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acquired academic credentials or who are as-
sociated with credentialed others; also called
alternative criminology.
corporate crime A violation of a criminal
statute by an organization or its executives,
employees, or agents acting on its behalf and
for its benefit.4
corporate fraud A type of organizational
fraud, such as accounting schemes, self-dealing
by corporate executives, obstruction of justice,
insider trading, kickbacks, and misuse of corpo-
rate property for personal use.
correctional psychology The branch of
forensic psychology concerned with the diag-
nosis and classification of offenders, the treatment
of correctional populations,and the rehabilitation
of inmates and other law violators.
correlation A causal, complementary, or re-
ciprocal relationship between two measurable
variables. See also statistical correlation.
Cosa Nostra A criminal organization of
Sicilian origin (literally means “our thing”); also
called the Mafia, the Outfit, the Mob, the syndicate,
or simply the organization.
crime Any human conduct in violation of
the criminal laws of the federal government or
a local jurisdiction with the power to make
such laws.
crime typology A classification of
crimes along a particular dimension, such as
legal categories, offender motivation, victim
behavior, or characteristics of individual
offenders.
Crime Victims’ Rights Act A 2004 fed-
eral law that establishes statutory rights for
victims of federal crimes and gives victims the
necessary legal authority to assert those rights
in federal courts.
criminal anthropology The scientific study
of the relationship between human physical
characteristics and criminality.
criminal behavior A method used to gain
valued resources from others by exploiting or
deceiving them.5
criminal career The longitudinal sequence
of crimes committed by an individual offender.
criminal enterprise A group of individuals
with an identified hierarchy engaged in signifi-
cant criminal activities.
GLOSSARY
criminal homicide The illegal killing of one
human being by another.
criminal homicide (UCR) The UCR cat-
egory that includes and is limited to all offenses
of causing the death of another person without
justification or excuse.
criminalist A specialist in the collection
and examination of the physical evidence of
crime.
criminality A behavioral predisposition that
disproportionately favors criminal activity.
criminality index The actual extent of the
crime problem in a society. The criminality in-
dex is computed by adding the actual crime
rate and the latent crime rate.
criminalize To make illegal.
criminal justice The scientific study of
crime, the criminal law, and components of the
criminal justice system, including the police,
courts, and corrections.
criminal justice system The various agen-
cies of justice, especially the police, courts, and
corrections, whose goal it is to apprehend, con-
vict, punish, and rehabilitate law violators.
criminal law The body of law that regulates
actions that have the potential to harm the inter-
ests of the state or the federal government.
criminaloid A term used by Cesare Lombroso
to describe the occasional criminal who is en-
ticed into criminality primarily by environmental
influences.
criminal psychology The application of the
science and profession of psychology to questions
and issues relating to law and the legal system;also
called forensic psychology.
criminal receiver See fence.
criminologist One who is trained in the
field of criminology; also one who studies
crime, criminals, and criminal behavior.
criminology An interdisciplinary profession
built around the scientific study of crime and
criminal behavior, including their forms,
causes, legal aspects, and control.
criminology of place A perspective that em-
phasizes the importance of geographic location
and architectural features as they are associated
with the prevalence of criminal victimization;
also called environmental criminology.
critical criminology A perspective that holds
that crime is the natural product of a capitalist
system.
cross-impact analysis A technique of futures
research that attempts to analyze one trend or
event in light of the occurrence or nonoccur-
rence of a series of related events.
cultural transmission The idea that delin-
quency is transmitted through successive genera-
tions of people living in an area through the same
process of social communication as languages,
roles, and attitudes are transmitted.
culture conflict theory A sociological per-
spective on crime that suggests that the root
cause of criminality can be found in a clash of
values between variously socialized groups over
what is acceptable or proper behavior; also
called cultural deviance theory.
cybercrime Any crime that involves the use
of computers or the manipulation of digital
data as well as any violation of a federal or state
cybercrime statute.
Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA)
A federal law found in the Homeland Security
Act of 2002 that directs the U.S. Sentencing
Commission to take specific factors into ac-
count in creating new sentencing guidelines for
cybercriminals.
cyberspace The computer-created matrix of
virtual possibilities, including online services, in
which human beings interact with one another
and with the technology itself.
cyberstalking An array of high-technology
options, including e-mail and the Internet, that
an offender uses to harass or “follow” another
individual.
cyberterrorism A form of terrorism that
makes use of high technology, especially com-
puter technology and the Internet, in planning
and carrying out terrorist attacks.
cycloid A term developed by Ernst
Kretschmer to describe a particular relationship
between body build and personality type. The
cycloid personality, which was associated with a
heavyset, soft type of body, was said to vacillate
between normality and abnormality.
dangerous drug A controlled substance
other than cocaine, opiates, and cannabis prod-
ucts. Amphetamines, LSD, methamphetamines,
methcathinone, and phencyclidine (PCP), as
3

well as designer drugs, are all considered dan-
gerous drugs.
dangerousness The likelihood that a given
individual will later harm society or others.
Dangerousness is often measured in terms of
recidivism, or the likelihood of new crime
commission or rearrest for a new crime within
a five-year period following arrest or release
from confinement.
dark figure of crime The numerical total
of unreported crimes not reflected in official
crime statistics.
data confidentiality The ethical require-
ment of social scientific research to protect the
confidentiality of individual research participants
while preserving justified research access to the
information participants provide.
data encryption The process by which
information is encoded, making it unreadable
to all but its intended recipients.
date rape The unlawful forced sexual inter-
course with a woman against her will that occurs
within the context of a dating relationship.
Daubert standard A test of scientific accept-
ability applicable to the gathering of evidence
in criminal cases.
DCS–3000 An FBI-developed network di-
agnostic tool that is capable of assisting in crim-
inal investigations by monitoring and capturing
large amounts of Internet traffic.
death penalty See capital punishment.
deconstructionist theory A postmodern
perspective that challenges existing criminological
theories in order to debunk them and that works
toward replacing traditional ideas with concepts
seen as more appropriate to the postmodern era.
decriminalization The redefinition of cer-
tain previously criminal behaviors as regulated
activities that become “ticketable” instead of
“arrestable.”
defensible space The range of mechanisms
that combine to bring an environment under
the control of its residents.
Delphi Method A technique of futures re-
search that uses repetitive questioning of experts
to refine predictions.
demographics The characteristics of popula-
tion groups,usually expressed in statistical fashion.
4
GLOSSARY
demography The study of the characteris-
tics of population groups.
descriptive statistics The statistics that de-
scribe, summarize, or highlight the relationships
within data that have been gathered.
designer drug A new substance designed by
slightly altering the chemical makeup of other
illegal or tightly controlled drugs.6
desistance A person’s cessation of criminal
activity or termination of a period of involve-
ment in offending behavior.
desistance phenomenon The observable
decrease in crime rates that is invariably associ-
ated with age.
determinate sentencing A criminal pun-
ishment strategy that mandates a specified and
fixed amount of time to be served for every
offense category. Under the strategy, for exam-
ple, all offenders convicted of the same degree
of burglary would be sentenced to the same
length of time behind bars. It is also called fixed
sentencing.
deterrence The prevention of crime. See also
general deterrence; specific deterrence.
deterrence strategy A crime-control strategy
whose goal is to lessen motivation for a crime by
increasing the perceived sureness or severity of its
penalty.7
deviant behavior Any human activity that
violates social norms.
differential association The sociological
thesis that criminality, like any other form of be-
havior, is learned through a process of association
with others who communicate criminal values.
differential identification theory An ex-
planation for crime and deviance that holds that
people pursue criminal or deviant behavior to
the extent that they identify themselves with
real or imaginary people from whose perspec-
tive their criminal or deviant behavior seems
acceptable.
Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright
Damages Improvement Act A 1999 federal
law (Public Law 106–160) that amends Section
504(c) of the Copyright Act increasing the
amount of damages that could be awarded in
cases of copyright infringement.
disclosure (of research methods) The
provision of information to potential subjects
informing them of the nature of the research
methods to be used by the social scientific study
in which their involvement is planned.
discrediting information Any information
that is inconsistent with the managed impres-
sions being communicated in a given situation.
displacement A shift of criminal activity
from one location to another.
displastic A mixed group of offenders
described by constitutional theorist Ernst
Kretschmer as highly emotional and often
unable to control themselves. They were
thought to commit mostly sexual offenses and
other crimes of passion.
distributive justice The rightful, equitable,
and just distribution of rewards within a society.
dizygotic (DZ) twin A twin who develops
from a separate ovum and who carries the genetic
material shared by siblings.
DNA fingerprinting See DNA profiling.
DNA profiling The use of biological residue
found at a crime scene for genetic comparisons
in aiding the identification of criminal suspects.
domestic terrorism The unlawful use of
force or violence by an individual or group based
and operating entirely within the United States
and its territories, without foreign influence,
directed at the U.S. government, the civilian
population, or any segment thereof for political
or social objectives.8
dramaturgical perspective A theoretical
point of view that depicts human behavior as
centered around the purposeful management of
interpersonal impressions; also called dramaturgy.
dramaturgy See dramaturgical perspective.
drug-defined crime A violation of the laws
prohibiting or regulating the possession, use, or
distribution of illegal drugs.
drug-related crime A crime in which drugs
contribute to the offense (excluding violations
of drug laws).
drug trafficking The manufacturing, distrib-
uting, dispensing, importing, and/or exporting of
a controlled substance or a counterfeit substance.9
Durham rule A standard for judging legal
insanity that holds that an accused is not crim-
inally responsible if his or her unlawful act was
the product of mental disease or mental defect.

