M.A.

, CRIMINOLOGY AND
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
ADMINISTRATION
First Year – Non-Semester

MCCJN - 11

PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINOLOGY

TAMIL NADU OPEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY AND
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION
577, ANNA SALAI, SAIDAPET, CHENNAI – 15
JANUARY 2022
JANUARY 2022

Course Writer:

Dr.Anantharamakrishnan Senthivel ,M.Sc., PhD.,

Assistant Professor
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Administration
Tamil Nadu Open University
577, Anna Salai, Saidapet - 600015
Chennai ,Tamil Nadu.

© School of Criminology and Criminal Justice Administration

Tamil Nadu Open University

All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form without a written permission from Tamil Nadu
Open University 577, Anna Salai, Saidapet, Chennai-600015.

www.tnou.ac.in
MCCJN – 11 – PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINOLOGY

Syllabus

BLOCK I - INTRODUCTION

UNIT – 1 Concepts of Society

Culture, Norms, Conduct norms, Mores, Folkways,

Social deviance, Groups, Community, Social
organization and disorganization

UNIT – 2 Social structure and process, Crime, Criminal and

Criminology definitions – Historical development
(Ancient, Medieval and Modern) – Nature, origin and
scope – Criminology and its relationship to other
disciplines – Social construction of deviance and crime

UNIT – 3 Definition of victims of crime and victims of abuse of

power – Deviance – Primary and secondary deviance

UNIT – 4 Delinquency – Family disorganization and its

relationship with crime & Delinquency – Family as
primary group

UNIT – 5 Role of the family in the development of personality of

the child – primary and secondary deviance – truancy

UNIT – 6 Broken home conditions and its relationship with

delinquency – delinquent peer – substance abuse

BLOCK 2 Sociological & Social Learning theories

UNIT – 7 Chicago school – Ecology of crime, Concentric circle

theory – Community social disorganization and crime
by Sampson and Groves
UNIT – 8 Juvenile delinquency and urban areas – Crime,
unemployment, poverty, economic inequality and
relative deprivation

UNIT – 9 Crime and Economic conditions by Guerry and Quetlet

– Differential Association Theory (Sutherland) – Law of
Imitation (Tarde)

UNIT – 10 Crime theories Gender, power by Freda Adler,

Kathleen Daly - Techniques of Neutralisation (Sykes &
Matza)

UNIT – 11 Subculture of violence (Wolfgang & Feracutti) – peer

group pressure – prison sub-culture – Sutherland’s
theory

UNIT – 12 Learning Theories Social structure and anomie

(Merton) – Social bond theory (Hirschi) – Labelling
theory (Lemert)

BLOCK 3 Radical Criminology

UNIT – 13 Development of radical criminology – New

perspectives in criminology – Early Marxist views of
crime by Bonger

UNIT – 14 Historical materialism, mode or production, alienation

and class struggle by Marx – Lower proletariat, class,
state and crime by Quinney

UNIT – 15 Social capital and crime by Hagan – Analysis of

criminal justice system Chambliss & Seidman (Law,
order and power)

UNIT – 16 Turk’s theory of criminalization – Critical criminology by

Taylor, Walton & Young – Cultural distinctions
UNIT – 17 Multiple factor approach to crime causation - strain,
social learning, and control theories - Social
environment

UNUT – 18 Integrated structural Marxist theory of delinquency by

Colvin & Pauly – Recidivism – Labelling

BLOCK 4 Psychology of crime

UNIT – 19 Definition and scope of psychology; Application of

psychology to crime and delinquency

UNIT – 20 Concept of abnormality – Types of abnormal behaviour

– Abnormal behaviour and criminality – Psychological
disorders

UNIT – 21 Neuro-developmental disorders – Schizophrenia

spectrum and other psychotic disorders – Bipolar and
related disorders

UNIT – 22 Neurosis, psychosis, psychopathic personality –

therapeutic approaches – Depressive disorders–
Anxiety disorders

UNIT – 23 Behaviour therapy, psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy,

group therapy – Obsessive-compulsive and related
disorders

UNIT – 24 Trauma and stressor related disorders – Personality

disorders and other disorders – Classification of
disorders under DSM-5

BLOCK 5 Prevention of crime

UNIT – 25 Definition of concepts; History of crime prevention;

Primary, secondary and tertiary crime prevention; Fear
of crime.
UNIT -26 Theories of Crime Prevention: Routine Activity Theory,
Rational Choice theory, Broken Window theory.

UNIT – 27 Role of Criminal Justice System in Crime Prevention –

Crime Intervention – Patrolling – Surveillance

UNIT – 28 Methods of Crime Prevention – various types of beats

– community watch – collection of Information

UNIT – 29 Prevention of various types of crime against children,

women, elders, LGBT – prevention of secondary
victimization

UNIT – 30 Role of Community Policing in Crime Prevention –

Community policing – friends of police.

References for MCCJ-11 Principles of Criminology

1. Hagan, F. (2017). Introduction to Criminology (9th ed.). Los

Angeles: SAGE.

2. Chockalingam, K. (1997). ‘Kuttraviyal’ (Criminology) in Tamil.

Chennai: Parvathi Publications.

3. Hughes, G. (2002). Crime prevention and community safety:

New directions. London:Sage

4. Conklin, J. E. (2001). Criminology. New York: Macmillan

Publishing Company.

5. Hughes, G. (2002). Crime prevention and community safety:

New directions. London: Sage.

6. Siegel J. L. (2017). Criminology: Theories, patterns and

typologies (13th ed.). Sydney: Cengage Learning.

7. Allen, Harry E., Friday, Paul C., Roebuck, Julian B., &Sagarin,
Edward (1981).

8. Crime and punishment: An introduction to criminology. Free

Press: New York.
BLOCK 1 - PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

CONCEPTS OF SOCIETY

Criminology, which comprises the systematic, empirical study of crime,

criminals, and the criminal justice system, can also be related to sociology.
Here are some of the most basic concepts in sociology.

Culture, It can be defined simply as a design for living that is passed from
one generation to the next. One of the major components of a culture is its
norms. Norms are rules defining typical situations you can expect to
encounter and the behaviors expected in those situations. Every society not
only has norms but has sanctions--ways of pressuring people to obey these
norms through reward or punishment. All societies also have deviant
behavior, which is simply behavior that is contrary to the norms of a
particular society. The study of deviant behavior accounts for a good many
of the courses offered in the typical sociology department.

Crime is a particular type of deviant behavior, defined, of course, in

relation to laws, which are a sub-variety of norms. Barkan says
that laws are norms that are written or codified-what he calls formal
norms. German sociologist Max Weber, define law in terms of its method
of enforcement. Laws are those norms which can be enforced by socially
authorized coercion--in other words, in our society, by the police and the
courts. If you don't obey the laws, you can be arrested at gunpoint, and if
you resist, you can even be killed with society's approval. Of course, it
doesn't usually come to that, but always that is in the background as a
possibility.. Crime in turn is defined as behavior which is prohibited by the
law and for which some punishment is prescribed.

There are three elements of social norms, namely: Folkways, Mores, Law.
Folkways :

They are approved ways of behaviour which are passed from one
generation to another. They are norms that are looked upon by the
members of a society or a group within the same society as not being
extremely important and that may be violated without severe punishment
from the society or group. That is, folkways are the least important norms
which involve in everyday conventional routines.The principal
characteristics are that folkways are fairly weak norms sometimes called
“conventions” which are passed down from the past. The violation of
folkways is generally not considered as serious within a particular culture.

Mores:

These are norms that are looked upon by the members of a society or a
group within the same society as being extremely important and the
violation of which will normally result in severe punishment from the
society or group. They are norms which reflect moral and ethical
behaviours.Mores may include rules governing marriage partner selection.
For example, many societies require that mates must not be selected from
the same parents or family. Such marriage may be subjected to a range of
sanctions, including ex-communications from a church, and a refusal to
acknowledge the marriage as legitimate.So, mores are strongly held norms
whose violation would seriously offend the standards of acceptable
conduct.

Law :

Laws represent formalised norms that may derive from folkways or mores
and are enacted by lawmaking bodies in response to new or newly
recognised developments or needs. That is, laws are the folkways and
mores deemed so vital to dominant interests that they become translated
into written, legal formalisations that even non-members of the society are
required to obey. Sanctions are formally enforced and are carried out by
special officers who are charged with the purpose of maintenance of social
order in the society. These are derived from the basic ideas about what is
good or bad. These formalised principles of law are normally enforced
through the formal agencies of social control.

CRIMINOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER

DISCIPLINES:

The term ‘criminology’ is essentially concerned with the scientific study of

crime. It should not be confused with the science of criminal detection or
forensic science and forensic pathology. There is no direct linkage
between the detection of crime by the enforcement agents and the study of
crimes and criminal behaviour carried out by the criminologists.
Sometimes, however, there may be an indirect connection. The
criminologist usually focuses more on ‘how’ and ‘why’ crimes are
committed rather than ‘who’ did it, and providing proof of guilt.
“Criminology is best seen as a social science concerned with those aspects
of human behaviour regarded as criminal because they are prohibited by
the criminal law, together with such aspects of socially deviant behaviour
as are closely related to crime and may usefully be studied in this
connection” (Hall Williams, 1984). Simply put, criminology is the study of
crime and criminal behaviour. It is an interdisciplinary field of study which
analysis the aspects of a particular human behaviour.

The major branches of criminology are: Penology, the study of penal

sanctions or punishment; Victimology, the study and rehabilitation of the
victims of crime; Criminalistics, the methods of investigation and
detection of crime, especially the job of law enforcement agencies and
forensic experts; Administration of Criminal Justice involving the courts
and prisons; and Empirical Research, for analysing crime data with regard
to arrests, convictions and sentencing. As an academic field of study,
criminology includes other disciplines such as law, sociology, psychology,
psychiatry, medicine, economics, political science, geography, biology,
chemistry, history, public administration and anthropology. To study
crime, the criminologist tries to identify the individual and the society.
Therefore, the psychological, physiological, social as well as
environmental factors are important in determining why an individual
exerts criminal behaviour.

In defining criminology as a legal subject, Sykes defines criminology as

the study of the social origins of criminal law, the administration of
criminal justice, the causes of criminal behaviour, and the prevention and
control of crime. In this definition, the emphasis is on the function of law
and the efficacy of the administration of justice in the prevention and
control of crime. Sutherland and Cressey define criminology as the body
of knowledge regarding delinquency and crime as social phenomena.
According to them, criminology includes within its scope, the process of
making laws, of breaking laws, and the reacting to the breaking of law.
They conclude that criminology consists of the sociology of law, criminal
etiology and penology. This is the aspect of the subject of criminology in
sociology.

On the discussion of criminology as an inter- or intra-disciplinary subject:

the modern criminological ideology is composite, eclectic and
multidisciplinary. It is a body of systematically transmitted forms of
knowledge. The list of its central topics is long and diverse, and each topic
breaks down further into numerous sub-topics. The substantive areas have
adopted a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, drawing upon
the whole gamut of theoretical perspectives psychoanalysis; functionalism,
internationalism ethno methodology, Marxism, feminism, critical ethnic
theory, system theory, postmodernism, etc.

CRIMINOLOGY

Criminology is simply a science of crime. Criminology is best seen as a

social science which deals so much on the aspects of human behaviour.
Such study deals in conjunction with criminal law which prohibits such
behaviour, together with aspects of socially deviant behaviours which is
much closely related to crime. The fundamental focus of criminology is to
ascertain the criminal behaviour. This includes the ways the criminologist
perceives the offender.

CRIME

Crime is a particular form of deviance. It is a violation of a law. Laws are

the most formal of norms. Deviance relates to the violations of folkways
and mores, whereas the term ‘crime’ specifically refers to those behaviours
that violate norms encoded in the penal code or criminal laws. Punishment
for crime is therefore commonly harsher and more formalised than those
for breakers of the folkways and mores. But the punishments are not
necessarily uniformly applied and the patterns of inequality are quite
common.

According to Curzon (1973) “Crime is any act or omission resulting from

human conduct which is considered in itself or in its outcome to be
harmful and which the state wishes to prevent, which renders the person
responsible liable to some kind of punishment; the result of the
proceedings which are usually initiated on behalf of the state and which
are designed to ascertain the nature, extent and the legal consequence of
that person’s responsibility”.

CRIMINAL

A criminal should be understood as a person who has violated the criminal

law of the land and has been found guilty by a court of law and punished
accordingly. This is the legal phenomenon of the definition of criminal.
Another perspective, however, argues that anyone who violates the
criminal law should be deemed a criminal ,regardless of whether or not
they are apprehended ,tried ,and punished by a court of law.

Types of Criminals

As Clinard notes, criminal offenders are often classified, from a legal point
of view, by the type of the crime, such as murder, burglary, arson, rape or
embezzlement. In these instances , such criminals will be classified as
murders , burglars , arsonists , rapists or embezzlers respectively .At other
times ,criminals may be classified according to sex or age .But a good
number of offenders belong to career types , in which group or cultural
influences play a major role in the development of this offender-type ;e.g.
property offenders.

DEVIANCE

Deviance is a violation of norms of the land,-a deviation from or failure to

conform to the norms. Deviance ranges from the trivial to the acute – from
sleeping in class to committing murder. How others react to a deviant act
indicates how serious the violation is or whether or not people ignore or
disapprove of it. Some actions are regarded as deviant in some societies,
and not in others, while other actions are regarded as deviant in all
societies

Edwin Lemert (1989). Who classified deviance into two types: • primary
deviance refers to an initial action committed by an individual •
secondary deviance refers to the social reaction to the initial action.
Deviance is not the act, but the reaction. Equally, primary deviance can be
committed, but if no social reaction follows then the individual involved in
the act will not pass on to the second deviance stage – will not accept the
label.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN DEVIANCE AND CRIME

Deviance is a violation of the norms held by the society’s members while

crime is a particular form of deviance. That is, crime is a violation of a
law. Law is the most formal of norms. Norms are the defined obligatory
and expected behaviours of people in a given situation. That is, they are
rules. They include the folkways, the mores, and the laws which are
translated into a written legal code and enforced by the state. Therefore,
the term ‘deviance’ refers to the violations of folkways and mores while
‘crime’ refers to those behaviours that violate norms in the criminal and
penal codes. The punishments for crime are commonly harsh and more
formalised. But not everyone who engages in deviance is sanctioned, and
not everyone who is sanctioned receives the same kind of punishment.

Penology

Penology, as a major branch of criminology, deals with an important

aspect of the criminal justice process, that is, punishment, correction,
prevention and control of crime.

VICTIMS OF CRIMES

The United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims

of Crime and Abuse of Power (1985) defined victims as “persons who
individually or collectively have suffered harm including mental injury
emotional suffering economic loss or substantial impairment of their
fundamental rights through acts or omissions that are in violation of
criminal laws operative within member states including those laws
prohibiting criminal abuse of power “. The term “victim” also includes
where appropriate, the immediate family or dependent of the victim and
persons who have suffered harm in intervening to assist people in distress
or to prevent victimisation. A victim must have suffered from emotional,
psychological, economic and social loss. It can be personal injury, death,
loss of personnel and real property. Furthermore, a person is regarded as a
victim of crime “regardless of whether the perpetrator is identified,
apprehended, prosecuted or convicted and regardless of the familial
relationship between the perpetrator and the victim”. Victiminology is the
branch of criminology which is concerned with the scientific study of
victims. It is a science of social concern for the victims. Its scope includes
the scientific analysis of patterns, causal factors explored in the etiology of
the victimisation. It is unfortunate that most criminologists have
concentrated on the unidirectional perspective to the study of the offenders
only rather than the victims. Von Hentig, in his book “the criminal and his
victim”, suggested that certain individuals were ‘victim- prone’. This
assessment is based on the characteristics of interactions between the
victim and the offender. Marvin Wolfgang also agreed that causation of
the victims of crime is precipitated. He defined victim – precipitated
offences as those “in which the victim is a direct, position precipitator in
the crime”.

