GS22 Sociology of Crime, Deviance and Societal Response

Lecturer: Margie Hall.

opic !: "ntroduction to t#e Course, Classical Criminology and $ositivism
Section !: "ntroductions and Definitions
!.! %#at is t#e course a&out' %#at are crime, deviance and societal response'
"gnoring for t#e moment t#e term (sociology), *e *ill start from *#at students +no*
a&out crime, deviance and societal response. %#at are t#e every day meanings of crime'
%#at are t#e sorts of &e#aviour t#at *e mig#t call deviance, and *#at everyday activity
could &e included in t#e term (societal response to crime and deviance)'
(Crime): can &e defined legalistically or morally.
(Deviance) can &e defined in terms of (not usual, not normal) &e#aviour, &ut in terms of
*#ose ideas of normality' ,*e *ill discuss t#is in topic -.. /or t#e initial purposes of t#is
course, (deviance) can &e considered as morally deviant &e#aviours suc# as certain
aspects of se0ual &e#aviour, prostitution, indecency, teenage playfulness, *#ic# are not
actually criminali1ed ,alt#oug# in fact, in Singapore, most aspects #ave &een
criminali1ed..
(Societal Response) to crime and deviance refers to all t#e actions2activities t#at
people do &ecause of t#e e0istence of, and t#eir feelings a&out, crime and deviance.
#ese actions may &e individual or organi1ed: e.g.
!.t#e legal system *it# la*s and courts, t#e police, t#e prisons, pro&ation officers
2.crime prevention, security officers
3.political speec#es *#ere politicians tal+ a&out (la* and order)
-.letters to t#e ne*spaper t#at complain a&out2discuss crimes.
4.t#e security systems in &uildings
Ho* do *e +no* a&out it: mass media as everyday source of +no*ledge
!.2%#at is sociology' 5r 6 %#at do sociologists study, apart from crime and
deviance, and t#e responses to crime and deviance'
"f *e as+ed some sociologists *e *ould get various ans*ers, suc# as (sociology is t#e
study of #uman societies), or (sociology is t#e study of #uman social p#enomena), or
(t#e study of #uman groups from t#e largest types of society ,e.g. t#e Roman 7mpire. to
t#e smallest types of #uman groups, ,e.g. married couples, or t*o people #aving a
drin+..) 8not#er definition mig#t &e t#at (sociology is t#e study of social &e#aviour of all
types, e.g. from &eing $rime Minister to committing suicide.) 8ll t#ese ans*ers are
accepta&le.
" *ill 9uote from one particular te0t&oo+:
(Sociology is t#e study of #uman social life, groups and societies.) 8ntony Giddens,
Sociology ,-t# ed. ,2::!. p2.
(Human social life, groups and societies) o&viously covers a *ide field, and if you loo+
at t#e c#apter #eadings of t#is te0t&oo+ you can see ;ust #o* many topics can &e part of
sociology:
!. %#at is Sociology' 2. Culture and Society 3. 8 C#anging %orld
-. Social "nteraction and 7veryday Life
4. Gender and Se0uality
<. Sociology of t#e =ody: Healt#, "llness and 8geing
>. /amilies
?. Crime and Deviance
@. Race, 7t#nicity and Migration
!:. Class, Stratification and "ne9uality
!!. $overty, %elfare and Social 70clusion
!2. Modern 5rgani1ations
!3. %or+ and 7conomic Life
!-. Government and $olitics
!4. Mass Media and Communications
!<. 7ducation
!>. Religion
!?. Cities and Ar&an Spaces
!@. $opulation Gro*t# and 7cological Crisis
!.3.Ho* are *e studying crime, deviance and societal response'
#is course is concerned *it# t#e *ay t#at t#ere #as &een a #istorical se9uence of ideas
a&out crime and deviance, and *ill present t#e ideas in t#is se9uence. %e *ill not in fact
cover nearly all t#e different ideas and t#eories, &ut *ill &e concerned *it# t#e main
ones.