ecological theory A type of sociological
approach that emphasizes demographics (the
characteristics of population groups) and
geographics (the mapped location of such
groups relative to one another) and that sees
the social disorganization that characterizes
delinquency areas as a major cause of crimi-
nality and victimization.
ectomorph A body type originally described
as thin and fragile, with long, slender, poorly
muscled extremities and delicate bones.
ego The reality-testing part of the person-
ality; also called the reality principle. More
formally, it is the personality component
that is conscious, most immediately controls
behavior, and is most in touch with external
reality.10
electroencephalogram (EEG) The electri-
cal measurement of brain wave activity.
encryption See data encryption.
endomorph A body type originally described
as soft and round or overweight.
Enlightenment A social movement that
arose during the eighteenth century and that
built upon ideas like empiricism, rationality, free
will, humanism, and natural law; also called Age
of Reason.
environmental crime A violation of the
criminal law committed by businesses, business
officials, organizational entities, and/or individ-
uals that damages some protected or otherwise
significant aspect of the natural environment.
environmental criminology A perspec-
tive that emphasizes the importance of geo-
graphic location and architectural features as
they are associated with the prevalence of
criminal victimization; also called criminology
of place.
environmental scanning A technique of
futures research. It is a “systematic effort to
identify in an elemental way future develop-
ments (trends or events) that could plausibly
occur over the time horizon of interest.”11
ethnic succession The continuing process
whereby one immigrant or ethnic group suc-
ceeds another by assuming its position in
society.
ethnocentrism The phenomenon of “culture-
centeredness” by which one uses one’s own
GLOSSARY
culture as a benchmark against which to judge
all other patterns of behavior.
eugenic criminology A perspective that
holds that the root causes of criminality are
passed from generation to generation in the
form of “bad genes.”
eugenics The study of hereditary improve-
ment by genetic control.
evidence based Any evidence built on scien-
tific findings, especially practices and policies
founded on the results of randomized,controlled
experiments.
evidence-based criminology A form of
contemporary criminology that makes use of
rigorous social scientific techniques, especially
randomized, controlled experiments and the
systematic review of research results; also called
knowledge-based criminology.
evolutionary ecology An approach to under-
standing crime that draws attention to the ways
people develop over the course of their lives.
experiment See controlled experiment;
quasi-experimental design.
experimental criminology See evidence-
based criminology.
expert system A system of computer hard-
ware and software that attempts to duplicate
the decision-making processes used by skilled
investigators in the analysis of evidence and in
the recognition of patterns that such evidence
might represent.
exposure-reduction theory A theory of
intimate homicide that claims that a decline in
domesticity, accompanied by an improvement
in the economic status of women and a growth
in domestic violence resources, explains ob-
served decreases in intimate-partner homicide.
expressive crime A criminal offense that
results from acts of interpersonal hostility, such
as jealousy, revenge, romantic triangles, and
quarrels.
external validity The ability to generalize
research findings to other settings.
felony A serious criminal offense, specifically
one punishable by death or by incarceration in
a prison facility for a year or more.
felony murder An unlawful homicide that
occurs during the commission or attempted
commission of a felony or certain felonies spec-
ified by law.
feminist criminology A corrective model
intended to redirect the thinking of mainstream
criminologists to include gender awareness.
fence An individual or a group involved in
the buying, selling, and distribution of stolen
goods.
first-degree murder A criminal homicide
that is planned or involves premeditation.
focal concern A key value of any culture,
especially a delinquent subculture.
folkways A time-honored custom. Although
folkways carry the force of tradition, their vio-
lation is unlikely to threaten the survival of the
group. See also mores.
forcible rape (UCR) The carnal knowl-
edge of a female forcibly and against her will.
Assaults or attempts to commit rape by force or
threat of force are also included in the UCR
definition; however, statutory rape (without
force) and other sex offenses are excluded.
foreign terrorist organization (FTO) A
foreign organization that engages in terrorist
activity threatening the security of U.S. nation-
als or the national security of the United States
and that is so designated by the U.S. secretary
of state.
forensic psychiatry A branch of psychia-
try having to do with the study of crime and
criminality.
forensic psychology The application of the
science and profession of psychology to questions
and issues relating to law and the legal system;also
called criminal psychology.
forfeiture See asset forfeiture.
frustration-aggression theory A theory
that holds that frustration, which is a natural
consequence of living, is a root cause of crime.
Criminal behavior can be a form of adaptation
when it results in stress reduction.
future criminology The study of likely fu-
tures as they impinge on crime and its control.
futures research “A multidisciplinary branch
of operations research [whose principal aim] is to
facilitate long-range planning based on (1) fore-
casting from the past supported by mathematical
models, (2) cross-disciplinary treatment of its
5

