CCJS 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Edwin Sutherland, Opportunity Cost, Falsifiability

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Course: CCJS 105
• Professor: Kiminori Nakamura

Document Summary

Edwin sutherland, one of most well-known criminologists, responsible for all learning theories in crime. 1930"s, we study the process of making laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting toward the breaking of laws . Tend to think criminology is about the breaking of the law, but that is only 1/3. Also about making laws (why are some behaviors illegal and some not) and how we response to crime and criminals in society, how do we punish them and make the streets safer. Young and interdisciplinary, criminology is relatively new, researchers from all sorts of backgrounds study crime (public policy, psychology, etc. ) Methodology is where data is collected and analyzed to see if the theory is plausible. Life and health costs (medical bills if injuries exist) Opportunity cost (those in jail are no longer working and paying taxes, victims who get injured may not be able to work)