Expert answer:Mini Research
Solved by verified expert:From the different views on criminal behavior that you have read about
so far (attached), which one(s) do you feel are the most accurate / inaccurate for
explaining why crime occurs? Use at least one real world event to
support your argument.
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Module 1 Commentary
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Module 1: Crime, Criminal Law, and the Principles of Criminology
Criminology: Definitions and Description
The Nature and Extent of Crime
Victims and Victimization
What Is Criminology, and How Do Criminologists Define Crime?
As you work through this first module and the readings your instructor assigned, bear in mind these
questions:
What does crime mean? That is, how do we understand crime?
Is crime the result of rational choices, irrational choices, or both? Or is crime about the
absence of choices?
At this point, you don’t need to have a fixed answer to these questions. In fact, they are central
questions that will accompany you throughout this course.
As you think about them and discover how others have answered them, you should remember that
the way criminologists .mp4e questions and design studies have ethical dimensions. For example:
What should we study?
Whom should we study?
How should we conduct these studies?
Your textbook or other readings will explore these ethical dimensions in greater detail.
Criminology Basics: Criminology and Criminal Justice
You may wonder what unites and what separates the disciplines of criminal justice
and criminology.
Briefly, criminology as a field is interested in defining crime: what it is, what causes it,
how it affects society. Criminologists also look at how definitions of crime are related to
the legal system.
Criminal justice, on the other hand, focuses on agencies of justice, such as courts and
law enforcement agencies, and how they function.
Naturally, there is overlap between these two fields, which your assigned readings will
explain in greater detail.
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In short, criminology aims to understand the causes of crime; that is, why people violate criminal
laws.
Do all the questions that criminologists ask and their focus on defining the nature and effects of
crime make you think of theory? Well, criminology is not all theory: it has an applied side as well. In
fact, one major objective of criminology is the practical application of theory to control crime. By
understanding the causes of crime, criminologists seek to develop methods and processes aimed at
controlling criminal behavior.
Criminology Basics: Reflection Questions
Read and respond to Reflection Questions Set 1.1.
Ask the Experts: Criminologists Respond
How did you do answering the reflection questions in Set 1.1? Do you already
have solid opinions, or are you still searching for answers?
In either case, take a few minutes to learn how several experts in the field have
answered those same questions in Ask the Experts Activity 1.1.
Self-Report Surveys
What are some of the systematic ways that criminologists go about answering the questions found in
Reflection Questions Set 1.1?
One tool criminologists use to understand criminal behavior is the self-report survey. Self-report
surveys identify a series of relevant behaviors and ask the respondents to report how frequently they
engaged in those behaviors over a specified period of time.
Typical settings for the distribution of self-report surveys include high schools, colleges, and other
group settings. Respondents fill in the questionnaires anonymously.
For our purposes, we can examine self-report surveys to better understand how criminologists might
evaluate a person’s behavior and conduct in terms of criminal risk factors.
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Criminology Basics: Self-Report Survey
In the next exercise, you will see how three different people filled out a self-report
survey. You’ll also have a chance to evaluate their responses.
Are you ready to test one of the criminologist’s tools? Then look over the results of three selfreport surveys in this Survey Analysis Activity and think about the implications of each
subject’s responses.
The Practice of Criminology and Understanding Crime
Criminologists study crime and criminal behavior at both the individual and the social levels. A
number of elements are critical to this enterprise, including the gathering of crime data that are
valid, accurate, reliable, and relevant.
Criminologists also study the development of criminal laws and how legal systems serve to define
crime and impact our understanding of criminality.
To study these issues, criminologists have developed crime categories, or typologies, to help them
group similar types of criminal behaviors and crimes for study. Typologies make it easier for
criminologists to see the relationships between different kinds of crime and the people who commit
them, and to determine the nature and causes of patterns in crime. By studying theses findings,
criminologists gain insight into the possibility of predicting crime, and they find methods for
preventing or otherwise dealing with crime.
Criminologists are concerned with the correction and control of criminal behavior and the study of the
victims of crime. With respect to victims, criminologists seek to understand the causes and nature of
victimization, as well as the emotional, physical, and financial costs to victims of crime. They also
examine the ways society as a whole responds to and is affected by the needs of victims.
Criminology Basics: Using Typologies
Let’s look at how the U.S. Department of Justice uses typologies in its research.
Try this Using Typologies Activity 1.1 – Please go to My Tools -> Self Assessments
-> to complete this self assessment.
Now try the Using Typologies Activity 1.2.
Now that we’ve seen some of the ways crime can be categorized, and thus defined, let’s return to
one of our first questions: What is crime?
Criminal law serves to define both crime and punishment in a way that reflects the interests of those
who hold power. Inevitably, a study that seeks to define crime will deal with the concept of harm.
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Though some will argue for the existence of victimless crimes, most theories uphold the notion that
criminal behavior always carries with it some aspect of social harm.