Categories of Victims

Different criminologists have classified victims using different approaches.

In this unit, we classify victims into five: Precipitative Victims: These are
victims in which the persons act as a direct and positive precipitators is the
crime. That is, their actions gave way for the conditions of their
victimisation. For example, a female student who expresses indecency in
her dressing may invite the trouble of being raped in the night.
Biologically Weak Victims: These are victims whose physical and mental
conditions are impaired. This state of condition makes it easy for the
offender to victimise them. This group includes the aged, the handicapped,
the child, the insane, imbeciles, etc. Victimless Crimes: they are referred
to as “crimes without victims”. They are crimes that victimise themselves
in the process and they are their own criminals, examples include
alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, etc. Political Victims: these are the
victims that suffer in the hands of the ruling class. This came as a result of
opposition to the political administration or power. Examples include the
late Dele Giwa, the late GaniFawehinmi, the Niger Delta Militants, etc.
Socio-Economically Weak Victims: These are victims that are regarded
by the larger society as full-fledged members, but are discriminated
against. Examples include the economically disadvantaged, the war
refuges, immigrants, the minorities, etc.

DELINQUENCY:

 Juvenile delinquents are minors, usually defined as being between

the ages of 10 and 18, who have committed some act that violates
the law. These acts aren’t called “crimes” as they would be for
 adults. Rather, crimes committed by minors are called
“delinquent acts.”

 Juvenile delinquency refers to the antisocial or criminal activity of

the child (below 16 years of age for boys and 18 years for girls)
which violates the law. In true context, that same activity would
have been a crime if it was committed by the adult.

Risk factors Research shows a small number of juveniles commit crime.

Furthermore, of those juveniles who do commit one or two offenses. For
these individuals, the experience of the juvenile justice system being
arrested by a law enforcement officer, facing their parents, having to spend
a night in juvenile hall, interacting with a probation officer or a judge is
enough to keep them from offending again.

Failure at school includes poor academic performance, poor attendance, or

more likely, explusion or dropping out of school. This is an important
factor for predicting future criminal behavior. Leaving school early
reduces the chance that juveniles will develop the “social” skills that are
gained in school, such as learning to meet deadlines, following
instructions, and being able to deal constructively with their peers.

Social Factors -- Changes in the social structure may indirectly affect

juvenile crime rates. For example, changes in the economy that lead to
fewer job opportunities for youth and rising unemployment in general.
This factor includes a history of criminal activity in the family. It also
includes juveniles who have been subject to sexual or physical abuse,
neglect, or abandonment. It is also manifested by a lack of parental control
over the child.

Family plays a very important role and influence the child in a greater
way. Nowadays families consist of one-parent households or two working
parents; consequently, children are likely to have less supervision at home
that was common in the traditional family structure. This lack of parental
supervision is thought to be an influence on juvenile crime rates. Other
identifiable causes of delinquent acts include frustration or failure in
school, the increased availability of drugs and alcohol, and the growing
incidence of child abuse and child neglect. All these conditions tend to
increase the probability of a child committing a criminal act, although a
direct causal relationship has not yet been established.

Families are important to consider when trying to explain juvenile

delinquency. The family unit is crucial to a child’s development and
healthy upbringing, in addition, much of what a child learns is through
their family or guardians. A criminal parent can teach their child adverse
lessons about life when their child views or witnesses their parent’s
delinquent behavior.

Peer can also teach an adolescent or child criminal behavior just as the
family member can. Family members and peers can also cause delinquent
patterns of behavior by labeling their child as delinquent. This is somewhat
of the “if the shoe fits, wear it” saying. If a child feels as though they are
viewed as delinquent, then they will act as such and find a sense of self-
esteem by doing so.

Treatment of Offenders ñ The juvenile justice system tries to treat and

rehabilitate youngsters who become involved in delinquency. The methods
can be categorized as community treatment, and institutionalization.

Family disorganization and its relationship with crime &

Delinquency:

Nuclear families and single-parent households. Increasingly, among

contemporary industrial societies, a nuclear family structure has been
idealized. Conversely, deviations from this structure have been blamed for
a variety of social problems, including delinquency.

The conviction that lack of paternal guidance causes delinquency

dominated early research in the field. High rates of broken homes among
incarcerated youths were taken as evidence supporting this assumption. In
the 1920s, for example, boys in New York State reformatories were shown
to be twice as likely to come from broken homes as boys in New York
City public schools. Studies in London, Chicago, rural California, and
Boston followed. These, too, showed that broken homes were more
common among incarcerated delinquents than among unselected
populations.If poverty causes crime and the incidence of broken homes is
greater among the poor, then broken homes might be incorrectly blamed
for causing crime.

Single parents often find it hard to get assistance. If they must work to
support themselves and their families, they are likely to have difficulty
providing supervision for their children. Poor supervision, like alcoholism
and criminality, seems to generate delinquency.

Careful study of the impact of differences in household composition shows

that in homes that lack fathers, grandmothers and other adult relatives are
protective against delinquency.

Social control theory postulates that bonds between parents and children
provide a basis for children to give up their immediate pleasures in
exchange for receiving distal rewards attached to socialized behavior.
Consistent discipline and supervision add social control to the internalized
bonds on the route toward forming well-socialized adolescents. The theory
gains support from a series of studies showing absence of parental
affection to be linked with delinquency. Furthermore, reductions in
delinquency between the ages of fifteen and seventeen years appear to be
related to friendly interaction between teenagers and their parents, a
reduction that seems to promote school attachment and stronger family
ties.
In sum, parental affection and reasonable parental control have been
shown to promote socialized behavior. Yet when children fail to receive
these early in their lives, substitutions have typically been ineffective. Of
course temperamental, physical, and intellectual differences sometimes
influence parenting. Therefore, children's characteristics may affect the
relationship between early parenting and later child problems. Parents who
are themselves aggressive and antisocial are the most likely to use harsh
punishments and to have children who are at heightened risk for
aggressive, antisocial behaviour.

Ways to Control Delinquency:

Prevention of juvenile delinquency involves the supression, removal or,

minimisation of those problems which are the causal problems which are
the casual factors of such delinquent behaviour in children. Prevention
should ideally begin in the family environment where the child learns his
first social skills. Family should provide a feeling of love, affection and
security which are absolute necessity for the growth of healthy, integrated
and whole personality. The child get satisfaction of his basic emotional
needs and companionship of his parents with who he can identify and
whom he can emulate. Similarly school which is another factor in
socialisation

Modern scientific researches reveal that if social and economic

development go hand in hand then juvenile delinquency be automatically
prevented. Following measures be adopted to prevent and control Juvenile
delinquency.

Family environment—Family environment should be such where parents

will discourage anti-social tendencies in their children by maintaining a
favourable atmosphere at home. They should guide their children is such a
way so a moral training is automatically done to make them morally high.

Neighbourhood & peer group relation—In second phase of development

of the children, their neighbour and peer-group relation plays and an
significant part. Parents must be aware of the effect of these relationship.
The early discovery and treatment of potential delinquents, and guidance
in the early stages. Prevents Juvenile delinquents from transforming into
adult criminals.

Disorganised and disintegrated society also tends children towards

delinquencies. Such slum area or, crime prone areas allures children to join
in criminal activities.

Good Governnance and legal reforms also prevents juvenile delinquenies.

UNIT 2 - SOCIOLOGICAL & SOCIAL LEARNING THEORIES

CHICAGO SCHOOL:

An Introduction to the Chicago School of Sociology The “Chicago

School” refers to a specific group of sociologists at the University of
Chicago during the first half of this century. Their way of thinking about
social relations was heavily qualitative, rigorous in data analysis, and
focused on the city as a social laboratory. This paper provides a brief
introduction to the school, as well as an overview of some of their most
central themes. An examination of the thought and practice of the Chicago
School must be sensitive to its socio-historical context. Thus, in order to
best understand the Chicago School, some inquiry into its background is
required. First, one must understand the period and the place. The
influential years of the Chicago School spanned from the turn of this
century until the late 1950’s, with its heyday between the first World War
and the end of the Great Depression, periods of great growth and change.
One significant trend during this period was the intensified population shift
from the rural, homogeneous, agrarian community to the vast,
heterogeneous, industrial metropolis. American cities were experiencing
explosive growth, and none more pronounced than Chicago, which during
this time period emerged as an “instant” metropolis. In the midst of this
urban dynamism, a new university was founded on the principles of
advanced research and given to iconoclastic experimentation. Athena-like
in birth, this university, the University of Chicago, harbored America’s
first department of sociology when it opened its doors in 1892. Second, it
is important to understand that the tenets of the Chicago School were a
distinct reaction against the state of American sociology of that day. The
often subjective, “arm-chair” philosophizing of such renowned scholars as
Giddings and Sumner was yielding little consistency in the formation of
social policy. The need for a paradigm shift in sociology was evident. The
Chicago School embraced many of the concerns of American sociology
(e.g. urban decay, crime, race relations, and the family), while adopting a
more formal, systematic approach data collection and analysis which had
been a trend in Germany to yield a “science” of sociology. The final
consideration is that of the particular, the personalities involved with the
Chicago School. Much of the Chicago School was shaped by the unique
interests, talents and gifts of its primary researchers. Not all faculty
associated with the department of sociology at the University may be
considered part of the Chicago School, but at least ten were integral.
(Figure 1 maps the relations among them). The core members were:
Albion W. Small, the founding department chair, provided an invaluable
link between German and American schools of sociological thought, being
held in high regard by both, and culled an inaugural faculty based on those
hybrid principles. One of the earliest students and appointments, William
I. Thomas, laid a firm foundation for the School with his urban interest and
rigorous qualitative methodology, as evidenced in his classic study of the
Polish Peasant. 2 Robert E. Park, a close friend and successor of Thomas,
became the central figure in the Chicago School. Arriving at sociology
through a circuitous route through philosophy, journalism, and an
assistantship with Booker T. Washington, Park brought to Chicago a
wealth of perspectives and urban themes. A strong proponent of urban
ecology, almost every aspect of city life fascinated him from race relations
to unions to ethnic neighborhoods to the role of the press. While he
personally published little of note, significant exceptions being his
collaborations with Ernest W. Burgess on The City and Introduction to the
Science of Sociology, he invested heavily in the progress of all graduate
students in the program. Burgess, with his interest in urban ecology and
geography, Louis Wirth with his acclaimed studies of immigrant
communities, and Ellsworth Faris with his strong theoretical ties with both
social psychology and anthropology rounded out the early faculty. Many
of the Chicago School faculty were alumni of the school, and this
remained true with the “second generation” of faculty which arrived in the
late 1930s. Everett C. Hughes, took on Park’s mantel as the central figure
in the School, continuing the tradition with diverse studies of occupation.
Also serving as important faculty were Herbert Blumer and W. Lloyd
Warner. Students in the 1950s formed the nucleus of the so-called second
Chicago School, including Howard Becker, Erving Goffman, Anselm
Strauss, Gary Fine, and others. There were additional researchers that were
also central to the Chicago School. The Chicago School relied heavily
upon the ideas of social psychology, specifically upon the concept of
symbolic interaction as outlined by George H. Mead, a colleague of John
Dewey.

The Central Themes of the Chicago School The Chicago School developed
a set of standard assumptions and themes in their work. This section
discusses the key assumption underlying the Chicago School’s research as
well as some of their more important themes.1 The primary assumption for
the Chicago School was that qualitative methodologies, especially those
used in naturalistic observation, were best suited for the study of urban,
social phenomena. This ethnographic closeness to the data brought great
richness and depth to the Chicago work. However, over-reliance on
qualitative methods, to the exclusion of reasonable quantitative measures,
later became one of the School’s greatest liabilities. To the Chicago School
the city itself was of utmost value as a laboratory for exploring social
interaction. For the Chicago School researchers, true “human nature” was
best observed within this complex social artifice. This notion of “man in
his natural habitat” introduces the first theme, that biological metaphor and
ecological models were apt framing devices for thediscussion of urban
social relations. These social structures could be viewed as a complex web
of dynamic processes, akin to components of an eco-system, progressing
towards maturity. While these models were powerful explanatory devices,
they were greatly oversimplified in their infancy. All too often a relative
homogeneity of structure was assumed where later researchers found the
situations to be significantly more diverse. The resulting ecological
models, then, emerged from actively examining the parallels between
natural and social systems. In an attempt to understand why development
and use varied over the city, land, culture and population were viewed as a
inseparable whole. Burgess was one of the main proponents of this
geographically based exploration and gradually developed a theory of ever
expanding, or maturing, concentric circles of land use within the city.
Other researchers struggled on a more micro-level with why certain areas
of the city attracted specific populations and exhibited particular patterns
of use. The rationale for this being confounded in the balance of
geography, land value, population and culture. They also explored the
notion of an ecological niche, or “natural area.” Wirth describes the
concept simply as “each area in the city being suited for some one function
better than any other.”2 Ethnic enclaves and low-income “slum” areas
were often the focus of study, with a multitude of factors involved in such
development. For Chicago School researchers, these natural areas rarely
existed in isolation; instead, the areas were constantly in symbiotic or
competitive relation with each other. Certain “invasions” into a stable
community, such as a new technology, policy or people group, would have
drastically different effects in different natural areas. For example
Reckless outlines the impact of mass transit in promoting both business
and “vice resorts” within the city,3 while McKenzie documents the demise
of small town relations with the introduction of a commuter rail line into
New York City.4 These natural areas were also always in a state of flux,
cycling through different developmental stages. One of the questions that
plagued the Chicago School was how, in such a new city, could decay be
so prevalent? Much research was dedicated to finding answers in the midst
of crime, homelessness, declining property values and the like. Wirth’s
observation of the decaying West Side, would be explained by Reckless’s
elaboration of Burgess’ zone theory into a model of “twilight
neighborhoods” where a cyclic declination of resident population and
inclination of vice activity eventually lead to its reclamation as a business
district.5 The second grouping of themes involves viewing specific group
relations within a more holistic web of contexts. In exploring how to best
describe the complex inter-group patterns of social interaction within
regions of the city, the early Chicago School proffered a notion of “social
worlds

Concentric Circle Theory

Imagine you wanted to convince a large population of people to do

something. For the sake of an interesting example, let's say you wanted
everyone to start wearing his/her shirt inside out. What should your tactic
be? If you stand in front of masses of people, show them your inside-out
shirt, and start yelling out all of its benefits (no itchy tag or rough hems
touching your skin!), your audience will likely ignore you or just roll their
eyes. You need a better way.

The job of public relations is to spread information to the public, and often
to persuade the masses to accept your version of events (like that shirts are
better inside out). To be able to spread that message, you need to know
how information moves among large populations of people.

For this, let us look to the Concentric Circle Theory, developed by pollster
Elmo Roper in the 1940s to explain how political opinions are shared
among the populace. The Concentric Circle Theory claims that ideas start
with Great Thinkers and that those ideas are then spread throughout the
population in circles, much like the ripple effect you see in water when a
rock is thrown in.

The Levels of Dissemination

Roper identified six specific levels of diffusion, which he envisioned as a

set of concentric (or nesting) circles. Let's look at each of these levels,
starting with the center and moving outward:

1. Great Thinkers - These are the originators of ideas. They are

influential and innovative. They spread these ideas to those
powerful people around them who tend to think similarly.
 2. Great Disciples - Disciples are people who have power and
influence themselves, but they are not the idea originators.
Rather, they are the students of the Great Thinkers or those
immediately influenced by the Great Thinkers' ideas.

3. Great Disseminators - The Great Disciples carry and share the

Great Thinkers' message to the Great Disseminators. These
disseminators believe in the ideas and seek to spread them, even
though they did not receive the messages directly from the Great
Thinkers, as the Great Disciples did.

4. Lesser Disseminators - These are people who wield more

localized influence (like pastors, community leaders, and
others).

