Classical Thought: Beccaria and Bentham

Overview

This week we will start discussing the early theories in criminology. Classical criminology refers primarily to the 18th -century writings of Cesare Beccaria in Italy and Jeremy Bentham in England. While they were both utilitarian social philosophers and wrote primarily about legal and penal reform, their theory of crime remains relevant to criminology today.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Review the role of theory in criminology.
• Explain the pleasure principle in understanding criminal behavior.
• Identify the role of free will and rationality in explaining crime, according to the Classical Theory
• Describe how Cesare Beccaria’s work influenced criminal justice systems throughout the world, and discuss the concepts and propositions recommended in his book.
• Identify the connection between early criminological theories and crime policy.

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Workflow

Reading:

Chapter 10 in The Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Criminology, edited by Ruth Ann Triplett, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bmcc/reader.action?docID=5144712&ppg=223

You can print this chapter using this link.

Videos:

Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LFDmchquGgCBW6rmH1aQh?si=Lb9Vpt_WQ1yU4Ri1jlA9Dw

PowerPoint

Overview

This week we will focus on overviewing the basics of social science research. We will learn how the social science approach overcomes many common errors in everyday reasoning and addresses special issues for social science compared to other sciences. Motivations for conducting social research will also be addressed. We will get introduced to the four types of social research projects (description, exploration, explanation, and evaluation), as well as the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. We will also investigate the difference between basic science versus applied research, and explains the differences between positivist, interpretivist, and constructivist research philosophies. We will conclude with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of social research, noting the importance of other research and other researchers in the scientific endeavor.

Learning Objective

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Define Social Science and identify its limitations.
• Explain the motivations of social research.
• Identify the four types of social research.
• Describe the strengths and limitations of social research.

Workflow

What to read:

Chapters 1 & 2 in Bhattacherjee, Anol, “Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices” (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3

What to watch:

What to study:

PowerPoint

Week 3: Studying Crime and Crime Trends

Overview

This week we will discuss how we know about the crime. Official police statistics have been created to measure crime in the population. Uniform Crime Reports were used to determine crime rates. Although valuable, weaknesses arise with the UCR data resulting in the development of the NIBRS system. We will also learn about victimization surveys such as National Crime Victimization Survey, as a supplement to the official crime data. Alternative data gathering strategies including self-report surveys are also discussed in detail.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe how official crime statistics are collected.
2. Describe how crime data for NIBRS are collected and organized.
3. Describe the method of data collection of the National Crime Victimization Survey.
4. Discuss alternative methods of learning about crime.

Workflow

To Read:

FBI. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS): https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/nibrs

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2021): Criminal Victimization, 2020: https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/cv20.pdf

*Pew Research Center (2020). What the data says (and doesn’t say) about crime in the United States: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/20/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/

Myths and Realities: Understanding Recent Trends in Violent Crime. Brennan Center for Justice (July 2022): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/myths-and-realities-understanding-recent-trends-violent-crime

To Watch:

1. The transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) will improve the accuracy and timeliness of our nation’s crime statistics, help identify crime patterns and trends, and aid in crime prevention. More at https://www.fbi.gov/nibrs

2.  When she became the attorney general of New Jersey in 2007, Anne Milgram quickly discovered a few startling facts: not only did her team not really know who they were putting in jail, but they had no way of understanding if their decisions were actually making the public safer. And so began her ongoing, inspirational quest to bring data analytics and statistical analysis to the US criminal justice system.

3. What’s behind the sharp rise in murders across the U.S.? PBS News Hour. Murders across the U.S. have skyrocketed in 2020, while nonviolent offenses have largely dropped, according to publicly available crime data. But efforts to curb homicides come at a time when police departments are facing both staffing shortages because of the COVID-19 pandemic and lingering distrust in communities of color following months of nationwide protests. John Yang reports.

To Study

PowerPoint:

STEP THREE: Develop a Research Question (Due 9/18)

Overview

In our second week of class, we will attempt to understand deeper what do we mean when we talk about crime. We will also define criminology as a discipline and go over multiple ways we can approach crime from theoretical perspectives. Criminology is the science of crime and criminal behavior. We will explore the history and emergence of criminology and outline how the field has continued to develop.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Define criminology and discuss the emergence of criminology as a discipline.
• Discuss how definitions of crime and laws change in relation to social change.
• Explain the influence of criminal law on crime definitions.

Workflow:

Readings:

* Bernard, Thomas J. and Mannheim, Hermann. “Criminology”.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Oct. 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/science/criminology

*Open University. The Meaning of Crime: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/sociology/the-meaning-crime/content-section-0?active-tab=content-tab

 

Videos

 

Why White-Collar Crime in the U.S. is a Costly Epidemic

 

The real roots of youth violence | Craig Pinkney | TEDxBrum

 

Drug War Alternatives That Work:

 

PowerPoint

Step Two: Determine Research Interest (DUE 9/11) 

In this unit, I would like us to pause and think about the words we routinely use in criminology/criminal justice: offender, criminal, convict, felon, inmates, prisoner, ex-prisoner, juvenile delinquent, and on and on. What unites all these words? What do we communicate to people towards whom we use these words/labels?

To read:

1. The Power of Labels: Exploring our use of humanizing language https://fortunesociety.org/wordsmatter/
2. Cox, A. (2020). The language of incarceration. https://doi.org/10.1177/2632666320940859

To watch: