Criminology Study Guide

Study Guide Chapter One 1) What is the difference between what is legal and what is illegal? 2) Illegal does not mean “criminal” 3) In order for something to be criminal it has to violate the laws (criminal laws) 4) What is the difference between Jail and prison? 5) You will go to Jail If you violate a Misdemeanor Law 6) You will go to Prison if you violate a Felony Law. 7) Difference between illegal and criminal 8) What is a law? It is a norm—Which is a Rule of Behavior. 9) Minor behaviors are called Folkways. 10) Major behaviors are Morays—which are a big deal that are legislated into law it depends upon the HARM if it is going to be a Civil Law or a Criminal Law. 11) What is Criminology? The study of Crime. 12) Criminology uses the Scientific Method, the nature, the extent, the cause and the control of breaking laws A crime. 13) Criminology is the study of the breaking of laws (crime), the making of laws, defining what is right what is wrong and how society reacts when a law is broken. 14) Is the method by which we punish crime effective? Sometimes what happens is societies reaction to when a crime is committed perpetrates further crime. 15) Looking at the History of Criminology at the beginning of Western Civilization 11th, 12th and 13th centuries people did not think much about crime. 16) People during this time in history believed that God, Man and earth were the center of the universe. They believed in order to go to heaven you had to go through 7 rings or spheres or go down through 7 spheres to go to hell. In those days if you got sick these believed that you had to pray hard to God to get well. If you did not get well it meant that you did not pray hard enough. 17) Today we believe if we get sick it is because of a virus, germs or bacteria. Two different ways of thinking about sickness based upon time in history. 18) The Middle Ages were also known as the Dark Ages—because man’s knowledge about the universe was in the dark and he was ignorant—knowledge was based upon superstition and fear. The way that people were punished then was based upon their relationship with God. If you were accused of being a witch, you were condemned to be burned at the stake if you burned then you were guilty because God didn’t save you. Sometimes they would tie a large stone around your feet and throw you into a lake and if you floated then you were not guilty. Some people were forced to hold a hot metal rod and if your skin burned then you were guilty. These are three examples of punishment in the Middle Ages. These are known as Trial by Ordeal. 19) In 1800’s is known as the Age of Enlightenment (Age of Reason) 1600’s to 1800’s people began to look for other reasons why things happened other than God said it so. During this period Rational and Reason was being used and the Sciences of Chemistry, Math, Biology etc. were born. People wanted to know why do people commit crimes. During the Dark Ages the belief was that people committed crime because they were born evil, or the offspring of the Devil. During the Age of Reason the belief became that people committed crime because they choose to do so out of their own “Free Will” Because of this criminologist had to figure out a way to deter people from committing crime by changing the way we punish. 20) Caesar xxxx said that Punishment should be proportional to the crime. If people know that they are going to be punished for breaking the law they will choose the offense with the least amount of punishment. Example of the girl going to a party. 21) Utilitarianism Jeromy Beckon said “As human beings we prefer pleasure over pain.” Punishment has to be proportional to the crime. 22) Classical School of Criminology People commit crime out of free will, if they are going to commit a crime we need to make the punishment severe enough so they choose the lease harmful crime. This school of Criminology was created during the 1800’s during the Age of Reason—at this time society is focused on science, discussion, reasoning, and rational thoughts. 23) How do you prove your idea using evidence? What is your idea for why something happened? It is called A Theory. How do you go about trying to prove that Theory? By doing an experiment. 24) During the Age of Reason people were using science to explain many things so the question was raised why can’t you use science to explain “Human Behavior” 25) August Compy Decided to study human behavior and society—why does society do the things that it does? Compay decided to use the Scientific Method to study humans—He called it “The Queen of All Sciences” Many people during the 19th century laughed at Compay’s idea because they felt that human behavior is unpredictable. It was determined that in Social Science you can predict what is most likely to happen—you cannot say that a certain thing will certainly happen. There are no absolutes in the Social Sciences—Criminology is a subset of Sociology. 26) Before the creation of the Social Sciences many people believed that man committed crime because he choose to do so out of “Free Will”—then the Positive School of Sociology was created. 27) Positive School of Sociology Believe that a person commits a crime because he was driven by a force (something in the brain, something in the body or environment) Sociologists look for all types of behavior that violate norms—specifically criminal laws. Behavior that violates a norm is called Deviant Behavior/Deviation. On the other hand, behavior that follows the norm is called normal. Society punishes people who deviate from the norm. 28) The level of Harm determines if a behavior is a crime. There is a difference between Deviant Behavior and Criminal Acts. There are certain factors which can make a behavior in one state a crime and not in another state. There are two factors which affect this determination (1) Geography—difference state to state. (2) Time—slavery, domestic violence, abortion, marijuana and euthanasia. 29) Consensus Model of Criminology We all agree on what is right and wrong then the law is a reflection of that agreement. 30) Conflict Model of Criminology It is not all of us who decide but only the people in power who decide what is right and what is wrong. The law is a tool used by the people in power to be used against the people with no power. 31) Legalization means that something used to be a crime but now it is not. 32) Decriminalization means it used to be a crime but now it is no longer a crime but you still have to follow certain laws. 33) Common law—are grandfathered in from a mother country. Our legal system is based upon Precedence—if something has already occurred and a way to punish for that crime we will deal in the same manner in the future. Legal decisions are based upon Precedence (Star Decius)—let the decision stand. 34) Statutory Law—Are laws that we have written on our own. 35) Malo en Sai—means evil in itself 36) Malo probeten—means it is bad because the law makes it bad. 37) Factors which are beyond a person’s control (1) Biological—talks about the physical body (2) Psychological—talks about the mind (3) Sociological—talks about the environment. 38) Biological—used to look at traits that are physical, in the dark ages they would look at phenology (study of the shape of the head) they would also look at the shape of the body to determine guilt or innocence 39) Psychological—Brain controls certain parts of the body, brain weighs only 2 pounds, sometimes brain damage, memory loss, that can force a person to act in a criminal manner.