R CRJ 202 Midterm: Exam Study Guide at UAlbany
Criminology 1700 in europe
Modern crim law
Crimes and punishment
1)Cesare Beccaria 1738-1794
2)Critique of power
Severe punishments for trivial offenses… based on lvl of power
King determined how bad of punishment
3)discretion...small offenses...gruesome...favoritism
4) on the right to punish-why does govt have right to punish?//right to retaliation
-the greatest happiness principle…..right v wrong? Only basis is happiness and avoiding pain
Some behavior brings happiness to greatest amount to people- morally ok
Suffering--morally wrong
From this- duty of govt is to protect and ensure greatest happiness
Punishment causes pain---infliction of suffering via law
Why and when should they punish
-the necessity of punishment
Legislatures job to promote happiness
Punishment necessary as deterrent- people are naturally selfish
Naturally compelled for bad stuff
Political obstacles serve to protect
5) of the proportion between crimes and punishment
More harm on society caused by crime
Temptation to it
6) on the intent of punishments
Punishment just based on case not how bad it hurt someone
Deterrent
7) of torture
Torture used to be the norm
Unjust, confounding, and worse for the innocents
!punish before evicted
!torture treats guilt as if truth resides in muscle fibers (pain=truth)
!ife innocent either hold out or confess… tortured no matter
what… if fake confess 2 punishments
8) on the advantage of immediate punishments
More just and useful
Just-waiting sucks waiting is itself i a punishment
Deprivation of liberty when waiting… when u wait u lose liberty even if found innocent
Useful- rude minds of the multitude
Crime and punishment happen together
More linked in time more linked in mind
Distortion of punishment:
13% increase in conviction when waiting in pretrial detention
Differences in pretrial convictions (black more) based on who can post bail more often (race)
9) on the mildness of punishments
Punish is just more than crime
certainty principle- people more dettered of things more likely than severe
Declining sensitivity-when facing severe punishment means u try to escape more
More crimes to escape when evere punishment has been charged on u
ex)go to jail for life, kill people so u can break out
10 years in jail means one more won't be as bad
Fined 10000$ means another 100$ won't seem as bad
Brutalization effect- use of aggressive punishment by the state means the public is ok with it
Impunity and legitimacy-punishment to severe when crime not bad means less likely to report
and convicts crimes
*SO MILD AS PUNISHMENT AS POSSIBLE*
10) of the death penalty
It's no good he hated it
No right to kill (govt)
Ineffective not good deterrent
More effective is perpetual slavery
11)general theory
People are amoral and selfish
Scaled exactly and proportional
Swift and certain
Week 1 discussion
Does death penalty deter future crimes?
Day 3:
Social change and the emergence of law
1)
changes in the severity and the types of punishments and the amount over time
With modernization, severity and amount of punishments go down
Division of labor-small task are spread out amongst the people
2)
why might the severity of punishments be lower in more complex societies?
Religious criminality v. human criminality
r)When a crime was committed the victim was a “superhuman being” the king (power from god)
Victim and offender were asymmetrical
Outrage outways the offender
h) the victim and offender are equal
Outrage weakens the punishment they’ll accept
Offense is punished based on severity of crime
Sympathy blocks severe punishments
3)
Can a crime be a functional part of society?
Durkheim's view:
Crime serves a positive social function
Forces everyone to come together
re-establish moral boundaries and social value
When crime happens, there is a periodic reminder of who we are as group
Social-cohesion---thing that bonds us together in a group
Organic solidarity
-Based on mutual need
Mechanical solidarity
-Based on similarity
Cohesion based on similarity/likeness
Share something in common
Same belief
Emotional reaction when crime is committed
Origin and construction of law
1)
Consensus model
Law is the product of agreement on what is morally wrong
Collective consciousness
Whole of beliefs in society… what’s right and wrong
The law is the visible symbol of the Collective consciousness
Govt exists to serve and protect \\^^^^^^//
Arbitrary traditions and collective conservatism
Norms and beliefs systems based on arbitrary traditions
Once there is a norm in collective conservatism the tendency is to go w the flow
Pluralistic ignorance
People don’t believe in because everyone else does
Don’t really know what other people do
Shared institutions of justice
Core set of beliefs
Serious offences are wrong and should be punished
Widespread agreement
Evolution history--everyone has in commons
Began in hunter gatherer groups
Intuition passed on
Shift from religious criminality to human criminality meant less severe punishments
Day 4: day 3 cont
Conflict model-
1. The law originates out of conflict… groups w diff beliefs
a. Social audience- group that can and does assign a meaning
Document Summary
Severe punishments for trivial offenses based on lvl of power. 3)discretionsmall offensesgruesomefavoritism: on the right to punish-why does govt have right to punish?//right to retaliation. Some behavior brings happiness to greatest amount to people- morally ok. From this- duty of govt is to protect and ensure greatest happiness. Punishment necessary as deterrent- people are naturally selfish. Political obstacles serve to protect: of the proportion between crimes and punishment. Temptation to it: on the intent of punishments. Punishment just based on case not how bad it hurt someone. !torture treats guilt as if truth resides in muscle fibers (pain=truth) what if fake confess 2 punishments: on the advantage of immediate punishments. !ife innocent either hold out or confess tortured no matter. Just-waiting sucks waiting is itself i a punishment. Deprivation of liberty when waiting when u wait u lose liberty even if found innocent. More linked in time more linked in mind. 13% increase in conviction when waiting in pretrial detention.
