ATS1281 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Cultural Studies, Simple Explanation, Moodle
8 May 2018
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UNDERSTANDING CRIME: LECTURE 1
Introduction to Crime and Criminology
Dr Jarrett Blaustein
First quiz due next Friday – 3 attempts, worth 3% of overall mark
What is Criminology?
A disiplie hih is fudaetall oered ith the topi of rie
It draws upon multiple disciplines/fields of study
• Biological science
• Psychology
• Law
• Sociology
• History
• Cultural studies
• Economics etc
Crime is an inherently complex phenomenon
Generally speaking, criminology focuses on three key questions:
• What are the causes of crime?
• Why and how do societies define crime in a particular way and what implications
does this have for people living in these particular societies?
• How should society respond to crime?
What are the causes of crime?
No simple explanation.
Key Point:
There are many theoretical explanations for crime.
Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses.
No single criminological theory is capable of explaining all forms of offending behaviours.
Criminological theories deal with different levels of analysis:
• Individual
• Situational
• Social structure
No theoretical theories are exclusive
Why and how do societies define crime in a particular way and what implications does
this have for people living in these particular societies?
Those who make laws make judgements on what should and should not be labelled as
criminal.
Criminalisation of Marijuana – degree of harm much lower than that of alcohol, but is
demonised, what would happen if marijuana was legalised and alcohol was criminalised?
Historically in US – young African American males (young white males are just as if not more
likely to be carrying marijuana)
How does society respond to crime?
Any kind of official statistic we have on crime is all skewed.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
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