SOC 1500 Lecture 18: Week Thirteen – SOC 1500 – Crime and Criminal Justice – November 29th
Document Summary
Week thirteen soc 1500 crime and criminal justice november 29th. Objectivist-legalistic-approach crime is defined according to legal statuses. Social-reaction perspective crime is understood as behaviour that is not inherently bad. Crime may be viewed as behaviour that has been deemed wrong by those who have the power and legitimacy to create laws, maintain legal systems, punish offenders. The mass media are the resources the public relies on for informational about crime. Moral panic refers to a situation or a condition that generates widespread public concerns because it threatens societal values. Criminality can be understood on the basic of free will and rational decision making. Chicago school proposed that crime was socially patterned according to social class. Many sociological explanations have developed over the years to explain crime: ex: hirschi (1990) control theory, agnew general strain theory. Today the study of crime is a large-scale enterprise. The limited focus is mainly because valid and reliable data that measures crime.