subject matter, (3) systematic use of expert judg-
ments, and (4) a systems-analytical approach to its
problems.”12
futurist One who studies the future.
gateway offense An offense, usually fairly
minor in nature, that leads to more serious
offenses.
gender gap The observed differences between
male and female rates of criminal offending in a
given society.
general deterrence A goal of criminal sen-
tencing that seeks to prevent others from com-
mitting crimes similar to the one for which a
particular offender is being sentenced.
general strain theory (GST) A perspective
that suggests that law-breaking behavior is a
coping mechanism enabling those who engage
in it to deal with the socioemotional problems
generated by negative social relations.
general theory A theory that attempts to
explain all (or at least most) forms of criminal
conduct through a single overarching approach.
general theory of crime A perspective on
crime, developed by Travis Hirschi and Michael
Gottfredson, that asserts “that the operation of
a single mechanism, low self-control, accounts
for ‘all crime, at all times,’ [including] acts rang-
ing from vandalism to homicide, from rape to
white-collar crime.”13
genetic determinism The belief that genes
are the major determining factor in human
behavior.
globalization A process of social homoge-
nization that everyday experiences can foster by
standardized cultural expressions through the
diffusion of goods and ideas around the world.14
guilty but mentally ill (GBMI) A find-
ing that offenders are guilty of the criminal
offense with which they are charged, but be-
cause of their prevailing mental condition,
they are generally sent to psychiatric hospitals
for treatment rather than to prison. Once they
have been declared cured, such offenders can
be transferred to correctional facilities to serve
out their sentences.
habitual offender statute A law intended
to keep repeat criminal offenders behind bars.
These laws sometimes come under the “three
strikes and you’re out” rubric.
6
GLOSSARY
hacker A person who uses computers for
exploration and exploitation.
hard determinism The belief that crime
results from forces beyond the control of the
individual.
hate crime A criminal offense in which the
motive is hatred, bias, or prejudice based on the
actual or perceived race, color, religion, national
origin, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation
of another individual or group of individuals.
Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement
Act A federal law (28 U.S. Code, Section
994) enacted in 1994 as part of the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that
required the U.S. Sentencing Commission to
increase penalties for crimes in which the
victim was chosen due to actual or perceived
color, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, or
sexual orientation.
hedonistic calculus The belief, first pro-
posed by Jeremy Bentham, that behavior holds
value to any individual undertaking it accord-
ing to the amount of pleasure or pain it can be
expected to produce for that person. See also
utilitarianism.
heritability A statistical construct that esti-
mates the amount of variation in the traits of a
population that is attributable to genetic factors.
Heroin Signature Program (HSP) A
Drug Enforcement Administration program
that identifies the geographic source of a heroin
sample through the detection of specific chem-
ical characteristics in the sample peculiar to the
source area.
homicide The killing of one human being
by another.
household crime (NCVS) An attempted
or completed crime that does not involve con-
frontation, such as burglary, motor vehicle theft,
and household larceny.
human agency The active role that peo-
ple take in their lives; the fact that people are
not merely subject to social and structural
constraints but actively make choices and
decisions based on the alternatives they see
before them.
human development The relationship be-
tween the maturing individual and his or her
changing environment, as well as the social
processes that the relationship entails.
human ecology The interrelationship be-
tween human beings and the physical and
cultural environments in which they live.
human smuggling A type of illegal immigra-
tion in which an agent is paid to help a person
cross a border clandestinely.15
human trafficking See trafficking in
persons.
hypoglycemia A medical condition charac-
terized by low blood sugar.
hypothesis An explanation accounting for
a set of facts that can be tested by further
investigation.16
id The aspect of the personality from which
drives, wishes, urges, and desires emanate. More
formally, this division of the psyche is associated
with instinctual impulses and demands for imme-
diate satisfaction of primitive needs.17
identity theft The unauthorized use of an-
other individual’s personal information to com-
mit fraud.
illegitimate opportunity structure A sub-
cultural pathway to success that the wider society
disapproves of.
impression management The intentional
enactment of practiced behavior that is intended
to convey to others one’s desirable personal
characteristics and social qualities.
incapacitation The use of imprisonment or
other means to reduce the likelihood that an
offender will be capable of committing future
offenses.
individual-rights advocate One who seeks
to protect personal freedoms in the face of
criminal prosecution.
inferential statistics Any statistics that spec-
ify how likely findings are to be true for other
populations or in other locales.
informed consent The ethical requirement of
social scientific research that research subjects be
informed as to the nature of the research about to
be conducted, their anticipated role in it, and the
uses to which the data they provide will be put.
infrastructure The basic facilities, services,
and installations needed for the functioning of
a community or society, such as its transporta-
tion and communications systems, water and
power lines, and public institutions.18

insanity (legal) A legally established inability
to understand right from wrong or to conform
one’s behavior to the requirements of the law.
insanity (psychological) A persistent men-
tal disorder.19
insider trading A type of equity trading
based on confidential information about im-
portant events that may affect the price of the
issue being traded.
institutional robbery A robbery that occurs
in a commercial setting, such as a convenience
store, gas station, and bank.
instrumental crime A goal-directed offense
that involves some degree of planning by the of-
fender and little or no precipitation by the victim.
instrumental Marxism A perspective that
holds that those in power intentionally create
laws and social institutions that serve their
own interests and keep others from becoming
powerful.
integrated theory An explanatory perspec-
tive that merges (or attempts to merge) concepts
drawn from different sources.
interactional theory A theoretical approach
to exploring crime and delinquency that blends
social control and social learning perspectives.
interactionist perspective See social
process theory.
interdiction An international drug-control
policy whose goal is to stop drugs from entering
the country illegally.
internal validity The certainty that experi-
mental interventions did indeed cause the
changes observed in the study group; also the
control over confounding factors that tend to
invalidate the results of an experiment.
international terrorism The unlawful use
of force or violence by an individual or group
with a connection to a foreign power or whose
activities transcend national boundaries against
people or property to intimidate or coerce a gov-
ernment, the civilian population, or any segment
thereof for political or social objectives.20
Internet The world’s largest computer net-
work for moving data and making information
accessible.
intersubjectivity A scientific principle that
requires that independent observers see the
GLOSSARY
same thing under the same circumstances for
observations to be regarded as valid.
intimate-partner assault A gender-neutral
term used to characterize assaultive behavior
that takes place between individuals involved in
an intimate relationship.
irresistible-impulse test A standard for
judging legal insanity that holds that a defen-
dant is not guilty of a criminal offense if the
person, by virtue of his or her mental state or
psychological condition, was not able to resist
committing the crime.
jockey A professional car thief involved in
calculated steal-to-order car thefts.
joyriding An opportunistic car theft, often
committed by a teenager, for fun or thrills.
Juke family A well-known “criminal family”
studied by Richard L. Dugdale.
just deserts model The notion that criminal
offenders deserve the punishment they receive
at the hands of the law and that punishments
should be appropriate to the type and severity of
crime committed.
justice model A contemporary model of
imprisonment in which the principle of just
deserts forms the underlying social philosophy.
Kallikak family A well-known “criminal
family” studied by Henry H. Goddard.
Kefauver Committee The popular name
for the federal Special Committee to Investigate
Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce,
formed in 1951.
Kriminalpolitik The political handling of
crime; also a criminology-based social policy.
labeling theory An interactionist perspec-
tive that sees continued crime as a consequence
of limited opportunities for acceptable behav-
ior that follow from the negative responses of
society to those defined as offenders; also called
social reaction theory.
La Cosa Nostra A criminal organization
of Sicilian origin; also called Mafia. The term
literally means “our thing.”
larceny The unlawful taking or attempted
taking of property (other than a motor vehicle)
from the possession of another, by stealth, with-
out force or deceit, with intent to permanently
deprive the owner of the property.
larceny-theft (UCR) The unlawful taking,
carrying, leading, or riding away of property
(other than a motor vehicle) from the possession
or constructive possession of another (attempts
are included).
latent crime rate A rate of crime calculated
on the basis of crimes that would likely be com-
mitted by those who are in prison or jail or
who are otherwise incapacitated by the justice
system.
law-and-order advocate One who suggests
that under certain circumstances involving crim-
inal threats to public safety, the interests of society
should take precedence over individual rights.
Law Enforcement Assistance Adminis-
tration (LEAA) A federal program, estab-
lished under Title 1 of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1967, designed
to provide assistance to police agencies.
learning theory See social learning theory.
left realism A conflict perspective that insists
on a pragmatic assessment of crime and its as-
sociated problems; also called radical realism or
critical realism.
left-realist criminology An approach to
criminology based on ideas inherent in the
perspective of left realism.
legalization The elimination of laws and crim-
inal penalties associated with certain behaviors—
usually the production, sale, distribution, and
possession of a controlled substance.
liberal feminism A feminist perspective in
criminology that sees gender-role socialization
as the primary source of women’s oppression.
life course The different pathways through
the age-differentiated life span; also the course
of a person’s life over time.
life course persister An offender who, as a
result of neuropsychological deficits combined
with poverty and family dysfunction, displays
patterns of misbehavior throughout life.
life course perspective A perspective that
draws attention to the fact that criminal behavior
tends to follow a distinct pattern across the life
cycle; also called life course criminology.
lifestyle theory Another term for the rou-
tine activities approach of Lawrence Cohen
and Marcus Felson. See also routine activities
theory.
7

