Chapter 3. Theories of Delinquency
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Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice National Institute of Justice R e s e a r c h i n B r i e f Julie E. Samuels, Acting Director February 2001 Issues and Findings Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods— Discussed in this Brief: The link between disorder and crime; Does It Lead to Crime? specifically, whether manifesta- tions of social and physical disor- By Robert J. Sampson and Stephen W. Raudenbush der, such as public drunkenness, graffiti, and broken windows, According to a now-familiar thesis, social Disorder is indeed related to crime. The lead directly to more serious and physical disorder in urban neighbor- broken windows metaphor is apt insofar as offenses. The study, part of the hoods can, if unchecked, lead to serious it asserts that physical signs of decay sig- long-range Project on Human crime. The reasoning is that even such nal neighbors’ unwillingness to confront Development in Chicago minor public incivilities as drinking in strangers, intervene when a crime is being Neighborhoods, assesses the the street, spray-painting graffiti, and committed, or ask the police to respond. “broken windows” thesis and breaking windows can escalate into preda- Disorder may in fact be more useful than its implications for crime control tory crime because prospective offenders crime for understanding certain troubling policy and practice. assume from these manifestations of dis- urban processes, such as the abandonment Key issues: The assumption that order that area residents are indifferent of many of the Nation’s urban cores. That social and physical disorder can to what happens in their neighborhood.1 is because disorder can be observed, escalate to serious crime has had The “broken windows” thesis has greatly while crime, by contrast, is largely unob- a major influence on law enforce- influenced crime control policy, with served. -
Introduction to Criminology
PART 1 © Nevarpp/iStockphoto/Getty Images Introduction to Criminology CHAPTER 1 Crime and Criminology. 3 CHAPTER 2 The Incidence of Crime . 35 1 © Tithi Luadthong/Shutterstock CHAPTER 1 Crime and Criminology Crime and the fear of crime have permeated the fabric of American life. —Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court1 Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. —Bertrand Russell2 OBJECTIVES • Define criminology, and understand how this field of study relates to other social science disciplines. Pg. 4 • Understand the meaning of scientific theory and its relationship to research and policy. Pg. 8 • Recognize how the media shape public perceptions of crime. Pg. 19 • Know the criteria for establishing causation, and identify the attributes of good research. Pg. 13 • Understand the politics of criminology and the importance of social context. Pg. 18 • Define criminal law, and understand the conflict and consensus perspectives on the law. Pg. 5 • Describe the various schools of criminological theory and the explanations that they provide. Pg. 9 of the public’s concern about the safety of their com- Introduction munities, crime is a perennial political issue that can- Crime is a social phenomenon that commands the didates for political office are compelled to address. attention and energy of the American public. When Dealing with crime commands a substantial por- crime statistics are announced or a particular crime tion of the country’s tax dollars. Criminal justice sys- goes viral, the public demands that “something be tem operations (police, courts, prisons) cost American done.” American citizens are concerned about their taxpayers over $270 billion annually. -
Considerable Research Has Focused on the Impact That Urban Contexts Have on Crime Rates
Investigating the influence of neighborhood context on levels of violence in Medellín and Chicago Magdalena Cerdá, MPH DrPH 1 Jeffrey Morenoff, PhD 2 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Michigan 2Department of Sociology, The University of Michigan 1 Abstract Limited information is available about the ways communities impact violence in developing countries. We tested the association between neighborhood characteristics and violence in Medellín, Colombia, and Chicago, USA, using a household survey of 2494 respondents in 166 neighborhoods in Medellín, and 3094 respondents in 342 neighborhoods in Chicago. In Chicago, poverty and lower collective efficacy are predictive of higher perceptions of violence and rates of homicide. A closer examination by neighborhood poverty however, reveals that levels of perceived violence only differ by levels of collective efficacy in mid-low-poverty neighborhoods. In Medellín, collective efficacy is more pronounced in contexts of high disadvantage, and it is associated, on average, with higher levels of perceived violence and homicide. In both cities, higher levels of collective efficacy in high-poverty neighborhoods are associated with higher homicide. The study questions the notion of “social organization” as a homogeneously beneficial process across cultural and socioeconomic contexts. 2 Introduction Urban sociological research has highlighted the pathways through which the socioeconomic environment can affect the systematic distribution of levels of violence. One of the most promising emerging theories linking community processes and crime is collective efficacy theory. This theory critically builds upon social disorganization theory and calls attention to the role that social trust and norms of reciprocity, along with purposive social control, can play as mediators in the association between material deprivation and crime (Galea et al. -
