Sociological Criminology,
Criminology & Cultural
Criminology
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For most of it’s history, almost all
criminology was sociological criminology
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Criminology was concerned with issues of
poverty, race and ethnicity
Also focused on the structure of communities
and social relationships
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In the past few decades, criminology has
moved away from a structural focus to
emphasize individualistic explanations
Disciplines such as biology and psychology
have also increased their engagement with
the study of crime.
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Other disciplines often fail to address
questions that sociologists view as central to
the examination of crime:
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1. Why do rates of crime differ across
locations and over time?
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2. why do rates of crime differ according to
the key factors in inequality such as race,
ethnicity, class and gender?
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3. How and why is the legal response to
crime shaped by race, ethnicity, class and
gender and other extra legal variables?
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A sociological perspective stresses that
people are social beings more than
individuals
This means that society profoundly shapes
their behavior, attitudes and life chances.
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People within a given
society growing up in
different locations and
within different social
networks and under
diverse socioeconomic
circumstances tend to
act and think differently
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Stressed that social
forces influence our
behavior and attitudes.
Studies of Suicide
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deviance affirms cultural values and norms
-condemning something as “deviant” clarifies
moral boundaries
-constructing an act as deviant can unify
social groups
-what is constructed as deviant may often be
reconstructed as a social or commercial good
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Refers to how a society is organized in terms
of social relationships and social interaction
Vertical and horizontal social structure
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Refers to the social and physical
characteristics of communities and the
networks of social relationships to which an
individual belongs.
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Refers to social inequality or how a society
ranks different groups of people.
Mills emphasized that social structure lives at
the root of “private troubles”
*example of employment
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>for Mills the ability to understand the
structural and historical basis for personal
troubles is an example of the “sociological
imagination”
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For much of European recorded history,
people attributed crime and deviance to
religious forces
Individuals committed crimes because God or
the gods were punishing or testing them
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During the Middle
Ages deviance was
blamed on the devil
In the 18th century, what is known as the
“classical school” of criminology stressed that
criminals rationally chose to commit crimes
after deciding that the potential rewards
outweigh the risks.
>scholars then suggested that legal
punishment needed to be severe enough only
to deter potential criminals from breaking the
law
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From Cesare Beccaria’s essay,
“On Crimes and Punishment”
four general principles can be
identified that typify the
classical doctrine:
Equality - All should be treated
equally under the law.
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Liberty - We have the right to be protected
from the potential abuses of power by the
state. The law cannot be applied
retroactively and there can be no
punishment without law.
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Utilitarianism – Because the major goal of the
state should be the greatest happiness for the
greatest number, justice should focus on
utility rather than retaliation and retribution.
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In the 19th century
scholars began to
investigate the causes of
criminal behavior through
scientific investigation
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Gathered and analyzed
crime data in France
Found that crime rates
remained fairly stable over
time and were higher for
young adults, men and the
poor
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The interest in the
social roots of crime
was eclipsed by
growing interest in the
biological roots of
crime
Public Opinion, the News Media and the
Crime Problem
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Democratic theory assumes that public
opinion should influence the decisions of
public officials
Is elite opinion as important or should it be?
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1. Crime is rampant
2. Crime is overly violent
3. people of color are more heavily involved
in crime and drugs and less likely to be crime
victims
4. teenagers are heavily involved in violent
crime
5. crime victims are particularly virtuous
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Accurate measurement of crime is essential
to understand geographical and demographic
differences in crime rates and gauge whether
crime is rising or falling.
How complete is the picture that our crime
data gives us??
Nation’s official crime source and is based on
police reports of crime to the FBI.
 Problems with UCR:
1. Many crime victims don’t report
2. Citizens may become more or less likely to report
crimes to police
3. Changes in how police record crimes may affect
stats
4. Police in different communities may have different
definitions and understandings of certain crimes
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Measures the nature and extent of
victimization
Began in early 70’s
Does not cover commercial crime and
respondents don’t always disclose
victimizations
Is it as accurate as the UCR??
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Focus mainly on adolescents and measures
the extent of their offending
How have self-report studies helped in the
development and testing of criminological
theory
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Study of Victimization limited usually to
street crime
Patterned geographically and
sociodemographically
What does data from National Crime
Victimization Survey Show? (pg 95)
What increases your chance of being
victimized?
What is the cost of victimization?