Mafia A criminal organization of Sicilian
origin; also called La Cosa Nostra.
mala in se An act that is thought to be wrong
in and of itself.
mala prohibita An act that is wrong only
because it is prohibited.
Marxist criminology A perspective on crime
and crime causation based on the writings of Karl
Marx.
Marxist feminism A perspective in feminist
criminology that sees the oppression of women
as caused by their subordinate class status within
capitalist societies.
masculinity hypothesis The belief that,
over time, men and women will commit crimes
that are increasingly similar in nature, serious-
ness, and frequency. Increasing similarity in
crime commission was predicted to result from
changes in the social status of women.
mass murder The illegal killing of four or
more victims at one location within one event.
mesomorph A body type described as ath-
letic and muscular.
meta-analysis A study that combines the
results of other studies about a particular topic
of interest; a comprehensive and systematic
review of other studies.
metatheory A theory about theories and
the theorizing process.
misdemeanor A criminal offense that is less
serious than a felony and is punishable by incar-
ceration, usually in a local confinement facility,
typically for a year or less.
M’Naughten rule A standard for judging
legal insanity that requires that offenders not
know what they were doing, or if they did, that
they not know it was wrong.
modeling theory A form of social learning
theory that asserts that people learn how to act
by observing others.
money laundering The process of convert-
ing illegally earned assets from cash to one or
more alternative forms to conceal factors such
as illegal origin and true ownership.21
Monitoring the Future A national self-report
survey on drug use that has been conducted
since 1975.
8
GLOSSARY
monozygotic (MZ) twin One of two
twins who develop from the same egg and who
carry virtually the same genetic material.
moral enterprise The efforts made by an
interest group to have its sense of moral or eth-
ical propriety enacted into law.
mores The behavioral proscriptions cover-
ing potentially serious violations of a group’s
values. Examples include strictures against mur-
der, rape, and robbery. See also folkways.
motor vehicle theft (UCR) The theft or
attempted theft of a motor vehicle. In the FBI’s
definition, this offense category includes the
stealing of automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcy-
cles, motor scooters, and snowmobiles.
murder An unlawful homicide.
National Advisory Commission on Crim-
inal Justice Standards and Goals A federal
body commissioned in 1971 by President
Richard Nixon to examine the nation’s crimi-
nal justice system and to set standards and goals
to direct the development of the nation’s crim-
inal justice agencies.
National Crime Victimization Survey
(NCVS) A survey conducted annually by the
Bureau of Justice Statistics that provides data on
surveyed households that report they were af-
fected by crime.
National Incident-Based Reporting Sys-
tem (NIBRS) An enhanced statistical-
reporting system to collect data on each
incident and arrest within 22 crime categories.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH) A national survey of illicit drug
use among people 12 years of age and older that
is conducted annually by the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration.
National Violence against Women
(NVAW) Survey A national survey of the
extent and nature of violence against women
conducted between November 1995 and May
1996 funded through grants from the National
Institute of Justice and the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services National Center
for Injury Prevention and Control.
National Youth Survey (NYS) A longitu-
dinal panel study of a national sample of
1,725 individuals that measured self-reports of
delinquency and other types of behavior.
natural law The philosophical perspective that
certain immutable laws are fundamental to human
nature and can be readily ascertained through
reason. Human-made laws, in contrast, are said to
derive from human experience and history—
both of which are subject to continual change.
natural rights The rights that, according to
natural law theorists, individuals retain in the
face of government action and interests.
negative affective state An adverse emotion
such as anger, fear, depression, and disappoint-
ment that derives from the experience of strain.
negligent homicide The act of causing the
death of another person by recklessness or gross
negligence.
neoclassical criminology A contemporary
version of classical criminology that emphasizes
deterrence and retribution,with reduced empha-
sis on rehabilitation.
neurosis A functional disorder of the mind
or of the emotions involving anxiety, phobia, or
other abnormal behavior.
No Electronic Theft Act A 1997 federal law
(Public Law 105–147) that criminalizes the will-
ful infringement of copyrighted works, including
by electronic means, even when the infringing
party derives no direct financial benefit from the
infringement (such as when pirated software
is freely distributed online). In keeping with
requirements of the NETA, the U.S. Sentencing
Commission enacted amendments to its guide-
lines on April 6, 2000, to increase penalties asso-
ciated with electronic theft.
nonprimary homicide A murder that in-
volves victims and offenders who have no prior
relationship and that usually occurs during the
course of another crime such as robbery.
nothing-works doctrine The belief popu-
larized by Robert Martinson in the 1970s
that correctional treatment programs have little
success in rehabilitating offenders.
nurturant strategy A crime-control strategy
that attempts “to forestall development of crim-
inality by improving early life experiences and
channeling child and adolescent development”
in desirable directions.22
occasional offender A criminal offender
whose offending patterns are guided primarily
by opportunity.

occupational crime Any act punishable by
law that is committed in the course of an indi-
vidual’s legal occupation.23
offense A violation of the criminal law or, in
some jurisdictions, a minor crime, such as jay-
walking, sometimes described as “ticketable.”
offense specialization A preference for en-
gaging in a certain type of offense to the exclu-
sion of others.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) A national office that
provides monetary assistance and direct victim-
service programs for juvenile courts.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP) A national office charged by Con-
gress with establishing policies, priorities, and
objectives for the nation’s drug-control program.
ONDCP is responsible for developing and dis-
seminating the National Drug-Control Strategy.
omertà The informal unwritten code of orga-
nized crime, which demands silence and loyalty,
among other things, of family members.
Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse Act A federal
law (Public Law 100–690) enacted in 1988 that
substantially increased federal penalties for
recreational drug users and created a new
cabinet-level position (known unofficially as
the drug czar) to coordinate the drug-fighting
efforts of the federal government.
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act A federal law enacted in 1967 to elimi-
nate the social conditions that create crime and
to fund many anticrime initiatives nationwide.
operant behavior Any behavior that affects
the environment in such a way as to produce
responses or further behavioral cues.
operationalization The process by which
concepts are made measurable.
opportunity structure A path to success.
Opportunity structures may be of two types:
legitimate and illegitimate.
organized crime The unlawful activities of
the members of a highly organized,disciplined as-
sociation engaged in supplying illegal goods and
services, including gambling, prostitution, loan-
sharking, narcotics, and labor racketeering.24
Panopticon A prison designed by Jeremy
Bentham that was to be a circular building with
GLOSSARY
cells along the circumference, each clearly visi-
ble from a central location staffed by guards.
paradigm An example, a model, or a theory.
paranoid schizophrenic A schizophrenic
individual who suffers from delusions and
hallucinations.
Part I offenses The crimes of murder, rape,
robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny,
and motor vehicle theft, as defined under the
FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program; also
called major crimes.
Part II offenses The less serious offenses as
identified by the FBI for the purpose of report-
ing arrest data.
participant observation A strategy in data
gathering in which the researcher observes a
group by participating, to varying degrees, in
the activities of the group.25
participatory justice A relatively informal
type of criminal justice case processing that makes
use of local community resources rather than re-
quiring traditional forms of official intervention.
patriarchy The tradition of male dominance.
peacemaking criminology A perspective
that holds that crime-control agencies and the
citizens they serve should work together to al-
leviate social problems and human suffering
and thus reduce crime.
peace model An approach to crime control
that focuses on effective ways for developing a
shared consensus on critical issues that could se-
riously affect the quality of life.
penal couple A term that describes the rela-
tionship between offender and victim; also the
two individuals most involved in the criminal
act: the offender and the victim.
persistence The act of continuing in crime;
also continual involvement in offending.
persistent thief One who continues in com-
mon law types of property crimes despite no
better than an ordinary level of success.
personal robbery A robbery that occurs on
the highway or street or in a public place (also
called mugging) or that occurs in a residence.
pharmaceutical diversion The process by
which legitimately manufactured controlled
substances are diverted for illicit use.
phenomenological criminology The study
of crime as a social phenomenon that is created
through a process of social interaction.
phenomenology The study of the contents
of human consciousness without regard to
external conventions or prior assumptions.
phishing An Internet-based scam whose
goal is to steal valuable personal information
such as credit-card or Social Security numbers,
user IDs, and passwords.26
phone phreak A person who uses switched,
dialed-access telephone services for exploration
and exploitation.
phrenology The study of the shape of the head
to determine anatomical correlates of human
behavior.
piracy See software piracy.
pluralist perspective An analytical approach
to social organization that holds that a multi-
plicity of values and beliefs exists in any com-
plex society but that most social actors agree
on the usefulness of law as a formal means of
dispute resolution.
positivism The application of scientific tech-
niques to the study of crime and criminals.
postcrime victimization Any problem that
tends to follow from initial victimization; also
called secondary victimization.
postmodern criminology A brand of
criminology that developed following World
War II and that builds on the tenets inherent in
postmodern social thought.
postmodern feminism A perspective within
modern criminology that questions the social
construction of concepts that are typically used in
any discussion of crime and justice.
power-control theory A perspective that
holds that the distribution of crime and delin-
quency within society is to some degree
founded upon the consequences that power re-
lationships within the wider society hold for
domestic settings and for the everyday relation-
ships among men, women, and children within
the context of family life.
primary deviance The initial deviance of-
ten undertaken to deal with transient problems
in living.
9

