Criminological theory and organizational crime

To understand the circumstances that lead to organizational crime, we need to consider the insights of strain theories on the distribution of legitimate and illegitimate opportunities, of labeling theory on the way stigmatization can foster criminal subculture formation, of subcultural theory as applied to organized business subcultures of resistance to regulation, and of control theory. It is contended that an integration of these perspectives into a theory of organizational crime is possible; a continuity can be established with the mainstream traditions of criminological theory in the domain of organizational crime. Thirteen propositions are advanced as a basis for building such an integrated theory. The key to this attempt as synthesis is the notion of differential shaming—the shaming from organizational cultures of compliance versus the shaming from subcultures of resistance to regulatory law.     

Mass Murder: Discussing Criminological Perspectives

How do we think about mass murder? While the principle of responsibilityprovides an effective mechanism for the repression of mass murder(notably through Article 25 ICCSt.), analysis of the ‘actingout’ of mass murder by perpetrators requires a criminologicalperspective. Analysis of criminogenic processes, and of genocidallogic, helps us go some way in understanding how perpetrators‘act out’ mass murder. Such an approach also leadsus to identify a long silence in the social sciences: mass murderhas become a legitimate field of social scientific study onlyrecently; it also has the advantage of exposing the shortcomingsof many concepts. This article deals with works focusing on‘mass murder’ and suggests new research paths inthe social sciences.     

Self-Talk: A New Criminological Theory

A new theory on the causes of criminal behavior is presented in which the authors assert that the reasons for any criminal act can be determined by identifying what the offender was telling him/herself prior to and during the time when the crime was committed. This theory has direct rehabilitative implications as the authors assert that the only way to curb future criminal activity is to change the underlying self-talk of the offender.     

Juvenile Delinquency in the USSR: A Criminological Survey

This article examines some statistical data concerning juvenile delinquency in the USSR, analyzes social and demographic characteristics of juvenile delinquents, and describes special methods of preventing and combating juvenile delinquency in the USSR.

In those cases when the article does not contain direct references to the source of the data, the author cites the results of various research studies which are in his possession.     

Beyond crime seriousness: Fitting the punishment to the crime

This paper presents an exposition of how the factorial survey approach may enhance empirical assessments of the complex judgment principles involved in public views of just punishments for convicted offenders. Ratings of the appropriateness of sentences given across 50 typical crimes obtained from a household sample (N=774) of the Boston SMSA and several special-interest samples in 1982 are examined in three alternative ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression equations. These analyses show there is not a one-to-one direct relationship between public perceptions of the seriousness of criminal acts and desired sanctions. Crime seriousness is modified by the characteristics of the offenders and victims and by the consequences of the crimes. Preferred punishments also vary in severity by demographic, experiential, and attitudinal characteristics of the persons who make the judgments.     

论犯罪学名著的判定与选择

犯罪学名著是指影响大、价值高的犯罪学著作。犯罪学名著的判定和选择是开展犯罪学专业学习和研究等工作的重要内容。犯罪学名著包括不同的种类。在判定犯罪学名著时,可以将书籍内容、作者情况等一般性标准,与对犯罪学学说的系统阐述、书籍作者被公认的历史地位、得到犯罪学重要奖项肯定、犯罪学文献中的高被引率、犯罪学同行们的高度评价、重要翻译项目的入选书籍、书籍被重印和再版的次数等辅助性标准结合起来进行综合判断。在选择犯罪学名著时,应当考虑其对发展学科、传播知识等所具有的价值,避免选择一些没有反映科技进步及不符合国情的犯罪学名著。     

作案人性格来源的犯罪学思考

作案人性格分析是现场重建的工作内容之一。性格的形成是长时间诸多因素共同作用的产物。对作案人性格形成产生影响的因素包括家庭因素(原生家庭、婚姻关系产生的新家庭)、受教育因素、工作因素及其它因素。其中,原生家庭中家庭成员个体特征、家庭成员关系、家族行为准则;个体婚姻关系中配偶性格、配偶原生家庭、子女、配偶关系;个体的教育经历中学历、学校文化、个体兴趣爱好;个体成长中社会历史氛围、地方文化、职业、个体生活中经历的特殊人或事件等,均会成为作案人个体性格的来源。     