5. Participating Citizens - These are the millions of people who

take an active part in politics or current affairs, but don't
necessarily hold leadership roles.

6. Politically Inert - These are the vast majority of people who

don't have strong opinions or activist roles, but who still vote,
buy products, or otherwise make decisions related to the original
ideas.

An Example of Diffusion

To use a concrete example most people have some familiarity with, let us
consider the spread of Catholicism using the Concentric Circle Theory:

1. Great Thinkers - Jesus Christ (and God, of course)

2. Great Disciples - The twelve disciples. They were Jesus's inner

circle, and they sought to spread his message and do his work.

3. Great Disseminators - High-ranking members of the Church,

like bishops. They spread the Church's message to their own
dioceses.
 4. Lesser Disseminators - Priests and missionaries. They spread the
messages to the basic population.

5. Participating Citizens - Church regulars and those who ardently

believe in the teachings of Jesus and the church. They receive
the message from the lesser disseminators.

6. Politically Inert - Catholics who do not attend regular services

and thus do not receive the ideas from the clergy.

SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION AND CRIME BY SAMPSON AND

GROVES

Social disorganization means breaking or dismantling or dispersing of the

social system, social institutions and social relationships. It increases
when there is no general agreement and individuals define the important
interests of the society in purely individualistic terms. When there is a
change in the equilibrium of forces or a breakdown of the social structure.

Social disorganization is a theoretical perspective that explains ecological

differences in levels of crime based on structural and cultural factors
shaping the nature of the social order across communities.

CRIMES BY SAMPSON AND GROVES

Since its initial formulation in the early twentieth century by two Chicago
sociologists, Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay, social disorganization has
become the most important theory in criminology for explaining
neighborhood crime and delinquency. Following its inception, a
substantial body of research developed examining the relationship between
neighborhood structural characteristics and neighborhood rates of crime.
Most of these early empirical studies, though, suffered from a number of
deficiencies. Some of the deficiencies were directly related to problems of
theory, for Shaw and McKay did not clearly differentiate among social
disorganization, its causes, and its consequences. Other deficiencies came
from problems of measurement. Researchers struggled with how best to
define, and capture, neighborhood and social disorganization. The lack of
clear theoretical explication and the difficulties inherent in testing the
theory inhibited development in the area of social disorganization for a
number of years. However, in 1989 Sampson and Groves proposed and
tested a model of social disorganization that overcame many of the past
difficulties. Beginning with a clear definition of social disorganization, the
inability of a neighborhood to achieve the common goals of its residents
and maintain effective social controls (Kornhauser 1978; Bursik and
Grasmick 1993), they drew from the original work of Shaw and McKay
(1942) and the more recent research of social-network theorists (Krohn
1986; Kasarda and Janowitz 1974) to develop a two-stage model of social
disorganization. The model predicts that neighborhood structural
characteristics, such as low socio-economic status, residential mobility,
racial heterogeneity, and family disruption, are exogenous sources of
social disorganization that lead to the disruption of local social
organizations. The disruption of local organizations (i.e., social
disorganization), they argued, is characterized by weak local friendship
networks, low organizational participation, and unsupervised teenage
groups. The model then predicts that social disorganization limits the
capacity of neighborhoods to regulate and control behavior, which
contributes to higher rates of crime and delinquency. In addition to
Neighborhood Characteristics and Crime 2 their indirect effects through
social disorganization variables, neighborhood structural characteristics
are also hypothesized to have direct effects on neighborhood crime and
delinquency. The significance of Sampson and Groves’ work goes beyond
the clarity of their theoretical model. It also centers on the methodological
improvements their test of the model makes over past research. First, by
including measures of intervening variables, their test represents a more
complete test of social disorganization ideas than previous work. While
previous research focused primarily on the direct impact of neighborhood
structural characteristics on crime (see Kornhauser 1978 for a review),
Sampson and Groves were able to examine the importance of
neighborhood organizational characteristics (e.g., local friendship
networks, organizational participation, teenage peer groups) as intervening
factors. Second, Sampson and Groves use self-reports of both criminal
offending and criminal victimization to measure crime. Previous studies
relied predominately on official crime data, which are likely to be
influenced by differences in police activities across neighborhoods.
BLOCK 2 - CAUSES OF SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION

Psychological factors: include the social processes like imitation, conflict,

competition, accommodation.

Cultural factors: maladjustment in the existing institutions, cultural lag,

cultural conflict. Biological factors : include population explosion,
interracial marriages, inter caste marriages. physical factors:include
storms, earthquake, sea currents, tsunami etc. Social Problems include
unemployment., corruption. Degeneration of values includes wars,
criminality suicides etc. Others causes includes confusion of roles, lack of
proper planning etc

PERSONAL DISORGANIZATION

Personal disorganization refers to breakdown in institutional control and

group consensus. A disorganized person is one who is unbalanced,
uncoordinated and one sided.

STAGES OF PERSONAL DISORGANIZATION

First Stage: In the first stage there is a problem and the individual
attempts to find a solution. But if the individual fails to find a solution, he
loses his stability.

Second Stage: If there is no satisfactory solution , the individual will enter

the second stage of disorganization. Here the individual remails
permanently unadjusted.

Third Stage: This stage lead to insanity or suicide.

CAUSES OF PERSONAL DISORGANIZATION

Biological factors: These include difficulties arising out of functional

disorder e.g physical illness, injury, mental deficiencies.
Environment factors: This includes situations like economic distress,
confussion. Insecurity of status and role: when there is lack of recognized
and accepted status this further results in disorganization.

Social Crisis: It include loss of property , death of bread winner etc

FAMILY DISORGANIZATION

Family disorganization include any type of non- harmonios functioning

within the family. Family disorganization thus comprises not only the
tentions between husband and wife but also between the siblings and
parents and children and husband and wife. When the intimate
relationships between the family members breaks down.

PERSONAL CAUSES

Romantic Fallacy:

when there is disparities in temperament, attitudes, habits, social status etc

which often make the marriage unpleasant. Clasing temperaments,
Philosophy of life, Personal Behaviour Patterns and Psychopathic
personalities.

Social and cultural factors

Sheer poverty , Business Reverses , Economic independence of the wife,

Occupational tensions, Difference in cultural background, Disparity in
age, Ill- health, Parent child relationship, Interference of in-laws.
INTRODUCTION

CRIMINOLOGY AS A FIELD OF STUDY

Criminology like crime is varied and has competing perspectives the

variety of perspective should be considered in the light of the social
context of the production of intellectual knowledge e.g. the production of
knowledge is itself a social and material process.

When any kind of knowledge is produced we must ask who has control
over this process not only the production of knowledge itself but also the
ownership and use of the results of research and scholarship knowledge
also has distinctive international dimension e.g. in the field of criminology
each country may have its own unique social concerns political traditions
historical developments and hence its own theoretical emphasis and biases.

Cutting across all these debates in each of the regions however have been a
series of general issues relating to the nature of the crime and the social
control of crime. While informs that criminologists do not every
criminologist is a theorist contemporary criminology is a dual nature and
the one land many people adopt what could be called a vocational
professional approach to criminology in this view the role of criminology
is tied to improving the immediate practices of the criminal justice system.
This approach seeks to study analyse and research alternative theories in
order to institute reform of some kind. Generally its directed at making
some aspects of the criminal justice system better at some level e.g. a
Programme an institution or an administrative difficulty within the
exciting system, on the other hand there is a strand of criminology in
which the emphasis is on a critical of analytical approach unlike the
previous approach its not concerned with suggestion minor changes within
the existing frame works of criminal justice rather it is suggested that one
must stand from policy decisions and ask the bigger question. This
approach considers the deeper philosophical issues of the day. Why do we
continue to have and use institutions such as prisons when they have
shown that they do not work to prevent offending or re offending.

The approach here is not to suggest improvements of the existing penal

systems but to question whether it is valid or viable to begin with. Indeed
an informed opinion might simply advocate the abolition of such
institutions in their present shape and form.

Criminology focus on three main areas:

 Sociology of law

Which examines social aspects and institution of law

  Theories of causation

Which are sometimes referred to as Criminogenesis

  Social responses to crime

Which examines in more depth the formal institutions in criminal justice

such as police, courts and corrections.

DEFINING CRIME

There is no straight forward answer to the question what is crime, instead

we find they is constantly changing ideas, perceptions and conceptions
regarding what constitutes criminal behaviour to a certain extend both
crime and criminology and uncertain in the sense that ones definition is
crime is defendant upon ones particular interest and particulars world
view.

There is competing views of crime, crime is always socially defined this of

course can lead to debate e.g. should crime always be defined by law?
Could or should it be instead be based upon moral and social conceptions:
such as social harm to illustrate the difficulty surrounding the different
definitions of crimes between consider the film school idlers list the move
is based on real life school idlers broke nazi law in order to assist Jewish
people. Question is was he a criminal?

Who defines the law?

What about cases today where people may actively break the law in the
name of social justice?

There are many injustice systems in the word and it may well be the case
that many legal definitions are build on highly contentious and unjust or
unfair prepositions.

LEGAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF CRIME

There are many diverse conceptions of crime each of which reflects a

different scientific and ideological viewpoint. Hagan J in his book modern
criminology 1987 e.g. identifies seven different approaches to the
definition to a human sights definition:

  A formal legal definition of crime is one, which says that what

the state identifies as a crime is a crime. I.e. if something is
written into the criminal law and is subject to state sanction in
the form of a specific penalty then that activity is a crime.

  A social harm conception of crime involves both criminal

offenses and civil offenses in that each type of action or inaction
brings with it some type of harm it should attract some sat of
penalty.

  Across cultural universal norm argument, which states that

crime in essence does not vary across different cultures thus
murder, is murder regardless of the society.

  A labeling approach to definition of crime which argues that

crime only exists when these has been a social response to a
particular activity that labels that activity as criminal. If there is
no label there is in effect no crime.
  Human rights approach crime occurs whenever a human right
has been violated regardless of the legality or otherwise of the
action such a conception also expands the definition of crime to
include oppressive practices such as racism, sexism, tribalism
and class based exploitation.

  A human diversity approach, which defines crime in terms of

the manner in which deviance represents a normal response to
oppressive or unequal circumstances. The major focus here is on
power relations and attempts by dominant groups to restrict
human diversity of experience, language and culture. The
variation in definition often has real consequences upon how
different types of behavior is dealt with at the practical level e.g.
on violence Hagan J in his book Explain violence he says “ in
the home parents hit children, on the playing held sports men
assault each other, at work industrial accidents occur, in our
community dangerous chemicals are dumped our government
turn a blind eye to the practices of some police officers and our
government are responsible for the mass s violence of war

How violence is perceived and responded to by criminal justice institutions

depends very much upon a range of political and social factors, crime is
not inherent in an activity it is defined under particular material
circumstances and in relation to specific social processes.

HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF CRIME

While criminologist may argue about the definitions of crime ultimately it

is the legal definition of crime that determines how we as a society
respond to certain acts. But we might ask who actually makes the law and
why are they made whose interest are reflected in those laws, how are they
enforced in line with the broad theme of the variability of definitions of
crime its also useful to acknowledge that legal definitions of crime
themselves change overtime.
The law itself is thus socially produced and it is not static as it changes so
does the defination of crime. In this sense we can say that morality itself is
variable at least in so fax as it is reflected in the laws of a country. What is
legally defined as crime varies according to social and historical context
e.g. in 1530 England the existed the crime of being a vagabond which in
effect meant that a person was unemployed and idle if so identified could
be branded a criminal figuratively and literally they would burn his sight
ear with a hot iron and if it were over 18 yrs it could be hang if u did not
obtain employment with two years in this law was later expanded to
include homeless and poor people in the 17th century the crime of
witchcraft was the commonest in Europe crime was constructed in terms
of religion and referred to conduct allegedly against the Christian God
such laws by large targeted women particularly those who displayed
electric and secretive tendancies as a means of controlling empirical and
their knowledge. Crime is an offence of the time.

POPULAR MEDIA IMAGES OF CRIME

The media have a significant influence on general portrayal of crime in

society. The images that permeate popular consciousness of crime and
mainly generated by and reflected in the electronic and print media
obviously the media have a big impact in terms of low crime is generally
defined in society. According to the media in both fictional and factual
types of programs and supporting crime tends to be defined primarily as
street crime e.g. rape, murder assault and is associated with personal terror
and tear and violence is seen as central.

Crime is sensationalized with important implications for the fear of crime

among certain sections of the population. This year is heightened by way
crime is seen to be random in nature with anyone and everyone a possible
target for victimization, as well there is of then the idea that crime is
related to morality and specifically to the decline of that morality.
Furthermore the criminal is distinctive and identifiably different from
everyone else in society. Overall the idea is that there is a continuing law
and order problem in society and that things constantly getting worse
against this tide of disorder and lawlessness the police and other crime
fighters and generally portrayed as super heroes who can do no wrong and
who use violence legitimately in order to counter the violence of the street.

The media is important not only in shaping our definition of crime and
crime control but in producing legal changes and reinforcing particular
types of policing strategies e.g. there can be moral panics generated by the
media on problems such as youth gangs which may lead to changes in the
law like into curfews and adoption of certain police methods.

Its been demonstrated that interest of police and media are entwined they
have a symbiotic relationship in that the media rely upon the police for
much of their in for police use the media to portray certain images relating
to their work. In countries like UK the media will adopt a protective view
of police and policing practices. It is important therefore to separate the
images and realities of crime in societies the media shapes our perception
of crime and in the process is that the media often portrays crime in terms
of district crime waves. This refers to the way in which increased reporting
of particular types of crime visually comes such as assault, rape, homicide,
increases.

The public awareness of this crime

Significantly there need not have been an actual increase in the crime for a
crime wave to occur. The increase exists only in public perception
nevertheless crimes waves can do have real consequences regardless of
factual basis. E.g. extensive media coverage of child abuse may lead to
charges in the law, such as the intro of mandatory reporting of suspected
incidents or the fear generated by press coverage may lead to calls for
more police, tougher sentences, greater police power son given the close
relationship between police and the media. Major question can be asked as
to who benefits from the selective reporting of specific crimes.
MEASURING CRIME

Given the limitations and problems of relying upon media definitions and
treatment of crimes its reasonable to accept that any statement made about
crime should be tested by referring to the facts about crime. This usually
means that we need to confirm particular crime trends and consider official
data on criminal activity. However even here there are difficulties with
how crime is defined for what we measure depends upon how we define
crime and how we see the criminalization process. Infact criminologists
are not united in their approach to crime and crime statistics. For our
purposes we can identify 3 broad strands within criminology but deal with
the measurement issues.

Realistic approach

Adopts the view that crime exists out there in society and that the dark
figure of crimes needs to be uncovered and recorded. There are limitations
to the gathering of official statistics such as reliance solely on police
records of reported offences. And the role of criminology is to supplement
official statistics. Those generated by the police, court and prison
authorities. Through a range of informal or alternative measures. The
emphasis is on the problem of omission to uncover the true or real extend
of crime by methods such as victim surveys, hidden cameras etc.

Institutionalist approach

Adopts the view crime is a social process, regrets the nation that we can
unproblematically gain sense real extent of crime by improving our
measuring devices and techniques. This approach concentrates instead on
the manner in which officials institutions of crime control actually process
suspects and thus define certain individuals and certain types of behaviors
as been criminal. The emphasis is on the problem of bias. To show how
some people and events are designated by the criminal justice system as
been criminal while others are not.
Critical Realistic Approach.

Argues that crime measurement can be categorized, as having elements of

both social processes is a grounded reality. The task of measurement from
this perspective is to uncover the processes where by the crimes against the
most vulnerable and least powerful sections of the population have
between ignored or under represented. The emphasis is on the problem of
victimization to demonstrate empirically how certain groups are especially
vulnerable to crime and to the fear of crime and conceptually to criticize
the agencies of crime control for their lack of action in protecting this
groups, thus these are debates within criminology over how and what to
measure this ultimately reflect basic division within the field regarding the
very definition of crime itself.

