"A" WORK DISCUSSION

MCJ 5135, Theory of Crime and Criminology 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Analyze the concepts of crime, criminal law, and criminology. 1.1 Differentiate between methods of criminological research. 1.2 Categorize characteristics of criminal behavior. 1.3 Summarize research on victimology.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1 Unit lesson

1.1 Chapter 2; Essay

1.2 Chapter 3; Essay

1.3 Chapter 4; Essay

Reading Assignment Chapter 2: Research Methods in Criminology Chapter 3: General Characteristics of Crime and Criminals Chapter 4: What is Victimology?

Unit Lesson Criminological and Victimological Analysis Crimes committed, victims of crimes, and criminals can be counted, analyzed, categorized, defined, examined, researched, and appraised on macro and micro levels. Once reliable data are collected, they can be placed in boxes to be used as reference points to use in describing history and forecasting possible futures. For research persons interested in changing outcomes and perhaps reducing crimes, methods can be devised, analyzed, funded, and implemented to do so. In the end, the process starts over to determine and analyze the effects of the methods, and the circle goes around as it has for thousands of years. Even so, crimes are committed, victims are injured, and criminals exist in societies around the world. The point is that persons working in the criminal justice field must be wary of relying strictly on one study. For example, in the Crime File 2.3 on page 34 of the textbook, The Crime Dip, Levitt and Donohue (as cited in Hagan, 2017) argue that legalized abortion was responsible for a falling crime rate. Their reasoning is that the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion prevented unwanted potential criminals from being born, so in 1992 the crime rate dropped. This situation describes but one of many systems for analyzing data with the intention of devising systems or methods for crime reduction. Perhaps criminologists and victimologists need to try another method that has an excellent reputation in other fields: analyze systems that provide the best results and copy them.

UNIT II STUDY GUIDE

Criminological Analysis

MCJ 5135, Theory of Crime and Criminology 2

Safest Countries in the World:

# Country Geography – Square

Kilometers

Population Ratio Size/

Population

Predominant Religion

GDP Rank

Ratio of Police to

Population in 100,000

Guns per 100

Residents

1 Switzerland 41,210 8,379,477 203 Roman Catholic

10 210 46

2 Singapore 693 5,696,506 8,220 Buddhist 3 713 0.5 3 Hong Kong 1,092 7,346,248 6,727 Unknown 11 393 ? 4 Bahrain 665 1,396,829 2,100 Islam (Shiite

and Sunni) 14 1900 25

5 Luxembourg 2,586 576,243 223 Roman Catholic

2 278 15

6 Japan 377,835 126,323,715 334 Shintoism- Buddhist

4 198 0.6

7 Iceland 103,000 331,718 3 Lutheran 20 198 30 8 Ireland 70,273 4,713,993 67 Roman

Catholic 8 252 4.3

9 Denmark 43,094 5,690,750 132 Lutheran 60 19 12 10 Cyprus 9,250 1,176,598 127 Greek

Orthodox 35 36

Averages 54,670 16,163,200 1,813 15 495 17

Most Dangerous Countries in the World:

# Country Geography – Square

Kilometers;

Population Ratio Size/

Population

Predominant Religion

GD P

Ran k

Ratio of Police to

Populatio n in

100,000

Guns per 100

Resi- dents

1 Syria 185,180 18,563,595 100 Islam (Sunni) 139 ? 4

2 Somalia 637,657 11,079,013 17 Islam (Sunni) 198 198 9

3 Nigeria 1,267,000 186,987,563 147 Islam (50%); Christian (40%)

123 205 1.5

4 Afghanistan 647,500 33,369,945 52 Islam (80% Sunni; Shiite 19%)

165 401 4.6

5 Sudan 619,745 12,733,427 21 Islam (Sunni) 163 629 5.5

6 United States

9,629,091 324,118,787 33 Christian/Catho lics 76%

11 256 113

7 Iraq 437,072 37,547,686 87 Islam (Shiite 60%; Sunni 37%)

79 ? 34

8 Pakistan 830,940 192,826,502 232 Islam (Sunni 77%; Shiite 20%)

133 207 12

9 Mexico 1,964,375 128,630,004 65 Roman Catholic

64 366 15

10 Russia 17,098,246 143.439.832 8 Russian Orthodox (17%) Only 32% practice any

48 546 9

Averages 3,396,431 108,929,635 32 120 351 21 (Bertrand & Fuchs, 2015; Sydney School of Public Health, n.d.; Interpol, n.d.; List of countries by area, n.d.; International Monetary Fund, 2016.; Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.; Top 10 most dangerous countries in the world, n.d.)

