SOC 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Enrico Ferri, Forensic Science, Somatotype And Constitutional Psychology

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1500
• Professor: Michelle Dumas

Document Summary

Crime & criminal justice week 2 non-sociological explanations. Explaining crime (theory) theory = way of explaining & understanding phenomenon concepts = building blocks of theory variables: *independent causation or association that helps outcome; age for example. *dependent outcome; what is trying to be explained (can be counted, measured, observed) hypothesis = statement suggesting how variables aare related, may include particular setting (1) objectivist/consensus approach. Assumption that there is consensus among people. Looks at individual attributes to explain crime --- inherent in the individual. Assumption that behaviour is good or bad and that most people agree on this. If cause is understood then there must be a solution (2) subjectivist/conflict approach. Must have label of criminal before a behaviour can be a crime. Crime = a social construction & application of label. They can define crime; others are labelled & criminalized. No consensus; those w/ power decide everything.