CRIMINOLOGY PERSPECTIVES

As we have indicated there are competing definitions of crime. This

produce competing answers or explanations of the causes of crime. This in
turn produces different kinds of responses to crime. Criminologist vary in
how they approach the study of crime; before sake of presentation its
useful to present ideal types of the various theoretical strands within
criminology of course an ideal type does not exist in the real world, rather
the intention behind the construction of an ideal type is to abstract from
concrete situations the key elements of components of a particular theory
or social institution and to exaturate the elements if need in order to
highlight the general tendancy or themes of a particular perspective. An
ideal is an analytical tool not a moral statement of what ought to be it
refers to a process of identifying different aspects of social phenomena and
combining them into a typical model. E.g. if you were construct ideal
types in relative criminology theory then it is useful first to identify the
central focus of theory and in particular the level of analysis and
explanation at which the theory is pitched.

There are 3 broad levels of criminology explanations.

  The individual

  The situational

  The social structural

Different theories within criminology tend to locate their main explanation

for criminal behaviour on criminality at one of this levels occasionally a
theory attempt to combine all 3 levels in order to provide a more
sophisticated and comprehensive picture of crime and criminality.

The Individual

The main focus is on the personal or individual characteristics of the

offender or victim. The study may consider for e.g. the influence of
appearance, dress, public image of things such as tattoos or earrings on
men. This level of analysis tends to look to physiological or biological
factors that are said to have an important role in determining why certain
individuals is engage in criminal activity. The key concern is to explain
crime of deviant’s behaviour in terms of the choices or characteristics of
the individual person.

Situational

Therefore the main site of analysis is the immediate circumstances of

situation within which criminal activity or deviant behavior occurs
attention is directed to the specific factors that may contribute to an event
occurring such a show the participants define the situation. How different
people are labeled by others in the criminal justice system the
opportunities available for the commission of certain types of offences and
so on.

Key concerns are the nature of the interaction between different players
within the system. The effect of local environmental factors on the nature
of this interaction and the influence of group behavior and influences on
social activity.
Social structural

This approach tends to look at crime in terms of the broad social

relationship and the major social institutions of the society as a whole. The
analysis makes reference to the relationship between classes, sexes, and
different ethnic and racial groups. The employed and unemployed and
various other social divisions in society. It can also involve the
investigation of the operation of specific institutions such as education,
family work the legal system in the construction of and social responses to
crime and deviant behaviour. The level of analysis one chooses has major
consequences to how the criminal justice system should be organized. The
different levels of analysis apparent in criminology and also partly a
reflection of the diverse displines that have contributed to the no crime
over no of years.

Philosophy, law, sociology, forestial medical, political economy education,

history and cultural studies have all contributed to the multidisplinary
nature of criminology. Each displine brings bear its own concepts, debates
and methods when examine a criminological issue of problem. This means
that within criminology there is a natural diversity of viewpoints as
different writers and researcher see the world through very different
analytical spectacles. Such differents are also reflected in the adoption of a
wide rage of different techniques and methodologies in the study of crime
this include historical records, use of surveys participant observation,
interviews, evaluation of official statistics study of policy documents and
discourse analysis.

THEORY AND CRIME

The key debates still contested by criminologist today such as whether

people freely and rationally choose to commit crime or whether they are
forced into crime the circumstances beyond their control and fundamental
issues; that are critical for understanding the causes of crime and also of
profound. Importance when considering our responses to crime and
implementing policy.

The study concentrates on the theories used to explain facts a theory is past
of an explanation. Basically an explanation is a sensible way of relating
some particular phenomenon to the whole world of beliefs and altitudes
that make up the intellectual atmosphere of a people at a particular time
and place. Scientific theories are one kind of explanation in general
scientific theories make statements about the relationships between
observable phenomena e.g. some scientific theories in criminology makes
statements about the relationship between the certainty or severity of
criminal punishments and the volume of criminal behaviour in society.

Other scientific theories make statements about the relationship between

biological, physiological and social characteristics of individuals and the
likely hood that those individuals will engage in criminal behaviour.
Because they make statements about the relationship among observable
phenomena a key characteristics of scientific theories is that they can be
falsified. The process of attempting to falsify a scientific theory involves
systematically observing the relationships described in the theory and then
comparing those observations to the arguments of the theory itself. This
process is called research. I.e. the assertions of the theory and tested
against the observed word of facts. If the observations and inconsistent
with the assertions of the theory then the theory becomes more credible but
it is not proved. These are always alternative theories that might also
explain the same observed relationship.

A theory can gain a great deal of credibility of all the reasonable

alternative theories and shown to be consistent with observed world of
facts. At that point the theory might simply be accepted as true however it
is always possible that some new facts will be discovered in the future that
are inconsistent with the theory so that a new theory will be required.
Criminology has been blessed or cursed depending on ones point of view
with a very large no of scientific theories. The extend to which these
theories as supported by the facts is another question entirely. Michael and
Adlex in their book crime law and social science 1971 reviewed crime
theories and concluded “ the assurance with which criminologist have
advanced opinions regarding the causes of crime is in strictly contracts to
the worthlessness of the data upon which those opinions are based “ this
may seem like a harsh judgment but their point must be kept in mind as the
various theories are viewed.

Another point was roused by Stephen Gould who commented some topics
and invested with enormous social importance but blessed with very little
reliable in it when the ratio of data to social impact is so low a history of
scientific attitudes may be little more than an oblique record of social
change in the measure of man 1981. It may be that the history of
criminology reflects more about the changing values of the larger society
than it does about the changing scientific knowledge of crime.

BROAD THEORIES OF CRIME

In the broad scope of history there are two basic types of theories of crime
one relies on spiritual or other world explanations. While the other relies
on natural or this world explanation both types of theories are ancient as
well as modern. But only the natural theories can be called scientific. Since
only they focus on observable phenomena. Spiritual explanations
necessary involve elements that cannot be observed and therefore these
theories cannot be falsified. Thus even if one considers spiritual theories as
the most adequate explanation of crime they cannot be considered
scientific.

SPIRITUAL EXPLANATIONS

Spiritual explanations of crime and past of a general view of life in which

many events are believed to result from the influence of other worldly
powers e.g. earlier people regarded natural disasters such as famine and
floods as punishment for wrongs they had done to the spiritual powers.
They responded by performing sacred rights and rituals to appease those in
the Middle Ages in Europe. A spiritual view of the world was joined to the
political and social organization of federalism to produce the beginnings of
the criminal justice system.

Originally crime was a largely private affair in which the victim or the
victim’s family obtained revenge by inflicting a similar or greater harm on
the offender or the offenders. The problem was that private verigence had
a tendancy to start blood feuds that could continue for many years until
one or the other family was completely wiped out. The feudal lords
therefore instituted methods by which God could indicate who innocent
and who was guilty. The first such method was trial by battle in which
the victim or a member of his /her family would fight the offender or a
member of his /her family because God could give victory to the innocent
party the family of the looser could have no ground for exacting vengeance
on the winner and the blood feuds were ended, the problem with trial by
battle great warriors could commit as many crimes, secure in the
knowledge that god would always gave empirical victory. Thus later in
history trial by ordeal in this method the accused was subjected to
different test form which an innocent person protected by God would
emerge unharmed, while a guilty person would die a painful death e.g. a
common method of determining whether a woman was a witch was to tie
her up and throw her into water if she floated she was considered innocent
but if she sank guilty.

Other forms of ordeal included walking in fire. Trial by ordeal was

concerned by the pope in 1215 and was replaced by compurgation in
which the accused gathered together a group of 12 reputable people who
could sweat that he or she was innocent the idea was that no one could lie
under oath for fear of been punished by God compurgation ultimately
evolved into testimony under oath and trial by jury.
Spiritual explanations of crime were used in U.S. in 1972 were thought to
have been the devil. When the communities were thought to have been
invaded by a large no of witches to day some religious individuals and
groups still attribute crime to the influence of the devil.

Spiritual explanations provide a way of understanding crime satisfactory to

some people. The problem is that because spiritual influences cannot be
observed these theories cannot be falsified. Thus these theories cannot be
considered scientific even if some thoughtful and intelligent people believe
that they represent the best explanation of crime.

NATURAL EXPLANATIONS

Like the spiritual approach this ancient a swell as modern. In the 16th and
17th century writers such as Hobbes and Descartes studied human affairs
as physicist. Study matter impersonally and quantitatively. Modern social
science continues this naturalistic emphasis Disagreements among social
scientists are well known but at least they have in common, that they seek
their explanations within observable phenomena found in the physical and
material world. In criminology as in other social sciences modern thought
has abandoned the spiritual approach as a frame of reference and adopted a
naturalistic scientific approach. Within the naturalist approach however
one can distinguish different and in some ways contradictory frames of
reference based on different ways of thinking about crime.

3 such frames of reference are as follows

  Describe criminal behaviors as – freely chosen.

  Caused by forces beyond control the individual

  Views crime primarily as function of the way the criminal law is

written and forced.

Thus it focuses on the behavior of criminal law rather than the behaviour
of criminals.
CRIMINOLOGY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

CLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY

Background

18th century conceptions of crime and punishment had their origin in the
intellectual developments that became known as the European
enlightenments it was during this period that the classical school of
criminology emerged it introduced a recognizably modern form of analysis
of the study of crime stressed the role of reason and free will in human
affairs the enlightenment represented the development of a whole range of
thought concerning the nature of human beings their relationship with each
other institutions, society and the state . The enlightenment stressed
commonalities among people and threatens the social domination of the
aristocracy established churches.

The writer also explored the social conditions. Responding to these ideas
and dramatic changes in economic and political circumstances revolutions
occurred in the American colonies and France giving rise to political
systems, which could embrace the new conceptions of individual
rationality and free will.

These revolutions prompted change sin ideas concerning human rights.

That was championed by merchants, professionals and the middle class. It
leads to significant changes in the nature of systems of government
administration and law. People began to questions the authority of the
aristocracies and their claim to natural superiority and their corrupt
political practice. The industrialization and urbanization processed had
lead to more poverty and hardships for the poor.

Traditional conceptions of property and ownership were disrupted by these

social changes e.g. the introduction of the enclosure movement.
Landowners wanted to exercise the economic viability of land and fenced
previously open tracts of common land. This deprived ordinary people of
what had been their customary rights to land and resources such as game,
fish, firewood etc.

These changes created popular resentment among the poor the plight of the
poor was in sharp contrast to the wealth of the newly affluent classes and it
was displayed close to the poor who lived nearby. The criminal justice
system prior to the enlightenment was founded on the religious structure of
the middle ages law was mainly a product of judicial interpretation and
wishes and the most early explanations of crime often faced secret
accusations, torture enclosed trials arbitrary and harsh sanctions were
applied. To the convicted the emphasis was on physical body punishment
there were very few written laws and these did not apply to the aristocracy.

Those guilty of contravening criminal courts were punished severely and

brutally torture was the most common method whipping and hanging,
there was hardly any use of imprisonment the administrators believed
public savage and cruel punishment would determine the others.

From the 17th – 19th century the aristocracy sought to protect their
extensive property through the use of the criminal law vast property crimes
were made punishable by death giving his particular types of legislation
the title. “The Bloody Code” further statutes allowed a branching out to
cover a host of related expenses. People could be executed for stealing
turnips, writing threatening letter, if they were found in forest, if you stole
a rabbit, if you forget a document, pickpockets etc. Britain was controlled
by the wealthy that even managed maneuvers for the passing through
parliament without deliberation of a law to deal with what the aristocracy
perceived to be a local crime crisis.

The act empowered the judges to extend the use of the death penalty to
punish a whole range of minor property offences. It was the gradual
permeation of the enlightened ideas that provided the moral basis to soften
the rigor of the Draconian Bloody code. The 18th century saw the
development of a huge range of philosophical, political, economic and
social ideas which the proponents argued provided a more accurate
interpretation of the past and the development of the human potential to
major sets of ideas under appealed this change. These were the social
contract theories and utilitarianism.

Major contributors to the social contract theories

The essences of the social contract theories is the idea that legitimate
government is the artificial product of the voluntary agreement of free
moral agents that these is no such thing as natural political authority as
asserted by the monarchical regimes.

Thomas Hobbes

The right of all sovereigns is derived originally from consent of every one
of those who are to be governed.

John Locke

Natural law constitutes people to keep their promises people do what they
can to secure the well being of others. People are also empowered to
punish transgressions of these relationships natural law is based on
Christian law and human reason the expansion of political institutions is a
process of achieving a social contract to alleviate the problems of
inequality generated by mans distortion of natural law arrangements luckes
writing and seen as a major development in the theories of natural rights
and toleration.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Was a critic of major aspects of development and its contemporaries and

the modern world arguing the spread of scientific and literally activities
was morally corrupting for society according to him humans originally
were naturally free and equal. But with developments into groups and
societies became competitive and selfish, capable of intentionally
inflicting harm on others.
He had a pessimistic view of social change and was unconvinced by the
idea that the humans species was progressing he argued that it was
necessary to establish human laws that treat individuals equally and that
give all individuals a free vote on the enactment of legislation. He
developed the concept of the general will, citizens have a collective
interest in the well being of the community. He traced the foundations of
law and political society to this idea of the general will.

He was seen as a radical his opening lines in the book the social contract
encapsulates his political thought “ man is born free, and everywhere he is
in chains how did this change occur? I do not know. What makes it
legitimate?

Contribution of social contract theory

  Original man was innocent and lived in a state of grace.

  He emerged from his state through application of reason

appreciation of meaning and consequences of actions as a
responsible individual.

  Human will is physiological reality which regulates and controls

behavior and is free although God, the devil nature needs such
as food, sex, security, companionship etc may influence this free
will.

  Society has a right to inflict punishment and this right is

transferred to the political state.

UTILITARIANISM

It has a variety of forms and continues to shape philosophical and political

debates to this date. Essentially it assesses the rightness of acts policies,
decisions and choices by their tendancy to promote the happiness of those
affected by them. It is closely associated with Jeremy Bentham and John
Sfuart mills. Jeremy Bentham held that human actions and acceptable if
they promote happiness and unacceptable if they produce the reverse,
society must produce the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
Happiness leads to pleasure and happiness leads to pain. The overall aim
was to provide a calculation where the net parlance of pleasure over pain
could be determined a as measure of the rightness of an act or policy.

John mills wanted to distinguish quantities and qualities of pleasure but

this caused a problem such as whether they are measurable. He believed
that pure self-interest should not be the basis of utilitarianism but the real
critixion of good should be the social consequences of the Act. Benthan
added to classical school of criminology.

  That the principal control over the unfetesed exercise of free

will is fear; especially fear of pain. But punishment is the chief
way of creating fear in order to influence the will and thus
control behavior.

Beccaria Cesare

Was a protest writer who sought to change the excessive and cruel
punishments by applying the rationalistic social contract ideas to crime and
criminal justice his book on crime and punishment was well received by
intellectual and some reform minded rulers who had already accepted the
general framework of social contract thinking even more important for the
book’s acceptance was the fact that the American and French revolutions
had occurred this revolutions were guided by the naturalistic ideas of the
social contract philosophers. To these revolutions were guided by the
naturalistic ideas of the social contract philosophers to these
revolutionarists Beccari’s book represented the latest and best thinking on
the subject of crime and criminal justice. They used his ideas as basis for
their new criminal justice systems and his ideas spread to the rest of the
industrialized world. In common with his contemporary intellectuals
beccaria protested against many inconsistencies in government in
management of public affairs.
He therefore proposed various reforms to make the criminal justice system
practice more logical and rational. He objected especially to the capricious
and purely personal justice the judges were dispensing and to the severe
barbaric punishments of the form. We can consider some of his ideas in
relation to some of the basis principals of his system of justice.

