Criminology

CRIMINOLOGY

LUCÍA RODA EXPÓSITO

4º ESO A

Society invites the crime, and criminals accept the invitation.

-Vikrant Parsai

Content Content ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 7 2. Criminological Schools of thought .................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Classical school ............................................................................................................................ 8 2.2 Positivist school ........................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 Italian school ......................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.2 Sociological positivism ......................................................................................................... 9 2.2.3 Differential association (subcultural) .................................................................................... 9 2.3 Chicago school ............................................................................................................................. 9 2.4 Social structure theories ............................................................................................................. 10 2.4.1 Social disorganization (neighbourhoods) ........................................................................... 10 2.4.2 Social ecology ..................................................................................................................... 10 2.4.3 Strain theory (social strain theory) ...................................................................................... 10 2.4.4 Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Anomie Theory ........................................................ 11 2.4.5 Subcultural theory ............................................................................................................... 12 2.4.6 Control theories ................................................................................................................... 12 2.4.7 Psychoanalysis and the unconscious desire for punishment ............................................... 13 3. Social network analysis .................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Symbolic interactionism ............................................................................................................ 14 3.1.1 Labelling theory .................................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Individual theories ..................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.1 Traitor theories .................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.2 Rational choice theory ........................................................................................................ 15 3.2.3 Routine activity theory........................................................................................................ 16 3.3 Biosocial theories ....................................................................................................................... 16 3.4 Marxist criminology................................................................................................................... 17

3.5 Convict Criminology ................................................................................................................. 17 3.6 Queer Criminology .................................................................................................................... 17 3.6.1 Legitimacy .......................................................................................................................... 17 4. Types and definitions of crime ......................................................................................................... 18 5. Subtopics .......................................................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Comparative criminology .......................................................................................................... 19 5.2 Crime prevention ....................................................................................................................... 19 5.2.1 Studies ................................................................................................................................. 19 5.2.2 Types ................................................................................................................................... 20 5.2.3 Situational and crime prevention ........................................................................................ 21 5.2.4 Applying SCP to information systems (IS) ........................................................................ 22 5.2.5 Safeguarding ....................................................................................................................... 23 5.2.6 Situational crime prevention and fraud ............................................................................... 26 5.3 Crime Statistics .......................................................................................................................... 27 5.3.1 Counting rules ..................................................................................................................... 28 5.3.2 Surveys ................................................................................................................................ 29 5.3.3 Classification....................................................................................................................... 30 5.3.4 Measures ............................................................................................................................. 30 5.4 Criminal behaviour .................................................................................................................... 30 5.5 Criminal careers and desistance ................................................................................................. 30 5.6 Deviant behaviour ...................................................................................................................... 30 5.6.1 Functions ............................................................................................................................. 31 5.6.2 Theories............................................................................................................................... 31 5.6.3 Symbolic interaction ........................................................................................................... 33 5.6.4 Sutherland's differential association ................................................................................... 34 5.6.5 Neutralization theory .......................................................................................................... 35 5.6.6 Labelling theory .................................................................................................................. 35

5.6.7 Primary and secondary deviation ........................................................................................ 37 5.6.8 Control theory ..................................................................................................................... 38 5.6.9 Conflict theory .................................................................................................................... 39 5.6.10 Karl Marx .......................................................................................................................... 40 5.6.11 Michel Foucault ................................................................................................................ 40 5.6.12 Biological theories of deviance ......................................................................................... 41 5.6.13 Other theories .................................................................................................................... 41 5.6.14 Cross-cultural communication .......................................................................................... 42 5.6.15 Types ................................................................................................................................. 43 5.6.16 The criminal justice system .............................................................................................. 43 5.7 Evaluation of criminal justice agencies ..................................................................................... 44 5.8 International Crime Victims Survey .......................................................................................... 44 5.8.1 European Survey on Crime and Safety ............................................................................... 44 5.9 Penology .................................................................................................................................... 44 5.9.1 History................................................................................................................................. 45 5.10 Victimology ............................................................................................................................. 46 5.10.1 Victim of a crime .............................................................................................................. 46 5.10.2 Consequences of crimes .................................................................................................... 46 5.10.3 Environmental theory........................................................................................................ 47 5.10.4 Quantification of victim-proneness................................................................................... 47 5.10.5 Fundamental attribution error ........................................................................................... 48 5.10.6 Victim facilitation ............................................................................................................. 49 5.10.7 Victimization rate in United States ................................................................................... 50 5.10.8 Victimization in Canada ................................................................................................... 50 5.10.9 International Crime Victims Survey ................................................................................. 50 5.10.10 Society as crime victim ................................................................................................... 51 5.10.11 Penal couple .................................................................................................................... 51

5.10.12 Rights of victims ............................................................................................................. 51 6. Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 52

CRIMINOLOGY

LUCÍA RODA EXPÓSITO

1. Introduction Criminology1 is the scientific study of the nature, extent, management, causes, control, consequences, and prevention of criminal behaviour, both on individual and social levels. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and social sciences, drawing

especially

upon

the

research

of

sociologists,

psychologists, philosophers, psychiatrists, biologists, social anthropologists, as well as scholars of law.

The term criminology was coined in 1885 by Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo as criminologia. Later, French anthropologist Paul Topinard used the analogous French term criminologie.

In the United States for the past 100 years, criminology has Figure 1: College of Criminology and Criminal Justice

experienced three life course phases: Golden Age of Research (1900-1930) which has been described as multiple-factor

approach, Golden Age of Theory (1930-1960) which shows that they were no systematic way of connecting criminological research to theory, and 1960-2000 period as seen as a significant turning point for criminology.

2. Criminological Schools of thought In the mid-18th century, criminology arose as social philosophers gave thought to crime and concepts of law. Over time, several schools of thought have developed. There were three main schools of thought in early criminological theory spanning the period from the mid-18th century to the mid-twentieth century: Classical, Positivist, and Chicago. These schools of thought were superseded by several contemporary paradigms of criminology, such as the sub-culture, control, strain, labelling, critical criminology, cultural criminology, postmodern criminology, feminist criminology and others discussed below.

(from Latin crīmen, "accusation" originally derived from the Ancient Greek verb "krino" "κρίνω", and Ancient Greek λογία, -logy|-logia, from "logos" meaning: “word,” “reason,” or “plan”) 1

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2.1 Classical school The Classical school arose in the mid-18th century and has its basis in utilitarian philosophy. Cesare Beccaria, author of On Crimes and Punishments (1763–64), Jeremy Bentham (inventor of the panopticon), and other philosophers in this school argued: 1. People have free will to choose how to act.

2. The basis for deterrence is the idea humans are 'hedonists' who seek pleasure and avoid pain, and 'rational calculators' who weigh the costs and benefits of every action. It ignores the possibility of irrationality and unconscious drives as motivators.

3. Punishment (of sufficient severity) can deter people from crime, as the costs (penalties) outweigh benefits, and severity of punishment should be proportionate to the crime.

4. The swifter and more certain the punishment, the more effective as a deterrent to criminal behaviour.

This school developed during a major reform in penology, when society began designing prisons for the sake of extreme punishment. This period also saw many legal reforms, the French Revolution, and the development of the legal system in the United States.

2.2 Positivist school Figure 2: Isometrical perspective of Pentonville Prison

The Positivist school argues criminal behaviour comes

from internal and external factors out of the individual's control. Philosophers within this school applied the scientific method to study human behaviour. Positivism comprises three segments: biological, psychological and social positivism.

2.2.1 Italian school Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909), an Italian sociologist working in the late 19th century, is often called "the father of criminology”. He was one of the key contributors to biological positivism and founded the Italian school of criminology. Lombroso took a scientific approach, insisting on empirical evidence for studying crime. He suggested physiological traits such as the measurements of cheek bones or hairline, or a cleft palate could indicate "atavistic" criminal tendencies. This approach, whose influence came via the theory of phrenology and by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, has been superseded. Enrico Ferri, a student of Lombroso, believed social as well as biological factors played a role, and believed criminals should not be held responsible when factors causing their criminality were beyond their control.

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Criminologists have since rejected Lombroso's biological theories, since control groups were not used in his studies.

2.2.2 Sociological positivism Sociological positivism suggests societal factors such as poverty, membership of subcultures, or low levels of education predispose people to crime. Adolphe Quetelet used data and statistical analysis to study the relationship between crime and sociological factors. He found age, gender, poverty, education, and alcohol consumption were important factors to crime. Lance Lochner performed three different research experiments, each one proving education reduces crime. Rawson W. Rawson used crime statistics to suggest a link between population density and crime rates, with crowded cities producing more crime. Joseph Fletcher and John Glyde read papers to the Statistical Society of London on their studies of crime and its distribution. Henry Mayhew used empirical methods and an ethnographic approach to address social questions and poverty and gave his studies in London Labour and the London Poor. Émile Durkheim viewed crime as an inevitable aspect of a society with uneven distribution of wealth and other differences among people.

2.2.3 Differential association (subcultural) People learn crime through association. This theory was advocated by Edwin Sutherland. These acts may condone criminal conduct, or justify crime under specific circumstances. Interacting with antisocial peers is a major cause. Reinforcing criminal behavior makes it chronic. Where there are criminal subcultures, many individuals learn crime, and crime rates swell in those areas.

2.3 Chicago school The Chicago school arose in the early twentieth century, through the work of Robert E. Park, Ernest Burgess, and other urban sociologists at the University of Chicago. In the 1920s, Park and Burgess identified five concentric zones that often exist as cities grow, including the "zone of transition", which was identified as the most volatile and subject to disorder. In the 1940s, Henry McKay and Clifford R. Shaw focused on juvenile delinquents, finding that they were concentrated in the zone of transition.

Chicago school sociologists adopted a social ecology approach to studying cities and postulated that urban neighbourhoods with high levels of poverty often experience breakdown in the social structure and institutions such as family and schools.Figur e 3:Chicago School of Criminology

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This results in social disorganization, which reduces the ability of these institutions to control behaviour and creates an environment ripe for deviant behaviour.

Other researchers suggested an added social-psychological link. Edwin Sutherland suggested that people learn criminal behaviour from older, more experienced criminals with whom they may associate.

Theoretical perspectives used in criminology include psychoanalysis, functionalism, interactionism, Marxism, econometrics, systems theory, postmodernism, genetics, neuropsychology, evolutionary psychology, etc.