"n t#e first part of t#is course *e are going to &e focused mostly on crime, rat#er t#an
deviance, &ecause deviance is 9uite a recent concept in sociology. 8ll t#e earlier studies
*ere focused on crime, or on ot#er very specific &e#aviours, li+e suicide, &ut did not use
t#e idea of deviance. %e *ill come to deviance in Lecture /our.
Loo+ing at earlier studies of crime, t#e term (criminology) is used more t#an (sociology
of crime). Sometimes t#e t*o terms mean t#e same t#ing. Criminology means t#e study
of crime, &ut any aspect of crime at all. So *#en a sociologist studies crime, #e or s#e is
doing criminology. Ho*ever, crime can &e studied from many points of vie*, so a legal
e0pert loo+ing specifically at sentencing policies for crime, could also &e called a
criminologist. 8 psyc#ologist loo+ing at individual c#aracteristics of people convicted of
crime could &e termed a criminologist. 8nyone studying crime from any angle can &e
termed a criminologist. So, to repeat. a sociologist studying crime can &e called a
criminologist, &ut a criminologist is not necessarily a sociologist.
Section 2: 7arly History of Criminology, Sociology and ot#er Social Sciences
2.! #e 7nlig#tenment and Classical Criminology
#e 7nlig#tenment in 7urope, !>:: 6 !?::, *as a time *#en ideas moved a*ay from
t#eological vie*s ,t#in+ing and doing *#atever *as said &y t#e =i&le and priests of t#e
C#urc#. and monarc#ical vie*s ,t#in+ing and doing *#atever t#e Bing or po*erful
people said *as correct. to*ards independent vie*s, ideas &ased on principles developed
and *or+ed out &y t#in+ing people.
"n $#ilosop#y, t#e 7nlig#tenment involved p#ilosop#ers li+e Rousseau ,!>!2C!>>?. and
Hume ,!>!! 6 !>><. trying to develop and *or+ out t#e principles of #o* relations#ips
&et*een rulers and ruled s#ould &e organi1ed. #ey t#oug#t a&out *#o s#ould &e rulers,
*#y t#ey s#ould &e rulers, on *#at &asis could t#ey #old po*er, on *#at &asis could t#ey
ma+e la*s, *#at *ere t#e limits of t#eir ;urisdiction2po*ers. "t *as no longer accepta&le
for monarc#s to rule on t#e &asis of religious ideas, for t#em to #ave ar&itrary po*ers or
for t#em to &e ;ustified in t#eir actions on t#e &asis of traditional ideas or even on t#e
&asis of mere *#ims. "n terms of la*s, crimes and punis#ments, it *as not accepta&le for
rulers to ;ust ma+e up ne* la*s from day to day, or for +ings or ;udges to punis#
offenders in ;ust *#atever *ay t#ey felt li+e t#at day, or to maintain cruel traditional
forms of punis#ment. , C can t#in+ a&out
e0amples of t#is type of +ing or emperor as depicted in films..
"n Science, t#e 7nlig#tenment involved trying to understand and e0plain t#e p#ysical
*orld in terms of empirical measurement, connected to individual t#in+ing &y inductive
and deductive logic, rat#er t#an ;ust accepting *#at religious &oo+s said.
H 7 7 D L " G H 7 D M 7 D
!>:: C !?::
$olitical, 7conomic, Social %orld
$#ysical %orld
De* $olitical $#ilosop#ies
$#ysical Sciences
e.g. ,Rousseau, *riting !>4:s,
Hume, *riting !><:s.
Classical Criminology C =eccaria
,*riting !><:s.
Criminology dates &ac+ to an "talian *riter, Cesare=eccaria C and &ecause #is *riting is
considered t#e first systematic *riting on crime, *e refer to #is ideas as (classical)
criminology.