On the contractual society and the need for punishment he says that laws
are the conditions under which independent and isolated men united to
form a society. Some tangible motives had to be a society. Some tangible
motives had to be introduced to prevent the despotic spirit, which is in
every man from plunging the laws of society into its original chaos. These
tangible motives are the punishments established against inflators. Of the
law. On the function of the legislature he says. Only the laws can decree
punishment for crime, authority for this can reside only with the legislator
who represents the entire society, united by a social contract.

But a punishment that exceeds the limit fixed by the laws is just
punishment plus another punishment. A magistrate cannot therefore under
any pretext of zeal or of concern for the public good argument the
punishment established for a delinquent citizen.

On the function of judges

Judges in criminal cases cannot have the authority to interpret laws and the
reason is that they are not legislators nothing can be more dangerous than
the popular axiom that it is necessary to consult the spirit of the laws. It is
a dam that has given way to a torrent of opinion each man has his own
point of view at each different time a different one thus the spirit of the
law would be the product of the judges good or bad logic of his good load
digestion to disorder that arises from vigorous observers or the letters of a
penal law is hardly comparable to the disorder that arise from
interpretations.
Seriousness of crime

The three measure of crime is then the harm done to society they are in
error who believe that the true measure of crimes is 2 b found in the
intentions of the person who commits empirical sometimes with the best
intentions men do the greatest injury to society at other times intending the
worst for it they do the greatest good.

Proportionate Punishment

The obstacles that detect man from committing crime should be stronger in
proportion as they are contrary to the public good and as the inducements
to commit them are stronger. There must therefore be a proper proportion
between crimes and punishment on the severity of punishment. For
punishment to obtain its end the evil, which it inflicts ha only, exceed the
advantage derivable from the crime. In this excess of evil one should
include the certainty of punishment and the loss of the good, which the
crime might have produced. All beyond this is superfluous and for that
reason tyrannical.

On the promptness of punishment

The more promptly and more closely punishment follows upon the
commission of a crime the more just and useful it will be.

On the certainty of punishment

One of the greatest cubs on crime is not the cruelty of punishment

On preventing crimes

It is better to prevent crimes than to punish that is the ultimate end of every
good legislation. “Do u want to prevent crimes to see it that the laws are
clear and simple and that the entire force of the nation is united in their
defence that no part of it is employed to destroy empirical to see it that the
laws favour not so much classes of men as men themselves”
Beccaria also emphasized that the law should be published so that the
public may know what they are support their intent and purpose. That
torture and select accusations should be abolished, that capital punishment
should be abolished and replaced by imprisonment. That jails should be
made more humane institutions that the law should not distinguish
between wealthy and poor or between nobles and commoners that where
there were class differences between the offender and the victim one half
of the jury should be from the class of the offender and the other half from
the class of the victim.

Beccaria’s ideas were quite radical for his time he published his book
anonymously and defended himself in the introduction against charges that
he was an unbeliever and a revolutionary but despite his tears and some
opposition his book was extremely well received by his contemporaries.

Following the French revolution of 1789 Beccarias principles were used as

the basis for the French code of 1791. The great advantage of this code
was that it set up a procedure that was easy to administer. It made the
judge only an instrument to apply the law and the law undertook to
prescribe an exact penalty for every crime and every degree thereof.

Puzzling question about the reason for the causes of behavior the
uncertainties of motive and intend the unequal consequences of an
arbitrary rule these were all deliberately ignored for the sake of
administrative uniformity this was the classical conception of justice and
exact scale of punishment for equal acts without references to the
individual involved or the circumstances in which the crime was
committed. As a practical matter however the code of 1791 was impossible
to enforce in everyday situations and modifications were introduced. These
modifications all in the interest of greater ease of administration and the
essence of the so-called neoclassical school.
THE NEO – CLASSICAL SCHOOL

The greatest practical difficulty in applying the code of 1971 from

ignoring differences in the circumstances of particular situation the code
treated everyone exactly alike in accordance with Beccaris argument that
only the act and not the intent should be considered in determine the
punishment thus first offenders were treated the same as repeaters, minors
were treated the same as adults the insane as same as the sane and so on.

Modifications in practice began and soon there were revisions of the code
itself. The code of 1810 permitted some discretion on the part of the judges
and the revisions of the French code of 1819 there was definite provision
for the exercise of on the part of the judges in view of certain objective
circumstances but there was still no room for consideration of subjective
intent. The set impersonal features of this revised code napoleon then
became the point of attack for a new school of reformers whose cry was
against the injustices of a vigorous code and the need for individualization
and for discriminating judgment to fit individual circumstances. This effort
at revision and refinement in application of the classical theory of free will
and complete responsibility considerations involving age mental
conditions and other extenuating circumstances constitute what is often
called a neo – classical school.

Thus the neoclassical school represents no particular break with the break
with the basic doctrines of human natures that made up the common
tradition through out Europe at the time. The doctrine continued to be that
humans are creatures guided by reason who have free will and who
therefore responsible for their acts and cannot be controlled by fear of
punishment.

The neoclassical school therefore represented primarily the modifications

necessary for the administration of the criminal law based on classical
theory that resulted from practical experience. Their view minor variations
is the major mode of human behavior held by agencies of social control in
all advanced societies.

It’s widely accepted in contemporary legal systems classical criminology

provides a general justification for the use of punishment in the control of
crime. Since punishment for that purpose is always been used in the legal
system it should not surprising that this is the theory to which legal
authorities adhere. In addition classical theory was attractive to legal
theories for a more general reason its based in social contract theory and
crime is seen as contributing to the degeneration of society whereas
ultimately its in the best interest of all people even criminals to obey the
law. Social contract theorist saw crime as a fundamentally irrational act
committed by people who because of their shortsighted greed and passion
were incapable of recognizing their own long-term interest. The fact that
crime was concentrated in the lower classes was taken to a symptom of the
fact that these classes were filled with irrational dangerous people.

The ease with which the classical system of justice could be administered
rested largely on this view. It supported the uniform enforcement of laws
without ring whether those laws were fair or just. Specifically social
contract theorist did not take into account the cost of adhering to the social
contract may be few and the benefits few the later group will probably
have less allegiance to the social contract. A fact that may be expressed in
the form of a higher crime rate.

Beccarias position on defending the status quo was somehow confusing he

argued that it was natural for all to seek to their own advantage even at the
expense of the common good and that this was the source of crime. Thus
he did not share the view of the social contract theorist that criminals were
essentially irrational he was fully aware that the laws could impose
massive injustices on the poor. He recognized the problem of inequality in
society and implied that it was wrong to punish lawbreakers when the laws
themselves were unjust. This aspect of Beccarias writing and sometimes
ignored so that classical criminology is identified with the social contract
position that crime is essentially irrational.

He seems to have implied there were broader social causes blind the crime
problem but did not mark those arguments.
BLOCK 3 - POSITIVIST CRIMINOLOGY

Biological factors and criminal behavior

What are the practical implications for:

  Criminologists – come up with reforms

  Criminology theorists

  For society in human beings generally

  For policy and law – redefinition of actual revision

  – Specific punishment for the crimes

according to circumstances

  Challenges in the context of a developing country.

CRIME AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

There are theories that minimize or ignore the significance of biological or

psychological make up. The oldest of these is the one that explains
criminal behaviour in terms of economic differences or influence.
Discussions center on the sad state of the poor, undesirable effects of
poverty such as sickness, crime and despair. Many empirical studies have
been undertaken to study relationship between poverty and crime.

The studies

  Some research has studied variations in economic conditions to

see if they correspond to variations in crime rates. E.g. crime
higher in places or times where there are more poor people
(economic depression economic property wealthy areas, poor
areas

  Other studies look at the relationship between crime rates and

unemployment crime rates and unemployment, crime rates and
economic inequality (where poverty exists next to wealth)
  There are many disagreements on whether conclusions that are
drawn are justified.

SOME STUDIES CONTRADICTIONS AND DISAGREEMENTS

  There is a lot of research (hundreds) but most inconsistent and

contradictory to each about the relationship between crimes
reconditions.

  Refer back to query and Quetelet.

  Studies or crime and business cycle – most studies conclude that

general crime rate does not increase during economic rescission
or depression – some find crime actually decreases (e.g. Henry
and short 1920 – 1940’s)

  Ehrlich in contract found posture relationship between state

property crime rates of 1940 – 1960 and poorhouse holds.

  Loftin and Hill (1974) found even stronger results using their
index of “structural poverty” (including such measures as infant
mortality, low education, one patient family, income) found
strong relationship between these and state homicide rats.

  Research found this relationship to be strongly correlated to

homicide involving families and friends but not stranger.

  Other studies found different poverty crime relationship in

different regions of the country (Messiness, and concluded the
results are explained by variation, in the way crimes are reported
and recorded, rather then variations in the incidence of crime.

  Crime and unemployment.

  Believed unemployment causes poverty and poverty crime

unemployment also indicator of general’s economic conditions.
  Unemployment and juvenile delinquency because parents
available for children may Glaser and rice (1959) found that
delinquency is higher when unemployment is low and vice
versa. But Ehrlich (1973) found in separate study that
unemployment had no effect and criminality of urban males in
age group 14 to 24. Danser and laub (1981) used victimization
data? Instead of police statistics and concluded that there was no
relationship between juvenile delinquency and adult
unemployment; unfradicting Glaser’s rice. Danser and Laub’s
found also to relationship even within specific age sex and racial
groups. But Calvin A (1981) argues that there is a close
relationship between unemployment and crime for black youths.

There are also contradictions and inconsistent suits on the relationship

between unemployment and adult crime. Nagel W (1977) found a strong
correction. Berk (1980) found that for ex – offender at last unemployment
and poverty to cause, crime other research have found no relationship
insignificant relationship freeman (1983) found association but termed as
weak and insignificant. But chirious (1987) reviewed 63 studies on crime
and unemployment and concluded relationship between crime and
unemployment is positive and frequently significant, especially for
property crime. That this relationship manifests itself better at small unit
neighbourhood rather than larger units (e.g. nations)

But later studies still insisted that the relationship is weak generally.

Problems of interpreting research on crime and economic conditions

leading to inconsistency and contradictions.

  Poverty is always in part a subjective condition relative to what

others have because of lack of clear definite of poverty it has
been measured in more than 20 different ways in different
studies. Unemployment is also not a clear concept does it
include those who are able and available, under employed?
  There are two contradictory theories in the relationship between
crime and economic conditions. That is it inverse and negative
that when economic conditions are good amount of crime low
and vice versa. But other studies have also found the opposite
leading to the second theoretical assumption that it is direct or
positive.

It looks at criminality as an expansion of normal economic activity (a

criminal fringe) and it increases and decreases in the same manner as other
economics activity therefore crime should be highest when economic
conditions are good and vice versa.

Morris Ploscome (1931) concluded incentives and increased occasions for

illegitimate activity there is another to be an increase in crime.

Gurr (1976) found a relationship that supports both assumptions.

  Problem of specifying the amount of time before economic

charges are said to have an effect on criminality (same time as
change or time lag) some studies have found different
relationships when different time lags are considered.

  Opportunity motivation and time lag were also found to have

effect in certain types of crimes such as robbery, theft. But
unemployment did not seem to have association with rape and
assault.

  Problems of determining the size of the unit is it neighbourhood

or nation? Economic conditions of these two may have different
impact.

  High crime communities usually have a whole lost of factors

that may cause crime poverty, unemployment divorce, single
parent, high population, poor housing and social services, racial
etc. Any or all of these factors might cause crime, but are all
found at the same time. The problem is to determine which
 factors actually cause crime, and which one is there but has no
actual effect. This problem is called multi collinearity i.e. a
number of possible casual factors are all highly inter correlated
with each other.

Lanch (1990) tried a baseline regression model, which clustered these

variables. Which these factors were conceptually separate, the statistical
techniques could not separate them from each other in the effects they had
on homicide.

  Problem with interpreting research on crime and economic

conditions adequately distinguishing between concepts of
poverty and economic inequality.

Hsiech and Pugh (1980 – 1991) focused on the relationship focused on

the relationship between poverty, economic inequality and violent crime
results suggested that both poverty and economic inequality all associated
with higher levels of violent crime.

Messner and Golden (1992) Examined the effects of inequality between

whites and blacks in 15400 states using different cluster of resource
deprivation affluence, racial inequality, income education, unemployment
residential segregation. They concluded that racial inequality evidently
affects the social order in some generalized way that increases
criminogenic pressure on the entire population. Other studies have been
very mixed or different.

DURKHEIM ANOMIE AND MODERNIZATION

DEF: Anomie means a condition or malayse in individuals characterized

by an absence of or reduction of standards or values. It implies a social
unrest or chaos. The word comes from Greek ‘a’ without and “namos” law
contempary English understanding of the word is ‘norm’ and therefore
“normlessness” to reflect a situation of anarchy.
Theorists use anomie to mean a reaction against or a retreat from the
regulatory social control of society. (1858 – 1917).

Emile Durkheim viewed inequality as natural and inevitable human

conditions that are not associated with social maladys such as crimes
unless there is also a breakdown at social norms. He called breakdown
anomie, which occurs as an insult of rapid social changes accompanying
the modernization process Durkheim focused, or society and its
organization and development. Its theories are complex but his influence
on criminology has been great.

He has been called one of the best known and lest understood major
thinkers. He lived during the 2nd revolution French and industrial, which
had great impact on human thoughts and values. Sociology had also just
been developed by Auguste corte, as part of a more general effort to
construct a rational society out of the wings of the traditional one.
Sociologist, wanted to mastermind ‘social regeneration’ through re –
establishment of social solidarity Durkheim studied social sciences and
sociology. He presented his first major analysis of the process of social
charge in his book.

The division of labour in society

He saw society as divided into mechanical and organic society in to

mechanical forms each group is relatively isolated from all other social
groups and itself sufficient. In organic society different segments of
society depend on each other in highly organized division of Labour.
Social solidarity is no longer based on the uniformity of the individuals but
in the diversity of the functions of the parts of the society. No society was
totally one or the other all being in state of law plays an essential progress
between organic and mechanical.

Role in maintaining the social solidarity of each of these two types of

societies but in different ways in mechanical society law functions to
enforces the uniformity of the members of the social group, and thus is
oriented towards repressing any deviation from the norm of the time. In
the organic society law functions to regulate the interaction of the various
parts of society, and provide restriction in cases of wrongful transactions.

He argues that to the extent that a society remains mechanical crime is

normal in the sense that a society without crime would be pathologically
over controlled. As society develops towards organic form it possible for a
pathological state, (anomie) to occur, and such a state would produce a
variety of social, such as crime.

Crime as normal in Mechanical societies.

Mechanical societies have totally of social likeness; Durkheim called

collective conscience uniformity found in all culture. But each also has a
degree of diversity in the form of individual differences among its
members societies will pressure for uniformity against this diversity in
varying degree and forms. Strongest form is criminal sanction, weaken
form such as morally reprehensible or I add taste or deviant.

Society cannot be formed without sacrifices (price of membership). But

these demands are constructed so that it is inevitable that certain number of
people will not fulfill them. The number is large but not too much so that
the rest of the society feels a sense of moral superiority and see the rest
criminals as inferior. This superiority is the primary source of social
solidarity punishment of criminals also plays a role in the maintenance of
the social solidarity.

Crime is itself normal in society because there is no clearly marked

dividing line between behaviour. Considered criminal and those
considered morally reprehensible. He believed that even in a society of
saints, faults can appear. This society without crime is impossible new
behaviour will always be placed in the crime category. Crime is then
inevitable because of there is an evitable diversity of behaviour in society.
The abnormal or pathological state of society would be one in which there
was the crime. If there is no crime there will be also progressive change, as
it is introduced by opposing the constraints of the collective conscience
and those who do this all frequency declared to be criminals crime is the
price society pays for the possibility of progress (e.g. Jesus and Gandhi
were considered criminals) he explains that individuals growth cannot
occur in a child unless it is possible for that child to misbehave.