Teaching Criminological Theory: The Power of Film and Music

Interest in utilizing pop culture as a means of teaching and enhancing students’ understanding of complex or abstract ideas in the classroom has increased over the course of the past decade. This includes the use of film, television, fiction books, the internet, and music. The fields of criminology and criminal justice have also increasingly noted the value of using such means to teach about atrocities such as state crime, transnational crime and corporate crimes as well as issues of inequality, racism, and classism. Film, music and television can also be great tools to enhance the understanding of and ability to apply criminological theory. Most articles that have focused on incorporating the use of a ‘popular criminology’ within the classroom, however, have concentrated on one form or another of ‘pop culture’ (i.e., film). This article seeks to add to the existing literature by providing an example of how the use of film combined with music can not only enhance undergraduate criminology and criminal justice students’ ability to grasp criminological theory and apply it in their everyday lives, but also can be utilized as tools for exams.     

Re-imagining crime prevention: controlling corporate crime?

While the discourses and practices of crime prevention are of increasing salience, few criminologists have sought the inclusion of corporate illegalities on such agendas. Relatedly, within criminology, there has been a diminished tendency to think in idealistic, utopian and emancipatory terms. This paper is one small attempt to think in precisely such terms.¹ But it is not an exercise in pure imagination. In particular, the paper makes extended reference to Finland, where recent experience suggests that corporate crime prevention may be feasible, under certain conditions, albeit subject to certain limitations. Thus we consider both the desirability and the feasibility of corporate crime prevention intruding upon the generally narrowly constructed terrain of ‘crime prevention’. We begin with a critique of some of the key aspects of crime prevention discourses – at both theoretical and practical levels – with a particular emphasis upon the extent to which these are both more appropriately and usefully applied to corporate crime prevention, before going on to discuss corporate crime prevention ‘in action’, through a focus upon recent developments in Finland. In a concluding section, we consider various aspects of both the desirability and feasibility of corporate crime prevention.     

Missing Data Problems in Criminological Research: Two Case Studies

This paper considers the problem of missing data in two circumstances commonly confronted by criminologists. In the first circumstance, there is missing data due to subject attrition—some cases drop out of a study. In this context, analysts are frequently interested in examining the association between an independent variable measured at time t(x _t ) and an outcome variable that is measured at time t + 1(y _t + 1); the problem is that the outcome variable is only observed for those cases which do not drop out of the study. In the second circumstance there is missing data on an independent variable of interest for typical reasons (i.e., the respondent did not wish to answer a question or could not be located). In this case, researchers are interested in estimating the association between the independent variable with missing data and an outcome variable that is fully observed. Criminologists often handle these two missing data problems by conducting analyses on the subsample of observations with complete data. In this paper, we explore this problem with two case studies and we then illustrate the use of methods that directly address the uncertainty produced by missing data.     

A Working Class Critique of Criminological Theory

The absence of a thoroughly developed, working class critique of criminological theory has resulted in bias in the creation of knowledge regarding crime and deviance. Much as feminist writings illuminated the unique problems related to gender, and works by those discussing racial and ethnic minorities highlighted the special concerns related to race and ethnicity, a working class perspective can expose the particular issues having to do with class. A brief discussion will be presented dealing with the portrayal of working class people in the media, and the complicity of academia in allowing working class stereotypes to persist. A sketch of a working class perspective will then be developed, and it will be used to critique fourteen of the major criminological theories today in terms of their relative sensitivities and considerations of the class factor in crime and justice issues. The final section places each of the fourteen theories on a continuum from those that do not consider the working class experience at all to those that give the working class experience full consideration. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.