Week 3

René Descartes

laid the foundation for rationalism

rationalism

the principle that some kinds of knowledge are innate, and others can be acquired through reasoning, independent of experience

John Locke and David Hume

We learn by association

empiricism

Tabula rasa

analogy Locke used to describe how our mind begins as a blank sheet on which life experiences write our reality (“blank slate”)

empiricism

the principle that knowledge is acquired only through experience

Immanuel Kant

we have no knowledge of reality, rather our mind forms appearances of reality

paradigm shift

a fundamental change in the prevailing model or theoretical orientation

Thomas Kuhn

personal knowledge, mass media, official state knowledge, theoretical knowledge

Factors that shape public perceptions of crime

net widening

process in which new sentencing options increase instead of reduce control over offenders' lives

Brian MacLean

vicarious reinforcement

learning through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour

moral panic

widespread exaggerated public concern over issues associated with morality (e.g., prostitution, pornography)

conflict theory

a theoretical perspective that views crime as a natural product of a society that promotes competition and, hence, social and economic disparity

left-realism

a theoretical perspective that aims to better understand the implication of crime control policies rather than the causes of crime

Jock Young

police, judicial system, corrections system

3 Primary Sources of Official Data

juristat

a regular publication of the canadian centre for justice statistics, considered the most authoritative source of criminal justice statistics in canda

reliability

the likelihood that an observed relationship between two or more variables can or will be observed in a consistent manner

validity

the likelihood that the relationships observed and measured are real

sampling

the process of selecting a group of research subjects who are representative of the entire population under investigation

random error

and error in data collection that occurs because of an intervening variable that could not have been forseen

systematic error

an error in data collection that the researcher has been able to anticipate and account for

crime funnel

a metaphor referring to the decreasing number of crimes processed at successive levels of the justice system, from law enforcement, through the courts, to corrections

descriptive

statistics gathered by official sources are primarily (descriptive or explanatory)

The Research Cycle

Personal Knowledge, Mass Media, Official State Knowledge, Theoretical Knowledge

4 Factors that Shape Public Perceptions of Crime

operationalization

defining criminological concepts or phenomena in such a way that they can be observed and measured scientifically

crime data

the information collected to measure the frequency and severity of criminal events

description, explanation, evaluation, risk assessment, prediction

5 Key Purposes of Crime Data

Kim Rossmo

developed a computer-mapping technique known as geographic profiling, which is used to predict where various categories of offenders live or work, based on crime-site information focuses on spatial behaviour (where)

false positive

an incorrect test result, showing the presence of a condition that does not exist

John Monahan

lies, damned lies, statistics

3 kinds of lies

dark figure of crime

crime that goes undetected, unreported, or unrecorded, and is not included in official sources

uniform crime reporting (UCR)

a system providing a continuous historical record of crime and traffic statistics reported by every police agency in Canada since 1962

canadian centre for justice statistics (CCJS)

the agency responsible for collecting and compiling crime data on a wide range of criminological and criminal justice topics. opened in 1981

Crime Severity Index (CSI)

created by Statistics Canada as a measure of police-reported crime that would address the limitations of the traditional crime rate

summary offences, indictable offences, and hybrid offences

3 Categories of Police Crime Statistics

summary offence

carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or a fine not exceeding $5,000 (unless a different penalty is specified).

indictable offence

carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and no maximum fine

Hybrid offence

consist of crimes such as impaired driving and theft under $5,000, which the Crown may choose to prosecute as either summary or indictable.

correctional statistics

data on people being held in federal and provincial corrections facilities, including age, sex, offence and prior convictions

media coverage, the dark figure of crime, changes in recording procedures

factors affecting crime data

Ezzat Fattah

noted the dark figure of crime (portion of the crime that goes undetected, unreported, or unrecorded)

changes in the number of police enforcers, police/court administrators, legal definition of crime, population base, and public reporting patterns (CUVS & GSS)

4 changes in recording procedures

(number of reported crimes / total population) x 100

Crime Rate Formula

canadian urban victimization survey (CUVS)

the first major attempt to survey canadians who had been victims of crime, conducted in the 1980s

general social suvery (GSS)

a statics canada survey used to regularly gather data on social trends and to provide information on specific policy issues of current or emerging interest (e.g., social support, health and well-being, victimization)

victimization survey

a data collection technique used to gather unofficial information from victims of crime on incidents that have usually occurred within a predefined period of time

victimization data (from recipient of offence), self reported data (from the offender), and observational methods

sources of unofficial crime data

unofficial crime data

crime data not collected by official criminal justice agencies, including self-report studies, victimization surveys, and field observation data, usually used to elucidate existing official data and verify the validity of official sources

precursors, transactions, and aftermath

3 Stages to Describing a Criminal Event

self-report studies

survey in which individuals are asked to voluntarily disclose whether they have ever committed an offence. such unofficial crime data can shed light on undetected and under-reported types of crime (e.g., youth crime, fentanyl use, sexual assault, and robbery)

test-retest reliability

a method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

field research

research done in natural, real-life settings outside the laboratory

qualitative research

research designed to study characteristics that cannot be measured or counted

Max Weber

german sociologist who said that individuals interpret their own actions and the actions and reactions of others

verstehen

sociologist max weber's term for the effort to understand an event by placing oneself in the participant's situation and trying to see it through his or her eyes

german for understanding

activity, dynamics of participants and their interrelationships, and setting

3 Levels where observation enables data collection

Tearoom Trade

Study by sociologist Laud Humphreys of men who engage in homosexual behaviour in public facilities, including subsequent later interviews in their homes after recording their license plate numbers

widely cited in discussions of the need for informed consent to research.

never harm participants, ensure that participation is voluntary, maintain anonymity and confidentiality, be honest

Basic Guidelines to Minimize Potential Negative Impacts on Subjects

triangulation

the use of multiple data sources or research methods to investigate a topic, with the goal of producing more reliable findings. it enables criminologists to illuminate the dark figure of crime

correlation (direct correlation)

a statistical relationship between two or more variables

positive correlation

a direct correlation in which an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the other variable

negative correlation

a direct correlation in which an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in the other variable

causal

the existence of a direct correlation does not imply a _____________ relationship

causality

the idea that one event is the result of one or more other events

hypothesis

an idea or assertion about a phenomenon, a situation, or a relationship between variables that a researcher sets out to prove or disprove

discovery, demonstration, refutation, and replication

four basic aims of researchers

restorative justice

a sentencing model that emphasizes restitution and community participation, aimed at reintegrating offenders back into their communiti