The child is punished for misbehavior and no one want the child to
misbehave. But a client who never did anything wrong would be
pathologically over controlled. Eliminating the misbehavior would also
eliminate the possibility of independent growth. In this sense the child’s
misbehavior is the price that must be paid for the possibility of personal
development.

He concludes that from this viewpoint, the fundamental facts of

criminality present themselves focus in an entirely new light. Contrary to
current ideas, the criminal no longer seems a totally unsociable being, a
sort of parasitic element a strange goody, introduced into the midst of
society. On the contrary he plays a definite role in social life. Crime for its
part must no longer be conceived as an evil that cannot be too much
suppressed.

There is no occasion for self congratulation when the crime rate drops
noticeably below the average level, for we may be captain that this
apparent progress is associated with some social disorder”

Anomie as a pathological state in organic societies

To the extent that a society is mechanical, it derives its solidarity from

pressure for conformity against the diversity of also members. The
criminal itself of some behaviour is a normal and necessary part of this
pressure. But to the extent that a society is organic the function of law is to
regulate the interactions of the various parts of the whole. If this regulation
is inadequate there can result a variety of social maladies including crime.
Durkheim called this state of inadequate regulation anomie.

Durkheim made three arguments about crime during the process of

transition from mechanical of organic societies.

  A greater variety of behaviours would be tolerated.

  Punishment could become less violent as their purpose changed

from repression to restitution.

  There would be a fast expansion of functional law to regulate

the interaction s of the emerging organic society.

Regarding point one, Wolfgang (1977) stated that the American culture
and western society, generally, was experiencing an expansion of
acceptability of deviance and a corresponding contraction of what they
define as crime. Western societies are losing their morals. Anomie theory
(this attempt to explain the occurrence not merely of crime but also
deviance and disorder. (Deviance different in moral or social standards
from what is considered normal studies by Neumann and Berger (1988)
found no support for the argument that increases in property crimes were
caused by the change from traditional to modern values, and therefore
question the continued dominance of Durkheim theory in explaining the
link between modernization and crime. They suggest that much more
attention be paid to the role of economic inequality in this process as
opposed to Durkheims emphasis on the breakdown of traditional values
Durkheims influence has been extremely broad in criminology and
sociology.

Its primary impact was that he focused attention on the role that social
forces play in determining human conduct at a time when the dominant
thin king held either that people freely choose their courses of action or
that behavior was determined by inner forces of biology and psychology.
This was a radical view at the time. There is now considerable evidence
that the basic patterns of crime found in the modern world can only be
explained by a theory that focuses on modernization as a fundamental
factor.

THE ECOLOGY OF CRIME

The Chicago school of Human Ecology (Department of sociology) at the

university of Chicago 1920) attempted to pinpoint the environmental
factors associated with crime, and to determine the relationship among
those factors. They focused on rapid changes in the neighbourhood unlike
Durkheim who focuses on rapid change sin entitle societies) their
procedure evolved correlating the characteristics of each neighbourhood
with the crime rates of that neighbourhood.
BLOCK 4 - PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIME

The scope of any subject measured of two factors: Limit of applications &
the branches, topics, subject matter.

The field of psychology can be understood by various subfields of

psychology making an attempt in meeting the goals of psychology.

1. Physiological Psychology:

In the most fundamental sense, human beings are biological organisms.

Physiological functions and the structure of our body work together to
influence our behaviour. Biopsychology is the branch that specializes in
the area. Bio-psychologists may examine the ways in which specific sites
in the brain which are related to disorders such as Parkinson’s disease or
they may try to determine how our sensations are related to our behaviour.

2. Developmental Psychology:

Here the studies are with respect to how people grow and change
throughout their life from prenatal stages, through childhood, adulthood
and old age. Developmental psychologists work in a variety of settings like
colleges, schools, healthcare centres, business centres, government and
non-profit organizations, etc. They are also very much involved in studies
of the disturbed children and advising parents about helping such children.

3. Personality Psychology:

This branch helps to explain both consistency and change in a person’s

behaviour over time, from birth till the end of life through the influence of
parents, siblings, playmates, school, society and culture. It also studies the
individual traits that differentiate the behaviour of one person from that of
another person.

4. Health Psychology:

This explores the relations between the psychological factors and physical
ailments and disease. Health psychologists focus on health maintenance
and promotion of behaviour related to good health such as exercise, health
habits and discouraging unhealthy behaviours like smoking, drug abuse
and alcoholism.

Health psychologists work in healthcare setting and also in colleges and

universities where they conduct research. They analyse and attempt to
improve the healthcare system and formulate health policies.

5. Clinical Psychology:

It deals with the assessment and intervention of abnormal behaviour. As

some observe and believe that psychological disorders arise from a
person’s unresolved conflicts and unconscious motives, others maintain
that some of these patterns are merely learned responses, which can be
unlearned with training, still others are contend with the knowledge of
thinking that there are biological basis to certain psychological disorders,
especially the more serious ones. Clinical psychologists are employed in
hospitals, clinics and private practice. They often work closely with other
specialists in the field of mental health.

6. Counselling Psychology:

This focuses primarily on educational, social and career adjustment

problems. Counselling psychologists advise students on effective study
habits and the kinds of job they might be best suited for, and provide help
concerned with mild problems of social nature and strengthen healthy
lifestyle, economical and emotional adjustments.

They make use of tests to measure aptitudes, interests and personality

characteristics. They also do marriage and family counselling, provide
strategies to improve family relations.

7. Educational Psychology:

Educational psychologists are concerned with all the concepts of

education. This includes the study of motivation, intelligence, personality,
use of rewards and punishments, size of the class, expectations, the
personality traits and the effectiveness of the teacher, the student-teacher
relationship, the attitudes, etc. It is also concerned with designing tests to
evaluate student performance. They also help in designing the curriculum
to make learning more interesting and enjoyable to children.

Educational psychology is used in elementary and secondary schools,

planning and supervising special education, training teachers, counselling
students having problems, assessing students with learning difficulties
such as poor writing and reading skills and lack of concentration.

8. Social Psychology:

This studies the effect of society on the thoughts, feelings and actions of
people. Our behaviour is not only the result of just our personality and
predisposition. Social and environmental factors affect the way we think,
say and do. Social psychologists conduct experiments to determine the
effects of various groups, group pressures and influence on behaviour.

They investigate on the effects of propaganda, persuation, conformity,

conflict, integration, race, prejudice and aggression. These investigations
explain many incidents that would otherwise be difficult to understand.
Social psychologists work largely in colleges and universities and also
other organizations.

9. Industrial and Organizational Psychology:

The private and public organizations apply psychology to management and

employee training, supervision of personnel, improve communication
within the organization, counselling employees and reduce industrial
disputes.

Thus we can say that in organizational and industrial sectors not only the
psychological effects of working attitude of the employees are considered
but also the physical aspects are given importance to make workers feel
healthy.
10. Experimental Psychology:

It is the branch that studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning,

thinking, etc. by using scientific methods. The outcome of the
experimental psychology is cognitive psychology which focuses on
studying higher mental processes including thinking, knowing, reasoning,
judging and decision-making. Experimental psychologists often do
research in lab by frequently using animals as their experimental subjects.

11. Environmental Psychology:

It focuses on the relationships between people and their physical and social
surroundings. For example, the density of population and its relationship
with crime, the noise pollution and its harmful effects and the influence of
overcrowding upon lifestyle, etc.

12. Psychology of Women:

This concentrates on psychological factors of women’s behaviour and

development. It focuses on a broad range of issues such as discrimination
against women, the possibility of structural differences in the brain of men
and women, the effect of hormones on behaviour, and the cause of
violence against women, fear of success, outsmarting nature of women
with respect to men in various accomplishments.

13. Sports and Exercise Psychology:

It studies the role of motivation in sport, social aspects of sport and

physiological issues like importance of training on muscle development,
the coordination between eye and hand, the muscular coordination in track
and field, swimming and gymnastics.

14. Cognitive Psychology:

It has its roots in the cognitive outlook of the Gestalt principles. It studies
thinking, memory, language, development, perception, imagery and other
mental processes in order to peep into the higher human mental functions
like insight, creativity and problem-solving. The names of psychologists
like Edward Tolman and Jean Piaget are associated with the propagation
of the ideas of this school of thought.

APPLICATION OF PSYCHOLOGY IN CRIME & DELEQUENCY

Detection of crimes and dealing with criminals have been greatly

influenced by psychology. The old adage, tooth for a tooth and eye for an
eye, holds no ground today in dealing with offenders and criminals. No
criminal is such by nature but circumstances lead him to the maladaptive
and criminal behaviour. He may be reformed, rehabilitated and made a
useful organ of society if handed properly by making use of psychological
knowledge and researches. The use of psychology has thus resulted in a
change of attitude in the general public as well as civil and judicial
authorities in dealing with the so-called bad elements and criminals.

CONCEPTS OF ABNORMALITY

Normality is usually considered to be the common occurrence, whilst

abnormality is usually defined as undesirable behaviour and psychological
disorders. It is important to distinguish between them because of the
purpose of diagnosing patients and dictating the treatment of disorder. A
diagnostic manual (usually, DSM-V) is used in these instances, however
there does not seem to be a clear definition between normality and
abnormality as psychological disorder may vary between individuals,
social or cultural groups. Sometimes abnormality is judged through
subjective experiences of the patients’ and their not feeling ‘normal’,
however this may be a problem as some people with mental disorders may
not know they have a problem, hence there are currently three criteria to
judge abnormality, usually through statistical infrequency, violating social
norms and being harmful to oneself or others.
Qualitative concept:

According to the qualitative concept, normality and abnormality differ in

quality and not in quantity. These two concepts are separated from each
other by water tight compartments by this older conception. Not long ago,
the insane, criminals and mentally deficient were considered to form a
special group below the normal group, just as the gifted were considered to
constitute a special group above the normal group.

It was also accepted that the insane, delinquent and genius were governed
by distinctly different laws. Thus, according to the qualitative concept, the
insane and genius have no similarity with the normal people in any
respect?

Inadequate response to a stimulus:

This is another concept of abnormality which is also not acceptable. It is

inadequate response to a stimulus. According to this concept when a
person shows a response to a stimulus which is not adequate, he is said to
be insane, for instance, when one screams at a rope in the broad day light
taking it as a snake, it is said to be an abnormal behaviour.

Thus, a list of types of behaviours inadequate to the stimulus is prepared

and if one comes within the specifications of the list, he is called
abnormal.

However, if this criterion of abnormality is accepted every individual in

the society will be branded as abnormal as everyone in his life span shows
such behaviour incidentally. In fact, everybody becomes sorry, angry,
moody, depressed and shows uncommon behaviour when circumstances
arise. Therefore, this concept of abnormality is totally crude and
unscientific.
Inappropriateness to social standard:

It is another false concept of abnormality which suggests that if one’s

behaviour is not appropriate to the norm and social standard he is called
abnormal. But such a concept of abnormality leads to a lot of confusions.

Abnormality and abnormality are relative, if social appropriateness is

taken as a criterion of abnormality one cannot decide who is normal and
who is abnormal. It is true that the culture, tradition, and way of living of
people differ from society to society.

Hence the reaction of a person in a particular society will be different from

the reactions of a person in another society. The man eaters of Savo appear
quite abnormal to the Indians and other civilized societies though they are
considered completely normal in their own culture. An Indian male when
takes out his hat (if he has one) as a mark of respect to a lady every one
present consider it to be an uncommon and maladaptive behaviour. But
this is considered as a normal and accepted behaviour of an American.
Hence as standard of appropriateness varies from society to society, we
cannot have such an universal criterion, i.e., inappropriateness to social
standard.

If any deviation from the normal behaviour is considered as abnormal,

geniuses and mentally retarded persons would also be called abnormal and
maladjusted. But this concept is incorrect as we aim to give a definition of
abnormal behaviour which can be applied in different cultures and
societies. Therefore, such a criterion should be developed and accepted
which car, distinguish between desirable and undesirable deviations.

TYPES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR

Psychologists group abnormal behaviour into two main categories:

atypical behaviour that is not necessarily harmful to one-self or others and
maladaptive behaviour that is potentially harmful. Some types of
behaviours are both atypical and maladaptive.
Atypical behaviour may be interpreted by others as weird, strange or
deviant, but it may not necessarily be harmful. It can include behaviour
such as talking to the paint on the wall or laughing all the time. The word
"deviant" in this context means it deviates from normal behaviour.

Maladaptive behaviour can be harmful to people, not just physically but

also mentally or emotionally. An example of atypical and maladaptive
behaviour is dancing naked on a railing of a highway overpass. The
behaviour may be perceived as weird, and it is maladaptive because there
is potential for harm, if the individual falls. Some types of maladaptive
behaviour are not deviant, like drinking oneself into a stupor for instance.

Behaviour that is both atypical and maladaptive can be criminal, such as

child molestation. It is atypical because it deviates from normal sexuality,
and it is maladaptive because it harms the child emotionally and possibly
physically.

ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR & CRIMINALITY

Criminality is a socio-legal concept, not a psychological one. A particular

society functioning in a specific era determines what types of behavior
merit penal sanctions. "Criminality is action contrary to the penal code.
Acts of this kind may be committed by every conceivable psychological
type, normal as well as pathological". Statutory regulations determine
whether behavior is criminal; individual psychological motivations
determine whether behavior is abnormal.

All societies have to deal with the deviant. No culture is so completely

satisfying or-flexible as to accommodate successfully the entire range of
human reactions. Individual human beings, by virtue of unique
combinations of endowment and interpersonal experiences, emerge so
different that provision must be made for isolation of some of those who
fail-who fall by the wayside. This is why we have jails and mental
hospitals. Their primary function still is to protect society from the actively
or potentially dangerous deviant. Rehabilitation is not the first but the
second order of business. The numbers of aberrants and the methods of
handling them vary from time to time, place to place, and society to
society. We always will have them, how-ever, not only for reasons given
above, but also because most societies are continually shifting their
definitions of the conventional and the acceptable, and because social
living involves denial of impulses. Every society, if it is to maintain its
existence, must draw the line somewhere. While no society is ideal,
including our own, I believe it is a reasonable assumption that the
preponderant numbers of our abnormal citizens are those whose adaptive
failures stem from developmental and/or constitutional inadequacies rather
than because our society is too rigid or inflexible.

Only a segment of our abnormal citizens are sufficiently eccentric to have

forfeited their rights to a free existence. Many live on the fringes of
society-hoboes, tramps, drifters, vagrants, overnight or 30-day guests of
the county or of the state. If they have talent and some productive
capacities, they may get by through their gifts for creative achievement. If
they have money, they are also likely to escape becoming a statistic in our
institutional population by securing private care, by luxurious isolation or
by literally fleeing from the problem.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

The term psychological disorder is sometimes used to refer to what are

more frequently known as mental disorders or psychiatric disorders.
Mental disorders are patterns of behavioral or psychological symptoms
that impact multiple areas of life. These disorders create distress for the
person experiencing these symptoms.

While not a comprehensive list of every mental disorder, the following list
includes some of the major categories of disorders described in
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The
latest edition of the diagnostic manual is the DSM-5 and was released in
May of 2013. The DSM is one of the most widely used systems for
classifying mental disorders and provides standardized diagnostic criteria.

SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM AND OTHER PSYCHOTIC

DISORDERS

Schizophrenia: Criterion A lists the five key symptoms of psychotic

disorders: 1) delusions, 2) hallucinations, 3) disorganized speech, 4)
disorganized or catatonic behavior, and 5) negative symptoms. In DSM-
IV 2 of these 5 symptoms were required. However, only 1 of the 5
symptoms was required if delusions were bizarre or if hallucinations
included a running commentary on a person's thoughts/behavior, and/or
two or more voices conversing. This exception has been removed for lack
of specificity and poor reliability. This change makes intuitive sense. The
notion of what constitutes “bizarre” is rather vague, and its removal
reduces cultural bias. In DSM-5, two of these five symptoms are required
AND at least one symptom must be one of the first three (delusions,
hallucinations, disorganized speech).