2.4 Social structure theories This theory is applied to a variety of approaches within the bases of criminology in particular and in sociology more generally as a conflict theory or structural conflict perspective in sociology and sociology of crime. As this perspective is itself broad enough, embracing as it does a diversity of positions.

2.4.1 Social disorganization (neighbourhoods) Social disorganization theory is based on the work of Henry McKay and Clifford R. Shaw of the Chicago School. Social disorganization theory postulates that neighbourhoods plagued with poverty and economic deprivation tend to experience high rates of population turnover. This theory suggests that crime and deviance is valued within groups in society, ‘subcultures’ or ‘gangs’. These groups have different values to the social norm. These neighbourhoods also tend to have high population heterogeneity. With high turnover, informal social structure often fails to develop, which in turn makes it difficult to maintain social order in a community.

2.4.2 Social ecology Since the 1950s, social ecology studies have built on the social disorganization theories. Many studies have found that crime rates are associated with poverty, disorder, high numbers of abandoned buildings, and other signs of community deterioration. As working and middle-class people leave deteriorating neighbourhoods, the most disadvantaged portions of the population may remain. William Julius Wilson suggested a poverty "concentration effect", which may cause neighbourhoods to be isolated from the mainstream of society and become prone to violence.

2.4.3 Strain theory (social strain theory) Strain theory, also known as Mertonian Anomie, advanced by American sociologist Robert Merton, 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 08/12/2018 14:28

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it becomes a powerful cultural and psychological motivator. Merton also used the term anomie, but it meant something slightly different for him than it did for Durkheim. Merton 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 realizing the dream, some of those dejected will turn to illegitimate means (crime) in order to realize it. Others will retreat or drop out into deviant subcultures (such as gang members, or what he calls "hobos"). Robert Agnew developed this theory further to include types of strain which were not derived from financial constraints. This is known as general strain theory".

2.4.4 Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Anomie Theory The Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Theory stems from a pre-existing theory, discovered by Merton named Strain theory. Rosenberger took his findings and offered a different approach to definition and based it on the assumption that everybody should already have "the assumption that the “American Dream” produces a society that is dominated by the economy and obsessed with the pursuit of success”.

The Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Theory has many different views and definitions by many people therefore this becomes a very flexible theory.

Larine Hughes found a correlation between economic pressure and how it combines the "American Dream" and "Individualism" to a high crime. Hughes came to final decision that "Therefore, individuals that do not have the drive to succeed and achieve this “goal” will fail, despite social and cultural pressures.

Samantha Applin, then took an approached relating gender and The Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Theory. Stated in an article by S. Applin, "males make up what is considered “normal subjects”, and due to this, force woman to lie on a boundary that expectation is outside the dominant cultural frame”.

Therefore, setting women back in the beginning stages of Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Theory.

Brian Stults began to research studies on the Figure 4: The criminal is handcuffed

violence between youth and the correlation that it has on Messner and Rosenfeld Institutional Anomie

Theory. Stults found sated " As well as the results showed graduating high school represents an important developmental stage in American society, as it ends the compulsory education, and is often followed by a significant decline in daily need and extra resources from your parents”.

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2.4.5 Subcultural theory Following the Chicago school and strain theory, and also drawing on Edwin 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.

Albert K. Cohen tied anomie theory with Sigmund Freud's reaction formation idea, suggesting that delinquency among lower class youths is a reaction against the social norms of the middle class. Some youth, especially from poorer areas where opportunities are scarce, might adopt social norms specific to those places that may include "toughness" and disrespect for authority. Criminal acts may result when youths conform to norms of the deviant subculture.

Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin suggested that delinquency can result from a differential opportunity for lower class youth. Such youths may be tempted to take up criminal activities, choosing an illegitimate path that provides them more lucrative economic benefits than conventional, over legal options such as minimum wage-paying jobs available to them.

Delinquency tends to occur among the lower working-class males who have a lack of resources available to them and live in impoverished areas, as mentioned extensively by Albert Cohen (Cohen, 1965). Bias has been known to occur among law enforcement agencies, where officers tend to place bias on minority groups, without knowing for sure if they had committed a crime or not. Delinquents may also commit crimes in order to secure funds for themselves or their loved ones, such as committing an armed robbery, as studied by many scholars (Briar & Piliavin).

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. A further study by the Chicago school looked at gangs and the influence of the interaction of gang leaders under the observation of adults.

Sociologists such as Raymond D. Gastil have explored the impact of a Southern culture of honor on violent crime rates.

2.4.6 Control theories Another approach is made by the social bond or social control theory. Instead of looking for factors that make people become criminal, these theories try to explain why people do not become criminal. Travis Hirschi identified four main characteristics: "attachment to others", "belief in moral validity of rules", "commitment to achievement", and "involvement in conventional activities". The more a person features those characteristics, the less likely he or she is to become deviant (or criminal). On the other hand, if

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these factors are not present, a person is more likely to become a criminal. Hirschi expanded on this theory with the idea that a person with low self-control is more likely to become criminal. As opposed to most criminology theories, these do not look at why people commit crime but rather why they do not commit crime.

A simple example: Someone wants a big yacht but does not have the means to buy one. If the person cannot exert self-control, 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, deny themselves of what want or seek an intelligent intermediate solution, such as joining a yacht club to use a yacht by group consolidation of resources without violating social norms.

Social bonds, through peers, parents, and others can have a countering effect on one's low self-control.

For families of low socio-economic status, a factor that distinguishes families with delinquent children, from those who are not delinquent, is the control exerted by parents or chaperonage. In addition, theorists such as David Matza and Gresham Sykes argued that criminals are able to temporarily neutralize internal moral and social behavioural constraints through techniques of neutralization.

2.4.7 Psychoanalysis and the unconscious desire for punishment Psychoanalysis is the system of psychological theory and therapy looking towards the investigation of the conscious and unconscious mind elements, along with repressed memories that can be taken back into consciousness. Sigmund Freud talks about how the unconscious desire for pain relates to psychoanalysis in his novel, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, which was interpreted by Hubback. Freud looks

into

research

indicating

a

‘repetition

compulsion’ and a ‘death drive’ which is the unconscious impulse that one may get to become selfdestructive and actually have the ability to take over the creativity drive within someone. Phillida Rosnick, author of the article Mental Pain and Social Trauma, looks into the mental state of someone who has experienced extreme trauma. They discovered there Figure 5: Criminal Punishment

is a difference in the actions and thoughts of

individuals suffering traumatic unconscious pain and this corresponds to them having thoughts and feelings that are unlike their normal selves. By looking at the unconscious within a paranoid state of mind from trauma, there is a direct correlation to how this behaviour can cause criminals to act in deviant ways based on their brain structure and how their unconscious is taking information. Sander Gilman, the 08/12/2018 14:28

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author of the article Freud and the Making of Psychoanalysis, actually looks into the physical mechanisms of the human brain and the nervous system relating to the impulses that someone might feel and the impulses that might cause someone to unconsciously desire pain. Gilman speaks to Freud’s position on the various issues of the mind and the potential discovery from looking at the brain and interpreting data about the unconscious mind and the Eros within the brain. By looking at how psychoanalysis and the unconscious desire for pain relate to each other, there is more evidence as to how it can occur within criminals and how these impulses or the innate desires within an individual can ultimately be the cause of deviant acts.

3. Social network analysis 3.1 Symbolic interactionism Symbolic interactionism draws on the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and George Herbert Mead, as well as subcultural theory and conflict theory. This school of thought focused on the relationship between state, media, and conservative-ruling elite and other less powerful groups. 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; therefore, they were able to "label" minor delinquent youngsters as criminal. These youngsters would often take the label on board, 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. Stanley Cohen developed the concept of "moral panic" describing societal reaction to spectacular, alarming social phenomena (e.g. post-World War 2 youth cultures like the Mods and Rockers in the UK in 1964, AIDS epidemic and football hooliganism).

3.1.1 Labelling theory Labelling theory refers to an individual who is labelled in a particular way and was studied in great detail by Becker. It arrives originally from sociology but is regularly used in criminological studies. It is said that when someone is given the label of a Fi gure 6: Social Network Analysis

criminal they may reject or accept it and continue to commit crime. Even those who initially reject the

label can eventually accept it as the label becomes more well known, particularly among their peers.

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this stigmatization can lead to deviancy amplification. Malcolm Klein conducted a test which showed that labelling theory affected some youth offenders but not others.

3.2 Individual theories 3.2.1 Traitor theories At the other side of the spectrum, criminologist Lonnie Athens developed a theory about how a process of brutalization by parents or peers that usually occurs in childhood results in violent crimes in adulthood. Richard Rhodes' Why They Kill describes Athens' observations about domestic and societal violence in the criminals' backgrounds. Both Athens and Rhodes reject the genetic inheritance theories.

3.2.2 Rational choice theory Rational choice theory is based on the utilitarian, classical school philosophies of Cesare Beccaria, which were popularized by Jeremy Bentham. They argued that punishment, if certain, swift, and proportionate to the crime, was a deterrent for crime, with risks outweighing possible benefits to the offender. In Dei delitti e delle pene (On Crimes and Punishments, 1763–1764), Beccaria advocated a rational penology.

Beccaria conceived of punishment as the necessary application of the law for a crime; thus, the judge was simply to conform his or her sentence to the law. Beccaria also distinguished between crime and sin, and advocated against the death penalty, as well as torture and inhumane treatments, as he did not consider them as rational deterrents.

This philosophy was replaced by the positivist and Chicago schools and was not revived until the 1970s with the writings of James Q. Wilson, Gary Becker's 1965 article Crime and Punishment and George Stigler's 1970 article The Optimum Enforcement of Laws. Rational choice theory argues that criminals, like other people, weigh costs or risks and benefits when deciding whether to commit crime and think in economic terms. They will also try to minimize risks of crime by considering the time, place, and other situational factors.

Becker, for example, acknowledged that many people operate under a high moral and ethical constraint but considered that criminals rationally see that the benefits of their crime outweigh the cost, such as the probability of apprehension and conviction, severity of punishment, as well as their current set of opportunities. From the public policy perspective, since the cost of increasing the fine is marginal to that of the cost of increasing surveillance, one can conclude that the best policy is to maximize the fine and minimize surveillance.

With this perspective, crime prevention or reduction measures can be devised to increase the effort required to commit the crime, such as target hardening. Rational choice theories also suggest that

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increasing risk and likelihood of being caught, through added surveillance, law enforcement presence, added street lighting, and other measures, are effective in reducing crime.