primary homicide A murder involving a
family member, friend, or acquaintance.
primary research Any research character-
ized by original and direct investigation.
professional criminal A criminal offender
who makes a living from criminal pursuits, is
recognized by other offenders as professional,
and engages in offending that is planned and
calculated.
Project on Human Development in
Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) An
intensive study of Chicago neighborhoods
employing longitudinal evaluations to examine
the changing circumstances of people’s lives in an
effort to identify personal characteristics that may
lead toward or away from antisocial behavior.
proletariat The “have-nots,” or the working
class in Marxist theory.
prosocial bond A bond between the indi-
vidual and the social group that strengthens the
likelihood of conformity. Prosocial bonds are
characterized by attachment to conventional
social institutions, values, and beliefs.
prostitution The offering of one’s self for hire
for the purpose of engaging in sexual relations,
or the act or practice of engaging in sexual
activity for money or its equivalent.
protection/avoidance strategy A crime-
control strategy whose goal is to reduce criminal
opportunities by changing people’s routine ac-
tivities, increasing guardianship, or incapacitating
convicted offenders.27
psychiatric criminology Any theory that
is derived from the medical sciences, including
neurology, and that, like other psychological
theories, focuses on the individual as the unit
of analysis. Psychiatric theories form the basis
of psychiatric criminology. See also forensic
psychiatry.
psychiatric theory A theory derived from
the medical sciences, including neurology, and
that, like other psychological theories, focuses
on the individual as the unit of analysis.
psychoactive substance A substance that
affects the mind, mental processes, or emotions.
psychoanalysis The theory of human psy-
chology founded by Sigmund Freud on the con-
cepts of the unconscious, resistance, repression,
sexuality, and the Oedipus complex.28
10
GLOSSARY
psychoanalytic criminology A psychiatric
approach developed by Sigmund Freud that
emphasizes the role of personality in human
behavior and which sees deviant behavior as the
result of dysfunctional personalities.
psychological profiling The attempt to
categorize, understand, and predict the behav-
ior of certain types of offenders based on
behavioral clues they provide.
psychological theory A theory derived
from the behavioral sciences that focuses
on the individual as the unit of analysis.
Psychological theories place the locus of
crime causation within the personality of the
individual offender.
psychopath An individual who has a per-
sonality disorder, especially one manifested in
aggressively antisocial behavior, and who is
lacking in empathy; also called sociopath.
psychopathology A psychological disorder
that causes distress for either the individual or
someone in the individual’s life.29 It is also the
study of pathological mental conditions (mental
illness).
psychopathy A personality disorder charac-
terized by antisocial behavior and lack of affect.
psychosis A form of mental illness in which
sufferers are said to be out of touch with reality.
psychotherapy A form of psychiatric treat-
ment based on psychoanalytical principles and
techniques.
public policy A course of action that gov-
ernment takes in an effort to solve a problem or
to achieve an end.
punishment An undesirable behavioral con-
sequence likely to decrease the frequency of
occurrence of that behavior.
pure research Any research undertaken simply
for the sake of advancing scientific knowledge.
qualitative method A research technique
that produces subjective results or results that
are difficult to quantify.
quantitative method A research technique
that produces measurable results.
quasi-experimental design An approach
to research that, although less powerful than ex-
perimental designs, is deemed worthy of use
when better designs are not feasible.
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Orga-
nizations (RICO) A statute that was part of
the federal Organized Crime Control Act of
1970 and that is intended to combat criminal
conspiracies.
radical criminology A perspective that
holds that the causes of crime are rooted in so-
cial conditions that empower the wealthy and
the politically well organized but disenfranchise
the less fortunate; also called critical criminology
and Marxist criminology.
radical feminism A perspective that holds
that any significant change in the social status of
women can be accomplished only through sub-
stantial changes in social institutions such as the
family, law, and medicine. Radical feminism ar-
gues, for example, that the structure of current
legal thinking involves what is fundamentally a
male perspective, which should be changed to
incorporate women’s social experiences and
points of view.
randomization The process whereby
individuals are assigned to study groups
without biases or differences resulting from
selection.
rape (NCVS) The carnal knowledge through
the use of force or the threat of force, including
attempts. Statutory rape (without force) is ex-
cluded. Both heterosexual and homosexual rape
are included.
rape (UCR) See forcible rape.
rape myth A false assumption about rape
such as “When a woman says no, she really
means yes.” Rape myths characterize much of
the discourse surrounding sexual violence.
rape-shield law A statute providing for
the protection of rape victims by ensuring that
defendants do not introduce irrelevant facts
about the victim’s sexual history into evidence.
rational choice theory A perspective that
holds that criminality is the result of conscious
choice and that predicts that individuals choose
to commit crime when the benefits outweigh
the costs of disobeying the law.
reaction formation The process by which a
person openly rejects that which he or she wants
or aspires to but cannot obtain or achieve.
realist criminology See left realism.
recidivism The repetition of criminal behavior.

recidivism rate The percentage of convicted
offenders who have been released from prison
and who are later rearrested for a new crime,
generally within five years following release. See
also dangerousness.
reintegrative shaming A form of shaming,
imposed as a sanction by the criminal justice
system, that is thought to strengthen the moral
bond between the offender and the community.
relative deprivation A sense of social or eco-
nomic inequality experienced by those who are
unable,for whatever reason,to achieve legitimate
success within the surrounding society.
replicability A scientific principle that holds
that valid observations made at one time can
be made again later if all other conditions are
the same.
research The use of standardized, systematic
procedures in the search for knowledge.30
research design The logic and structure
inherent in an approach to data gathering.
resilience The psychological ability to success-
fully cope with severe stress and negative events.
restitution A criminal sanction, especially
the payment of compensation by the offender
to the victim.
restorative justice A postmodern perspective
that stresses “remedies and restoration rather than
prison, punishment and victim neglect.”31
retribution The act of taking revenge on a
criminal perpetrator.
reward A desirable behavioral consequence
likely to increase the frequency of occurrence
of that behavior.
risk analysis See threat analysis.
robbery (UCR) The taking of or attempt-
ing to take anything of value from the care,
custody, or control of a person or persons
by force or threat of force or violence or by
putting the victim in fear.
routine activities theory A brand of ra-
tional choice theory that suggests that lifestyles
contribute significantly to both the volume and
the type of crime found in any society; also
called lifestyle theory.
scenario writing A technique intended to
predict future outcomes that builds on environ-
mental scanning by attempting to assess the
GLOSSARY
likelihood of a variety of possible outcomes
once important trends have been identified.
schizoid A person characterized by
schizoid personality disorder. Such disordered
personalities appear to be aloof, withdrawn,
unresponsive, humorless, dull, and solitary to
an abnormal degree.
schizophrenic A mentally ill individual
who is out of touch with reality and who suf-
fers from disjointed thinking.
secondary deviance Any deviant behavior
that results from official labeling and from asso-
ciation with others who have been so labeled.
secondary research A new evaluation of
existing information that had been collected by
other researchers.
secondary victimization See postcrime
victimization.
second-degree murder A criminal homi-
cide that is unplanned and that is often described
as a “crime of passion.”
securities fraud The theft of money result-
ing from intentional manipulation of the value
of equities, including stocks and bonds. Securi-
ties fraud also includes theft from securities
accounts and wire fraud.
selective disinhibition A loss of self-control
due to the characteristics of the social setting,
drugs or alcohol, or a combination of both.
selective incapacitation A social policy
that seeks to protect society by incarcerating the
individuals deemed to be the most dangerous.
self-control A person’s ability to alter his or
her own mental and emotional states and
behavioral responses.
self-report survey A survey in which anony-
mous respondents, without fear of disclosure
or arrest, are asked to confidentially report any
violations of the criminal law that they have
committed.
separation assault Any violence inflicted by
partners on significant others who attempt to
leave an intimate relationship.
serial murder A criminal homicide that in-
volves the killing of several victims in three or
more separate events.
sex trafficking The recruitment, harbor-
ing, transportation, provision, or obtaining
of a person for the purpose of a commercial
sex act.
sibling offense An offense or incident that
culminates in homicide.The offense or incident
may be a crime, such as robbery, or an incident
that meets a less stringent criminal definition,such
as a lover’s quarrel involving assault or battery.
simple assault (NCVS) An attack without
a weapon, resulting either in minor injury or in
undetermined injury requiring less than two
days of hospitalization. See also aggravated
assault.
situational choice theory A brand of
rational choice theory that views criminal
behavior “as a function of choices and deci-
sions made within a context of situational
constraints and opportunities.”32
situational crime prevention A social pol-
icy approach whose goal is to develop greater
understanding of crime as well as more effective
crime-prevention strategies by focusing on
physical, organizational, and social environments
that make crime possible.33
snitch An amateur shoplifter.
social bond The link, created through so-
cialization, between individuals and the society
of which they are a part.
social capital The degree of positive rela-
tionships with others and with social institu-
tions that individuals build up over the course
of their lives.
social class A distinction made between
individuals on the basis of important defining
social characteristics.
social contract The Enlightenment-era con-
cept that human beings abandon their natural
state of individual freedom to join together and
form society. In the process of forming a social
contract, individuals surrender some freedoms
to society as a whole, and government, once
formed, is obligated to assume responsibilities
toward its citizens and to provide for their pro-
tection and welfare.
social control theory A perspective that
predicts that when social constraints on antiso-
cial behavior are weakened or absent, delin-
quent behavior emerges. Rather than stressing
causative factors in criminal behavior, social
control theory asks why people actually obey
rules instead of breaking them.
11