Schizoaffective: Schizoaffective disorder forms a link between psychosis

and mood. Previously, DSM-iv required that the mood episode be present
for a substantial duration of the illness. DSM-5 requires the mood episode
be present for the majority of the illness. It probably seems like splitting
hairs but the change was made to improve the reliability, validity, and
stability of the disorder.

Delusional Disorder: The requirement that delusions be non-bizarre has

been removed. A ‘delusion bizarre type' specifier is available. Shared
delusional disorder is no longer a distinct, separate disorder. It would
simply be Delusional Disorder.

BIPOLAR AND RELATED DISORDERS

Bipolar disorder is characterized by shifts in mood as well as changes in

activity and energy levels. The disorder often involves experiencing shifts
between elevated moods and periods of depression. Such elevated moods
can be pronounced and are referred to either as mania or hypomania.

Compared to the previous edition of the DSM, in the DSM-5 the criteria
for manic and hypomanic episodes include an increased focus on changes
in energy levels and activity as well as changes in mood.

  Mania is characterized by feeling overly excited and even

hyper. Periods of mania are sometimes marked by feelings of
distraction, irritability, and excessive confidence. People
experiencing mania are also more prone to engage in activities
that might have negative long-term consequences such as
gambling and shopping sprees.

  Depressive episodes are characterized by feelings of intense

sadness, guilt, fatigue, and irritability. During a depressive
period, people with bipolar disorder may lose interest in
activities that they previously enjoyed, experience sleeping
difficulties, and even have thoughts of suicide.

Both manic and depressive episodes can be frightening for both the person
experiencing these symptoms as well as family, friends, and other loved
ones who observe these behaviors and mood shifts.
Fortunately, appropriate and effective treatments, which often include both
medications and psychotherapy, can help people with bipolar disorder
successfully manage their symptoms.

DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS

A constant sense of hopelessness and despair is a sign you may have major
depression, also known as clinical depression.

With major depression, it may be difficult to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy
friends and activities. Some people have clinical depression only once in their
life, while others have it several times in a lifetime.
Major depression can sometimes occur from one generation to the next in
families, but may affect people with no family history of the illness.

What Is Major or Clinical Depression?

Most people feel sad or low at some point in their lives. But clinical
depression is marked by a depressed mood most of the day, sometimes
particularly in the morning, and a loss of interest in normal activities
and relationships -- symptoms that are present every day for at least 2 weeks.
In addition, according to the DSM-5 -- a manual used to diagnose mental
health conditions -- you may have other symptoms with major depression.
Those symptoms might include:

  Fatigue or loss of energy almost every day

  Feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day

  Impaired concentration, indecisiveness

  Insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day

  Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities

nearly every day (called anhedonia, this symptom can be indicated
by reports from significant others)

  Restlessness or feeling slowed down

  Recurring thoughts of death or suicide

  Significant weight loss or gain (a change of more than 5% of body

weight in a month)

Anxiety disorders – Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders –

Trauma and stressor related disorders

DSM-5 introduced a number of substantial and clinically relevant changes

in the classification of anxiety and related disorders. One of the most
striking was the decision to have separate chapters for anxiety disorders,
obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and trauma- and stressor-
related disorders. This decision reflects the growing evidence base on the
diagnostic validity and clinical utility of these different groupings.
Furthermore, adoption of these new groupings helps to explain a number
of other changes in DSM-5, including some of the new diagnostic criteria.
In this commentary, we also discuss the chapter on dissociative disorders,
whose placement next door to the chapter on trauma- and stressor-related
disorders is consistent with guiding principles for the overall organization
of DSM-5 chapters.

The DSM-5 chapter on anxiety disorders comprises separation anxiety

disorder, selective mutism, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder (social
phobia), panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder,
substance/medication-induced anxiety disorder, anxiety disorder due to
another medical condition, other specified anxiety disorder, and
unspecified anxiety disorder. Each disorder in this chapter is characterized
by excessive fear and anxiety as well as related behavioral disturbances,
including avoidance symptoms. However, the anxiety disorders differ from
one another insofar as each has a different mean age of onset (the chapter
is arranged from earlier onset to later onset, as is generally the case across
DSM-5), symptoms are precipitated by different situations or objects, and
most are characterized by cognitive ideation that differs across disorders.

Despite these differences, DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for anxiety disorders

typically have close parallels, with greater consistency than in DSM-IV.
The criteria highlight marked fear or anxiety symptoms, the specific
thoughts associated with these symptoms, their disproportionate and
persistent nature, consequent distress and impairment, and that symptoms
are not attributable to physiological effects of a substance or another
medical condition, and are not better explained by the symptoms of
another mental disorder. These similarities reflect important parallels in
the assessment and management of these prevalent and often disabling
disorders.
The new DSM-5 chapter on obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
contains some of the most substantial changes in the manual, including
two new disorders: hoarding disorder and excoriation (skin-picking)
disorder. The other disorders in this chapter are obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD), body dysmorphic disorder, trichotillomania (hair-pulling
disorder), substance/medication-induced obsessive-compulsive and related
disorder, obsessive-compulsive and related disorder due to another
medical condition, other specified obsessive-compulsive and related
disorder, and unspecified obsessive-compulsive and related disorder. Some
of these disorders are characterized by obsessions or preoccupations as
well as by consequent repetitive behaviors or mental acts, whereas others
are characterized primarily by recurrent body-focused repetitive behaviors
(i.e., hair pulling and skin picking) and repeated attempts to decrease or
stop these behaviors.

As in the anxiety disorders chapter, there are some parallels in the

diagnostic criteria and specifiers across these disorders; for example,
OCD, body dysmorphic disorder, and hoarding disorder may be specified
as having good or fair insight, poor insight, or absent insight/delusional
disorder-related beliefs. These parallels are intended to encourage
particular approaches to assessment and treatment. Of note, the new
insight specifier highlights the fact that individuals with obsessive-
compulsive and related disorders and poor or absent disorder-related
insight should not be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder and should be
managed using evidence-based treatments for the obsessive-compulsive
and related disorders rather than for psychotic disorders.

The DSM-5 chapter on trauma- and stressor-related disorders is another

new chapter that includes disorders that were dispersed throughout DSM-
IV. This chapter includes reactive attachment disorder, disinhibited social
engagement disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress
disorder, adjustment disorders, other specified trauma- and stressor-related
disorders, and unspecified trauma- and related-disorders. These disorders
are characterized by a precipitating exposure to a traumatic or stressful
event. Although other disorders in DSM may be precipitated by a
traumatic or stressful event, the disorders in this chapter differ in that a
trauma or stressor is required for the disorder’s onset (although genetic and
neurobiological factors also play a role). However, these disorders differ in
a number of ways, including the type of precipitating event and the
duration and pattern of symptoms. For example, social neglect or
deprivation are present in both reactive attachment disorder and in
disinhibited social engagement disorder, but the former is characterized by
internalizing symptoms and the latter by externalizing symptoms.

Establishing this as a new, separate chapter—and moving PTSD and acute

stress disorder from the anxiety disorders—reflects a great deal of
evidence that anxiety is only one of several emotional responses to trauma
and other adverse events. For example, whereas some individuals with a
trauma- and stressor-related disorder may exhibit anxiety- or fear-based
symptoms, other individuals may instead, or in addition, display anhedonic
and dysphoric symptoms, externalizing anxiety and aggressive symptoms,
or dissociative symptoms. Classifying these disorders in a way that
emphasizes that a traumatic or stressful event is a required diagnostic
criterion encourages clinicians to assess these events and use appropriate
trauma- and stressor-based treatments.

Dissociative disorders include depersonalization/derealization disorder,

dissociative amnesia, and dissociative identity disorder. Dissociative
symptoms are characterized in DSM-5 by “a disruption of and/or
discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity,
emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior.”
Placement of the dissociative disorders chapter next to the trauma- and
stressor-related disorders chapter is based on considerable evidence that
traumatic experiences, especially in childhood, predispose individuals to
dissociative symptoms. Indeed, dissociative symptoms are included in the
diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic and acute stress disorders. On the
other hand, the association between trauma exposure and dissociative
disorders is variable, and these disorders may occur without prior trauma
exposure (1). Thus, the dissociative disorders are classified in a separate
chapter but one that immediately follows trauma- and stressor-related
disorders. This juxtaposition is intended to underscore similarities among
some disorders in these two chapters and to stimulate further research on
the relationship between traumatic exposure and the development of
dissociative disorders.

The order of diagnostic categories has more meaning in DSM-5 than in

DSM-IV. The fact that anxiety disorders follow depressive disorders, that
obsessive-compulsive and related disorders follow anxiety disorders, and
that dissociative disorders follow trauma- and stressor-related disorders is
intended to emphasize the close relationships among some of the
conditions in these contiguous chapters (2). However, it is important to
emphasize that even within each of these DSM-5 chapters, disorders have
substantive differences across many validators, such as their neurobiology
and treatment. Thus, for example, not all medications useful for panic
disorder are efficacious in social anxiety disorder. While any particular
classification approach to these disorders has pros and cons (2), the DSM-
5 approach is based on multiple studies of diagnostic validity (3–6) and
should optimize clinical utility and lead to better patient care. We also
believe that these revisions in DSM-5 meta-structure will stimulate
important research which, in turn, will inform future iterations of the
diagnostic classification.

Personality disorders and other disorders - Neurosis, psychosis,

psychopathic personality

Personality is the way of thinking, feeling and behaving that makes a

person different from other people. An individual’s personality is
influenced by experiences, environment (surroundings, life situations) and
inherited characteristics. A personality disorder is a way of thinking,
feeling and behaving that deviates from the expectations of the culture,
causes distress or problems functioning, and lasts over time.1

There are 10 specific types of personality disorders (such as borderline

personality disorder). Common to all personality disorders is a long-term
pattern of behavior and inner experience that differs significantly from
what is expected. The pattern of experience and behavior begins by late
adolescence or early adulthood, and causes distress or problems in
functioning. Without treatment, the behavior and experience is inflexible
and usually long-lasting. The pattern is seen in at least two of these areas:

Way of thinking about oneself and others

Way of responding emotionally

Way of relating to other people

Way of controlling one’s behavior

Neurotic disorders.

Neurotic disorders, defined as neuroses are mental disorders of varying

base (e.g. emotional or mental). Currently, this term is replaced by a more
accurate determination - anxiety disorders.

People suffering from neurosis often behave strangely in contact with

other people. They can constantly adjust everything, to bring the
surroundings into a perfect state. They can also keep focusing attention on
themselves and expect others interest. People with anxiety very often fall
into addictions (drugs, stimulants).

Neurosis has many different symptoms. Some of them may be associated

with severe pain of various internal organs. Other somatic symptoms are
sexual dysfunction, abnormal functioning of certain organs and partial
paralysis. Common symptoms of nervous disorders are obsessions (mental
and motor) and phobias (e.g. arachnophobia, agoraphobia, claustrophobia).
In addition neurosis may cause fits of anxiety, apathy, depression and
sleep disturbances.

Antoni Kepinski undertook the classification of neuroses. He has identified

six types of the disease, depending on symptoms. Firstly, there is fatigue
neurosis, when patient’s cognitive processes are slowed down (patient can
be either weak, or annoyed).Then, there is a type of hypochondriac
neurosis, in which the mechanism of a vicious circle can be easily
observed . Another type is the hysterical neurosis, in which the patients
even theatrically exposes their problems. Depressive neurosis is
characterized by a long-lasting apathy and reluctance towards any activity.
The obsessive compulsive syndrome and compulsive behaviors are the
bases of anankastic neurosis. The last type is anxiety neurosis which
covers all phobias.

The cause of neurosis are primarily internal conflicts which solution is

often impossible, or is associated with a large dose of stress. Trauma
resulting from a tragedy, or lack of proper parental care in childhood can
lead to nervous disorders. Anxiety leads to lower self-esteem, complexes,
which can accumulate over time and push the patient to suicide.

Neurosis can be treated in two stages. There is a need of psychological

therapy, through which internal problems of the patient can be
solved. Psychotherapy can also eliminate various kinds of fears through
their interpretations. Additionally, drug treatment can be introduced, based
mainly on antidepressants or anxiolytic drugs (facilitating contact with the
patient during psychotherapy).

Psychosis.

The term “psychosis” has its roots in the ancient Greek words for an
aberration or abnormality (osis) of the mind or soul (psyche). Thus, the
psychotic mind is literally a mind that has stopped functioning normally.
Persons in the throes of psychosis have lost the capacity to think and
behave rationally, and this usually results in greatly impaired contact
with reality. The most typical manifestations of psychosis are bizarre and
false beliefs (otherwise known as delusions), and unusual or false
perceptions (perceptions that occur in the absence of genuine external
stimuli, and otherwise known as hallucinations). By far, auditory
hallucinations (i.e., “hearing voices”) are the most frequently occurring,
but psychotic individuals can also experience other false perceptions
such as visual hallucinations (i.e., “seeing things that aren’t really
there”), tactile hallucinations (e.g., feeling like bugs are crawling on your
skin when there are no such bugs present), and even olfactory
hallucinations (e.g., smelling something in the absence of any aroma or
odor-producing substance).

People can be in a psychotic state as the result of many different

underlying conditions. For example, certain substances such as alcohol
and other drugs (including prescription drugs such as steroids, stimulants,
and opiates), can induce a psychosis. Brain tumors, or other physical
abnormalities of the brain can also produce psychotic symptoms. So can
brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. Certain
mental illnesses are commonly associated with psychotic states,
especially schizophrenia, and less frequently, bipolar disorder.
Schizophrenia is a condition in which rational thought processes are
impaired, and hallucinations and/or delusions are prominent. A person
with schizophrenia might even have such a disturbance of thought
process that they speak incoherently or in “word salad” (i.e., stringing
words together that have no logical relationship to one another, and fail
to express a complete thought). Sometimes, persons with schizophrenia
have delusions with a paranoid character. Such delusions can be of the
grandeur type, where the person might believe that they are incapable of
dying or have supernatural or magical powers. Delusion can also be of
the persecutory type, where a person might believe (erroneously) that
they are being pursued by government agents or have been targeted by
extraterrestrial aliens. Delusions similar to some of the aforementioned
can also occur in individuals with bipolar disorder, especially during full-
blown manic episodes. Suffice it to say that these individuals are simply
not in their right mind. Their brains are malfunctioning in such a way that
they have lost the capacity to correctly judge things in their environment
and to relate to others in a coherent, rational fashion.

Psychopathy.

The term “psychopathy” was first used in the early 19th century to
describe a pathology of personality characterized by an extreme lack of
empathy that leads to guiltless and remorseless use and abuse of others.
Shallow emotions, a chilling lack of fear, extreme manipulativeness,
frequent and seemingly nonsensical lying, and behavioral irresponsibility
are common, as is the tendency to display superficial charm. Perhaps the
confusion between the concepts of psychosis and psychopathy started
with Hervey Cleckley’s. In which he argued that the facade of civility
and charm that psychopaths deliberately project masks an irrationally
antisocial and exploitative mindset. But, although psychopaths have a
world view greatly aberrant compared to most, they are neither out of
contact with reality nor incapable of rational thought. In fact, their
thinking is often distinctly rational and goal-oriented, albeit foreign in
character to those of us who do not see our fellow human beings as mere
objects to possess, exploit, abuse, or destroy. Perhaps that’s what makes
psychopaths so dangerous. It’s precisely because they think so clearly
and calculatingly about how to victimize their targets, and have such
keen perceptions about the vulnerabilities of their intended victims, that
they pose such a threat to the well-being of others. And perhaps another
reason for confusion regarding the term psychopathy is the fact that, over
the years, many researchers and clinicians have favored an alternate
label, sociopathy, to the term psychopathy, because of the distinctly
antisocial character of the psychopath’s world view. But not all
psychopaths lead openly antisocial lifestyles. They can even be heads of
corporations, or your next door neighbor. That’s why, in my
book Character Disturbance, I suggest that the term “predatory
aggressive” is actually a better descriptive label for these individuals, as
it attests to what I and several researchers agree is their unique status as
the human race’s only known intra-species predators. They can come
across as harmless and even appealing, but they are predators
nonetheless..