One of the main differences between this theory and Bentham's rational choice theory, which had been abandoned in criminology, is that if Bentham considered it possible to completely annihilate crime (through the panopticon), Becker's theory acknowledged that a society could not eradicate crime beneath a certain level. For example, if 25% of a supermarket's products were stolen, it would be very easy to reduce this rate to 15%, quite easy to reduce it until 5%, difficult to reduce it under 3% and nearly impossible to reduce it to zero (a feat which the measures required would cost the supermarket so much that it would outweigh the benefits). This reveals that the goals of utilitarianism and classical liberalism have to be tempered and reduced to more modest proposals to be practically applicable.

Such rational choice theories, linked to neoliberalism, have been at the basics of crime prevention through environmental design and underpin the Market Reduction Approach to theft by Mike Sutton, which is a systematic toolkit for those seeking to focus attention on "crime facilitators" by tackling the markets for stolen goods that provide motivation for thieves to supply them by theft.

3.2.3 Routine activity theory Routine activity theory, developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence Cohen, draws upon control theories and explains crime in terms of crime opportunities that occur in everyday life. A crime opportunity requires that elements converge in time and place including a motivated offender, suitable target or victim, and lack of a capable guardian. A guardian at a place, such as a street, could include security guards or even ordinary pedestrians who would witness the criminal act and possibly intervene or report it to law enforcement. Routine activity theory was expanded by John Eck, who added a fourth element of "place manager" such as rental property managers who can take nuisance abatement measures.

3.3 Biosocial theories Biosocial criminology is an interdisciplinary field that aims to explain crime and antisocial behaviour by exploring both biological factors and environmental factors. While contemporary criminology has been dominated by sociological theories, biosocial criminology also recognizes the potential contributions of fields such as genetics, neuropsychology, and evolutionary psychology.

Aggressive behaviour has been associated with abnormalities in three principal regulatory systems in the body: serotonin systems, catecholamine systems, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis.

Abnormalities in these systems also are known to be induced by stress, either severe, acute stress or chronic low-grade stress.

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3.4 Marxist criminology In 1968, young British sociologists formed the National Deviance Conference (NDC) group. The group was restricted to academics and consisted of 300 members. Ian Taylor, Paul Walton and Jock Young – members of the NDC – rejected previous explanations of crime and deviance. Thus, they decided to pursue a new Marxist criminological approach. In the New Criminology, they argued against the biological "positivism" perspective represented by Lombroso, Hans Eysenck and Gordon Trasler.

According to the Marxist perspective on crime, "defiance is normal – Figure the sense that men are now consciously involved [...] in assuring their

7: Marxist criminology

human diversity”. Thus, Marxists criminologists argued in support of society in which the facts of human diversity, be it social or personal, would not be criminalized. They further attributed the processes of crime creation not to genetic or psychological facts, but rather to the material basis of a given society.

3.5 Convict Criminology Convict criminology is a school of thought in the realm of criminology. Convict criminologists have been directly affected by the criminal justice system, oftentimes having spent years inside the prison system. Researchers in the field of convict criminology such as John Irwin and Stephan Richards argue that traditional criminology can better be understood by those who lived in the walls of a prison. Martin Leyva argues that "prisonization" oftentimes begins before prison, in the home, community, and schools.

3.6 Queer Criminology Queer criminology is a field of study that focuses on LGBT individuals and their interactions with the criminal justice system. The goals of this field of study are as follows: •

To better understand the history of LGBT individuals and the laws put against the community.

•

Why LGBT citizens are incarcerated and if or why they are arrested at higher rates than heterosexual and cisgender individuals.

•

How queer activists have fought against oppressive laws that criminalized LGBT individuals.

•

To conduct research and use it as a form of activism through education.

3.6.1 Legitimacy The value of pursuing criminology from a queer theorist perspective is contested; some believe that it is not worth researching and not relevant to the field as a whole, and as a result is a subject that lacks a 08/12/2018 14:28

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wide berth of research available. On the other hand, it could be argued that this subject is highly valuable in highlighting how LGBT individuals are affected by the criminal justice system. This research also has the opportunity to “queer” the curriculum of criminology in educational institutions by shifting the focus from controlling and monitoring LGBT communities to liberating and protecting them.

4. 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 cannabis 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 blue-collar crime, corporate crime, organized crime, political crime, public order crime, state crime, state-corporate crime, and white-collar crime.

However, there have been moves in contemporary criminological theory to move away from liberal pluralism,

Figu re 8: Crime scene

culturalism and postmodernism by introducing the universal term "harm" into the criminological debate as a replacement for the legal term "crime".

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5. Subtopics Areas of study in criminology include:

5.1 Comparative criminology2 5.2 Crime prevention Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce and deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.

5.2.1 Studies Criminologists such as Gottfredson, McKenzie, Eck, Farrington, Sherman, Waller and others have been at the forefront of analysing what works to prevent crime.

Commissions and research bodies such as the World Health Organization, United Nations, the United States National Research Council, the UK Audit Commission have analysed their and others' research on what low Figure 9: Crime prevention

They agree that governments must go beyond law enforcement and criminal justice to tackle the risk factors that cause crime because it is more cost effective and leads to greater social benefits than the standard ways of responding to crime. Multiple opinion polls also confirm public support for investment in prevention. Waller uses these materials in Less Law, More Order to propose specific measures to reduce crime as well as a crime bill.

Some of the highlights of these authorities are set out below with some sources for further reading. The World Health Organization Guide (2004) complements the World Report on Violence and Health (2002) and the 2003 World Health Assembly Resolution 56-24 for governments to implement nine recommendations, which were: 1. Create, implement and monitor a national action plan for violence prevention.

2. Enhance capacity for collecting data on violence.

3. Define priorities for, and support research on, the causes, consequences, costs and prevention of violence.

4. Promote primary prevention responses.

2

The study of the social phenomenon of crime across cultures, to identify differences and similarities in crime patterns.

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5. Strengthen responses for victims of violence.

6. Integrate violence prevention into social and educational policies, and thereby promote gender and social equality.

7. Increase collaboration and exchange of information on violence prevention.

8. Promote and monitor adherence to international treaties, laws and other mechanisms to protect human rights.

9. Seek practical, internationally agreed responses to the global drugs and global arms trade.

The commissions agree on the role of municipalities, because they are best able to organize the strategies to tackle the risk factors that cause crime. The European Forum for Urban Safety and the United States Conference of Mayors have stressed that municipalities must target the programs to meet the needs of youth at risk and women who are vulnerable to violence.

To succeed, they need to establish a coalition of key agencies such as schools, job creation, social services, housing and law enforcement around a diagnosis.

5.2.2 Types Several factors must come together for a crime to occur: •

An individual or group must have the desire or motivation to participate in a banned or prohibited behaviour.

•

At least some of the participants must have the skills and tools needed to commit the crime.

•

An opportunity must be acted upon.

Primary prevention addresses individual and family-level factors correlated with later criminal participation. Individual level factors such as attachment to school and involvement in pro-social activities decrease the probability of criminal involvement.

Family-level factors such as consistent parenting skills similarly reduce individual level risk. Risk factors are additive in nature. The greater the number of risk factors present the greater the risk of criminal involvement. In addition, there are initiatives which seek to alter rates of crime at the community or aggregate level.

For example, Larry Sherman from the University of Maryland in Policing Domestic Violence (1993) demonstrated that changing the policy of police response to domestic violence calls altered the probability of subsequent violence. Policing hot spots, areas of known criminal activity, decreases the

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number of criminal events reported to the police in those areas. Other initiatives include community policing efforts to capture known criminals. Organizations such as America's Most Wanted and Crime Stoppers help catch these criminals.

Secondary prevention uses intervention techniques that are directed at youth who are at high risk to commit crime, and especially focus on youth who drop out of school or get involved in gangs. It targets social programs and law enforcement at neighbourhoods where crime rates are high. Much of the crime that is happening in neighbourhoods with high crime rates is related to social and physical problems.

The use of secondary crime prevention in cities such as Birmingham and Bogotá has achieved large reductions in crime and violence. Programs, such as, general social services, educational institutions and the police, are focused on youth who are at risk and have been shown to significantly reduce crime.

Tertiary prevention is used after a crime has occurred in order to prevent successive incidents. Such measures can be seen in the implementation of new security policies following acts of terrorism such as the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Situational crime prevention uses techniques focusing on reducing on the opportunity to commit a crime.

Some of techniques include increasing the difficulty of crime, increasing the risk of crime, and reducing the rewards of crime.

5.2.3 Situational and crime prevention Situational crime prevention (SCP) is a relatively new concept that employs a preventive approach by focusing on methods to reduce the opportunities for crime. It was first outlined in a 1976 report released by the British Home Office. SCP focuses on the criminal setting and is different from most criminology as it begins with an examination of the circumstances that allow particular types of crime. By gaining an understanding of these circumstances, mechanisms are then introduced to change the relevant environments with the aim of reducing the opportunities for particular crimes. Thus, SCP focuses on crime prevention rather than the punishment or detection of criminals and its intention is to make criminal activities less appealing to offenders.

SCP focuses on opportunity-reducing processes that: •

Are aimed at particular forms of crime.

•

Entail the management, creation or manipulation of the immediate environment in as organised and permanent a manner as possible.

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• Result in crime being more difficult and riskier or less rewarding and justifiable.

The theory behind SCP concentrates on the creation of safety mechanisms that assist in protecting people by making criminals feel they may be unable to commit crimes or would be in a situation where they may be caught or detected, which will result in them being unwilling to commit crimes where such mechanisms are in place. The logic behind this is based on the concept of rational choice - that every criminal will assess the situation of a potential crime, weigh up how much they may gain, balance it against how much they may lose and the probability of failing, and then act accordingly.

One example of SCP in practice is automated traffic enforcement. Automated traffic enforcement systems (ATES) use automated cameras on the roads to catch drivers who are speeding and those who run red lights. Such systems enjoy use all over the world. These systems have been installed and are advertised as an attempt to keep illegal driving incidences down. As a potential criminal, someone who is about to speed or run a red light knows that their risk of getting caught is nearly 100% with these systems. This completely disincentivizes the person from speeding or running red lights in areas in which they know ATES are set up. Though not conclusive, evidence shows that these types of systems work.

In a Philadelphia study, some of the city's most dangerous intersections had a reduction of 96% in red light violations after the installation and advertisement of an ATES system.

