Week 1

Question 1

What is criminology

Answer 1

A scientific, multi-disciplinary field that includes:

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Law
• Geography
• Political science

Question 2

Criminology study includes

Answer 2

characteristics of the criminal law;
the extent of crime;
the effects of crime on victims and on society;
methods of crime prevention;
the attributes of criminals; and
the characteristics and workings of the criminal justice system

Question 3

What is crime

Answer 3

Can define crimes as acts or omissions that:
- Cause public harm
- Are forbidden by law
- Are punishable by law
As a concept – complex & incorporates large range of behaviours
-> e.g. Petty shop theft, violent assault, large-scale corporate crimes, murder
Crime is a social construction – behaviours defined as criminal vary across time & place

Question 4

Formal sources of crime knowledge

Answer 4

• Official statistics
  –> Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Institute of Criminology etc
• Research studies

Question 5

Informal sources of crime knowledge

Answer 5

• Personal experience
• Experiences of relatives and friends
• The media
• Newspapers
• TV & Radio
• Internet

Question 6

Aims in sentencing offenders

Answer 6

• Retribution
• Restitution
• Deterrence
• Incapacitation
• Rehabilitation

Question 7

Retribution

Answer 7

An approximate form of proportional harm as ‘payback’

Question 8

Restitution

Answer 8

Compensation to victim or society

Question 9

Deterrence

Answer 9

Specific deterrence & general deterrence

Question 10

Incapacitation

Answer 10

Restricts potential offenders’ access to victims

Question 11

Rehabilitation

Answer 11

Behavourial change through therapeutic programs

Question 12

Criminal justice system main components

Answer 12

Policing
Courts
Corrections

Question 13

CJS legitimation

Answer 13

CJS attempts to control behaviours defined as unlawful – giving substantial powers over citizens

Common rationale is that this power is ‘legitimated’ because majority of citizens approve of it and are prepared to accept some lawful restrictions on their freedom in return for social stability & regulation

Problem for State & CJS - maintain balance between protecting civil liberties & enforcing a degree of social control

Question 14

CJS mechanisms

Answer 14

CJS the formal mechanism of social control utilised only in cases where informal agencies (families, school, employment) have not adequately socialised people

If informal controls worked adequately then (it is said) that there would be little need for formal mechanisms of coercion