CRIM 1650 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Animal Rights Movement, Conflict Theories

• School: York University
• Department: Criminology
• Course: CRIM 1650
• Professor: James Williams

Document Summary

Criminology: body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. Includes processes of making laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting to breaking of laws. Objective of criminology: development of a body of general and verified principles and of other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime and treatment. Criminology has 6 major areas: definition of crime + criminals (specification, origins + role of law. 3: causation of crime, patterns of criminal behaviour. 6) societal reactions to crime social distribution of crime (trends, differences) severity of society"s response to act. Crime and deviance should be considered on a continuum + be assessed on 3 dimensions: degree of consensus that an act is wrong. 2: assessment of degree of harm of the act. Hagan has 4 varieties of deviance: consensus crimes, conflict crimes. Class conflict theories: laws are passed by members of ruling class to maintain privileged position by keeping the common people under control.