5.2.4 Applying SCP to information systems (IS) Situational crime prevention (SCP) in general attempts to move away from the "dispositional" theories of crime commission i.e. the influence of psychosocial factors or genetic makeup of the criminal, and to focus on those environmental and situational factors that can potentially influence criminal conduct.

Hence rather than focus on the criminal, SCP focuses on the circumstances that lend themselves to crime

commission.

Understanding

these

circumstances leads to the introduction of measures that alter the environmental factors with the aimFigure of

10: Security

reducing opportunities for criminal behaviour. Other aspects of SCP include: 1. Targeting specific forms of crime (e.g. cybercrime).

2. Aiming to increase the effort and decrease potential risks of crime.

3. Reducing provocative phenomena.

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5.2.5 Safeguarding Another aspect of SCP that is more applicable to the cyber environment is the principle of safeguarding.

The introduction of these safeguards is designed to influence the potential offender's view of the risks and benefits of committing the crime. A criminal act is usually performed if the offender decides that there is little or no risk attached to the act. One of the goals of SCP is to implement safeguards to the point where the potential offender views the act unfavourably. For example, if a driver approaches a traffic junction where there are speed cameras, he or she evaluates that there is a nearly 100% chance of being caught trying to run a red light, and hence slows down. The use of crime "scripts" has been touted as a method of administering safeguards. Scripts were originally developed in the field of cognitive science and focus on the behavioural processes involved in rational goal-oriented behaviour. Hence scripts have been proposed as tool for examining criminal behaviour. In particular the use of what is termed a "universal script" has been advanced for correctly identifying all the stages in the commission process of a crime.

5.2.5.1 Application to cybercrimes It has been suggested that cybercriminals be assessed in terms of their criminal attributes, which include skills, knowledge, resources, access and motives (SKRAM). Cybercriminals usually have a high degree of these attributes and this is why SCP may prove more useful than traditional approaches to crime.

Clarke proposed a table of twenty-five techniques of situational crime prevention, but the five general headings are: 1. Increasing the effort to commit the crime.

2. Increasing the risks of committing the crime.

3. Reducing the rewards of committing the crime.

4. Reducing any provocation for committing the crime.

5. Removing any excuses for committing the crime.

These techniques can be specifically adapted to cybercrime as follows: •

Increasing the effort.

•

Reinforcing targets and restricting access- the use of firewalls, encryption, card/password access to ID databases and banning hacker websites and magazines.

•

Increasing the risk.

•

Reinforcing authentication procedures- background checks for employees with database access, tracking keystrokes of computer users, use of photo and thumb print for ID documents/credit cards, requiring additional ID for online purchases, use of cameras at ATMs and at point of sale.

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• Reducing the rewards.

•

Removing targets and disrupting cyberplaces – monitoring Internet sites and incoming spam, harsh penalties for hacking, rapid notification of stolen or lost credit bankcards, avoiding ID numbers on all official documents.

•

Reducing provocation and excuses.

•

Avoiding disputes and temptations – maintaining positive employee-management relations and increasing awareness of responsible use policy.

Many of these techniques do not require a considerable investment in hi-tech IT skills and knowledge.

Rather, it is the effective utilization and training of existing personnel that is key.

It has been suggested that the theory behind situational crime prevention may also be useful in improving information systems (IS) security by decreasing the rewards criminals may expect from a crime. SCP theory aims to affect the motivation of criminals by means of environmental and situational changes and is based on three elements: 1. Increasing the perceived difficulty of crime.

2. Increasing the risks.

3. Reducing the rewards.

IS professionals and others who wish to fight computer crime could use the same techniques and consequently reduce the frequency of computer crime that targets the information assets of businesses and organizations. Designing out crime from the environment is a crucial element of SCP and the most efficient way of using computers to fight crime is to predict criminal behavior, which as a result, makes it difficult for such behavior to be performed. SCP also has an Fi gure 11: Cybercrime

advantage over other IS measures because it does not focus on crime from the criminal’s

viewpoint. Many businesses/organizations are heavily dependent on information and communications technology (ICT) and information is a hugely valuable asset due to the accessible data that it provides, which means IS has become increasingly important. While storing information in computers enables easy access and sharing by users, computer crime is a considerable threat to such information, whether committed by an external hacker or by an ‘insider’ (a trusted member of a business or organization).

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After viruses, illicit access to and theft of, information forms the highest percentage of all financial losses associated with computer crime and security incidents. Businesses need to protect themselves against such illegal or unethical activities, which may be committed via electronic or other methods and IS security technologies are vital in order to protect against amendment, unauthorized disclosure and/or misuse of information. Computer intrusion fraud is a huge business with hackers being able to find passwords, read and alter files and read email, but such crime could almost be eliminated if hackers could be prevented from accessing a computer system or identified quickly enough.

Despite many years of computer security research, huge amounts of money being spent on secure operations and an increase in training requirements, there are frequent reports of computer penetrations and data thefts at some of the most heavily protected computer systems in the world. Criminal activities in cyberspace are increasing with computers being used for numerous illegal activities, including email surveillance, credit card fraud and software piracy. As the popularity and growth of the Internet continues to increase, many web applications and services are being set up, which are widely used by businesses for their business transactions.

In the case of computer crime, even cautious companies or businesses that aim to create effective and comprehensive security measures may unintentionally produce an environment, which helps provide opportunities because they are using inappropriate controls. Consequently, if the precautions are not providing an adequate level of security, the IS will be at risk.

5.2.5.2 Application to sexual abuse Smallbone et al’s Integrated Theory of Child Sexual Abuse posits that it can be useful to study child sexual abuse as a situationally specific incident, and that on any particular occasion, a variety of different factors can influence whether that incident is likely to occur. One set of factors is situational factors, which form the immediate backdrop to the setting in which the abuse takes place. Situational factors, it is argued, can influence not just whether a person abuses a child, but whether the idea of abusing occurs to them in the first place. The particular opportunities and dynamics of a situation are said to present cues, stressors, temptations and perceived provocations, which trigger motivation. The consideration of situational factors leads to the argument that some offenders may be considered as ‘situational’, marking them out from other types. The ‘situational offender’ is someone who is not primarily attracted to children. Instead, he is stimulated to offend by specific behavioral cues or stressors, often while performing care-giving duties. The authors of the theory argue that modifying the situations experienced by children, through situational crime prevention strategies, could lower the likelihood of abuse, irrespective of the disposition of people who are likely to come into contact with children. The authors 08/12/2018 14:28

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concede that there has been little testing of situational interventions, which means there is little evidence to demonstrate their effectiveness.

An evaluation of a program which worked work mothers in London to reduce situational risk of child sexual abuse in the home illustrated some of the challenges that mothers faced in identifying and reducing situational risk: 1. Increasing understanding about abuse, how and Figu re 12: Sexual abuse where it happens.

2. Accepting the possibility of abuse at home and in the family.

3. Accurately assessing the risks posed to one’s own children.

4. Lowering known risks by negotiating with family members.

5.2.6 Situational crime prevention and fraud In computer systems that have been developed to design out crime from the environment, one of the tactics used is risk assessment, where business transactions, clients and situations are monitored for any features that indicate a risk of criminal activity. Credit card fraud has been one of the most complex crimes worldwide in recent times and despite numerous prevention initiatives, it is clear that more needs to be done if the problem is to be solved. Fraud management comprises a whole range of activities, including early warning systems, signs and patterns of different types of fraud, profiles of users and their activities, security of computers and avoiding customer dissatisfaction. There are a number of issues that make the development of fraud management systems an extremely difficult and challenging task, including the huge volume of data involved; the requirement for fast and accurate fraud detection without inconveniencing business operations; the ongoing development of new fraud to evade existing techniques; and the risk of false alarms.

Generally, fraud detection techniques fall into two categories: statistical techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques.

STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AL) TECHNIQUES

Grouping and classification to determine patterns and associations among sets of data.

Data mining – to categorize and group data and automatically identify associations and rules that may be indicative of remarkable patterns, including those connected to fraud.

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Matching algorithms to identify irregularities in Specialist systems to program expertise for fraud The transactions of users compared to previous detection in the shape of rules. profiles.

Data pre-processing techniques for validation, correction of errors and estimating incorrect or missing data.

Pattern recognition to identify groups or patterns of behavior either automatically or to match certain inputs.

Machine learning techniques to automatically detect the characteristics of fraud.

Neural networks that can learn suspicious patterns and later identify them.

5.3 Crime Statistics There are several methods for measuring the prevalence of crime. Public surveys are sometimes conducted to estimate the amount of crime not reported to police. Such surveys are usually more reliable for assessing trends. However, they also have their limitations and generally don't procure statistics useful for local crime prevention, often ignore offenses against children and do not count offenders brought before the criminal justice system.

Law enforcement agencies in some countries offer compilations of statistics for various types of crime.

Two major methods for collecting crime data are law enforcement reports, which only reflect crimes that are reported, recorded, and not subsequently cancelled; and victim study (victimization statistical surveys), which rely on individual memory and honesty. For less frequent crimes such as intentional homicide and armed robbery, reported incidences are generally more reliable, but suffer from underrecording; for example, no crimes in the United Kingdom sees over one third of reported violent crimes being not recorded by the police. Because laws and practices vary between jurisdictions, comparing crime statistics between and even within countries can be difficult: typically only violent deaths (homicide or manslaughter) can reliably be compared, due to consistent and high reporting and relative clear definition.

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The U.S. has two major data collection programs, the Uniform Crime Reports from the FBI and the National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. However, the U.S. has no comprehensive infrastructure to monitor crime trends and report the information to related parties such as law enforcement.

Research using a series of victim surveys in 18 countries of the European Union, funded by the European Commission, has reported (2005) that the level of crime in Europe has fallen back to the levels of 1990, and notes that levels of common crime have shown declining trends in the U.S., Canada, Australia and other industrialized countries as well. The Figure 13: Crime Statistics in the UK

European researchers say a general consensus identifies

demographic change as the leading cause for this international trend. Although homicide and robbery rates rose in the U.S. in the 1980s, by the end of the century they had declined by 40%.

However, the European research suggests that "increased use of crime prevention measures may indeed be the common factor behind the near universal decrease in overall levels of crime in the Western world", since decreases have been most pronounced in property crime and less so, if at all, in contact crimes.

5.3.1 Counting rules Relatively few standards exist and none that permit international comparability beyond a very limited range of offences. However, many jurisdictions accept the following: •

There must be a prima facie3 case that an offence has been committed before it is recorded. That is either police find evidence of an offence or receive a believable allegation of an offense being committed. Some jurisdictions count offending only when certain processes happen, such as an arrest is made, ticket issued, charges laid in Court or only upon securing a conviction.

