How Society Defines Crime
How Society Defines Crime SOC305: Crime & Society (BLE1437A)
Criminology as explained in an institutionalized setting is viewed as an outside view of behavior which leads to defining crime as an intentional behavior that can be penalized by the state. Our text explains crime as any violations that occurs against the law. Crime is considered a social issue and so it is studied by sociologist who create theories. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to explain how we come to decide what a crime is. A few theories as to why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. So which theory is the best? Our text concludes that criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, consequences, social reaction, and control of criminal behavior. Collica, K. & Furst, G. (20120 because criminology is a social construct, it may shift over time. This shift consequently had an enormous influence on changing attitudes towards punishment and towards the purpose of the law and the legal system. Classical ideas about crime and punishment is defined by numerous writers on the subject. Some writers like Beccaria (1738–94) and Bentham (1748–1832), argued that there was an invisible relationship between the individual and the state and that the relationship as it stood was chaotic. As a part of this relationship individuals gave up some of their liberties in the interest of the common good, with the purpose of the law being to ensure that these common interests were met. For Beccaria, this meant that the law should be limited and written down so that people could make decisions on how to behave. Offenders are viewed as reasonable people with the same capacity for resisting offensive behaviors as non-offenders. This guided the principal of innocent until proven guilty. The central concern of the law and the criminal justice process was therefore the prevention of crime through this
Criminology as explained in an institutionalized setting is viewed as an outside view of behavior which leads to defining crime as an intentional behavior that can be penalized by the state. Our text explains crime as any violations that occurs against the law. Crime is considered a social issue and so it is studied by sociologist who create theories. Over the years, many people have developed theories to try to explain how we come to decide what a crime is. A few theories as to why people commit crimes sometimes seems to equal the number of criminologists. So which theory is the best? Our text concludes that criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, consequences, social reaction, and control of criminal behavior. Collica, K. & Furst, G. (20120 because criminology is a social construct, it may shift over time. This shift consequently had an enormous influence on changing attitudes towards punishment and towards the purpose of the law and the legal system. Classical ideas about crime and punishment is defined by numerous writers on the subject. Some writers like Beccaria (1738–94) and Bentham (1748–1832), argued that there was an invisible relationship between the individual and the state and that the relationship as it stood was chaotic. As a part of this relationship individuals gave up some of their liberties in the interest of the common good, with the purpose of the law being to ensure that these common interests were met. For Beccaria, this meant that the law should be limited and written down so that people could make decisions on how to behave. Offenders are viewed as reasonable people with the same capacity for resisting offensive behaviors as non-offenders. This guided the principal of innocent until proven guilty. The central concern of the law and the criminal justice process was therefore the prevention of crime through this
References: Collica, K. & Furst, G. (2012). Crime & society. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Hostettler, J. (2011). Cesare Beccaria [electronic resource] : the genius of on crimes and punishments / John Hostettler. Hook, Hampshire, U.K. : Waterside Press, 2011 http://youtu.be/teKTNwgErCc Morris, R. G., TenEyck, M., Barnes, J. C., & Kovandzic, T. V. (2014). The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006. Plos ONE, 9(3), 1-7. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092816