It is important to understand what it is as well as understanding crime when studying criminology. In the field of criminology, it is important to determine if criminal acts are rationally thought out before being committed, if society plays a role in crime, and what drives an individual to live a life of crime. Over the years many individuals have developed theories as to why crimes are committed.
Before you can understand criminology and its purpose, you must have a clear understanding of crime. According to Paul W. Tappan, crime is defined as “an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without defense or justification, and sanctioned by the state as a felony or misdemeanor” (Hendrix, 2014, p. 6). It is important to have an understanding of what criminology is and then trying to determine why crimes are committed. It has been said
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There are thirty-four states in the United States that enforce the death penalty and seventeen states that have abolished the death penalty. There are 3,251 inmates on death row in United States prisons in 2011(Death Penalty Information Center, 2011). The death penalty has been a very controversial topic of great debate for American citizens for many years. There been much debate over whether a death sentence violates the Eighth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Eighth Amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Eighth Amendment, pp. 1467). The Fourteenth Amendment states” No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (Fourteenth Amendment,
Ethics is “a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live” (Banks, 2013). Also it involves making moral judgments about what is right and or wrong, good or bad. In the process of everyday life, moral rules are desirable, not because they express absolute truth, but because they are generally reliable guides for normal circumstances. Ethics or moral conduct, are of major importance in the criminal justice field today. If the police force condoned unethical behavior, there would be very little, if any, justice being served. A system of rules and principles helps to guide in making difficult decisions when moral issues arise. Ethics has been shown to be a central component in decisions involving ethical dilemmas. It is “concerned with standards of conduct and with “how I ought to act”, and standards of conduct may vary among different societies” (Banks, 2013). An ethical dilemma arises only when a decision must be made that involves a conflict at the personal, interpersonal, institutional, or societal level or raises issues of moral character. Richard Hare argues that we initially use an intuitive level of moral thinking when we consider ethical dilemma. There are “six steps in analyzing an ethical dilemma and they would be as follow” (NASW, 2014):
The Eighth Amendment states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The Eighth Amendment has two specific “elements” which define an individual’s actual rights retaining to the Eighth Amendment. The first “element,” “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed” states that fines or bail should not be overly unobtainable or imposed on an individual. The second “element” of the Eighth Amendment, “cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” states that cruel or unusual punishment will not be inflicted.
Crime Scenario: This case is about a missing 9 year old boy who lives with his mother, younger sister, and his mother 's boyfriend. The child has been missing for over 24 hours and the boyfriend seems very protective of the mother and answers most of the questions about the disappearance. The scene is overwrought with the media, neighbors, and volunteers offering to help with the search for the missing boy.
The Eighth Amendment states “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.” (U.S. Constitution, n.d.).
Criminology is the scientific study of the causes and prevention of crimes. Criminology also uses a vast amount of theories to explain peoples’ actions, mental state, and their drive for committing crimes. Some crimes have monetary benefits, while other crime are committed in revenge or in spite of another, which would be called crimes of passion. Because it can be sometime difficult to understand why certain crime are committed, the only thing we can do is use theories to better decipher thoughts, morals, and reasons behind committing crimes.
One of the biggest concerns of criminology is the reason why the criminals commit the crimes that they do. Whether it’s due to a mental disease or genetics. Even if the criminal is healthy and has been planning it for months analyzing the consequences and results. Could the society that the criminal has grown up in ever be at fault causing him to act the way he or she did? People have been trying to find the reason that criminals commit these crimes for many years, and the numbers of theories that have been come up with looks to be the same number of criminologists. A criminologist is “one who studies the biological and sociological causes and consequences of crime and criminal behavior (such as the effects of mental defects and social environment).” Their job is to figure out why criminals acted the way they did and how to change the person in order to not repeat it, in other words rehabilitate them. Rehabilitation teaches the prisons to live a better life when let out instead of being punished in prison. When a criminal commits a crime the reason for the action is a very important part of the case and after the prisoner is behind bars, then they can find a solution for the crime to not be repeated by the same convict.
By definition, criminology is the study of crime, criminal behavior and how it pertains to the law. Criminology is considered a scientific technique. Therefore, those who study and carry out its theories are considered scientists. The theories and practices within the subject help criminologists determine the cause and consequence of criminal behavior; also why criminology is so highly regarded among law enforcement and the legal world.
The first two issues that eighth amendment prohibits is excessive bail and fines. The excessive bail clause prohibits courts from demanding excessively high amounts of bail, and the excessive fines clause prohibits courts from charging excessively high amounts of fines. The Constitution does not give a clear meaning on what “excessive bail and fines” means, but the Stack v Boyle case did (Lemieux, "The Supreme Court's Empty Eighth Amendment Promise”). Stack v Boyle was a U.S Supreme Court case where the bail was set at an amount of $50,000 which was higher than the bail set with similar and even more serious cases. This case established that bail and fi...
There are multiple crime television shows that are based on a true story or fiction. A well known television show is Law and Order Special Victims Unit, which deals with rape and assault cases. This particular episode deals with a domestic violence case between a retired football star, AJ Martin, and his girlfriend, Paula Bryant. I will be using the National Crime Victimization Survey, which is an interview with the members in a household about reported and unreported crime that occurred within the last six months. “NVCS provides information of characteristics of victims, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status and household income” (Truman and Morgan). Official statistics like the NCVS would be used for comparing its demographics
Public criminology takes information, research and education to the next level, as discovered through this essay. It doesn’t just include lab work, research and discoveries, it involves community based teaching in a way that the public can be informed and educated through upfront communication. Throughout this essay, the broad definition of public criminology will be discussed as well as its relevance to society. As with anything, there are challenges and promises that accompany public criminology and those will be stated in this essay. Examples will be given to help you learn the different concepts of public criminology and how it relates to our modern society. Given as a starting point, according to Larson (2012), public criminology involves:
Americans have argued over the death penalty since the early days of our country. In the United States, only 38 states have capital punishment statutes. As of year ended in 1999, in Texas, the state had executed 496 prisoners since 1930. Laws in the United States have changed drastically in regards to capital punishment. An example of this would be the years from 1968 to 1977 due to the nearly 10 year moratorium.
Criminology is the study of crime and criminals; a branch of sociology. More accurately, it is the study of crime as a social trend, and its overall origins, its many manifestations and its impact upon society as a whole. That makes it more a form of sociology than a law enforcement tool. But the trends it studies have a huge impact on the way the police do their jobs, the way society treats its criminals, and the way a given community goes about maintaining law and order. The writer will describe and give examples of the three perspectives of viewing crimes. The perspectives that will be highlighted are the consensus view, the conflict view or the interactionist view. Each perspective maintain its own interpretation of what constitutes criminal activities and what causes people to engage in criminal behaviors (Siegel, p.12).
Criminological theories are theories about the nature, extent, cause and control of criminal behaviour, of which the main types are biological, psychological, and sociological theories, and certain individual theories like rational choice theory (Akers, 1999). As governments use criminological theories to formulate crime prevention policies, epistemologically unsound criminological theories can lead to wide-ranging ramifications. Thus, it is important that they are epistemologically sound.
Criminology centers its attention on the criminal as a person, his behavior, and what has led him or her to a life of crime. Criminology seeks to understand the criminals' genetic makeup, to learn whether there is an inherited tendency to crime. It also takes into consideration such issues as the individuals socioeconomic background, family background, educational opportunities, and childhood associations.
In contrast to crime science’s concentration on finding the right answers to cease crimes against humanity, criminology emphasizes on the significance of investigating both crimes and criminals independently. If criminology is perceived to interpret crimes, then, criminal science is designated to fix