social development perspective An inte-
grated view of human development that exam-
ines multiple levels of maturation simultaneously,
including the psychological, biological, familial,
interpersonal, cultural, societal, and ecological
levels.
social disorganization A condition said to
exist when a group is faced with social change,
uneven development of culture,maladaptiveness,
disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus.
social disorganization theory A perspective
on crime and deviance that sees society as a kind
of organism and crime and deviance as a kind
of disease or social pathology.Theories of social
disorganization are often associated with the per-
spective of social ecology and with the Chicago
School of criminology, which developed during
the 1920s and 1930s.
social ecology An approach to criminolog-
ical theorizing that attempts to link the struc-
ture and organization of a human community
to interactions with its localized environment.
social epidemiology The study of social epi-
demics and diseases of the social order.
Socialist feminism A perspective within
modern criminology that sees gender oppression
as a consequence of the interaction between the
economic structure of society and gender-based
roles.
socialization The lifelong process of social
experience whereby individuals acquire the
cultural patterns of their society.
social learning theory A perspective that
places primary emphasis on the role of com-
munication and socialization in the acquisition
of learned patterns of criminal behavior and the
values that support that behavior; also called
learning theory.
social life The ongoing and (typically) struc-
tured interaction that occurs between persons
in a society, including socialization and social
behavior in general.
social pathology A concept that compares
society to a physical organism and that sees
criminality as an illness.
social policy A government initiative, pro-
gram, or plan intended to address problems in
society. The “war on crime,” for example, is a
kind of generic (large-scale) social policy—one
consisting of many smaller programs.
12
GLOSSARY
social problems perspective The belief
that crime is a manifestation of underlying so-
cial problems, such as poverty, discrimination,
pervasive family violence, inadequate socializa-
tion practices, and the breakdown of traditional
social institutions.
social process The interaction between and
among social institutions,individuals,and groups.
social process theory A theory that asserts
that criminal behavior is learned in interaction
with others and that socialization processes that
occur as the result of group membership are the
primary route through which learning occurs;
also called interactionist perspective.
social relativity The notion that social
events are differently interpreted according to
the cultural experiences and personal interests
of the initiator, the observer, or the recipient of
that behavior.
social responsibility perspective The be-
lief that individuals are fundamentally responsi-
ble for their own behavior and that they choose
crime over other, more law-abiding courses of
action.
social structure The pattern of social or-
ganization and the interrelationships among
institutions characteristic of a society.
social structure theory A theory that
explains crime by reference to some aspect of
the social fabric. These theories emphasize
relationships among social institutions and
describe the types of behavior that tend to
characterize groups of people rather than
individuals.
sociobiology “The systematic study of the
biological basis of all social behavior.”34
sociological theory A perspective that
focuses on the nature of the power relationships
that exist between social groups and on the
influences that various social phenomena bring
to bear on the types of behaviors that tend to
characterize groups of people.
sociopath See psychopath.
soft determinism The belief that human
behavior is the result of choices and decisions
made within a context of situational constraints
and opportunities.
software piracy The unauthorized and ille-
gal copying of software programs.
somatotyping The classification of human
beings into types according to body build and
other physical characteristics.
specific deterrence A goal of criminal sen-
tencing that seeks to prevent a particular of-
fender from engaging in repeat criminality.
spousal rape The rape of one spouse by the
other. The term usually refers to the rape of a
woman by her husband.
stalking A course of conduct directed at a
specific person that involves repeated visual or
physical proximity; nonconsensual communi-
cation; verbal, written, or implied threats; or
a combination thereof that would cause a rea-
sonable person fear as well as a constellation of
behaviors involving repeated and persistent
attempts to impose on another person unwanted
communication and/or contact.
state-organized crime Any act defined by
law as criminal that is committed by a state of-
ficial during his or her work as a representative
of the state.35
statistical correlation The simultaneous
increase or decrease in value of two numerically
valued random variables.36
statistical school A criminological perspec-
tive with roots in the early 1800s that seeks to
uncover correlations between crime rates and
other types of demographic data.
statute A formal written enactment by a leg-
islative body.37
statutory law Law in the form of statutes or
formal written strictures made by a legislature
or governing body with the power to make law.
stigmatic shaming A form of shaming, im-
posed as a sanction by the criminal justice sys-
tem, that is thought to destroy the moral bond
between the offender and the community.
strain theory A sociological approach that
posits a disjuncture between socially and subcul-
turally sanctioned means and goals as the cause
of criminal behavior; also called anomie theory.
strategic assessment A technique that as-
sesses the risks and opportunities facing those
who plan for the future.
structural Marxism A perspective that
holds that the structural institutions of society
influence the behavior of individuals and
groups by virtue of the type of relationships

created. The criminal law, for example, reflects
class relationships and serves to reinforce those
relationships.
subcultural theory A sociological perspec-
tive that emphasizes the contribution made by
variously socialized cultural groups to the phe-
nomenon of crime.
subculture A collection of values and pref-
erences that is communicated to subcultural
participants through a process of socialization.
sublimation The psychological process
whereby one aspect of consciousness comes to
be symbolically substituted for another.
substantial-capacity test A standard for
judging legal insanity that requires that a person
lack the mental capacity needed to understand
the wrongfulness of his or her act or to conform
his or her behavior to the requirements of the law.
superego The moral aspect of the personal-
ity; much like the conscience. According to
Freud, this part of the psyche develops by
incorporating the community’s (perceived)
moral standards, is mainly unconscious, and
includes the conscience.38
supermale A male individual displaying the
XYY chromosome structure.
superpredator A member of a new genera-
tion of juveniles “who [is] coming of age in
actual and ‘moral poverty’without the benefits of
parents, teachers, coaches and clergy to teach
[him or her] right from wrong and show [him or
her] ‘unconditional love.’ ” 39 The term is often
applied to inner-city youths.
survey research A social science data-
gathering technique that involves the use of
questionnaires.
tagging The process whereby an individual
is negatively defined by agencies of justice; also
called labeling.
target hardening The reduction in criminal
opportunity for a particular location, generally
through the use of physical barriers, architec-
tural design, and enhanced security measures.
technique of neutralization A culturally
available justification that can provide criminal
offenders with the means to disavow responsi-
bility for their behavior.
TEMPEST A standard developed by the U.S.
government that requires that electromagnetic
GLOSSARY
emanations from computers designated as
“secure” be below levels that would allow radio
receiving equipment to read the data being
computed.
terrorism Any premeditated, politically moti-
vated violence perpetrated against noncombatant
targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents,
usually intended to influence an audience.40
test of significance A statistical technique
intended to provide researchers with confi-
dence that their results are, in fact, true and not
the result of sampling error.
testosterone The primary male sex hor-
mone produced in the testes. Its function is to
control secondary sex characteristics and sexual
drive.
Thanatos A death wish.
theory A series of interrelated propositions
that attempt to describe, explain, predict,
and ultimately control some class of events. A
theory gains explanatory power from inherent
logical consistency and is “tested” by how well
it describes and predicts reality.
threat analysis A complete and thorough
assessment of the kinds of perils facing an orga-
nization; also called risk analysis.
three-strikes legislation A criminal statute
that mandates life imprisonment for criminals
convicted of three violent felonies or serious
drug offenses.
total institution A facility from which in-
dividuals can rarely come and go and in which
communal life is intense and circumscribed.
Individuals in total institutions tend to eat,
sleep, play, learn, and worship together.
trafficking in persons (TIP) The exploita-
tion of unwilling or unwitting people through
force, coercion, threat, or deception.
transnational organized crime Any un-
lawful activity undertaken and supported by
organized criminal groups operating across
national boundaries.
trend extrapolation A technique of futures
research that makes future predictions based on
the projection of existing trends.
truth in sentencing A close correspondence
between the incarceration sentence given the
offender and the time actually served prior to
prison release.41
Twelve Tables Early Roman laws written
circa 450 B.C. that regulated family, religious,
and economic life.
unicausal The characteristic of having one
cause. Unicausal theories posit only one source
for all that they attempt to explain.
Uniform Crime Reporting Program
(UCR) A Federal Bureau of Investigation data-
gathering initiative that provides an annual tally
of statistics consisting primarily of information
on crimes reported to the police and on arrests.
utilitarianism See hedonistic calculus.
variable A concept that can undergo mea-
surable changes.
verstehen The kind of subjective understand-
ing that can be achieved by criminologists who
immerse themselves in the everyday world of
the criminals they study.
victim-impact statement A written docu-
ment that describes the losses, suffering, and
trauma experienced by the crime victim or by
the victim’s survivors. In jurisdictions where
victim-impact statements are used, judges are
expected to consider them in arriving at an
appropriate sentence for the offender.
victimization rate (NCVS) A measure of the
occurrence of victimizations among a specified
population group. For personal crimes, the rate is
based on the number of victimizations per
1,000 residents age 12 or older. For household
crimes,the victimization rates are calculated using
the number of incidents per 1,000 households.
victimogenesis The contributory back-
ground of a victim as a result of which he or she
becomes prone to victimization.
victimology The study of victims and their
contributory role, if any, in crime causation.
victim-precipitated homicide A killing in
which the victim was the first to commence the
interaction or was the first to resort to physical
violence.
victim precipitation Any contribution
made by the victim to the criminal event, espe-
cially something that led to its initiation.
victim proneness An individual’s likelihood
of victimization.
Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) A federal
law enacted in 1984 that established the federal
13
 GLOSSARY