•

Multiple reports of the same offence usually count as one offence. Some jurisdictions count each report separately, others count each victim of offending separately.

•

Where several offences are committed at the same time, in one act of offending, only the most serious offense is counted. Some jurisdictions record and count each and every offense separately, others count cases, or offenders, that can be prosecuted.

3

Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter or at first sight.

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• Where multiple offenders are involved in the same act of offending only one act is counted when counting offenses, but each offender is counted when apprehended.

•

Offending is counted at the time it comes to the attention of a law enforcement officer. Some jurisdictions record and count offending at the time it occurs.

•

As "only causing pain" is counted as assault in some countries, it let higher assault rates except in Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. But there are exceptions, like Czech Republic and Latvia. France was the contrasting exception having a high assault ration without counting minor assaults.

Offending that is a breach of the law but for which no punishment exists is often not counted. For example: Suicide, which is technically illegal in most countries, may not be counted as a crime, although attempted suicide and assisting suicide are.

Also, traffic offending and other minor offending that might be dealt with by using fines, rather than imprisonment, is often not counted as crime. However separate statistics may be kept for this sort of offending.

5.3.2 Surveys Because of the difficulties in quantifying how much crime actually occurs, researchers generally take two approaches to gathering statistics about crime.

However, as officers can only record crime that comes to their attention and might not record a matter as a crime if the matter is considered minor and is not perceived as a crime by the officer concerned.

For example, when faced with a domestic violence dispute between a couple, a law enforcement officer may decide it is far less trouble to arrest the male party to the dispute, because the female may have children to care for, despite both parties being equally culpable for the dispute. This sort of pragmatic decision-making asked if they are victims of crime, without needing to provide any supporting evidence.

In these surveys it is the participant's perception, or opinion, that a crime occurred, or even their understanding about what constitutes a crime that is being measured.

As a consequence, differing methodologies may make comparisons with other surveys difficult.

One way in which, while other types of crime are under reported. These surveys also give insights as to why crime is reported, or not. The surveys show that the need to make an insurance claim, seek medical assistance, and the seriousness of an offence tend to increase the level of reporting, while the inconvenience of reporting, the involvement of intimate partners and the nature of the offending tend to decrease reporting.

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This allows degrees of confidence to be assigned to various crime statistics. For example: Motor vehicle thefts are generally well reported because the victim may need to make the report for an insurance claim, while domestic violence, domestic child abuse and sexual offences are frequently significantly under-reported because of the intimate relationships involved, embarrassment and other factors that make it difficult for the victim to make a report.

Attempts to use victimisation surveys from different countries for international comparison had failed in the past. A standardised survey project called the International Crime Victims Survey Results from this project have been briefly discussed earlier in this article.

5.3.3 Classification While most jurisdictions could probably agree about what constitutes a murder, what constitutes a homicide may be more problematic, while a crime against the person could vary widely. Legislation differences often means the ingredients of offences vary between jurisdictions.

The International Crime Victims Survey has been done in over 70 countries to date and has become the 'de facto' standard for defining common crimes. Complete list of countries participating and the 11 defined crimes can be found at the project web site.

5.3.4 Measures More complex measures involve measuring the numbers of discrete victims and offenders as well as repeat victimisation rates and recidivism. Repeat victimisation involves measuring how often the same victim is subjected to a repeat occurrence of an offence, often by the same offender. Repetition rate measures are often used to assess the effectiveness of interventions.

5.4 Criminal behaviour 5.5 Criminal careers and desistance 5.6 Deviant behaviour In sociology, deviance describes an action or behaviour that violates social norms, including a formally enacted rule (e.g., crime), as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores). Although deviance may have a negative connotation, the violation of social norms is not always a negative action; positive deviation exists in some situations. Although a norm is violated, a behaviour can still be classified as positive or acceptable.

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Social norms differ from culture to culture. For example, a deviant act can be committed in one society but may be normal for another society.

Deviance is relative to the place where it was committed or to the time the act took place. Killing another human is generally considered wrong for example, except when governments permit it during warfare or for self-defence. There are two types of major deviant actions, mala in se or mala prohibits types.

5.6.1 Functions Figure 14: Deviant behaviour

Deviant acts can be assertions of individuality and identity, and thus as

rebellion against group norms of the dominant culture and in favour of a sub-culture.

Deviance affirms cultural values and norms. It also clarifies moral boundaries, promotes social unity by creating an us/them dichotomy, encourages social change, and provides jobs to control deviance. Certain factors of personality are theoretically and empirically related to workplace deviance, such as work environment, and individual differences.

5.6.2 Theories Three broad sociological classes exist that describe deviant behavior, namely, structural functionalism, symbolic interaction and conflict theory.

5.6.2.1 Structural-functionalism Social integration is the attachment to groups and institutions, while social regulation is the adherence to the norms and values of society. Those who are very integrated fall under the category of "altruism" and those who are not very integrated fall under "egotism�. Similarly, those who are very regulated fall under "fatalism" and those who are very unregulated fall under "anomie". Durkheim's theory attributes social deviance to extremes of the dimensions of the social bond.

Altruistic suicide (death for the good of the group), egoistic suicide (death for the removal of the self-due to or justified by the lack of ties to others), and anomic suicide (death due to the confounding of self-interest and societal norms) are the three forms of suicide that can happen due to extremes. Likewise, individuals may commit crimes for the good of an individual's group, for the self-due to or justified by lack of ties, or because the societal norms that place the Figure 15: Structural Functionalism

individual in check no longer have power due to society's corruption.

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Durkheim's concept:

useful in understanding deviance. Specifically, he

Durkheim (1858–1917) claimed that deviance was

viewed collective action as motivated by strain,

in fact a normal and necessary part of social

stress, or frustration in a body of individuals that

organization. When he studied deviance, he stated

arises from a disconnection between the society's

four important functions of deviance.

goals and the popularly used means to achieve those goals. Often, non-routine collective behavior

1. "Deviance affirms cultural values and norms. Any definition of virtue rests on an opposing idea of vice: There can be no good without evil and no justice without crime".

(rioting, rebellion, etc.) is said to map onto economic explanations and causes by way of strain. These two dimensions determine the adaptation to society according to the cultural goals, which are the society's perceptions about the

2. Deviance defines moral boundaries, people learn right from wrong by defining people as deviant.

ideal life, and to the institutionalized means, which are the legitimate means through which an individual may aspire to the cultural goals.

3. A serious form of deviance forces people to come together and react in the same way

Merton described 5 types of deviance in terms of

against it.

the acceptance or rejection of social goals and the

4. Deviance

pushes

society's

moral

boundaries which, in turn leads to social change.

institutionalized means of achieving them: 1. Innovation is a response due to the strain generated by our culture's emphasis on wealth and the lack of opportunities to get rich,

Merton's strain theory:

which

causes

people

to

be

"innovators" by engaging in stealing and

Robert K. Merton discussed deviance in terms of

selling drugs. Innovators accept society's

goals and means as part of his strain/anomie

goals but reject socially acceptable means

theory. Where Durkheim states that anomie is the

of achieving them. (e.g.: monetary success

confounding of social norms, Merton goes further

is gained through crime). Merton claims

and states that anomie is the state in which social

that innovators are mostly those who have

goals and the legitimate means to achieve them do

been socialized with similar world views to

not correspond. He postulated that an individual's

conformists, but who have been denied the

response to societal expectations and the means by

opportunities they need to be able to

which the individual pursued those goals were

legitimately achieve society's goals.

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2. Conformists accept society's goals

4. Retreatism is the rejection of both cultural

and the socially acceptable means of

goals and means, letting the person in

achieving them (e.g.: monetary success is

question "drop out". Retreatants reject the

gained through hard work). Merton claims

society's goals and the legitimate means to

that conformists are mostly middle-class

achieve them. Merton sees them as true

people in middle class jobs who have been

deviants, as they commit acts of deviance

able to access the opportunities in society

to achieve things that do not always go

such as a better education to achieve

along with society's values.

monetary success through hard work.

5. Rebellion

is

somewhat

similar

to

3. Ritualism refers to the inability to reach a

retreatism, because the people in question

cultural goal thus embracing the rules to

also reject both the cultural goals and

the point where the people in question lose

means, but they go one step further to a

sight of their larger goals in order to feel

"counterculture" that supports other social

respectable. Ritualists reject society's goals

orders that already exist (rule breaking).

but

institutionalized

Rebels reject society's goals and legitimate

means. Ritualists are most commonly

means to achieve them, and instead creates

found in dead-end, repetitive jobs, where

new goals and means to replace those of

they are unable to achieve society's goals

society, creating not only new goals to

but still adhere to society's means of

achieve but also new ways to achieve these

achievement and social norms.

goals that other rebels will find acceptable

accept

society's

5.6.3 Symbolic interaction Symbolic Interaction refers to the patterns of communication, interpretation and adjustment between individuals. Both the verbal and nonverbal responses that a listener then delivers are similarly constructed in expectation of how the original speaker will react. The ongoing process is like the game of charades, only it’s a full-fledged conversation.

The term "symbolic interactionism" has come into use as a label for a relatively distinctive approach to the study of human life and human conduct. (Blumer, 1969). With Symbolic interactionism, reality is seen as social, developed interaction with others. Most symbolic interactionists believe a physical reality does indeed exist by an individual's social definitions, and that social definitions do develop in part or relation to something “real”. People thus do not respond to this reality directly, but rather to the social understanding of reality. Humans therefore exist in three realities: a physical objective reality, a social 08/12/2018 14:28

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reality, and a unique. A unique is described as a third reality created out of the social reality, a private interpretation of the reality that is shown to the person by others (Charon, 2007). Both individuals and society cannot be separated far from each other for two reasons. One, being that both are created through social interaction, and two, one cannot be understood in terms without the other. Behaviour is not defined by forces from the environment such as drives, or instincts, but rather by a reflective, socially understood meaning of both the internal and external incentives that are currently presented (Meltzer et al., 1975).

Herbert Blumer (1969) set out three basic premises of the perspective: •

"Humans act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things”.

•

"The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society”.

•

"These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters”.