Given that there are diverse groups within society and that these groups have both overlapping and
conflicting values, the notion of crime will change over time. Thus, there is a political dimension to
our understanding both of crime and of punishment. In essence, crime is a violation of the criminal
code of a society as defined by those who hold power. Such codes reflect the values of the society’s
lawmakers. Individuals who violate these codes of conduct are subject to punishment as determined
to be fair and proportional by the lawmakers of the society.
As you reflect on these issues in the readings, remember to ask yourself what can we learn from the
gathering of data concerning crime, and what it would take to effectively prevent or respond to
crime.
Ask the Experts: Criminologists Respond
Intrigued by the idea that our notions of crime evolve over time? Are you curious
how experts in the field interpret the many acts in our criminal code that our
considered illegal?
Are there any kinds of crime that need to be eliminated from the criminal code, or
at least significantly decriminalized? Hear what two criminology experts have to
say about that topic in Ask the Experts Activity 1.2.
Criminal Law
A study of contemporary criminal law reveals that definitions of criminality reflect an increasing
concern about demarcating the severity of a crime and, thus, setting appropriate punishments. This
point is illustrated in the commonplace division of crimes into felonies and misdemeanors.
Felony offenses, which include serious crimes such as murder and rape, are understood as meriting
imprisonment for periods of one year or longer, and in some cases the death penalty. However, a
large number of felonies, particularly those involving property crime, do not always result in
imprisonments of a year or longer. Minor or petty crimes, misdemeanors, such as petty theft and
disturbing the peace, are considered to merit shorter imprisonment, or fines in lieu of imprisonment.
Contemporary criminal law also is seen as a means to achieve certain kinds of social control, such as
deterrence of crime
punishment of criminals
maintenance of social order
safeguarding of societal values
The legal system is therefore understood as supporting the system of social values embodied within a
community, as interpreted by those who are in power.
Criminal law seeks to
connect the concepts of guilt and responsibility
define the responsibilities of an individual in society to either act or refrain from acting based
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on obligations and duties defined within the law
establish the considerations necessary to determine appropriate punishment for crimes
It is important to understand that criminal law is continually evolving, shaped by the changes in
social conditions within the community served by a given law. It is possible, and historically true, that
laws change to support opposing commitments to principles and values within society. The laws
concerning slavery in the United States serve as an example of such changes and the related
changing moral sensibilities concerning right and wrong behavior.
Criminal law is not the same as ethical or moral law, but it often does reflect the prevailing ethical
and moral values of those with power within a society. As the criminal law evolves, so does our
understanding of guilt. Many legal defenses have been developed based on the factors that are used
to determine guilt and responsibility within the criminal code.
Criminology Basics: Definitions of Legal Concepts
Your textbook provides you with one look at how common legal concepts are defined. A
criminologist seeks information from many sources before drawing conclusion, so try
this Legal Concepts Activity to see how another source defines these terms.
Return to top of page
The Study and Measurement of Crime
As we have seen, criminologists use a variety of tools and approaches to study crime. Their toolkit
includes surveys and studies to analyze and illuminate the relationships among characteristics of
criminals, characteristics of victims, and incidence of crime.
Criminologists also do fieldwork. We’ll look at each of these tools and approaches separately.
Surveys
Surveys may include self-report of crime by criminals, or they may provide information from the
victims of crime. When administered at correctional facilities, surveys become an effective means of
gathering information from the criminal population. Surveys may also be distributed to a diverse
population of subjects that represent the community being studied.
Surveys have several benefits. For instance, they
are more cost effective than fieldwork when dealing with large numbers of people or events
employ standardized language, which helps to avoid bias
can be used to study the past and the present, or to anticipate the future
As mentioned above, studies often focus on the relationships between the characteristics of criminals
and the characteristics of victims. In such surveys, it is often useful to study groups of individuals
that share a relevant characteristic, such as identified risk factors, over some period of time. A group
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of individuals who share a relevant characteristic is known as a cohort.
Criminology Basics: Cohorts
Let’s take a closer look at how the Bureau of Justice Statistics uses cohorts to gain
insight into crime and crime trends.
Try this Cohorts Activity.
Another tool for studying groups of individuals that share a common characteristic is the use of
official records that focus on social forces that affect crime. An example of this is the Uniform Crime
Report (UCR), compiled by the FBI based on crimes reported to local law enforcement agencies. It is
published annually and includes statistics describing overall crime in the United States, hate crimes,
and the killing and wounding of law enforcement officers.
Ask the Experts: Criminologists Respond
The Uniform Crime Report is rarely the focus of Hollywood depictions of FBI life.
How useful do real-life professionals find it?
Find out in Ask the Experts Activity 1.3.
Criminology Basics: Uniform Crime Reports
Now it’s your turn to analyze a UCR. Try this UCR Activity.