Crime Victims Fund. The fund uses monies
from fines and forfeitures collected from federal
offenders to supplement state support of local
victims’ assistance programs and state victims’
compensation programs.
victim-witness assistance program A
program that counsels victims, orients them to
the justice process, and provides a variety of
other services, such as transportation to court,
child care during court appearances, and refer-
rals to social services agencies.
Violence against Women Act (VAWA) A
federal law enacted as a component of the 1994
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act and intended to address concerns about vio-
lence against women. The law focused on im-
proving the interstate enforcement of protection
orders, providing effective training for court per-
sonnel involved with women’s issues, improving
the training and collaboration of police and pros-
ecutors with victim service providers, strength-
ening law enforcement efforts to reduce violence
against women, and increasing services to victims
of violence. President Clinton signed the reau-
thorization of this legislation, known as the Vio-
lence against Women Act 2000, into law on
October 28, 2000.
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforce-
ment Act A federal law (Public Law 103–322)
enacted in 1994 that authorized spending billions
of dollars on crime prevention, law enforcement,
and prison construction. It also outlawed the sale
of certain types of assault weapons and enhanced
federal death-penalty provisions.
Violent Criminal Apprehension Program
(VICAP) The program of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation focusing on serial murder inves-
tigations and the apprehension of serial killers.
virus See computer virus.
white-collar crime Any violation of the
criminal law committed by a person of re-
spectability and high social status in the course
of his or her occupation.
Wickersham Commission A commis-
sion (officially known as the Commission on
Law Observance and Enforcement) created
by President Herbert Hoover in 1931 whose
mandate was to improve justice system prac-
tices and to reinstate law’s role in civilized
governance. The commission made recom-
mendations concerning the nation’s police
forces and described how to improve policing
throughout America.
workplace violence The crimes of murder,
rape, robbery, and assault committed against
persons who are at work or on duty.

CHAPTER NOTES
1. National Institute on Drug Abuse, The Science of Addiction: Drugs,
Brains, and Behavior (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, 2007).
2. American Board of Forensic Psychology, http://www.abfp.com/
brochure.html (accessed November 22, 2009).
3. This and other cybercrime-related terms are adapted from Donn
B. Parker, Computer Crime: Criminal Justice Resource Manual
(Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice, 1989).
4. Michael L. Benson, Francis T. Cullen, and William J. Maakestad,
Local Prosecutors and Corporate Crime (Washington, DC: National
Institute of Justice, 1993).
5. Adapted from Anthony Walsh, Biosocial Criminology: Introduction and
Integration (Cincinnati:Anderson, 2002), p. 59.
6. James A. Inciardi, The War on Drugs II (Mountain View, CA:
Mayfield, 1992).
7. Bryan Vila, “A General Paradigm for Understanding Criminal
Behavior: Extending Evolutionary Ecological Theory,” Criminology,
Vol. 32, No. 3 (August 1994), pp. 311–359.
8. Adapted from Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Policy and Guide-
lines: Counterterrorism, http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/jackson/
cntrterr.htm (accessed January 15, 2010).
9. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Drugs, Crime and the Justice System
(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, December 1992).
10. American Heritage Dictionary and Electronic Thesaurus (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1987).
11. George F. Cole,“Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First Century: The
Role of Futures Research,” in John Klofas and Stan Stojkovic, eds.,
Crime and Justice in the Year 2010 (Belmont, CA:Wadsworth, 1995).
12. Society of Police Futurists International, PFI:The Future of Policing,
no date.
13. Teresa C. LaGrange and Robert A. Silverman, “Low Self-Control
and Opportunity: Testing the General Theory of Crime as an
Explanation for Gender Differences in Delinquency,” Criminology,
Vol. 37, No. 1 (1999), p. 41.
14. Adapted from “Globalization,” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007, Encyclo-
pedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu5369857
(accessed July, 23, 2007).
15. Raimo Väyrynen, “Illegal Immigration, Human Trafficking, and
Organized Crime,” United Nations University/World Institute for
Development Economics Research, Discussion Paper No. 2003/72
(October 2003).
16. American Heritage Dictionary and Electronic Thesaurus.
17. Ibid.
18. Adapted from Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com
/search?1q=infrastructure (accessed January 10, 2003).
19. American Heritage Dictionary and Electronic Thesaurus.
20. Adapted from Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Policy and
Guidelines.
21. Clifford Karchmer and Douglas Ruch, “State and Local Money
Laundering Control Strategies,” NIJ Research in Brief (Washington,
DC: National Institute of Justice, 1992).
22. Vila,“A General Paradigm for Understanding Criminal Behavior.”
23. Gary S. Green, Occupational Crime (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1990).
24. The Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub. L. 90–351,Title I,
Section 101.
25. Frank E. Hagan, Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology
(New York: Macmillan, 1993).

14
 GLOSSARY
26. “Phishing,” TechWeb’s TechEncyclopedia, http://www.techweb.com
/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=phishing (accessed July 30, 2010).
27. Bryan Vila, “Human Nature and Crime Control: Improving the
Feasibility of Nurturant Strategies,” Politics and the Life Sciences
(March 1997), pp. 3–21.
28. American Heritage Dictionary and Electronic Thesaurus.
29. Laurence Steinberg, “The Juvenile Psychopath: Fads, Fictions, and
Facts,” National Institute of Justice Perspectives on Crime and Justice:
2001 Lecture Series, Vol. 5 (Washington, DC: National Institute of
Justice, 2002), pp. 35–64.
30. Abraham Kaplan, The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral
Science (San Francisco: Chandler, 1964).
31. Fay Honey Knopp, “Community Solutions to Sexual Violence:
Feminist-Abolitionist Perspectives,” in Harold Pepinsky and
Richard Quinney, eds., Criminology as Peacemaking (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1991), p. 183.
32. Ronald V. Clarke and Derek B. Cornish, eds., Crime Control in
Britain:A Review of Police and Research (Albany: State University of
New York Press), p. 8.
33. David Weisburd, “Reorienting Crime Prevention Research and Pol-
icy:From the Causes of Criminality to the Context of Crime,”NIJ Re-
search Report (Washington,DC:National Institute of Justice,June 1997).
34. Edward O. Wilson, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, Belknap Press, 1975).
35. William J. Chambliss, “State-Organized Crime—The American
Society of Criminology, 1988 Presidential Address,” Criminology,
Vol. 27, No. 2 (1989), pp. 183–208.
36. American Heritage Dictionary and Electronic Thesaurus.
37. Henry Campbell Black, Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th ed. (St. Paul,
MN:West, 1990).
38. American Heritage Dictionary and Electronic Thesaurus.
39. See John J. DiIulio, Jr., “The Question of Black Crime,” Public
Interest (fall 1994), pp. 3–12. The term superpredator is generally
attributed to DiIulio.
40. U.S.Department of State,Patterns of GlobalTerrorism,2001 (Washington,
DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002), http://www.state.gov/
s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2001 (accessed January 2, 2003).
41. Lawrence A. Greenfeld, “Prison Sentences and Time Served for
Violence,” Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings, No. 4, April
1995.
15
This page intentionally left blank
Sonja Flemming/CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection

