Introductory Criminology

The Study of Risky Situations

Marcus Felson, Mary A. Eckert

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781138668249
• eBook ISBN: 9781317211822
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

Introductory Criminology: The Study of Risky Situations takes a unique and intuitive approach to teaching and learning criminology. Avoiding the fragmentation of ideas commonly found in criminology textbooks, Marcus Felson and Mary A. Eckert develop a more practical, readable structure that engages the reader and enhances their understanding of the material. Their descriptive categories, simultaneously broad and realistic, serve better than the usual philosophical categories, such as "positivism" and "classicalism," to stimulate students' interest and critical thinking. Short chapters, each broken into 5–7 sections, describe situations in which crime is most likely to happen, and explain why they are risky and what society can and can't do about crime. They create a framework to organize ideas and facts, and then link these categories to the leading theories developed by criminologists over the last 100 years. With this narrative to guide them, students remember the material beyond the final exam.

This fresh new text was created by two professors to address the main points they encounter in teaching their own criminology courses. Problems solved include: reluctant readers, aversion to abstract thinking, fear of theory, and boredom with laundry lists of disconnected ideas. Felson, a leader in criminology theory with a global reputation for innovative thinking, and Eckert, an experienced criminal justice researcher, are uniquely qualified to reframe criminology in a unified arc. By design, they offer abstractions that are useful and not overbearing; their prose is readable, and their concepts are easy to comprehend and remember. This new textbook challenges instructors to re-engage with theory and present the essence of criminological thought for adult learners, coaching students to grasp the concept before any label is attached and allowing them to emerge with deeper understanding of what each theory means and offers. Lean, with no filler or fluff like stock photos, Introductory Criminology includes the authors' graphics to crystallize and expand concepts from the text.

PART 1

The Crime Challenge

In 1651, Thomas Hobbes¹ asked a very general question: How does society maintain order and avoid falling into chaos?

Hobbes thus raised “the problem of order” that all societies must confront. Order depends on minimizing any behaviors that can threaten the health and safety of citizens or the whole society. Order means that people are following basic rules of good behavior and are not fighting and stealing from each other. Society’s many institutions— families, neighborhoods, private organizations, and governments—play a role in maintaining order. Social life also includes tolerance—allowing people to drive a bit over the speed limit and to make some noise on Friday nights. Every society makes decisions about what it will tolerate and what it considers beyond the limits.

The Hobbesian problem of order² spans a wide range of social and criminological ideas. It also raises several very serious issues, since the very institutions we need to keep society orderly can also do a great deal of harm:

1.These institutions can create dictatorship or oppression, killing the fun of life and stamping out the human spirit.

2.These institutions can produce extra crime and disorder through corruption and abuse of power, harming the very people they are supposed to serve or assist.

Society has not “solved” the problem of order, how to deliver it, and how to avoid harmful side effects. The problem is ongoing, posing an endless challenge.

Maintaining order depends on more than law. Order depends on all of society’s institutions. It depends on containing ordinary rudeness, alcohol consumption, and minor problems, which could spill over and produce something worse. Human imperfections apply at all levels—individuals, families and households, communities, and public agencies—often challenging everyday life. Society faces four ongoing challenges, to

•control disputes;

•contain sexual temptations;

•protect property; and

•safeguard youths.

As we stated in our introduction to you (Getting Started), we arrived at these four challenges after examining the daily calls that citizens make to police and emergency services. Most of these calls are about disputes and nuisances, sexually offensive behaviors, property issues, misbehaving teenagers, barking dogs, or noisy parties. Fewer callers report assaults or other criminal acts in progress. Rather, citizens report on pre-criminal situations—problems that have not yet escalated into a crime event. Sometimes, crime bursts forth from what began as a relatively minor misbehavior; for example, some youths have been drinking too much for a considerable time, after which two of them get into a fight.

When its institutions are working well, society minimizes disputes and contains sexual temptations while also safeguarding property and helping youths grow up. A successful society minimizes risky situations and, when they occur, does a good job of containing these situations so that criminal acts usually do not result. Throughout our book, we consider how daily life generates these risky situations, and how criminal acts sometimes emerge.