5.6.4 Sutherland's differential association In his differential association theory, Edwin Sutherland posited that criminals learn criminal and deviant behaviours and that deviance is not inherently a part of a particular individual's nature. When an individual's significant others engage in deviant and/or criminal behaviour, criminal behaviour will be learned as a result to this exposure. Also, he argues that criminal behaviour is learned in the same way that all other behaviours are learned, meaning that the acquisition of criminal knowledge is not unique compared to the learning of other behaviours.

Sutherland outlined some very basic points in his theory, including the idea that the learning comes from the interactions between individuals and groups, using communication of symbols and ideas. When the symbols and ideas about deviation are much more favourable than Figure 16: Edwin Sutherland

unfavourable, the individual tends to take a favourable view upon deviance and will resort to more of these behaviours.

Criminal behaviour (motivations and technical knowledge), as with any other sort of behaviour, is learned. Some basic assumptions include: •

Learning in interaction using communication within intimate personal groups.

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• Techniques, motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes are all learned.

•

Excess of definitions favourable to deviation.

•

Legitimate and illegitimate behaviours both express the same general needs and essential values.

One example of this would be gang activity in inner city communities. Sutherland would feel that because a certain individual's primary influential peers are in a gang environment, it is through interaction with them that one may become involved in crime.

5.6.5 Neutralization theory Gresham Sykes and David Matza's neutralization theory explains how deviants justify their deviant behaviours by providing alternative definitions of their actions and by providing explanations, to themselves and others, for the lack of guilt for actions in particular situations.

There are five types of neutralization: 1. Denial of responsibility: the deviant believes s/he was helplessly propelled into the deviance, and that under the same circumstances, any other person would resort to similar actions.

2. Denial of injury: the deviant believes that the action caused no harm to other individuals or to the society, and thus the deviance is not morally wrong.

3. Denial of the victim: the deviant believes that individuals on the receiving end of the deviance were deserving of the results due to the victim's lack of virtue or morals.

4. Condemnation of the condemners: the deviant believes enforcement figures or victims have the tendency to be equally deviant or otherwise corrupt, and as a result, are hypocrites to stand against.

5. Appeal to higher loyalties: the deviant believes that there are loyalties and values that go beyond the confines of the law; morality, friendships, income, or traditions may be more important to the deviant than legal boundaries.

5.6.6 Labelling theory Frank Tannenbaum and Howard S. Becker created and developed the labelling theory, which is a core facet of symbolic interactionism, and often referred to as Tannenbaum's "dramatization of evil". Becker believed that "social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance".

Labelling is a process of social reaction by the "social audience", (stereotyping) the people in society exposed to, judging and accordingly defining (labelling) someone's behaviour as deviant or otherwise.

It has been characterized as the "invention, selection, manipulation of beliefs which define conduct in a negative way and the selection of people into these categories [....]".

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Labelling theory, consequently, suggests that deviance is caused by the deviant's being labelled as morally inferior, the deviant's internalizing the label and finally the deviant's acting according to that specific label (in other words, you label the "deviant" and they act accordingly). As time goes by, the "deviant" takes on traits that constitute deviance by committing such deviations as conform to the label (so you as the audience have the power to not label them and you have the power to stop the deviance before it ever occurs by not labelling them). Individual and societal preoccupation with the label, in other words, leads the deviant individual to follow a selffulfilling prophecy of abidance to the ascribed label.

This

theory,

while

very

much

symbolically

interactionist, also has elements of conflict theory, as the dominant group has the power to decide what is deviant and acceptable and enjoys the power behind the labelling process. An example of this is a prison system Figur e 17: Labelling Theory

that labels people convicted of theft, and because of this

they start to view themselves as by definition thieves, incapable of changing. "From this point of view," as Howard S. Becker has written, Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an "offender". The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label.

In other words, "Behaviour only becomes deviant or criminal if defined and interfered as such by specific people in [a] specific situation." It is important to note the salient fact that society is not always correct in its labelling, often falsely identifying and misrepresenting people as deviants, or attributing to them characteristics which they do not have. In legal terms, people are often wrongly accused, yet many of them must live with the ensuing stigma (or conviction) for the rest of their lives.

On a similar note, society often employs double standards, with some sectors of society enjoying favouritism. Certain behaviours in one group are seen to be perfectly acceptable, or can be easily overlooked, but in another are seen, by the same audiences, as abominable.

The medicalization of deviance, the transformation of moral and legal deviance into a medical condition, is an important shift that has transformed the way society views deviance. The labelling theory helps to explain this shift, as behaviour that used to be judged morally are now being transformed into an objective clinical diagnosis. For example, people with drug addictions are considered "sick" instead of "bad".

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5.6.7 Primary and secondary deviation Edwin Lemert developed the idea of primary and secondary deviation as a way to explain the process of labelling. Primary deviance is any general deviance before the deviant is labelled as such in a particular way. Secondary deviance is any action that takes place after primary deviance as a reaction to the institutional identification of the person as a deviant.

When an actor commits a crime (primary deviance), however mild, the institution will bring social penalties down on the actor. However, punishment does not necessarily stop crime, so the actor might commit the same primary deviance again, bringing even harsher reactions from the institutions. At this point, the actor will start to resent the institution, while the institution brings harsher and harsher repression. Eventually, the whole community will stigmatize the actor as a deviant and the actor will not be able to tolerate this but will ultimately accept his or her role as a criminal, and will commit criminal acts that fit the role of a criminal.

Primary and Secondary Deviation is what causes people to become harder criminals. Primary deviance is the time when the person is labelled deviant through confession or reporting. Secondary deviance is deviance before and after the primary deviance. Retrospective labelling happens when the deviant recognizes his acts as deviant prior to the primary deviance, while prospective labelling is when the deviant recognizes future acts as deviant. The steps to becoming a criminal are: 1. Primary deviation.

2. Social penalties.

3. Secondary deviation.

4. Stronger penalties.

5. Further deviation with resentment and hostility towards punishers.

6. Community stigmatizes the deviant as a criminal.

7. Tolerance threshold passed.

8. Strengthening of deviant conduct because of stigmatizing penalties.

9. Acceptance as role of deviant or criminal actor.

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5.6.8 Control theory Control theory advances the proposition that weak bonds between the individual and society free people to deviate. By contrast, strong bonds make deviance costly. This theory asks why people refrain from deviant or criminal behaviour, instead of why people commit deviant or criminal behaviour, according to Travis Hirschi. The control theory developed when norms emerge to deter deviant behaviour. Without this "control", deviant behaviour would happen more often. This

Fi gure 18: Control Theory

leads to conformity and groups. People will conform to a group when they believe they have more to gain from conformity than by deviance. If a strong bond is achieved there will be less chance of deviance than if a weak bond has occurred. Hirschi argued a person follows the norms because they have a bond to society. The bond consists of four positively correlated factors: opportunity, attachment, belief, and involvement. When any of these bonds are weakened or broken one is more likely to act in defiance. Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi in 1990 founded their Self-Control Theory. It stated that acts of force and fraud are undertaken in the pursuit of self-interest and self-control. A deviant act is based on a criminal’s own self-control of themselves.

Containment theory is considered by researchers such as Walter C. Reckless to be part of the control theory because it also revolves around the thoughts that stop individuals from engaging in crime.

Reckless studied the unfinished approaches meant to explain the reasoning behind delinquency and crime. He recognized that societal disorganization is included in the study of delinquency and crime under social deviance, leading him to claim that the majority of those who live in unstable areas tend not to have criminal tendencies in comparison those who live in middle-class areas. This claim opens up more possible approaches to social disorganization and proves that the already implemented theories are in need or a deeper connection to further explore ideas of crime and delinquency. These observations brought Reckless to ask questions such as, "Why do some persons break through the tottering (social) controls and others do not? Why do rare cases in well-integrated society break through the lines of strong controls?" Reckless asserted that the intercommunication between self-control and social controls are partly responsible for the development of delinquent thoughts. Social disorganization was not related to a particular environment, but instead was involved in the deterioration of an individual’s social controls.

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the individual from committing acts of deviancy. Containment depends on the individual’s ability to separate inner and outer controls for normative behaviour.

More contemporary control theorists such as Robert Crutchfield take the theory into a new light, suggesting labour market experiences not only affect the attitudes and the "stakes" of individual workers, but can also affect the development of their children's views toward conformity and cause involvement in delinquency. This is an ongoing study as he has found a significant relationship between parental labour market involvement and children's delinquency, but has not empirically demonstrated the mediating role of parents' or children's attitude.[citation needed] In a study conducted by Tim Wadsworth, the relationship between parent's employment and children's delinquency, which was previously suggested by Crutchfield (1993), was shown empirically for the first time. The findings from this study supported the idea that the relationship between socioeconomic status and delinquency might be better understood if the quality of employment and its role as an informal social control is closely examined.

5.6.9 Conflict theory In sociology, conflict theory states that society or an organization functions so that each individual participant and its groups struggle to maximize their benefits, which inevitably contributes to social change such as political changes and revolutions. Deviant behaviours are actions that do not go along with the social institutions as what cause deviance. The institution's ability to change norms, wealth or status comes into conflict with the individual. The legal rights of poor folks might be ignored, middle class are also accepted; they side with the elites rather than the poor, thinking they might rise to the top by supporting the status quo. Conflict theory is based upon the view that the fundamental causes of crime are the social and economic forces operating within society. However, it explains white-collar crime less well.

This theory also states that the powerful define crime. This raises the question: for whom is this theory functional? In this theory, laws are instruments of oppression: tough on the powerless and less tough on the powerful.

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5.6.10 Karl Marx Marx4 did not write about deviant behaviour but he wrote about alienation amongst the proletariat—as well as between the proletariat and the finished product—which causes conflict, and thus deviant behaviour.

Many Marxist writers have the theory of the capitalist state in their arguments. For example, Steven Spitzer utilized the theory of bourgeois control over social junk and social dynamite; George Rusche was known to present analysis of different punishments correlated to the social capacity and infrastructure for labour. He theorized that throughout history, when more labour is needed, the severity of punishments decreases and the tolerance for deviant behaviour increases. Jock Young, another Marxist writer, presented the idea that the modern world did not approve of diversity, but was not afraid of social conflict. The late modern world, however, is very tolerant of diversity. But is extremely afraid of social conflicts, which is an explanation given for the political correctness movement. The late modern society easily accepts difference, but it labels those that it does not want as deviant and relentlessly punishes and persecutes.

5.6.11 Michel Foucault Michel Foucault5 believed that torture had been phased out from modern society due to the dispersion of power; there was no need any more for the wrath of the state on a deviant individual. Rather, the modern state receives praise for its fairness and dispersion of power which, instead of controlling each individual, controls the mass.

