Introduction Flashcards
(46 cards)
Summary offence
a less serious offence, such as
theft under $5000, impersonating a police officer, or
taking a motor vehicle without consent.
Indictable offence:
a serious offence such as
assault, theft over $5000, robbery (with or without a
firearm), or murder.
Conventional crime
illegal activity committed
by individuals or small groups, involving some
degree of direct or indirect contact.
Non-conventional crime
illegal activity that
may not be associated with crime and that may
not be pursued by the criminal justice system.
o E.g. organized crime, political crime, cybercrime
Deviance
a wide range of behaviours that
violate a social norm but are not necessarily
prohibited by law
Decriminalization
the reduction or removal of
criminal penalties attached to an act without
legalizing it.
Crime is relative
what is defined as crime can
vary with time and location.
Crime is evolutive
the characteristics of a crime
can change, taking different forms over time
Consensus crimes: .
activities that are generally
considered very harmful for which there is strong
support for sanctioning and controlling them
Conflict crimes
Activities that are not
universally considered crimes, although they are
legally defined as such.
Criminology
is an interdisciplinary science that
studies criminal behaviour, crime causation, crime
prevention, and the punishment and rehabilitation
of offenders.
criminologist
is a behavioural scientist who
specializes in the identification, classification, and
description of criminal behaviour.
interdisciplinary approach
in criminology, an interdisciplinary approach is
taken—the integration of knowledge from a variety
of disciplines to formulate theories of criminal
behaviour. - bio, psycho, sociological etc
The Canadian CJS consists of three institutions:
- The police
- The courts
- The correctional /prison system
by the authority of the federal and provincial/territorial
governments
Main functions of the police
to investigate criminal offences as defined in the
Canadian Criminal Code (CCC)
to lay charges as defined under the CCC
Main functions of the court
to prosecute the accused in court (prosecution/“the
Crown”);
to determine guilt or innocence (judge/jury);
to sentence those found guilty (judge);
Main function of the correctional system
to administer the sentence (corrections).
The Origins of Criminology was in the
Enlightenment period of the 18th century
Classical school of thought held that
criminals act out
of free will.
Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham (classical school) argued for
penal reform on humanitarian and philosophical principles.
19th century - Paul Topinard and Raffaele Garofalo studied
punishment and the treatment of criminals.
in the Late 19th century The term criminology
entered the scientific discourse.
Early 20th century
Maurice Parmelee published the first criminology
textbook.
o Edwin H. Sutherland published Principles of
Criminology, which reinforced the influence of
sociologically oriented positivism on criminology.
Denis Szabo
Referred to as the “founding father of Canadian
Criminology.”
Launched the criminology program at the Université de
Montréal in 1960.
“Criminology is inseparable from criminal policy”
