Distinguishing crime as a social problem versus sociological problem

¶ … Distinguish between thinking about crime as a social problem and thinking of it as a sociological problem).

Taking crime as a sociological issue one would attempt to theories regarding the causes of criminal behavior, social construction of the concept of crime, and solutions to crime on a societal level. Sociological theories and psychological theories of criminal behavior are heavily entwined. There are numerous sociological theories concerning the cause and control of criminal behavior. In general sociological theories of criminality attempt to connect the individual's behavior with broader social structures and cultural variables, discuss how the contradicting factors of these variables interact to lead to criminal behavior, investigate how these structures have historically developed, and view criminal behavior from the standpoint of social constructionism and concentrate on the social causes of criminality.

For instance, Durkheim (1897) coined the term anomie to describe a feeling of a lack of being connected to society or feeling that there is a lack of social norms to help them explain suicide and sociologists later used the term to describe the disconnect of the individual and the collective social consciousness. In this viewpoint criminality results as a consequence of the failure to properly socialize persons and/or a consequence of the unequal opportunities between different groups of people (Merton 1968). Society constructs criminality and therefore certain types of activities are labeled criminal; however, this label is often implied unequally between the different groups and if the definition of criminal behavior was taken literal everyone in society would be engaging in some form of criminal behavior (e.g., Schur 1965). Social programs to increase legitimate opportunities for advancement and the payment of goods would therefore eliminate much criminality in society. Programs that socialize children properly while providing support would also reduce criminal behavior. Finally, unlike psychological theories, sociological theories of criminal behavior would advocate for stricter and harsher penalties for more serious crimes. For instance, is well-known that of the many felony criminal acts tried in the courts only a small percentage actually end up going to trial and a small percentage of those go to prison. Imprisonment should include punishment and rehabilitation (Hester and Eglin 1992).

When viewing crime is a social problem or social issue one is referring to a problem that influences and is in opposition with the goals of most individuals within a particular society (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2014). Social problems are considered to be issues that are beyond the control of individuals in a society and may also be a source of conflicting opinion regarding what is perceived as being moral, right, or functional for members of a particular society (Mooney et al., 2014). When viewing crime is a social problem one is not interested in theories regarding the social construction of criminal behavior, how crime is defined by a particular society, how the definition of criminal behavior and crime change between societies or overtime in the same society, and so forth. When viewing crime is a social problem one is particularly interested in the functional aspects of dealing with criminal behavior in a particular society or in a particular context (Mooney et al., 2014). Thus, when viewing crime as a social problem the emphasis on the variables of study are placed on solving the issues or reducing them as opposed to understanding them and how they change over time or over different cultures/societies. When one views crime is a social problem one is more likely to attempt to determine which types of sanctions are most useful in preventing recidivism in individuals convicted of crimes or what factors in a particular context are correlated with higher instances of criminal behavior. In the first instance one look at how longer sentences for specific types of crimes reduce future crimes of that type or how rehabilitation for minor drug offenses compares to criminal sentencing for the same offenses. In the second instance one might be interested in how such things as social inequality, gun laws, racism, and so forth are related to overall specific types of criminal behavior in a society (Mooney et al., 2014).

Question 2. What misconceptions occur when correctional criminology relies on official statistics about crime?

The first issue concerning the use of descriptive statistics is that these types of statistics that are released by official bodies about some particular behavior (e.g. criminal behavior) are not in any way useful by themselves in making inferences regarding such issues as cause-and-effect or regarding predictability of a particular behavior (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). Descriptive statistics such as the official statistics about crime released by the government and other bodies are simply data or summary figures that are calculated from the available information. Thus, it can be very misleading to use specific statistical figures try to make inferences about the types of factors that cause criminal behavior or the types of suspects that should be suspected of certain types of criminal actions (Maxfield & Babbie, 2014). Using descriptive statistics to infer a causal relationship is basically the assumption that correlation infers causation (e.g., the figures indicate that African-Americans are convicted of crimes more often than Caucasians, therefore being African-American causes criminal behavior; Clinard, Quinney & Wildeman, 2014).