SOC209 Lecture Notes
Soc 209: Thinking Critically – Lecture 2 (Jan.22)
Thinking Critically
Is the notion of crime and justice must be carefully considered
Definition of crime, power relations
The definitions of crime and power relations is defined by society, it is a moral argument
Political media focus
Increasingly punitive responses to crime
Crime has decreased over the years, but if your only exposure to crime is through the media it might seem as though its going up.
The severity of crime is also going down
Why do we punish people?
Teach them a lesson
Make them accountable
Revenge
Deterrence
Get rid of them, get them of the streets
Retribution
Just desserts
Justice, proportionate
The punishment must fit the crime
It must be proportionate
Contravention of social order requires ‘pay back’ to society or victim
Deterrence
Threat of punishment will prevent future crime
Hedonistic calculus
If the pleasure out ways the pain deterrence is ineffective
General Deterrence, and Specific
You see a friend commit a crime and you don’t want to
Specific is you
Certainty, Celerity, Severity
These need to be close together in order for deterrence to be affective
Certainty is the most important; if you are certain you are going to get caught, you wont do it.
Does deterrence work?
Sometimes it does work (they get out, and they don’t want to go back) and sometimes it doesn’t work (people sometimes bargain with the judge to get put into jail longer, or they go back to crime)
Incapacitation (Prison)
Symbolic: denouncement of act communicated to offenders and society through use of punishment
In the sense of freedom; we as people of society we value our freedom, and taking it away is tough on a lot of people
Imprisonment, deprivation of liberty
Remove problem elements from society
Rehabilitation
Treatment model
Address underlying causes facing the offender
Focus on offender, not crime
Assumes transformative potential of rehabilitation within a punitive
Thinking Critically
Is the notion of crime and justice must be carefully considered
Definition of crime, power relations
The definitions of crime and power relations is defined by society, it is a moral argument
Political media focus
Increasingly punitive responses to crime
Crime has decreased over the years, but if your only exposure to crime is through the media it might seem as though its going up.
The severity of crime is also going down
Why do we punish people?
Teach them a lesson
Make them accountable
Revenge
Deterrence
Get rid of them, get them of the streets
Retribution
Just desserts
Justice, proportionate
The punishment must fit the crime
It must be proportionate
Contravention of social order requires ‘pay back’ to society or victim
Deterrence
Threat of punishment will prevent future crime
Hedonistic calculus
If the pleasure out ways the pain deterrence is ineffective
General Deterrence, and Specific
You see a friend commit a crime and you don’t want to
Specific is you
Certainty, Celerity, Severity
These need to be close together in order for deterrence to be affective
Certainty is the most important; if you are certain you are going to get caught, you wont do it.
Does deterrence work?
Sometimes it does work (they get out, and they don’t want to go back) and sometimes it doesn’t work (people sometimes bargain with the judge to get put into jail longer, or they go back to crime)
Incapacitation (Prison)
Symbolic: denouncement of act communicated to offenders and society through use of punishment
In the sense of freedom; we as people of society we value our freedom, and taking it away is tough on a lot of people
Imprisonment, deprivation of liberty
Remove problem elements from society
Rehabilitation
Treatment model
Address underlying causes facing the offender
Focus on offender, not crime
Assumes transformative potential of rehabilitation within a punitive