................................ 7
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology Summary Criminology is the academic multidisciplinary science devoted to the study of crime patterns and trends, as well as the development of valid and reliable information regarding the causes of those patterns and trends. It deals with the processes of making laws, breaking laws, and society’s reaction to the breaking of laws. The study of criminal justice refers to a field of study that aims to describe and analyze the work of the police, courts, and correctional facilities, and how to better design effective methods of crime control. Although the two fields are different, they do overlap. Criminologists must know how criminal justice agencies operate, and criminal justice experts must understand the nature of crime and often use criminological research and theory. There are many branches of criminology theory. Classical criminology developed in the 19th century with Beccaria arguing that people have free will and that crime can be controlled by punishment if it is severe, certain, and swift. On the other hand, Comte developed the positivist ideology, believing that an individual’s behaviour was a product of social, biological, psychological, and economic forces, and argued that not everything related to our behaviour is under our direct control. In disagreement, other positivists, such as Lombroso, claimed a more biological origin to crime, stating that serious offenders had inherited criminal traits. Around the same time, more sociological approaches were developed: Quetelet used statistics in criminological research to identify crime-related factors; and Durkheim pioneered sociological research on crime focused on the mismatch between an individual’s norms and societal norms (anomie). In the beginning of the 20th century, the Chicago School conducted research in social ecology and found that some neighbourhoods are natural areas for crime because of poverty and broken social institutions. The socialization view followed, proposing that people learn criminal attitudes or develop an inadequate self-image. Then the 1960s and 1970s brought conflict criminology that applied Marxist principles to the study of crime, stating that the power of those leading society is integral to our understanding of what constitutes crime. In contemporary criminology, classical theory has evolved into rational choice and deterrence theories; positivism now considers how biological and psychological traits interact with the environment to influence criminality; sociological theories examine social structure, learning experiences, and socialization; conflict theorists examine how unfair economic structures impact high crime rates; and criminologists integrate developmental theories with personal, situational, and social factors. Criminology has six major subareas in terms of the work criminologists do:
First, criminal statistics describe and measure crime. Second, the sociology of law analyzes how society shapes the law and how the law shapes society. Third, theory construction focuses on crime causation. Fourth, criminal behaviour systems focus on crime typology. Fifth, penology deals with corrections, rehabilitation, and treatment. Sixth, victimology focuses on the role of victims in crime.
There are three main perspectives of how criminologists view crime:
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Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
First, the consensus view holds that the criminal law reflects the values, beliefs, and opinions of society’s mainstream and that there is a consensus in society on what behaviours should be illegal. It views the law as fair and impartial. This view is held primarily in North America. Second, the conflict view holds that society is a collection of diverse groups that are in constant and continuous conflict and that there exist power differentials between the groups. The powerful use the law and the criminal justice system to advance or maintain their economic and social position. Third, the interactionist view says that people (1) act according to their own interpretations of reality, according to the meaning things have for them; (2) learn the meaning of a thing from the way others react to it, either positively or negatively; and (3) re-evaluate and interpret their own behaviour according to the meanings and symbols they have learned from others.
There are six broad categories for how criminologists conduct research:
Survey research, where the researcher solicits comments from many subjects about how they feel about a topic at the time of sampling. Longitudinal (cohort) research, which involves the researcher conducting observations of a cohort of people over a period. Aggregate data research, where a researcher uses a large database of information gathered by a larger agency such as Statistics Canada to explore trends and patterns. Experimental research, in which the researcher develops a situation where they can manipulate events and observe the behaviours of subjects in reaction to those events. Analyzing policy, where researchers review present or past policies for their impacts on offenders and the public. Observational and interview research, by which researchers acquire in-depth data through longer interviews and observations of situations.
Chapter Overview What Is Criminology? Criminology and Criminal Justice Criminology and Deviance A Brief History of Criminology Classical Criminology 19th-Century Positivism Positivist Criminology Cesare Lombroso and the Criminal Man The Development of Sociological Criminology The Chicago School and the McGill School Conflict Criminology Criminology Today What Criminologists Do: The Criminological Enterprise Criminal Statistics Sociology of Law Theory Construction
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Criminal Behaviour Systems Penology Victimology How Do Criminologists View Crime? The Consensus View of Crime The Conflict View of Crime The Interactionist View of Crime Defining Crime The Politics of Crime Doing Criminology Survey Research Longitudinal (Cohort) Research Aggregate Data Research Experimental Research Analyzing Policy Observational and Interview Research Ethical Issues in Criminology Summary
Special Features
Key Court Case: R. v. Sharpe (2001) Crime, Conflict, and Disorder: Unmarked Burials Found at Former Residential School Focus on Research: Canadian Crime Trends, 2019 Profile of a Crime: Canada’s Deadliest Serial Killers Applying Criminology
Learning Objectives At the conclusion of this chapter, the student should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Understand the scope of the field of criminology. Be familiar with different parts of the ―criminological enterprise.‖ Know the elements of what constitutes a crime. Discuss the different views of crime. Explain different criminological research methods and their use.
What are common student misconceptions and stumbling blocks and how can I help students to overcome these?
The difference between criminology and criminal justice o Have students create a visual that differentiates the two. o Have students in small groups create their own definitions for each and discuss these in class. Differences between the theories
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Enhanced Instructor Manual: Siegel/McCormick, Criminology in Canada, 8e, 2024, 9781774747827; Chapter 1: Crime and Criminology
Draw a timeline to distinguish the different years and eras that theories emerged in and explain how developments in scientific thinking occurred in that progression. o Have students watch a video that has concrete examples of the differences. Let them develop a chart where they put in the example to fit the theory. Discuss the completed charts. o Have students watch a video that has concrete examples of the differences. Let them develop a chart where they put in the example to fit the theory. Discuss the completed charts. o Have students locate news articles of cases that might fit with the different theories. The importance of verifiable evidence data to establish crime patterns o Use examples of media reports on crime rates and ask if the rates mean we live in a more dangerous time. o Have students discuss other circumstances in which they would want verified evidence instead of anecdotal evidence (e.g., their own personal health). Differences in methodological analysis strategies and for various topics o Give examples of why specific methods are used to answer certain questions (e.g., experiments to make causal inferences, surveys to gather large amounts of data on personal opinions). o Have students work in small groups, each with a method, and come up with the pros and cons of that method and how it is used for answering specific questions. o Have students discuss possible ethical issues related to certain methodological analyses, and discuss how some groups who might be studied should be considered with more care. o
How can I generate discussion in my course and assess my students? 1. In a case like Robert Pickton, which theory might best explain his alleged serial killer behaviour? 2. How do we determine ―good‖ versus ―bad‖ behaviours? Who gets to decide this? 3. Who is considered a ―criminal?‖ What kinds of individuals/groups tend to get considered criminal? Are there any kinds of individuals/groups who do not tend to be considered criminal? 4. What kinds of deviant behaviour have you personally witnessed in your own community? What social or cultural factors might have contributed to these behaviours? 5. Think of the reporting of crime and criminals. Which crimes/criminals tend to get the most coverage, and which get the least? Does this tell us anything about our culture? How does that fit with Hagan’s typologies? 6. How does media coverage impact the public perception of crime? What might be some ethical implications regarding how media should or should not cover crime stories? 7. What factors explain why crime is related to class conflict? What about the importance of choice and free will? 8. How would the consensus, interactionist, and conflict views of crime define the actions of a politician seeking to change laws in order to pollute the environment for capital gain?
© 2024 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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