Zero Tolerance and Exclusionary School Discipline Policies Harm Students and Contribute to the Cradle to Prison Pipeline ® the Problem: Pushing Students out of School
ISSUE BRIEF November 2012 Zero Tolerance and Exclusionary School Discipline Policies Harm Students and Contribute to the Cradle to Prison Pipeline ® The Problem: Pushing Students Out of School ut-of-school suspensions and expulsions—discipl ine Opractices that exclude children from school—have increased dramatically in the United States since the 1970s. This increase is largely due to schools’ overre - liance on “zero tolerance” policies. The Dignity in Schools Campaign describes zero tolerance as “a school discipline policy or practice that results in an automatic disciplinary consequence such as in-school or out-of-school suspension, expulsion, or involuntary school transfer for any student who commits one or more listed offenses. A school discipline policy may be a zero tolerance policy even if administrators have some discretion to modify the consequence on a case-by-case basis.” 1 Zero tolerance policies impose automatic and harsh discipline for a wide range of student infractions, s s i L including non-violent disruptive behavior, truancy, e v e dress code violations, and insubordination. Even when t S © o school policies don’t impose automatic suspensions for t o h behavior, the culture of overzealous exclusion from P school that is fostered by the zero tolerance mindset school year involved weapons or drugs, while 64% of has created a situation in which children are being suspensions were for “disobedient or disruptive behavi or,” removed from school for increasingly minor behavior truancy, or “intimidation.” 3 These policies are a issues. An October 2011 report from the National Edu - problem for all children, regardless of background or cation Policy Center found that only 5% of suspensions home-life. -
Collective Efficacy As a Task Specific Process
Collective efficacy as a task specific process: Examining the relationship between social ties, neighborhood cohesion and the capacity to respond to violence, delinquency and civic problems Rebecca Wickes John R. Hipp Elise Sargeant Ross Homel Post-print. Published in American Journal of Community Psychology. 2013. 52(1-2): 115-127. 1 Abstract In the neighborhood effects literature, collective efficacy is viewed as the key explanatory process associated with the spatial distribution of a range of social problems. While many studies usefully focus on the consequences of collective efficacy, in this paper we examine the task specificity of collective efficacy and consider the individual and neighborhood factors that influence residents’ perceptions of neighborhood collective efficacy for specific tasks. Utilizing survey and administrative data from 4,093 residents nested in 148 communities in Australia, we distinguish collective efficacy for particular threats to social order and assess the relative importance of social cohesion and neighborhood social ties to the development of collective efficacy for violence, delinquency and civic/political issues. Our results indicate that a model separating collective efficacy for specific problems from social ties and the more generalized notions of social cohesion is necessary when understanding the regulation potential of neighborhoods. Key words: collective efficacy, social ties, social cohesion, community 2 Introduction Over the last decade, scholars working within the neighborhood effects paradigm have shifted their focus from the role of neighborhood structural features and social ties to the collective processes that protect against a range of neighborhood problems. Central to this shift is the uptake of collective efficacy theory, a theory initially established in psychology to explain group performance (Bandura 1997). -
A Conceptual Overview of Deviance and Its Implication to Mental Health
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 7714 www.ijhssi.org || Volume 2 Issue 12 || December. 2013 || PP.01-09 A Conceptual Overview of Deviance and Its Implication to Mental Health: a Bio psychosocial Perspective Nalah, Augustine Bala1, Ishaya, Leku Daniel2 1-Behavioural Health Unit, Psychology Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, Nasarawa State University, Keffi – Nigeria; 2- Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Nasarawa State University, Keffi –Nigeria; ABSTRACT: This research paper is a conceptual overview of deviance and its implications to mental health and well-being. The study conceptualized and theorized deviance and mental health through the sociological, biological, and psychological dimensions. All theories agreed that deviant behaviour begins from childhood through old-age. This suggests a deviation from behaviour appropriate to the laws or norms and values of a particular society. This makes deviance to be relative, depending on the society and individual. Mental illness and Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) as the inflicted or labelled deviants are unable to cope. The behavioural aftermath of PTSD typically involves increased aggression and drug and alcohol abuse, which could lead to anxiety, depression, insomnia, plus memory and cognitive impairments or mental disorder. The paper recommends policymakers in collaboration with behavioural health specialists (Clinical psychologists), should focus on developing and implementing social learning preventive and reformative programmes through role playing, behaviour modification, social support system, and peer and group psychotherapy among others. Keywords: Conduct disorder, deviance, mental health, post-traumatic-stress-disorder, psychological trauma, I. INTRODUCTION The social understanding of the study of deviance and crime examine cultural norms; how they change over time, how they are enforced, and what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken. -
Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory
Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory Lombroso, Cesare: The Criminal Man Contributors: Francis T. Cullen & Pamela Wilcox Print Pub. Date: 2010 Online Pub. Date: November 23, 2010 Print ISBN: 9781412959186 Online ISBN: 9781412959193 DOI: 10.4135/9781412959193 Print pages: 561-566 This PDF has been generated from SAGE knowledge. Please note that the pagination of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book. SAGE Copyright ©2013 SAGE knowledge 10.4135/9781412959193.n155 University of Cincinnati Cesare Lombroso, who lived from 1835 to 1909, was an Italian physician best known for his studies [p. 561 ↓ ] in the field of criminal anthropology and his theories of the “criminal type”—an individual whose physical structure and psychological characteristics possessed the atavistic and degenerative traits that differentiated him from the civilized, socially well-adjusted human. Lombroso is also remembered for shifting the focus of legal thinking from crime to the criminal, and his theory on the constitutional and hereditary roots of criminal conduct. His theories have heavily influenced developments in criminology throughout both Europe and the United States, although they have been challenged and often discredited. His most famous work, L'uomo delinquente (The Criminal Man), considered by many historians the founding text of modern criminology, went through five editions between 1876 and 1897, and during Lombroso's lifetime was translated into French, German, Russian, and Spanish. Each edition contained additional data, observations, and illustrations: the first edition was a reasonably short volume of 255 pages; the last edition consisted of four volumes and was 1,902 pages long. Short Biography Lombroso, born Ezechia Marco, came from a Jewish family in Verona that had lived in North Italy for generations. -
Resilience Matters: Examining the School to Prison Pipeline Through the Lens of School
Glenn Justice Policy Journal, Spring, 2019 Resilience Matters: Examining the School to Prison Pipeline through the Lens of School- Based Problem Behaviors Jonathan W. Glenn1 Justice Policy Journal Volume 16, Number 1 (Spring, 2019) © Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice 2019 www.cjcj.org/jpj Abstract The school-to-prison pipeline is an expansive issue that impacts the educational and criminal justice systems in the United States. Traditionally, research has linked the prevalence of the pipeline to factors based within school systems. These systemic factors include the use of zero tolerance policies, exclusionary disciplinary practices, and the presence of school resource officers. The present study aims to explore the impact of school-based problem behaviors as a catalyst to the school- to-prison pipeline. A sample of 112 mental health professionals (MPHs) who specialize in working with youth at-risk for justice system involvement were surveyed to assess their perceptions of three theoretical predictors of problem behaviors including parental efficacy, child impulsivity, and child resilience. Results indicate that respondents perceive that child resilience predicts problem behaviors above and beyond any other theoretical predictor. The implications of this finding as well as recommendations are discussed. 1 North Carolina Central University Corresponding Author: Jonathan W. Glenn, [email protected] Resilience Matters 1 Introduction The school-to-prison pipeline refers to the process by which students are funneled from the school system into the juvenile or adult criminal justice system (Winn & Behizadeh, 2011). The pipeline has been an issue for over 20 years, plaguing the education and criminal justice systems in the United States. -
Teacher Leadership and Collective Efficacy: Connections and Links
International Journal of Teacher Leadership Volume 4, Number 1, Fall 2013 http://www.csupomona.edu/~education/ijtl/index.shtml ISSN: 1934-9726 Teacher Leadership and Collective Efficacy: Connections and Links Mary Lynne Derrington University of Tennessee, USA Pamela S. Angelle University of Tennessee, USA Teacher leadership studies have identified attributes of teachers who assume leadership roles. This study expands the literature by adding the theoretical frame of collective efficacy. The Teacher Leadership Inventory and the Teacher Efficacy Belief Scale – Collective were administered in two states to 1193 teachers in 50 schools; 719 teachers completed the surveys. Findings indicate a strong relationship between a faculty’s collective efficacy and the extent of teacher leadership in a school. The exception to this relationship is the finding that principal selection of teacher leaders is negatively correlated with teacher leadership. Introduction Collective efficacy is an organizational construct that researchers identify as promoting or increasing school capacity. Regarding student achievement, Bandura (1993) posited that “Faculties’ beliefs in their collective instructional efficacy contribute significantly to their schools’ level of academic achievement” (p. 117). Leadership capacity is evident when a group of teacher leaders believe they can bring about change, desire to work for change, and have the knowledge and skills to do so (DiRanna & Loucks-Horsley, 2001). Research on teacher leadership discusses various Constructs including -
The Political Sociology of Juvenile Punishment: Treating Juvenile Offenders As Adults