While they have a pathological love for and have mastered the art of the
“con,” psychopaths are definitely not insane. But because they are such
aberrant creatures, and so good at coming across as deceptively normal
or even appealing, they certainly can test the sanity of those unfortunate
enough to have contact with them. It’s unfortunate, but most victims of
psychopaths find out all too late what they’re really like.

Perhaps if Cleckley had titled his book “The Mask of Civility,” there
would not be as much confusion as there still is about psychopaths. It’s
important to remember that for the most part, people afflicted with the
mental illnesses that can cause psychosis are essentially decent
personalities whose brains have stopped functioning normally.
Psychopaths, on the other hand, are disturbingly aberrant personalities
whose brains may lack the capacity for empathy, but are nonetheless
functioning in a chillingly rational enough way for them to slickly plot
the victimization of those they have targeted as prey.

Therapeutic approaches – behaviour therapy, psychoanalysis,

cognitive therapy, group therapy.

There are two major types of therapy for treating mental

disorders. Biomedical therapy is the use of medical interventions, most
often prescription medication. Psychotherapy has been found to be just as
effective and involves a mental health professional who is trained in the
therapeutic approaches in psychology. Often, both work in harmony with
the psychiatrist and psychotherapist, collaborating to create the best
treatment for the patient. Psychotherapy, known more commonly as talk
therapy or counseling, has very high success rates when paired
with biomedical therapy.

Theory and Approaches in Psychotherapy.

All states have licensing regulations for psychotherapists. Clinical

psychologists and counseling psychologists have done extensive post-
graduate study in the therapeutic approaches to treating mental disorders.
These mental health counselors may have certain areas of expertise, but all
are aware of the following therapeutic approaches discussed in this lesson
and which situations they work best in.

Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapy.

Psychoanalysis is the therapeutic approach that was originally developed

by Sigmund Freud. While Freud is infamous for his focus on unconscious,
often sexual, desires from early childhood, he played a founding role in
modern talk therapy. A psychoanalyst's task is to uncover the unconscious
conflicts within a client and help to provide clarity and insight. This is
done through various techniques, such as free association, where a client
speaks freely about whatever comes to mind, as well as dream
analysis. Psychoanalysis is also known for being a very long process with
mixed results.

Modern therapists use an updated form of psychoanalysis

called psychodynamic therapy. Psychodynamic therapy still puts attention
on childhood experiences and unconscious conflicts but is more focused
on the client's present situation and specific problems.

Behavioral Therapy

Behavioral therapy focuses on correcting irrational or troublesome

behavior. This type of therapy developed from classical and operant
conditioning, uses these principles to reduce or stop the maladaptive
behavior(s) and retrain new, more adaptive behaviors. A behavioral
therapist is exceptionally suited to treating specific anxieties and phobias.
Techniques such as systematic desensitization slowly introduce the
situation that provokes fear (such as snakes, planes, or public speaking)
and replaces the anxious reactions with relaxation techniques.

Cognitive Therapy.

While behavioral therapy focuses on changing a client's

behaviors, cognitive therapy focuses on changing a client's thinking. This
does not mean brainwashing; the goal of cognitive therapy is to identify
the irrational thoughts and beliefs and help the client alter those beliefs.
Cognitive therapists believe that emotions follow thoughts. Therefore,
changing a maladaptive thought pattern to a more adaptive thought pattern
aids the client. Some cognitive therapists are considered much more direct
with their patients than therapists who follow other approaches. Cognitive
therapy often focuses on a client's use of the words 'must,' 'always,' and
'should', and is particularly effective at reducing perfectionist thinking and
treating depressive disorders.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

Since the 1980's, a new therapeutic approach has arisen that can use
techniques from both cognitive therapyand behavioral therapy. Cognitive-
behavioral therapy is now common because of its goal-directed, structured,
and time-limited nature. Cognitive-behavioral therapists use a combination
of both types of therapy to help a client restructure their thoughts and
behaviors to ultimately affect their emotions. There is an emphasis on the
client's present problems and learning specific techniques to
change. Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on teaching coping skills for
the client's problematic situations. One technique called thought
stopping teaches the client to blast a mental siren to stop common
irrational thoughts and ruminations. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has
recently become one of the most widely-used therapeutic approaches.
Many therapists have employed this type of therapy due to restrictions on
time imposed by insurance companies.
Group therapy.

Group analysis is a specific method of group psychotherapy that was

originated by S.H Foulkes in the 1940s. Within group analysis there is a
key interest in the relationship between the individual and the rest of the
group. Combining psychoanalytic insights and an understanding of
interpersonal functioning, this approach aims to improve integration of the
individual with their community, family and social network.

There are differences to be found between group analysis, group

psychotherapy and groups that are therapeutic. The varying terminology
however can be confusing, so we always recommend that you talk to your
therapist about their approach before deciding on which route to take in
terms of group therapy.

Aims of group therapy

In some respects group therapy and individual therapy are alike and the
aims are usually similar. With group therapy however, the therapist may
make use of the group dynamic to achieve these aims in a different way.
Speaking in general terms, the aims of group therapy are:

1. To help individuals identify maladaptive behaviour

Being in a group setting in a therapy environment can help people

identify their own behaviours and differences better. As there is room
for comparison, you may discover that you are not perhaps as adaptive
as you would like. Group therapy aims to help people see themselves
and their behaviours more clearly.

2. To help with emotional difficulties through feedback

Discussing emotional difficulties with your therapist and other

members of the group therapy session will provide you with extensive
feedback. This feedback could be advice from the therapist or even
practical tips from others in the group who have experienced a similar
 problem themselves. The aim is to help you learn your own coping
methods so you can handle things if/when problems arise.

3. To offer a supportive environment

Group therapy is not only an opportunity to receive feedback and

advice, it is also an opportunity to reach out and support others. What
is discussed within your therapy sessions is done so in confidence.
Speaking to people who are going through similar issues to yourself
also helps you to feel less isolated and therefore more supported.

MODEL QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the Meaning and scope of psychology.

2. Types of mental disorders and abnormal behaviour.

3. Classification of disorder under DSM-V

4. Differentiate between psycosis and neurosis

5. Explain the types of therapies for mental disorder.

BLOCK 5 - PREVENTION OF CRIME

Ecology in original meaning is a branch of biology in which plants and

animals are studied in their relationships to each other and to the natural
habitat. Plant life and animal life are seen to as an intricately complicated
whole, a way of life in which each part depends on almost every other part
for some aspect of its existence. Organisms in their natural habitat exist in
an ongoing balance of nature, a dynamic equilibrium in which each
individual must struggle to survive. Ecologists study this way of
interrelationship and interdependence in an attempt to discover the forces
that define the activities of each part.

Human communities particularly organized around a free marked economy

could be seen to resemble this biotic state in nature each individual
struggles for his or her survival in an interrelated, mutually depend
community. The law of survival for the fittest applies here as well.

Robert Park (1968)

Proposed a parallel between the distributions of lent life in nature in

societies. He viewed a city not merely as a geographic phenomenon, but as
a kind of super organism that led organic unity derived from the symbiotic
interrelationships of the people who lived within it. Within this super
organism there were many natural areas where different people lived e.g.
“chiriatasm” “little haly” or “the black belt”.

Other natural areas included individuals in certain income or occupation of

groups or industrial or business areas others areas were out of from the rest
of the city by rivers, highways or unused space. A symbolic relationship
existed among people within a natural area but also among the areas return
the city each area players a part in the life of the city as a whole.

Through certain processes the balance of nature in a given areas might

change through invasion dominance and succession such as American
invasion of territory of native America, or cultural or ethnic groups taking
even entire neighbourhoods by shifting into it, one after the other.

These cities expand radically from their center in patterns of concentric

circles each moving gradually outwards. Burgess (1928) describes these
concentric circles as zones. Zone is central business district, zone area
immediately around it oldest section of the any, continuously invalid by
business and industry expanding zone. I puss in zone if are deteriorating
and continue to do so it is usually the most undesirable part of the city and
therefore habituated by the poorest and recent immigrants. Zone III is
relatively modest homes apartment homes and families scooping
deteriorating zone II is zone IV residential district or single-family houses
and expensive apartment. Beyond any limits are, the suburban areas, zone
V which constitute the commuter zone. Each of these zones growing and
thus gradually moving outwards into the territory occupied by the next
zone in process of invasion dominance and succession parks and his
colleague used this model to study the city of Chicago and its problem.
They attempted to discover the processes to by which the biotic balance
and the social equilibrium are maintained once they are achieved, and the
process by which the biotic balance and social equilibrium are disturbed;
the transaction is mode from one relatively state order to another.

RESEARCH IN THE DELINQUENCY AREA IN CHICAGO

Shaw C. (1929) devised a strategy based on the theory of human ecology

to study the process by which Juvenile delinquents detached from
convectional groups. He saw them as normal human beings and believed
that their illegal activities were somehow bound up with their
environment. He therefore analyzed the characteristics of the
neighbourhood that according to the notice records had not delinquents.

He compiled to histories from individual delinquents to see how they

related with their environment. He found that the most neighbourhoods
with most delinquents are immediate near heavy industrial areas (zone II),
poor housing, and industrial invasion. Physical status) also highest no
delinquent found in areas of lowest economic status and high rates of
infant death, diseases and insanity.

The population composition or high delinquency areas had higher

concentration of foreign born and Africa American heads of families.
These are the populations that are mostly remained in the inner areas of
zone II. Also that the high delinquency rates in this areas was associated
with the geographical location rallies then race or ethnicity or nationality.

Further he found that delinquent are largely not different from other
persons in intelligence, physical condition and personality traits. But that
in the high delinquency areas convectional traditional, neighborhood
institution and public opinion and control systems were largely
disintegrated. Therefore children grew up in a social world where
delinquency was an accepted and appropriate form of conduct. The
neighborhood also provided many opportunities for delinquent activities,
which began at an early age as part of play activities of the street.

These play activities were transmitted from older boys to younger boys in
continuity of tradition (e.g. shoplifting carjacking). The normal methods of
official control could not stop this process Shaw concluded that the
problem of delinquency and other social problems are closely related to
the process of invasion dominance and succession that determine the
academic growth patterns of the city. There is rapid shift of population and
formal social organization that existed tends to disintegrate as the original
population retreats. Because the neighbourhood is in transition the
residents no longer care as much about its appearance or reputation.

The high mobility means there is high turnover of children in the local
schools, and therefore disputes of learning and discipline. The areas also
tend to become battle ground between the invading and the retreating
cultures, which tend to be manifested in individuals and going conflicts
between youth and the homo culture.
Policy implications

Shaw believed that since juvenile delinquency was generated by social

disorganization treatment of individual youth could not have much effect
in reducing overall rates. He believed the answer was in the development
of programmes, which seek to effect changes in the conditions of life in
specific local communities and in whole sections of the city. This would
be through organizations of neighborhood residents so that natural forces
of social control would take effect. He launched the Chicago free project
in 1932, which operated for 25 years until his death in 1957, but its effect
delinquency in these areas was never pleasely evaluated.

In Boston, a similar project was evaluated by miller (1962) over a three-

year period and was found to achieve many desirable goals. The gangs
established involvement in recreational activities provided opportunities
for occupation and education and increased interagency cooperation to
address community problem. However it had very little impact on
delinquency rates.

Recent theory and Research on Neighborhood as causes of crime

Despite the failure of the Chicago area project to prevent delinquency,

criminologist continue to argue that neighborhoods themselves are
important as causes of crime and delinquency and that they are appropriate
for crime prevention programs (e.g. hence community policing programs

This continued focus is the result of Shaw and Mc Kays discovery of

residential succession (1942) where neighborhoods themselves associated
with high crimes rats remained the same, independent of the people who
lived there stark (1987) identified structural characteristics of aspects of
these neighborhoods to explain residential succession density poverty
mixed uses (resident industrial) lapidating and transience (frequent in rout
movement) start argues that these increases moral cynicism among the
community residents, provide more opportunity or the mutilation commit
crime and reduce surveillance and reduced. Therefore crime phone people
are attracted to these neighborhoods as law-abiding people move out.

This results in high crime rates, which persist even when there is complete
turnover in the people who live there. Sampson (1995) propose a variety
of policy recommendation that are focused on changing places not people
e.g. improve housing, services increased community power to promote
community organizations, and that the small cumulative changes will
result in a more stable community in the long.

The Chicago school can be described as a goldmine that has continued to

enrich criminology. The basic point is that crime cannot be understood
without also understanding the contexts in which it occurs. Crime is part of
the symbiotic unity and so it can only be understood in the context of its
relationship to the activities of the rest of the organism.

There is a symbiotic relationship between conventional and illegal

activities in which a way that victims and offenders are linked in an
ecology of crime. These criminologists must look at the social context to
understand the parallel process by which victims come to experience the
risk of crime and offenders come to be motivated to commit crime.

1. The first definition of the Psychology was the study of the soul:

The earliest attempts at defining Psychology owe their origin to the

most mysterious and philosophical concept, namely that of soul.

2. In terms of the study of the mind:

Although the word mind was less mysterious and vague than soul, yet
it also faced the same questions, namely what is mind? How can it be
studied, etc. This definition was also rejected.

3. In terms of the study of consciousness:

 The description and explanation of the states of consciousness is the
task of Psychology which is usually done by the instrument
introspection—process of looking within.

This definition was also rejected on the grounds that:

(i) It could not include the study of the consciousness of animals.

(ii) It would not include subconscious and unconscious activities of

mind.

(iii) The introspection method for the study proved that it is most
subjective and unscientific method.

4. In terms of the study of behaviour:

The most modern and widely accepted definition of psychology even

today, is the study of behaviour, both humans and animals.

5. William McDougall:

In his book An Outline of Psychology, “Psychology is a science which

aims to give us better understanding and control of the behaviour of
the organism as a whole”.

6. JB Watson: Psychology is “the science of behaviour” (taking into

account the human as well as animal behaviour).

7. NL Munn:

“Psychology is the science and the properly trained psychologist is a

scientist, or at least a practitioner who uses scientific methods and
information resulting from scientific investigations”.

Science is the body of systematized knowledge that is gathered by

carefully observing and measuring events. The observation of events
are systematized in various ways but mainly classifying them into
categories and establishing general laws and principles to describe and
 predict events as accurately as possible. Psychology has these
characteristics; it clearly belongs within the province of science.

Thus it is not simply enough to describe behaviour. Like any other science,
psychology attempts to explain, predict, modify and ultimately improve
the lives of people in the world in which they live.

By using scientific methods psychologists are able to find answers to

questions about the nature of human behaviour that are far more valid and
legitimate than those resulting from mere intention and speculation. The
experiments and observations which are made can be repeated and verified
by others because of its objectivity, reliability, validity and predictability
which are the characteristics of basic science.

References for MCCJ-11 Principles of Criminology

1. Hagan, F. (2017). Introduction to Criminology (9th ed.). Los Angeles:

SAGE.

2. Chockalingam, K. (1997). ‘Kuttraviyal’ (Criminology) in Tamil.

Chennai: Parvathi Publications.

3. Hughes, G. (2002). Crime prevention and community safety: New

directions. London:Sage

4. Conklin, J. E. (2001). Criminology. New York: Macmillan Publishing

Company.

5. Hughes, G. (2002). Crime prevention and community safety: New

directions. London: Sage.

6. Siegel J. L. (2017). Criminology: Theories, patterns and typologies

(13th ed.). Sydney: Cengage Learning.

7. Allen, Harry E., Friday, Paul C., Roebuck, Julian B., &Sagarin,
Edward (1981).

8. Crime and punishment: An introduction to criminology. Free Press:

New York.