He also theorized that institutions control people through the use of discipline. "Race and ethnicity could be relevant to an understanding of prison rule breaking if inmates bring their ecologically structured beliefs regarding legal authority, crime and deviance into the institutional environment". For example, the modern prison (more specifically the panopticon) is a template for these institutions because it controls its inmates by the perfect use of discipline.

Figure 19: Michel Foucault

Karl Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist and socialist revolutionary.

5 Paul-Michel Foucault (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984), generally known as Michel Foucault, was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, social theorist, and literary critic.

4

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Foucault theorizes that, in a sense, the postmodern society is characterized by the lack of free will on the part of individuals. Institutions of knowledge, norms and values are simply in place to categorize and control humans.

5.6.12 Biological theories of deviance Praveen Attri claims genetic reasons to be largely responsible for social deviance. The Italian school of criminology contends that biological factors may contribute to crime and deviance. Cesare Lombroso was among the first to research and develop the Theory of Biological Deviance which states that some people are genetically predisposed to criminal behaviour. He believed that criminals were a product of earlier genetic forms. The main influence of his research was Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution. Lombroso theorized that people were born criminals or in other words, less evolved humans who were biologically more related to our more primitive and animalistic urges. From his research, Lombroso took Darwin's Theory and looked at primitive times himself in regard to deviant behaviours.

He found that the skeletons that he studied mostly had low foreheads and protruding jaws. These characteristics resembled primitive beings such as Homo Neanderthalensis. He stated that little could be done to cure born criminals because their characteristics were biologically inherited. Over time, most of his research was disproved. His research was refuted by Pearson and Charles Goring. They discovered that Lombroso had not researched enough skeletons to make his research thorough enough. When Pearson and Goring researched skeletons on their own they tested many more and found that the bone structure had no relevance in deviant behaviour. The statistical study that Charles Goring published on this research is called "The English Convict".

5.6.13 Other theories The Classical school of criminology comes from the works of Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham.

Beccaria6 assumed a utilitarian view of society along with a social contract theory of the state. He argued that the role of the state was to maximize the greatest possible utility to the maximum number of people and to minimize those actions that harm the society. He argued that deviants commit deviant acts (which are harmful to the society) because of the utility it gives to the private individual. If the state were to match the pain of punishments with the utility of various deviant behaviours, the deviant would no longer have any incentive to commit deviant acts.

6

Note that Beccaria argued for just punishment; as raising the severity of punishments without regard to logical measurement of utility would cause increasing degrees of social harm once it reached a certain point.

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5.6.14 Cross-cultural communication Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from different cultural backgrounds endeavour to communicate. All cultures make use of nonverbal communication, but its meaning varies across cultures. In one particular country, a non-verbal sign may stand for one thing, and mean something else in another culture or country. The relation of cross-cultural communication with deviance is that a sign may be offensive to one in one culture and mean something completely appropriate in another. This is an important field of study because as educators, business employees, or any other form of career that consists of communicating with ones from other cultures, you need to understand non-verbal signs and their meanings, so you avoid offensive conversation or misleading conversation. Below is a list of non-verbal gestures that are appropriate in one country, and that would be considered deviant in another.

Eye contact

Appropriate

In the United States when saying hello or talking to someone it is impolite to not look directly at the person.

In East Asian Inappropriate cultures, avoiding eye contact is considered polite.

A-Okay gesture Middle finger Thumbs up

In the United States the O.K. signal expresses approval.

In Japan the O.K. signal means that you are asking for money.

In the United States using your middle finger is very offensive.

Used in place of swearing or deliberately offensive verbal language.

Whistling

In the United States the thumbs up is used for hitchhiking, or approving of something.

In the United States whistling can express approval, as in cheering at a public event.

The thumbs up is a rude gesture in Nigeria.

In Europe whistling may be a sign of disapproval at public events.

These are just a few non-verbal cross-cultural communication signs of which one should be aware.

Cross-Cultural communication can make or break a business deal, or even prevent an educator from offending a student. Different cultures have different methods of communication, so it is important to understand the cultures of others.

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Shaving of heads after death of a family member is more common in some African cultures.

Proponents of the theory of a Southern culture of honour hold that violent behaviour which would be considered criminal in most of the United States, may be considered a justifiable response to insult in a Southern culture of honour.

5.6.15 Types Taboo is a strong social form of behaviour considered deviant by a majority. To speak of it publicly is condemned, and therefore, almost entirely avoided. The term “taboo” comes from the Tongan word “tapu” meaning "under prohibition", "not allowed", or "forbidden". Some forms of taboo are prohibited under law and transgressions may lead to severe penalties. Other forms of taboo result in shame, disrespect and humiliation. Taboo is not universal but does occur in the majority of societies. Some of the examples include murder, rape, incest, or child molestation.

Howard Becker, a labelling theorist, identified four different types of deviant behaviour labels which are given as: 1. "Falsely accusing" an individual - others perceive the individual to be obtaining obedient or deviant behaviours.

2. "Pure deviance", others perceive the individual as participating in deviant and rule-breaking behaviour.

3. "Conforming", others perceive the individual to be participating in the social norms that are distributed within societies.

4. "Secret deviance" which is when the individual is not perceived as deviant or participating in any rule-breaking behaviours.

5.6.16 The criminal justice system Police: The police maintain public order by enforcing the law. Police use personal discretion in deciding whether and how to handle a situation.

Research suggests that police are more likely to make an arrest if the offence is serious, if bystanders are present, or if the suspect is of a visible minority.

Courts: Courts rely on an adversarial process in which attorneys-one representing the

Fig ure 20: Criminal Justice System

defendant and one representing the Crown-

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present their cases in the presence of a judge who monitors legal procedures. In practice, courts resolve most cases through plea bargaining. Though efficient, this method puts less powerful people at a disadvantage.

Punishment: There are four jurisdictions for punishment: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, societal protection. Community-based corrections include probation and parole. These programs lower the cost of supervising people convicted of crimes and reduce prison overcrowding but have not been shown to reduce recidivism.

5.7 Evaluation of criminal justice agencies 5.8 International Crime Victims Survey The International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) is a large-scale international survey project about crime and victimization. The project was set up to fill the gap in adequate recording of offenses by the police for purposes of comparing crime rates in different nations and to provide a crime index independent of police statistics as an alternative standardized measure.

There have been 6 rounds of surveys to date (1989-1992-1996-2000-2004/05-2010). Surveys have been done on 80 countries and provides information about criminal victimization in 41 countries and 66 main(capital) cities from all continents.

5.8.1 European Survey on Crime and Safety The European Survey on Crime and Safety (EU ICS) is an EU funded project and builds on the ICVS methodology and the results are fully compatible with the ICVS. The EU ICS results have been published separately and in combination with the ICVS in other countries. prison management," and in this sense it is

5.9 Penology Penology7 is a sub-component of criminology that

equivalent with corrections.

deals with the philosophy and practice of various

Penology is concerned with the effectiveness of

societies in their attempts to repress criminal

those social processes devised and adopted for the

activities and satisfy public opinion via an

prevention of crime, via the repression or

appropriate

inhibition of criminal intent via the fear of

treatment

regime

for

persons

convicted of criminal offences.

punishment. The study of penology therefore deals

The Oxford English Dictionary defines penology

with the treatment of prisoners and the subsequent

as "the study of the punishment of crime and

rehabilitation of convicted criminals. It also

7

From "penal", Latin poena, "punishment" and the Greek suffix -logia, "study of".

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encompasses

LUCĂ?A RODA EXPĂ“SITO

aspects

probation

differ from many previous systems of punishment,

(rehabilitation of offenders in the community) as

for example, England's Bloody Code, under which

well as penitentiary science relating to the secure

the penalty of theft had been the same regardless

detention and retraining of offenders committed to

of the value stolen, giving rise to the English

secure institutions.

expression "It is as well to be hanged for a sheep

Penology concerns many topics and theories,

or a lamb". Subsequent development of the ideas

including those concerning prisons (prison reform,

of Beccaria made non-lethal punishment more

prisoner abuse, prisoners' rights, and recidivism),

socially acceptable. Consequently, convicted

as well as theories of the purposes of punishment

prisoners had to be re-integrated into society when

(deterrence,

their punishment was complete.

retribution,

of

incapacitation

and

rehabilitation). Contemporary penology concerns

Penologists

have

itself mainly with criminal rehabilitation and

occupational

and

prison management. The word seldom applies to

programs for offenders detained in prison, and a

theories and practices of punishment in less formal

range of community service and probation orders

environments such as parenting, school and

which entail guidance and aftercare of the offender

workplace correctional measures.

within the community. The importance of

5.9.1 History

inflicting some measure of punishment on those

Historical theories were based on the notion that

consequently psychological

evolved education

persons who breach the law is however maintained

fearful consequences would discourage potential

in order to maintain social order and to moderate

offenders. An example of this principle can be

public outrage which might provoke appeals for

found in the Draconian law of Ancient Greece and

cruel vengeance.

the Bloody Code which persisted in Renaissance

In modern times Penology has shifted from a

England,

capital

retributive based punishment to a form of

punishment was prescribed for over 200 offenses.

community corrections. "Community corrections

Similarly, certain hudud offenses under Sharia

involves the management and supervision of

hadith tradition may incur fearful penalties.

offenders in the community. These offenders are

when

(at

various

times)

and

serving court-imposed orders either as an

rehabilitation of offenders are broadly based on

alternative to imprisonment or as a condition of

principles articulated in the seminal pamphlet "On

their release on parole from prison. This means

Crimes and Punishments" published by Cesare,

they must report regularly to their community

Marquis of Beccaria in 1764. They centre on the

corrections officer and may have to participate in

concept of proportionality. In this respect, they

unpaid community work and rehabilitation

Modern

theories

of

the

punishment

programs.

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5.10 Victimology Victimology is the study of victimization, including the psychological effects on victims, relationships between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system—that is, the police and courts, and corrections officials—and the connections between victims and other social groups and institutions, such as the media, businesses, and social movements. Victimology is, however, not restricted to the study of victims of crime alone but may include other forms of human rights violations.

5.10.1 Victim of a crime In criminology and criminal law, a victim of a crime is an identifiable person who has been harmed individually and directly by the perpetrator, rather than by society as a whole. However, this may not always be the case, as with victims of white-collar crime, who may not be clearly identifiable or directly linked to crime against a particular individual. Victims of white-collar crime are often denied their status as victims by the social construction of the concept (Croall, 2001). The concept also remains a controversial topic within women's studies.