THE POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY OF JUVENILE PUNISHMENT: TREATING JUVENILE OFFENDERS AS ADULTS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Jason T. Carmichael, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2006 Dissertation Committee Approved by Professor David Jacobs, Adviser Professor J. Craig Jenkins Professor Zhenchao Qian __________________________________ Adviser Graduate Program in Sociology ABSTRACT Numerous studies have investigated the determinants of formal social control employed by the state to control its citizens. Only a small number have used explanations derive from conflict theory and political sociology. I follow this research tradition by hypothesizing that the threat produced by racial and ethnic minorities leads to increases in the demand for formal control mechanisms including more punitive responses to juvenile crime through adult sanctioning. I also consider broader political arguments that link the variation in punitive outcomes to differences in political arraignments across jurisdictions. While the punishment of juvenile offenders has increasingly become an issue of major concern to the public, there are few studies that test the governments coercive response to this particular type of offending. This dissertation addresses this issue by examining the treatment of juvenile offenders in the adult criminal system. First, I use pooled time- series negative binomial regression to analyze raw counts of juveniles admitted to adult prisons. Second, I use multivariate regression to predict the length of sentence that violent juvenile offenders receive in adult criminal courts. Finally, I use zero-inflated negative binomial regression to analyze the probability that states used the death penalty against juvenile when this practice was still constitutional. -
Understanding Deviance: Connecting Classical and Contemporary Perspectives
Understanding Deviance: Connecting Classical and Contemporary Perspectives Preface Tammy L. Anderson Acknowledgments Part 1: Classic and Contemporary Approaches to Deviance Section 1. Defining Deviance Introduction Tammy L. Anderson. 1. Rules for the Distinction of The Normal and the Pathological Emile Durkheim Durkheim defines deviance from a statistical standpoint, or by the prevalence of deviance in society. He seeks an objective criterion by which social phenomena can be rendered normal, or pathological and deviant. From this perspective, Durkheim claims to measure the condition of society. His approach to deviance is different from the moral and social reaction definitions of deviance included in this section. 2. Notes on the Sociology of Deviance Kai T. Erikson Erickson relies on morals, customs, and traditions that are often tied to religious doctrine to define deviance. His view is that deviance sets boundaries for acceptable behavior and strengthens solidarity among citizens. His approach breaks from Durkheim’s statistical view and is more in tune with Becker’s social reaction approach. 3. Definitions of Deviance and Deviance and the Responses of Others from Outsiders Howard S. Becker Becker’s work is considered a classic social reaction definition where deviance is anything people so label. He argues that deviance is not an objective fact, contrary to Durkheim’s position. Instead, Becker reasons, it is something people define and redefine through social interaction. 4. Defining Deviance Down Daniel Moynihan Moynihan’s article is a newer classic in the field of deviance that cautions against reclassifying unacceptable behaviors as acceptable, or trivializing their significance and impact. By moving away from objective standards for behavior and endorsing a core set of values, as Becker and Erickson propose, Moynihan believes society enters dangerous territory and compromises itself. -
Editoria Our Decision in This Respect
place the head of Lombroso on the cover of this issue of Criminal Justice Matters and to furnish the ensuing pages with further Lombrosian imagery. Three factors influenced editoria our decision in this respect. First, many continue to practice criminology within the criminology and its uses confines of the positivist project — albeit in more sophisticated ways. For these academics and practitioners, the The cover of this issue presents a somewhat gruesome cover could be interpreted as reflecting the preservation of photograph of the pickled head of Cesare Lombroso, such thinking throughout the twentieth century. Second, others preserved for all to see in the Museum of Criminal have been critical of the positivist project, both past and Anthropology — Cesare Lombroso in Turin. As many of our present — indeed many of the contributors to this present readers will know, Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) is the issue map a somewhat fragmentary picture of the contours of founder of 'a science of the criminal' if not of the science of much criminological thought. In doing so, these contributions criminology. Nevertheless, the influence of his scuola positiva raise a number of questions about the positivist enterprise in on the development of a criminological enterprise has been general and its achievements in particular. For them, the enormous. preserved image of Lombroso's head will symbolise the For those readers unable to recall the work of Lombroso, a preservation only of external features rather than integral brief review will have to suffice. The changing nineteenth thought. Third, others have expressed a desire to move beyond century saw advances in the physical and natural sciences the boundaries of modern criminological thought and to alongside external social and economic developments; within acknowledge various hitherto neglected avenues for future this context Lombroso and his colleagues Ferri and Garofalo discussion and analysis.