Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Origin of criminology - how to deal with the “dangerous

classes” surplus populations

From elite perspective:

What is wrong with poor/”criminals” --

as in Linebaugh's The London Hanged

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Crime and violence were rampant.

Most victims were also peasants/workers,as they turned on each other

But eventually becomes threat to the rich

Surging numbers of poor, desperate, and increasingly violent peasants/workers.

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

European origins

Rising agri productivity and surplus pops

Landlords, Capitalists, and Exploitation

"Enclosures" & surplus peasants

"Town workers" and starvation wages

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Early Criminology - without Criminologists

Perceptions of the problems by “thinkers” sponsored by elites

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

In the 1700s and 1800s the intellectuals were mostly philosophers sponsored by rich

They offered philosophical explanations of what was wrong with the poor/criminals(explanations that would please sponsors)

(different explanations were radical – e.g. Marx and the “lumpen-proletariat”)

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

The Classical Approach: “Free Will”

People have free will and make choices

Punishment should be designed to deter (alter the choices that people make) (ignores the context of choices)

(and assumes consensus model!!)

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

By mid to late 1800s, sciences developing - especially biology (“positivism”)

Scientists were also sponsored by elites

Provided a different competing answer to the

question of what is wrong with poor people

They are biologically inferior!

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

These ideas were also the basis of theracist theories then becoming popular

The rich are biologically superiorThe poor are biologically inferior

(Rich and poor vary from place to place)

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Linked to race and ethnicity:

“Evolutionary atavism”

Defective intelligence - “feeblemindedness”

Somatotypes - body types Other supposed race/ethnic links

Some are still popular today

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Twin and adoption studies

The XYY chromosome claims

Sociopathy (biological version)

“Raging hormones” theories

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Early 1900s, Psychology emerging(still within elite-bias tradition)

Yet more explanations of “difference”

Sigmund Freud - childhood trauma"The Criminal Mind"

sociopaths/psychopathsLearning Theory (flawed socialization)

Soc 322 – Indiv ApproachesSummary

Two centuries of individual approaches has

left us with an array of theories that purport to explain why poor people are inferior - and thus poor and crime-prone

These are stereotypes of poor/“criminals”

that most of us share to some extent - “blaming the victim”

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

Problems with individual approaches

1. The consensus model of social organization is inadequate, especially in modern societies.

There is actually little agreement even on basic values (e.g., abortion, the

death penalty, suicide, etc.).

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

2. "Sample selection":

Focuses on lower class “street” crime &

caught offenders: especially ignores

corporate/government/organized crime.

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

3. Ignores social aspects of crime –

crime trends/rates

discrimination patterns

the criminalization process “labeling” process

Soc 322 – Indiv Approaches

4. Ineffective as basis for crime policy

Reactive rather than proactive –

focuses on punishing or treating “offenders”

who are presumed to be different from “normal people”

Next

Sociological Approaches