Cesare =eccariaEs ideas, originally *ritten in "talian as Dei delitti e delle pene in !><-,
*ere *idely influential t#roug#out 7urope, and *ere eventually fully translated into
various 7uropean languages. Fe.g. into 7nglis#, as 7ssays on Crimes and $unis#ments
,!?:-.G
8t t#e time of =eccariaEs *riting, capital punis#ment *as used *idely for not only
murders and assaults, &ut also for forgery and for many crimes of t#eft, often for t#efts of
relatively small sums of money. "n =ritain, *omen forgers *ere still &urnt at t#e sta+e.
ransportation to t#e colonies ,8merica, until t#e *ar of "ndependence, and t#en
8ustralia. *as used for t#ose *#ose t#efts *ere not 9uite serious enoug# for t#e deat#
penalty. Since not nearly everyone survived t#e voyages to t#e colonies, t#is *as actually
a deat# penalty for some, and a (lottery) for everyone. Some types of capital punis#ment
*ere also very gruesome, and torture *as still *idely used to e0tract confessions. "n ot#er
parts of 7urope, prisoners *ere sent to *or+ in mines or on s#ips, or to penal colonies in
farCoff regions of t#e country.
=eccaria, utili1ing t#e idea of (social contract) t#at prevailed amongst many political
p#ilosop#ers, considered t#at la*s *ere &ased on a social contract &et*een independent
citi1ens, creating t#e sovereign government t#at made la*s. #e &asic premise of
political p#ilosop#ers at t#is time *as t#at all men *ere &orn e9ual, and *it# e9ual rig#ts
to t#eir o*n life, li&erty and property. "ndividuals gave up part of t#eir o*n li&erty, t#e
li&erty to do e0actly *#at t#ey li+ed, in order to gain peace and security. =ut t#ey only
gave up t#e least amount possi&le. #e sovereign government administered t#e agreed
la*s *#ic# curtailed t#e total li&erty of individuals, &ut t#e sovereign government *as
&ound to administer t#em e9uita&ly ,e9ually2fairly.. $o*er *as not given up &y
individuals in order for in;ustice to e0ist.
#e la*s *ere to &e limited to *#at *as strictly necessary, and *ere to &e clearly *ritten
and codified so t#at everyone +ne* t#em. =asically t#ey protected life, *ellC &eing and
property, e.g. people *ere protected from ot#er people ta+ing t#eir life, #urting t#eir &ody
or ta+ing a*ay t#eir property &ecause of t#e e0istence of la*s against +illing anot#er
person, p#ysically in;uring anot#er person or ta+ing anot#er personEs property.
"f everyone acted rationally at all times, understanding t#e necessity of t#e la*s, noC one
*ould &rea+ t#em. Do&ody *ants to &e #urt, so no&ody #urts anyone else. 7ac# person
*ants to +eep t#eir o*n property, so no&ody ta+es t#e property of anyone else.
Ho*ever, at times passions mig#t over*#elm rationality. #ere *ould &e occasions *#en
people *ould t#in+ a&out doing #arm to anot#er or #is property, and mig#t even act on
t#e &asis of strong emotions and &rea+ t#e la*.
$unis#ments *ould &e set and *ritten do*n as a deterrent measure to remind people of
t#e conse9uences of &rea+ing t#e la*, and *ould &e imposed on individuals as a penalty
for &rea+ing t#e la*. Ho*ever, t#e punis#ments *ere to &e carefully *or+ed out and
limited so t#at t#ey *ere strictly proportionate to t#e #arm done. #ey *ere not to &e
unnecessarily severe 6 only severe enoug# t#at t#ey *ould deter t#e rational man *#o
*as contemplating a crime. #is means t#at use of t#e deat# penalty as a punis#ment
*ould not e0ist at all. ,8lt#oug# ot#er classical t#eorists t#oug#t it could e0ist on a very
limited &asis.. "t also means t#at t#e certainty of punis#ment *as more important t#an t#e
severity, as *as t#e promptness of punis#ment.
orture to e0tract a confession *as completely unaccepta&le, as it *as punis#ment &efore
t#e fact of t#e crime #ad &een esta&lis#ed. "mprisonment &efore trial *as &asically
*rong, &ecause it *as punis#ment &efore trial, &ut *as an unfortunate necessity.
Hopefully it *ould &e limited &ecause promptness of punis#ment *as in fact important in
order for people to understand t#e connections of a crime and its punis#ment.
