In Chapter One, it introduces us to research methods in the Criminal Justice field by explaining to us how we create such data, examine data and present data. It teaches us that we learn from things we have direct experience also from certain things we are taught from others that we are supposed to believe because it makes the most sense to us. These two ideas are called experiential realities and agreement reality. In experiential reality the example to understand it would be touching a stove. If the stove is hot and you see fire, it is dangerous and should not be played with but if it is cold and there is no fire visible then it is safe to be around. In agreement reality, we are told certain information and we are supposed to believe it. For example, we are told that the sun sets in the west and we have nine planets but it is hard to argue that both of those examples are accurate because everyone agrees.
In this chapter it also gets into an experiment called the Kansas City Preventive Patrol. What this experiment was supposed to do is try out a new method of patrolling in order to bring down the crime rates in Kansas City, Missouri. The conclusion of this experiment was a negative outcome because no matter how much more they spruced up their patrol units, the crime had little to no change based on the increase of marked cars and other patrollers.
As professionals in the criminal justice field, one must be very fond of the knowledge they experienced in their lives. We are taught to be empirical learners meaning that we learn based on observing and experiencing things in our lives. Also, we likely to use secondhand knowledge to make judgments on decisions to make.
In the end of this chapter it explains our many purposes for r...
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...olices, citizens, gang members and the offenders and even more plural as in what groups play a role also what type of organizations are in those communities. For example, as a generalized statement, in a poor city there are more crime that occurs which makes it seem like poor people commit more crimes.
Through chapters 1-4 it breaks down the way we look at crimes. From experimenting, then looking at theories on why these crimes happen, to the ethics one may follow to the causation to the crimes. Overall, to understand crime is by observing and using generalized knowledge and also trying out new ways to understand why different things happen when you look at the factors. Something similar to a trial and error experiment maybe not the greatest thing to try and use on understand crime and trying to lower it but it is a chance that some people would decide to take.
Because of budget constraints, the study only used one beat to collect data on the effects of increasing police patrol. Even though money was an issue, the experiment could have yielded better data by repeating the experiment multiple times to see if the data they collected would be reliable. The experiment also took place during the winter. The report of the study even noted that there was some evidence that crime activity levels declined, just as street activity does, because of colder weather. Although the design of the study contained weaknesses, some of the methods used by the researchers worked well for this type of study. One of the strengths of this experiment was the different methods used to acquire illegal guns in the beat. By using a variation of ways to seize illegal weapons in the “hot spot,” it allowed officers to increase their chances of finding more illegal guns. Using different methods of search also could have led to greater number of potential offenders to know that officers were looking for illegal weapons and refrained from offending. Another strength of the study includes the relatively inexpensive method to try to answer their hypothesis. Increasing police patrol is one of the more inexpensive methods and it did manage to decrease the number of gun crimes and homicide in the
Wright, J. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice. (p. 9.1). San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUCRJ201.12.1/sections/sec9.1
When delving into the various theories under the umbrella of criminology, one must research and gain knowledge about each idea to understand how it stands alone and among all of the theories. These should be compared against each other to determine what similarities they may have, which overlap and strengthen the foundations of understanding criminal behavior. Then they shall be examined for contrasting points, which distinguish and possibly prove weaknesses within the theories. Doing so can help criminologists determine the accuracy and credibility of the theories and help achieve a deeper knowledge of criminals and antisocial behaviors.
Secondly, differential association varies based on the intensity, duration, frequency, priority, and timing of one’s process of learning. Through this notion, the individual’s self is disregarded and more emphasis is placed on the extrinsic factors. Furthermore, “it is an individual’s experiences and the ways in which the individual defines those experiences which constitute to the learning of criminality”. (Gongenvare & Dotter, 2007,
Schmalleger, Frank, Criminal Justice A Brief Introduction, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Education Inc. , 2010, Page 387
In order to understand how to compile evidence for criminal cases, we must understand the most effective types of evidence. This topic is interesting because there are ample amounts of cases where defendants have gotten off because of the lack of forensic evidence. If we believe forensic evidence is so important and it affects our decisions, then maybe we need to be educated on the reality of forensic evidence. If we can be educated, then we may have a more successful justice system. If we have a more successful justice system than the public could gain more confidence that justice will be served. In order to do this, we must find what type of evidence is most effective, this can be done by examining different types of evidence.
Brown, S & Esbensen, F & Geis, G,. Criminology, Explaining Crime and it's Context. 7th ed.
Severence, L., Goodman, J., & Loftus, E. (1992). Inferring the criminal mind: Toward a bridge between legal doctrine and psychological understanding. Journal Of Criminal Justice, 20. 107-120.
This theory however as some have argued has emerged from social disorganisation theory, which sees the causes of crime as a matter of macro level disadvantage. Macro level disadvantage are the following: low socioeconomic status, ethnic or racial heterogeneity, these things they believe are the reasons for crime due to the knock on effect these factors have on the community network and schools. Consequently, if th...
Siegel, Larry J., and John L. Worrall. Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013.
Crime and criminalization can be ambiguous; crime is only crime until certain authorities deem the actions illegal. However, social inequalities can lead to increased crime rates, notions such as gender, age, race, and class influence crime and provide criminologist with the date to determine who is most likely to commit a crime and where.
It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,
Given that criminology aims to make precise predictions about human behaviour, it needs to ensure that its theories’ predictions correspond to observations of human behaviour.
It can be argued that criminology has helped improved the understanding of crime in the 20th century through the knowledge of preventing criminal behaviour and how society responds to crime after it has been committed. Although, criminologist do not blame people for crimes committed but try to understand why people commits that crime and explain it, instead of blaming them.
Criminology is the complex study of why crime happens, when it happens, by whom and who is the victim. Criminology encompasses multiple fields and they all work together to help us understand the world that we live in. Through criminology, we hold out hope that in the end good will prevail. We have come far from the days of Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, Richard Dugdale, and many others. When looking at the progression of criminology, we can see that without those pioneers in the beginning, we would not be where we are today. Classical, Neoclassical, Biological, and Psychological theories are each very different, but compliment one another as a jigsaw puzzle that in the end is a map for us to follow.