The Supreme Court of the United States first recognized the rights of crime victims to make a victim impact statement during the sentencing phase of a criminal trial in the case of Payne v.

Tennessee 501 U.S. 808 (1991).

Figure 21: Victimology

A victim impact panel, which usually follows the victim impact statement, is a form of communitybased or restorative justice in which the crime victims (or relatives and friends of deceased crime victims) meet with the defendant after conviction to tell the convict about how the criminal activity affected them, in the hope of rehabilitation or deterrence.

5.10.2 Consequences of crimes Emotional distress as the result of crime is a recurring theme for all victims of crime. The most common problems, affecting three quarters of victims, were psychological problems, including: fear, anxiety, nervousness, self-blame, anger, shame, and difficulty sleeping. These problems often result in the development of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Post crime distress is also linked to pre-

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existing emotional problems and sociodemographic variables. This has been known to become a leading case of the elderly to be more adversely affected (Ferraro, 1995).

Victims may experience the following psychological reactions: •

Increase in the realization of personal vulnerability.

•

The perception of the world as meaningless and incomprehensible.

•

The view of themselves in a negative light.

The experience of victimization may result in increasing fear on the part of the victim, and the spread of fear in the community.

5.10.3 Environmental theory The environmental theory posits that the location and context of the crime bring the victim of the crime and its perpetrator together.

Studies in the early 2010s showed that crimes are negatively correlated to trees in urban environments; more trees in an area are congruent with lower victimization rates or violent crime rates. This relationship was established by studies in 2010 in Portland, Oregon and in 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. Geoffrey Donovan of the United States Forest Service (USFS), one of the researchers, said, "trees, which provide a range of other benefits, could improve quality of life in Portland by reducing crime..." because "We believe that large street trees can reduce crime by signalling to a potential criminal that a neighbourhood is better cared for and, therefore, a criminal is more likely to be caught”. Note that the presence of large street trees especially indicated a reduction in crime, as opposed to newer, smaller trees. In the 2012 Baltimore study, led by scientists from the University of Vermont and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a "conservative spatially adjusted model indicated that a 10% increase in tree canopy was associated with a roughly 12% decrease in crime.... [and] we found that the inverse relationship continued in both contexts, but the magnitude was 40% greater for public than for private lands”.

5.10.4 Quantification of victim-proneness There have been some studies recently to quantify the real existence of victim-proneness. Contrary to the popular belief that more women are repeat victims, and thus more victim-prone than men, actually men in their prime (24- to 34-year-old males) are more likely to be victims of repeated crimes.

In the case of juvenile offenders, the study results also show that people are more likely to be victimized as a result of a serious offense by someone they know; the most frequent crimes committed by adolescents towards someone they know were sexual assault, common assault, and homicide.

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Adolescents victimizing people they did not know generally committed common assault, forcible confinement, and armed or unarmed robbery.

Sex workers are, anecdotally, thought to have an abnormally high incidence of violent crime committed against them, and such crimes go frequently unresolved, but there are few victimological studies of the matter.

5.10.5 Fundamental attribution error In social psychology, the fundamental attribution error (also known as correspondence bias or attribution effect) describes the tendency to over-value dispositional or personality-based explanations for the observed behaviours of others while under-valuing situational explanations for those behaviours. The term was coined by Lee Ross some years after a now-classic experiment by Edward E. Jones and Victor Harris (1967).

The fundamental attribution error is most visible when people explain the behaviour of others. It does not explain interpretations of one's own behaviour—where situational factors are often taken into consideration. This discrepancy is called the actor–observer bias. As a simple example, if Alice saw Bob trip over a rock and fall, Alice might consider Bob to be clumsy or careless (dispositional). If Alice later

Figure 22: Fundamental attribution error

tripped over the same rock herself, she would be more likely to blame the placement of the rock (situational). Victim proneness or victim blaming can be a form of fundamental attribution error, and more specifically, the just-world phenomenon.

The Just-world phenomenon is the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get, which was first theorized by Melvin Lerner (1977). Attributing failures to dispositional causes rather than situational causes, which are unchangeable and uncontrollable, satisfies our need to believe that the world is fair and we have control over our life. We are motivated to see a just world because this reduces our perceived threats, gives us a sense of security, helps us find meaning in difficult and unsettling circumstances, and benefits us psychologically. Unfortunately, the just-world hypothesis also results in a tendency for people to blame and disparage victims of a tragedy or an accident, such as victims of rape 08/12/2018 14:28

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and domestic abuse to reassure themselves of their insusceptibility to such events. People may even blame the victim's faults in "past lives" to pursue justification for their bad outcome 5.10.6 Victim facilitation Victim facilitation, another controversial sub-topic, but a more accepted theory than victim proneness, finds its roots in the writings of criminologists such as Marvin Wolfgang. The choice to use victim facilitation as opposed to "victim proneness" or some other term is that victim facilitation is not blaming the victim, but rather the interactions of the victim that make him/her vulnerable to a crime.

The theory of victim facilitation calls for study of the external elements that make a victim more accessible or vulnerable to an attack. In an article that summarizes the major movements in victimology internationally, Schneider expresses victim facilitation as a model that ultimately describes only the misinterpretation by the offender of victim behaviour. It is based upon the theory of a symbolic interaction and does not alleviate the offender of his/her exclusive responsibility.

In Eric Hickey's Serial Murderers and their Victims, a major analysis of 329 serial killers in America is conducted. As part of Hickey's analysis, he categorized victims as high, low, or mixed regarding the victim's facilitation of the murder. Categorization was based upon lifestyle risk (example, amount of time spent interacting with strangers), type of employment, and their location at the time of the killing (example, bar, home or place of business). Hickey found that 13–15% of victims had high facilitation, 60–64% of victims had low facilitation and 23–25% of victims had a combination of high and low facilitation. Hickey also noted that among serial killer victims after 1975, one in five victims were at greater risk from hitchhiking, working as a prostitute, or involving themselves in situations in which they often came into contact with strangers.

There is importance in studying and understanding victim facilitation as well as continuing to research it as a sub-topic of victimization. For instance, a study of victim facilitation increases public awareness, leads to more research on victim-offender relationship, and advances theoretical aetiologies of violent crime. One of the ultimate purposes of this type of knowledge is to inform the public and increase awareness so fewer people become victims. Another goal of studying victim facilitation, as stated by Maurice Godwin, is to aid in investigations. Godwin discusses the theory of victim social networks as a concept in which one looks at the areas of highest risk for victimization from a serial killer. This can be connected to victim facilitation because the victim social networks are the locations in which the victim is most vulnerable to the serial killer. Using this process, investigators can create a profile of places where the serial killer and victim both frequent.

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5.10.7 Victimization rate in United States The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a tool to measure the existence of actual, rather than reported, crimes—the victimization rate. The National Crime Victimization Survey is the United States' "primary source of information on crime victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of 77,200 households comprising nearly 134,000 persons on the frequency, characteristics and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. This survey enables the (government) to estimate the likelihood of victimization by rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft for the population as a whole as well as for segments of the population such as women, the elderly, members of various racial groups, city dwellers, or other groups". According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the NCVS reveals that, from 1994 to 2005, violent crime rates declined, reaching the lowest levels ever recorded. Property crimes continue to decline.

5.10.8 Victimization in Canada In Canada the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) is an independent resource for victims of crime. It was created in 2007 to ensure the federal government meets its responsibilities to victims of crime. The ombudsman provides information to victims about their rights under Canadian federal law, the services available to them, or to make a complaint about any federal agency or federal legislation dealing with victims of crime. The ombudsman also works to ensure that policy makers and other criminal justice personnel are aware of victims' needs and concerns and to identify important issues and trends that may Fi gure 23: Victimization in Canada

negatively impact victims. Where appropriate, the

Ombudsman

may

also

make

recommendations to the federal government.

5.10.9 International Crime Victims Survey Many countries have such victimization surveys. They give a much better account for the volume crimes but are less accurate for crimes that occur with a (relative) low frequency such as homicide, or victimless 'crimes' such as drug (ab)use. Attempts to use the data from these national surveys for international

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comparison have failed. Differences in definitions of crime and other methodological differences are too big for proper comparison.

A dedicated survey for international comparison: A group of European criminologists started an international victimization study with the sole purpose to generate international comparative crime and victimization data. The project is now known as the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS). After the first round in 1989, the surveys were repeated in 1992, 1996, and 2000 and 2004/2005.

5.10.10 Society as crime victim One train of thought supposes society itself is the victim of many crimes, especially such felonies as murder, homicide and manslaughter. Many lawyers, judges, and academics have espoused this sentiment. Some district attorneys feel they represent all of society, while others feel they represent the victims of the crime.

5.10.11 Penal couple The penal couple is defined as the relationship between perpetrator and victim of a crime. That is, both are involved in the event. A sociologist invented the term in 1963. The term is now accepted by many sociologists. The concept is, essentially, that "when a crime takes place, it has two partners, one the offender and second the victim, who is providing opportunity to the criminal in committing the crime”.

The victim, in this view, is "a participant in the penal couple and should bear some 'functional responsibility' for the crime”. The very idea is rejected by some other victimologists as blaming the victim.

5.10.12 Rights of victims In 1985, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. Also, the International Victimology Institute Tilburg (INTERVICT) and the World Society of Victimology developed a UN Convention for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.

The term victimology, in fact, denotes to the subject, which studies about the harms caused to victim in commission of crime and the relative scope for compensation to the victim as a means of redressal. In criminal jurisprudence, mere punishing of offender is not sufficient to redress the grievance of victim; there is need to compensate the loss or harms suffered by the victim. In Criminal Procedure Code, though provisions have been made in Section 357 to provide compensation to victims, who have suffered loss or harms in consequence to commission of offence. But what has been provided in Indian Law, as a compensatory measure to victims of crimes, is not enough and this aspect needs to be reviewed by the legislature to frame or enact necessary law, so as to sufficiently compensate to victims of crimes and to 08/12/2018 14:28

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provide safeguards to victims of crimes, besides compensating him in monetary terms. [S.P. Sharma, Advocate, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, December 2010].

6. Bibliography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_prevention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prima_facie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deviance_(sociology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Crime_Victims_Survey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimology#Society_as_crime_victim https://images.google.com/

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