CRI205H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Trepanning, Demonology, Data Analysis
28 Aug 2018
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Topics to be discussed: what do we know about crime, measurement strategies for criminologists, quantitative vs. qualitative approaches, official data, unofficial data, ethnography / field observations, content analysis, trends / moving forward. Tension between theories that focus on structure and theories that focus on process: conflicting assumptions about human nature, different conceptions of the link between society and individual behavior, degree of social consensus. Theories must be "testable: good theories are not "tautological" Some theories focus on changing the law: must consider the practical limitations of theoretically derived policy recommendations. Crime in the dark ages: mores and folkways dominate feudal communities. Serious crimes explained in spiritual terms: the battle between good and evil. Trephination: an early form of neural surgery designed to release evil spirits dwelling in the heads of offenders. Crime in the dark ages: guilt often determined by "ordeals". Ordeal by water, ordeal by fire, ordeal by battle, etc.