In addition to the UCR, a number of other important tools attempt to both categorize and measure
crime:
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Used in a number of states, this
system catalogs brief accounts detailing the nature of incidents (according to 22 crime
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patterns), victim information, and offender information.
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Conducted jointly by the Department of
Justice and the U.S. Census Bureau, the NCVS collects information from victims based on their
experiences with crime.
With any survey or reporting process, you must be careful to examine the reliability of the data as
well as its relevance to the questions being asked. An important task for the criminologist is to
evaluate the usefulness of this data and to develop better methods and more useful categories by
which to analyze crime.
Fieldwork
When the study of crime involves work done in the field, it may include any or all of the following:
observational techniques
interviews
review and analysis of statistics gathered from surveys
These activities play important roles in helping the criminologist understand crime and its effects,
because the techniques connect the criminologist to the environments in which crime occurs, and to
perpetrators and victims.
The focus of the fieldwork may be on offenders, victims, or witnesses. The fieldwork may also look at
the effect of crime on segments of the population, or on the population as a whole. For example, one
might study the effects of home burglaries or assaults on the perception of safety in the elderly.
Criminology Basics: Reflection Questions
Read and respond to Reflection Questions Set 1.2.
Crime: Trends and Patterns
Criminologists are concerned with a number of aspects of crime that can be studied through the
analysis of trends and patterns in crime. Crime trends track the rates at which crimes are committed
over time. Once crimes have been categorized by type, criminologists can study the relative
increases and decreases in specific kinds of crime and compare those to the overall crime rate.
In addition, criminologists can examine crime statistics for relationships or patterns within and among
different kinds of crime. For example, if specific factors or variables change, what is the effect on the
patterns and rates of a particular crime? If we establish pro.mp4s to decrease, for example, the entry
of juveniles into gang activity, how does that change affect violent and/or property crime within a
certain age group or in a specific community?
The study of crime trends involves the examination of the specific forces that affect criminal
behavior, such as the following:
environmental and ecological factors, such as temperature and rainfall
economic and social factors, such as income, family structure, age, and gender
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Factors may be studied in isolation, or they may be viewed in combination to determine the effect or
effects they have on each other. For example, criminologists might study how summer temperatures
affect crime rates, or they may study the relationship between summer temperatures and regional
economic development in relation to crime rates.
Criminology Basics: Reflection Questions
Read and respond to Reflection Questions Set 1.3.
Ask the Experts: Criminologists Respond
Theory can often seem dry. Many a student has wondered, “But how useful is
theory anyway? Does it have practical uses?”
Find out the opinions of several experts in Ask the Experts Activity 1.4.
Return to top of page
Crime Victims and the Nature of Victimization
What do we mean by the term victim? Who are the victims of crime?
The study of crime victims, victimology, encompasses a number of topics. Among these are
the effects of crime on the victim
the relationship between offender and victim
theories of victimization
the care that should be provided for victims
With respect to the effects of crime, victimologists study factors such as
economic loss
the physical and psychological effects
the difficulties victims experience within the criminal justice system
Although economic loss is often times a significant factor, you will find that often the most
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devastating long-term effects of victimization are on physical and emotional well-being.
In addition, alarmingly, some victims report experiences of “revictimization” at the hands of criminal
justice professionals. There have been instances where victims feel they are being blamed by police
or attorneys, or that their situation is poorly understood by those who are assigned to help them deal
with the criminal justice system and the personal impact of the crime.
Other long-term effects of victimization are a generalized fear concerning everyday activities and
situations, and an increased likelihood of committing crimes after becoming the victim of a crime.
Criminology Basics: Victims’ Rights in the United States and Europe
In this activity, we’ll compare victims’ rights in the United States to those in member
nations of the European Union.
Try this Rights Comparison Activity.
When criminologists look into the nature of victimization, they focus on
the individual characteristics of victims
the social circumstances affecting victimization
the relationships between victims and criminals
Theories of victimization enumerate a number of factors that affect victims, including lifestyle and
other risk factors.
Finally, the aspect of victimology that focuses on the care victims should receive includes an
examination of
victims’ rights and advocacy
service and support pro.mp4s
factors that either the individual or communities can control to minimize the risk of
victimization
Ask the Experts: Criminologists Respond
Theories about victims and victimization are, by necessity, couched in scientific
language. This language allows for analysis and policy development. But each
victim has a very personal story to tell, as well.
Listen now as two experts discuss their own personal stories in Ask the Experts
1.5, and hear how they turned tragedy into motivation to help others.
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A Study of the Nature of Victimization
Criminologists have identified a number of factors that affect the risks and probability of becoming a
victim of crime. One area of intense study is the relationship between and the differences among
single-instance victims and individuals who are victimized multiple times.
Understanding Victimization
Do individuals sometimes create the circumstances of their own victimization? For example, does
initiating a confrontation make it more likely that one will become the victim of a violent crime?
A number of theories seek to explain how and why individuals become the victims of crime. Some
theories fo …
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