HKU Open Day Talk Session:
Criminal and Deviant Lessons
Discovering Criminology
and Criminal Justice
Presented by:
Yujing Fun
Department of Sociology
Criminology and Criminal Justice
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Criminology
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An inter-disciplinary field that
attempts to understand crime
and why it occurs on an
individual and societal level
Criminal Justice
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Systems of practice and
organisations that are used to
maintain social order through
control of crime and deviance
Criminal Justice Procedure in Hong Kong
Criminal Justice Studies at HKU
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Understanding criminal justice studies:
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Looks into “how” the criminal justice system operates
Questions “why” it operates in this way
Programme aims:
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To foster students who wish to assume roles in Hong
Kong’s criminal justice system
To provide the tools to students interested in crime
and its control to critically dissect policies and
practices relating to crime
Three Paradigms of Criminology
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The Classical School
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The Positivist School
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Crime is freely chosen and individuals commit crime and
deviance because they find that it is logical to do so
Crime and deviance is caused by something that the individual
cannot control but makes him commit criminal acts
The Conflict School
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Crime and deviance is something that is created by the people
who have the power to make the law to control society with;
they can make anything a crime and anything not a crime
The Classical School
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Based on the idea that
people have “free will” and
crime and deviance is
something that a person
chooses to do
Believes that punishment
can deter, as long as it is:
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Severe enough
Certain enough
Swift enough
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794)
An Example of
the Classical School in Action
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Deterrence Theory
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Argues that people will be
deterred if punishments are
severe enough, certain
enough, and swift enough.
An Open Question for Open Day:
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The Death Penalty
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Does it work and is it an
effective deterrent?
Sentencing rally in Wenzhou, China
7th April, 2004
What We Know
About the Death Penalty
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Almost every study done on the topic has come to the following conclusion:
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The death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent to crime
But why? Isn’t death the ultimate punishment and therefore the
ultimate deterrence?
According to Amnesty International, China executed
at least 470 people in 2007, making China the world’s
number one user of the death penalty. Amnesty only
counted the executions it could undeniably verify which
means that the number is an absolute minimum.
Others, who used different means of estimation, place
the number at about 5,000; however, because China
regards the number of executions a state secret,
there is no official method of verification.
The Death Penalty
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Studies on effects on crime rates show that the
rates either stay the same, or they increase:
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Brutalisation factor
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Cultural normalisation
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People see that killing is not always wrong and could be a
solution to certain problems
People are unaffected by the death penalty because it has
become a part of their everyday lives
Attention seeking phenomenon
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Statistics show that, after a highly publicised execution is
delivered, there are many copycat crimes as certain people
try to gain public attention through similar methods
The Classical School
and Capital Punishment
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The Classical School argues that the death
penalty doesn’t help society fight crime and thus,
it has no reason to be used.
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Thus, it is an indefensible argument in terms of social
science, but the death penalty could be justified by
other means such as politics and religion.
A series of photographs showing an execution field in China
The Positivist School
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Believes that crime and
deviance is not something
an individual chooses, but
something they are
pushed into by:
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Biological factors
Psychological factors
Environmental factors
Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)
An Example of
the Positivist School in Action
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Functionalism:
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Crime and deviance is actually normal and
exists in all societies
They exist to show the moral boundaries of society
 They also exist in order to bring progress to society
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Compilation of murder rates all
across the world (Toit, 2006)
A Look at
Prostitution in Hong Kong
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Functionalism says there
is no way to get rid of
crime and deviance,
because it is necessary
to society.
Question: Is prostitution
a crime in Hong Kong?
Competitive prices on an
infamous “yellow” poster
Prostitution in Hong Kong
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The act of prostitution is, in
fact, legal in Hong Kong.
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It is the means to get a prostitute
that is illegal.
Consider the following:
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According to the Hong Kong Legal
Code Chapter 200 Section 141,
“one-woman brothels” (一樓一鳳)
are completely legal...
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But if there were two prostitutes
working in that apartment, it would
be illegal.
Turning a new leaf: A notice on the door
announces that this place in Mong Kok no
longer has any prostitutes inside
The Positivist School
and Prostitution
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Crime and deviance cannot be eliminated
because crime and deviance serves clear positive
functions in society.
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Prostitution sets moral boundaries in society
Prostitution encourages open debate, progressive
discussions and awareness about sex, sexuality, as
well as gender inequality
Movies that have covered the topic of prostitution in Hong Kong, thus raising awareness around concepts of sex and gender
The Conflict School
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Believes that crime and
deviance are not natural
things
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Instead, they believe that
crime and deviance only
exist because people with
enough authority call it a
crime and a deviance
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
An Example of
the Conflict School in Action
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A crime becomes a crime because of law
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Law is created and controlled by powerful
people, and it could be possibly abused to
serve their interests
Compare the following cases:
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If you and me stole about US$100 in South
Korea, our punishment would be:
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Three years imprisonment with labour
If you were Chung Mong-koo, chairman of
Hyundai, and stole US$100,000,000, your
punishment would be:
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Six-months community service
Chung Mong-koo was later pardoned
by the South Korean president
in August 2008
A Little Bit of Deviance
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Try to remember:
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What was your first thought to
what I am wearing when you first
realised I was today’s speaker?
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People normally consider my manner
of dress “unexpected” for someone in
my position, but why?
Because certain authoritative
people enforce what is “normal”
and “acceptable”
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And therefore, what is “right” and
what is “wrong”
From Deviance to Crime:
Regulating Dress Codes in the U.S.
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Normally, a poor dress code is considered
“bad taste”, or just simple deviance in dress
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But in some parts of the U.S., “fashion crime”
is a reality
Most of the recent legal action is an attack on
the “baggy pants” fashion
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In Riviera, Florida, wearing such clothes will
result in:
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States that already have such a law, include:
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US$150 (HK$1150) fine for a first offence
US$250 (HK$1900) fine for a second offence
60 days imprisonment from the third time on
Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida
States that are planning such a law, include:
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New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland,
Oklahoma, and New York
(Information accurate as of October 2007)
Some people in Hong Kong also adopt this
form of dress, but in some parts of the U.S.
it is a criminal offence
The Conflict School and Clothing
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Crime and deviance are tools that are used by
people in power to control those who cannot
stand up for themselves.
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The dress code that is being outlawed is usually worn
by the black community in America.
The law will therefore generally affect the black
population more, putting them onto the criminal
record and allowing the police to legally track them.
The use of the law reinforces the rejection of the
black community in America.
It is known that racism takes many forms; this particular form of racism is known as laissez-faire racism
Wrapping Things Up
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We have gone through:
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Criminal justice studies at HKU
The baby steps of understanding crime and
criminology
Yet, we have only scratched the surface of
the discipline...
A Segment for
Questions and Answers
(^__^)
We have successfully
reached the end!
WOOHOO~!!!
To find out more, please join us at the Department
of Sociology booth! (^__^”)
Have a very happy and mind-blowing Open Day!