"n order for t#ere to &e e9uality, t#e punis#ment for eac# crime *ould &e &ased on t#e
mere fact of committing t#e crime. #e punis#ment *ould not &e reduced or increased in
relation to any circumstances of t#e committing of t#e crime, or any circumstances of t#e
individual. Having &een precisely set do*n in la*, t#e punis#ments *ould &e meted out
*it#out regard to specific motives or mitigating circumstances, and of course *it#out
regard to t#e status or social position of t#e person *#o #ad committed t#e crime.
=eccariaEs principles, *#ic# *ere consistent *it# political c#anges occurring t#roug#out
7urope, *ere t#e &asis of t#e systematic codified criminal la*s t#at *e #ave today.
Similarly, #e influenced t#e systematic codification of punis#ments, and t#e sense of
consistency or proportionality &et*een (seriousness) of a crime and (severity) of a
punis#ment.
/or =eccaria, legal penalties *ere t#ere to deter t#ose *#o #ad not already committed an
offence, and, in t#e case of prison, to temporarily incapacitate t#ose *#o #ad already
done so. Humans #ad rational free *ill, and c#ose t#eir actions, *#ic# *as *#y it *as
necessary to dissuade t#em from crime &y t#e li+ely punis#ment.
2.2DeoCClassical Criminology
Ho*ever, =eccariaEs ideas came up against several pro&lems:
!. t#e pro&lem of ine9uality amongst people. "f you punis# t#eft *it# a fine, *#at do you do
a&out t#e t#ief *#o #as no money or possessions and steals from a muc# ric#er person'
=eccariaEs ans*er *as t#at t#e t#ief gives #is or #er (la&our) in prison for a certain
amount of time. =ut o&viously t#at is an admission of t#e &rea+do*n of #is system of
strict proportionality.
2. t#e possi&ility t#at people cannot al*ays see t#ings rationally. #ere are people *#o are
not totally rational at any time, e.g. t#e mentally defective, and t#ose *#o #ave not
reac#ed an age of rationality, e.g. c#ildren. o ta+e account of t#is, t#e criminal la*s of
most countries gradually moved to*ards setting age limits &elo* *#ic# one could not &e
c#arged, and ot#er age limits ,e.g. ? 6 !< yrs. *it#in *#ic# one *as a (;uvenile), not
fully adult, and treated differently ,usually tried in different courts, and sent to (;uvenile
detention centers) of some type, rat#er t#an to prison *it# adults..
3. anot#er possi&ility *as t#at certain circumstances mig#t (mitigate) in terms of *#y t#e
offence *as committed, e.g. selfCdefence. Strictly spea+ing for =eccaria it *as only t#e
fact of t#e la*C&rea+ing t#at *as important, &ut in fact (mitigating circumstances) suc#
as t#e *ay t#e offence #appened, ,e.g. selfCdefence. #ave come to &e ta+en into account
in modern legal systems.
8ll t#is means t#at t#e legal systems *e in#erit are (neoCclassical) 6 la*s and
punis#ments are systematically codified and in general specified punis#ments are
proportionate to t#e #arm done, &ut yet t#ey are not applied identically in all cases. %e
ta+e account of age, motivation, state of mind and so on, &ot# in determining guilt and
also in imposing punis#ments. Some of t#ese mitigating circumstances #ave &een &ased
on t#e *or+ of social scientists.
Huestion:
/or =eccaria, t#e purpose of punis#ment is (deterrence), and so is its ;ustification.
$unis#ments are *ritten in order to deter rational people, and #opefully t#ey do not need
to &e used often. %#en t#ey #ave to &e used, t#ey #opefully deter t#e person &eing
punis#ed from doing it again, and deter ot#ers from committing t#e same offence. #ey
are ;ustified ,in terms of t#e #arm t#ey inflict on t#e individual. &y t#eir reasona&leness
in relation to t#e offence, &y t#e fact t#at t#e person +ne* #e *ould &e punis#ed if #e
committed t#e action.
%#at ot#er ideas are t#ere a&out punis#ment 6 its purpose and its ;ustification'