Figure 1a sums up what we have said so far, depicting the general problem of order and the four challenges to society that emerge from it. These challenges show up every day as risky situations emerge. In Part 2 you will learn how society tries to contain these problems. As our textbook proceeds, we fill in many specific examples of how society tries to avoid creating risky situations and to manage these situations when they occur.

Our textbook organizes numerous and diverse criminological theories and ideas about how crime emerges and how society tries to contain it. We discuss the various institutions that seek to contain crime and maintain order, and we allow room for substantial discussion. As you shall see, society’s institutions, from families to governments, are highly imperfect.

Criminology studies how crime emerges and how society seeks to contain or prevent it. The justice system is just one of the major tools used by society for maintaining order and delivering justice. Our textbook views social order as a trial-and-error process, an ongoing part of everyday life. We begin in Unit 1.1 with ordinary disputes, discussing how these can escalate into a criminal event. Unit 1.2 describes the necessity to control sexual temptations so they do not result in criminal behavior. Unit 1.3 then shows that society seeks to manage the ownership and protection of property. Finally, in Unit 1.4, we discuss the need to minimize risky situations for youth, keeping them safe and away from crime. Part 1 ends with a Perspective section that sums up our main points in Units 1.1 through 1.4.

FIGURE 1A
Ongoing Challenges for Every Society

FLASHCARD LIST FOR PART 1: THE CRIME CHALLENGE

•Contain sexual temptations

•Control disputes

•Four ongoing challenges

•Hobbesian problem of order

•Pre-criminal situations

•Protect property

•Safeguard youths

•Theory

QUESTIONS ADDRESSED IN PART 1

1.Why does society need to control disputes?

2.Why does society need to contain sexual temptations?

3.Why must society protect property and manage property issues?

4.Why and how does society safeguard youths and help them grow up?

Notes

1Hobbes, T. (2006 [1651]). Leviathan. London: A&C Black.

2Ellis, D. P. (1971). The Hobbesian problem of order: A critical appraisal of the normative solution. American Sociological Review, 36(4), 692–703.

UNIT 1.1 The Need to Control Disputes

When police are called, that often means that a dispute has escalated too far. To understand the process, keep in mind that

• disputes are quite common; and

• most disputes do not escalate, never resulting in crime; yet

• most violent assaults occur after a dispute has emerged and escalated.¹

Social psychologists have studied how this can happen. More often than not, disputes fizzle out or settle down.² Others climb the pyramid to become a more serious problem.³

The importance of ordinary disputes cannot be overstated. Many experimental studies show us how some disputes can escalate. If a dispute occurs in front of an audience, one party may be especially embarrassed and angered, thus more likely to retaliate. When a younger male has a disagreement with an older female, he is more likely to back away from further conflict, while a dispute with another young male is more likely to escalate. A peacemaker can help defuse a situation, while a troublemaker can enhance the dispute and contribute to its escalation. You can see that dispute escalation is highly situational.⁴

The volume of “minor” disputes in society is very important since some of these minor disputes can escalate into something major. Consider that most homicides begin as simple grievances over matters that seem trivial at first. Minor disputes create risky situations that can help us comprehend crime. That’s why society’s institutions face a challenge to contain grievances and minimize rude encounters that violate the norms of everyday polite interaction. Even those encounters that seem trivial from the outside are not always trivial to those involved.⁵ These are also called incivilities since they typically occur in public and run counter to the idea that citizens have common obligations.

Dispute Escalation

A simple theoretical sequence outlines a dispute escalatio...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Detailed of Content
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• List of Boxes
• Our Teaching Framework
• Acknowledgments
• Getting Started
• Part 1 the Crime Challenge
• Part 2 Four Types of Crime Control
• Part 3 Realistic Justice
• Part 4 Risky Ages
• Part 5 Overt Crime Areas
• Part 6 Risky Settings for Women
• Part 7 Crime Enhancers
• Wrapping Up
• Index