Gottfredson and Hirschi - Criminological Theory - Lecture Slides, Slides of Criminology

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Gottfredson and Hirschi

The Generality of Deviance

Criminologists complain that they don’t control

their own dependent variable

• What is the D.V. in criminology?
• Is this unique to criminology?
  • What about other fields?
  • SO WHAT?

Classical School Revisited

• Individuals’ behaviors are controlled through

sanctions.

• The “mistake” of current criminology is to focus only on “political sanctions”
• But others were articulated
  • Moral
  • Religious
  • Physical

HERE IS THE HOOK

• The sanctioning system is only useful for

describing a behavior.

• i.e., assault is “illegal,” or alcohol abuse is “deviant”
• it has no bearing on what factors might cause the particular act
• the theory of sin IS the theory of crime, deviance and imprudence

The “Big Picture” that they missed

• Crime, deviance, sin, and recklessness are not

separate, or distinct “types” of behavior

• Crime: a behavior sanction by the state
• Deviance: a behavior sanction by society
• Recklessness: natural sanctions
• According to G&H, a better question is, “what

do these behaviors have in common?”

The Generality of Deviance

• All of these acts are pleasurable (but so are

non-criminal acts)…

• They have immediate consequences
• They are physically and mentally easy
• They are risky

What is the Main Point?

• Don’t get caught up in “deviance” versus

“crime” or “recklessness.”

• Those labels simply describe societies reaction to behaviors
• Look instead at the commonality
• The recognition that “deviance is constructed”

has little bearing on theories designed to

predict crime or deviance