MCJ 5135, Theory of Crime and Criminology 3

The above two tables are not scientific in that the data presented, while taken from reputable sources, were not filtered, vetted or even correlated for timeframes, quality of the research, or peer-reviewed data. For this reason, they cannot be used for any study, but are merely a sample of what criminologists and victimologists can do with data. What do you find is the most consistent and obvious data that would require further analysis? Did you note that no nation was listed in the top 10 safest countries and eight of the 10 most dangerous nations were listed as predominantly Islamic? Can you see how a research paper could be written on the cause of violence being based on a religious belief? Now analyze the data more closely; Syria, for example, may not be at the top of the list because of religious issues; maybe its position can be attributed to civil war. If so, then one would have to collect data and do research on the eight countries listed as Islamic nations to better understand why each scores in its position. The textbook addresses more than 20 separate studies that probably contain charts like the samples above, so how are these charts relevant? Consider the following possible conclusions based on the charts after extensive research by each of the following researchers.

 Researcher #1: Nations must divide to have smaller landmasses; Texas and California should separate from the United States.

 Researcher #2: Nations must reduce population to have a smaller ratio between land and population.

 Researcher #3: Gun ownership does not affect crime rates.

 Researcher #4: The United States must adopt Japanese culture and ethics.

 Researcher #5: Gross Domestic Product per capita must be increased. This phenomenon happens when researchers, both criminologist and victimologists, gather data and write research papers. The conclusion then for criminal justice practitioners would be not to focus exclusively on one research study or school of thought, such as the Levitt and Donohue studies. For the purpose of helping develop a comprehensive understanding of how research, studies, expert opinions, schools of thought, and government decisions involving criminal justice should be used, keep the above short exercise in mind and try not to fixate on any one magic bullet to stop crime. Maybe there are no solutions, but efforts must be made to reduce the United States’ position as the sixth most dangerous country in the world though the nation is ranked 11th in Gross Domestic Profits per capita. One must question whether it is possible to get an entire nation to accept the wisdom of the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you,” which John Locke designated as the most unshaken rule of morality and foundation of all social virtues. Confucius in around 500 BCE stated the rule in a slightly different way in Book XV. xxiii, and again in Book V. xi: “What you do not want done to yourself do not do unto others.” The Golden Rule would be an excellent solution to crime if we found a way to force acceptance by every living person. Benjamin Franklin was right; religious beliefs tend to help lower the crime rate, but it can also be said that they do not cause it to cease to exist.

References Bertrand, N. & Fuchs, E. (2015). 20 of the safest cities in the world. Retrieved from

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-20-safest-cities-in-the-world-2015-1 Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.) The world factbook. Retrieved from

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Hagan, F. E. (2017), Introduction to criminology: Theories, methods, and criminal behavior (9th ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Interpol. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.interpol.int/en International Monetary Fund. (2016). Download entire World Economic Outlook database. Retrieved from

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/02/weodata/download.aspx Sydney School of Public Health. (n.d.). Global impact of gun violence. Retrieved from

http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/

MCJ 5135, Theory of Crime and Criminology 4

United Nations. (2015). Total population – both sexes. Retrieved from data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3A12

Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries In The World 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.abcnewspoint.com/top-10-most-dangerous-countries-in-the-world-2015/

Suggested Reading In order to access the following resource, click the link below: The recent deaths of unarmed African-American citizens have been hot-button issues lately. Would an increase in African-Americans and other minorities on police forces help to reduce incidents like these? This article explores that concept. Ozkan, T., & Worrall, J. L. (2016). Does minority representation in police agencies reduce assaults on the

police? American Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(3), 402–423. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://libraryresources.columbia southern.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/docview/1 812278636?accountid=33337

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. Anderson v. United States, 417 U.S. 211 (1974). Retrieved from https://advance-lexis-

com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/api/permalink/7bb9f5e7-af9a-4f79-8770- 27d6925208a8/?context=1516831

California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149 (1970). Retrieved from https://advance-lexis-

com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/api/permalink/e64b7692-ac09-4a80-99c7- ef69c4ce7ee5/?context=1516831

Open the above cases and determine what the facts of the cases were, understand Justice Douglas’ dissent in Anderson v. United States, and understand Justice Brennan’s dissent in California v. Green.