ACCT 4440 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: O. J. Simpson, Actus Reus, Victim Impact Statement
7 Jun 2016
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Week 1: schmalleger, f and volf, r. what is criminology? pages: 2-16, 26-28 and 30-36. Legalistic: state, formal law, sanction- we study rule breakers, causes of criminal behaviour. Political power structures, who defines crime, what is societal reaction. What is studies- harmful behaviours that aren"t criminalized, who defines crime, what is societal reaction. What is studied- problematic behaviours, who defines crime, what is societal reaction. Reduced into 2 general perspectives: legalistic and societal reaction. Legalistic- crime is what is defined by criminal law, role of criminologists is to study rule breakers. Deviance- human behaviour that violates social norms. What is crime vs what should be criminal: 3 contrasting points of view: Consensus perspective: shares notion of right and wrong, law represents a collective will, law serves people equally, we can and should distinguish violations. Pluralist perspective- diversity of groups, diversity of beliefs and interests, general acceptance of law as dispute resolution.