CRIMINOLOGY?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
answer the following questions:
● What is crime? What is the definition of crime that the
author of this text has chosen to use?
● What is deviance? How are crime and deviance
similar? How do they differ?
● Who decides what should be criminal? How are such
decisions made?
● What is criminology? What do criminologists do?
WHAT IS
● How is social policy in the area of crime control
determined? What role does criminological research
play in the establishment of such policy?
● What does it mean to say that “criminal activity is
diversely created and variously interpreted”?
● What discipline has contributed the most to
theoretical understandings of crime causation over
the past century?

From Chapter 1 of Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction, Sixth Edition, Frank Schmalleger. Copyright © 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Published by Pearson Prentice Hall.All rights reserved.
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
WEB EXTRA 1–1
WEB EXTRA 1–2
Introduction
In 2010, the CBS-TV megahit series NCIS (Naval Criminal
Investigative Service) was recognized by Los Angeles’s Paley
Center for Media as the most popular scripted TV show in the
world.1 With over 20 million dedicated viewers in the United
States alone, the show has achieved heights that most other
shows can’t even dream of. Another immensely popular series
on the same network, CSI: Miami, has more than 50 million regu-
lar viewers in 55 countries,2 with programming that extends
well beyond its Miami-based series. The CSI franchise, which
follows teams of crime-scene investigators, now includes shows
featuring New York City and other locales and is available to a
global audience of nearly 2 billion viewers in 200 countries
around the globe.3
The popularity of prime-time television crime shows is not
limited to NCIS or CSI, as other widely followed series demon-
strate. Included are shows like Criminal Minds (CBS), Without a
Trace (CBS), Numb3rs (CBS), White Collar (USA), The Unit
(CBS), The District (CBS), The Shield (FX), The Wire (HBO), Cold
Case (CBS), CIS (CBS), and Law and Order (NBC)—along with
the Law and Order spin-offs, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and
Law and Order: Special Victims’ Unit. Social commentators note
that the plethora of crime shows bombarding the airwaves today
reveals a penchant among American TV viewers for crime-
related entertainment and a fascination with criminal motivation
and detective work.
The public’s interest in real-life stories of criminal victim-
ization, revenge, and reformation has given birth to reality-TV
crime shows, including America’s Most Wanted (which premiered
on Fox in 1988), COPS (Fox), Crime and Punishment (NBC), and
World’s Wildest Police Videos (SPIKE). Similarly, video magazine
shows like 60 Minutes (CBS), 20/20 (ABC), and Nightline (ABC)
frequently focus on justice issues, and any number of movies—
including films like Sherlock Holmes, Cop Out, SWAT, Training
Day, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Green Mile, Runaway Jury, The Shaw-
shank Redemption, The Collector, Whiteout, and Minority Report—
play off the public’s fascination with crime and the personal
drama it fosters.
Like this chapter, many of today’s television shows deliver
content across a variety of media.View the CSI show’s Web site
at Web Extra 1–1, or become a fan of NCIS on Facebook via
Web Extra 1–2.
18
■ crime
Human conduct in violation of the criminal laws of the federal
government, a state, or a local jurisdiction that has the power to
make such laws.
What Is Crime?
Before we begin the discussion of criminology in earnest, we need
to consider just what the term crime means. Crime can be defined
in a variety of ways, and some scholars have suggested that at least
four definitional perspectives can be found in contemporary crim-
inology. These diverse perspectives see crime from (1) legalistic,
(2) political, (3) sociological, and (4) psychological viewpoints.
How we see any phenomenon is crucial because it determines the
assumptions that we make about how that phenomenon should be
studied.The perspective that we choose to employ when viewing
crime determines the kinds of questions we ask, the nature of the
research we conduct, and the type of answers that we expect to
receive. Those answers, in turn, influence our conclusions about
the kinds of crime-control policies that might be effective.
Seen from a legalistic perspective, crime is human conduct in
violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a lo-
cal jurisdiction that has the power to make such laws. Without a law
that circumscribes a particular form of behavior there can be no
crime, no matter how deviant or socially repugnant the behavior
in question may be.
The notion of crime as behavior4 that violates the law de-
rives from earlier work by criminologists like Paul W.Tappan,
who defined crime as “an intentional act in violation of the
criminal law . . . commit-
Without a law that ted without defense or
circumscribes a particular excuse, and penalized by
the state as a felony or
form of behavior, there misdemeanor.”5 Edwin
Sutherland, regarded by
can be no crime. many as a founding fig-
ure in American criminology, said of crime that its “essential
characteristic . . . is that it is behavior which is prohibited by
the State as an injury to the State and against which the State
may react . . . by punishment.”6
A serious shortcoming of the legalistic approach to crime is
that it yields the moral high ground to powerful individuals who
are able to influence the making of laws and the imposition of
criminal definitions on lawbreakers. By making their own laws,
powerful but immoral individuals can escape the label “criminal.”
While we have chosen to adopt the legalistic approach to crime, it
is important to realize that laws are social products, so crime is so-
cially relative in the sense that it is created by legislative activity.
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
■ criminalize
To make illegal.
■ statute
A formal written enactment of a legislative body.
■ statutory law
Law in the form of statutes or formal written strictures made by
a legislature or governing body with the power to make law.
A still image from the highly popular CBS-TV show CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation. Cast members appearing in this image
from the “Lab Rats” episode are Hodges (Wallace Langham, far
left), Archie (Archie Kao, far right), Henry (Jon Wellner), and
Mandy (Sheeri Rappaport). Why do many people like to watch
TV crime shows like CSI?
Source: CBS/Ron Jaffe/Landov © 2007 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights
Reserved
Hence, sociologists are fond of saying that “crime is whatever a so-
ciety says it is.”Criminalization is the method used to criminalize
some forms of behavior—or make them illegal—while other
forms remain legitimate.
Another problem with the legalistic perspective is its insis-
tence that the nature of crime cannot be separated from the na-
ture of law, as the one explicitly defines the other. Not always
recognized by legalistic definitions of crime, however, is the social,
ethical, and individual significance of fundamentally immoral
forms of behavior. Simply put, some activities not yet contravened
by statute still call out for a societal response, sometimes leading
commentators to proclaim,“That ought to be a crime!” or “There
should to be a law against that!”
The legalistic definition of crime also suffers from its seeming
lack of recognition that formalized laws have not always existed.
Undoubtedly, much immoral behavior occurred in past historical
epochs, and contemporary laws probably now regulate most such
behavior. English common law, for example, upon which much of
American statutory law is based, judged behavior in terms of tra-
ditional practice and customs and did not make use of written
LIBRARY EXTRA 1–1
WEB EXTRA 1–3
statutes.Although all American jurisdictions have enacted compre-
hensive legal codes, many states still adhere to a common law tra-
dition.In such“common law states,”individuals may be prosecuted
for violating traditional notions of right and wrong, even though
no violation of written law took place. Such prosecutions rarely
occur, and when they do, they are not often successful.7 You can
learn more about common law at Web Extra 1–3.
Changes in the laws will undoubtedly continue to occur,
perhaps even legitimizing former so-called crimes where funda-
mentally moral or socially beneficial forms of behavior have been
unduly criminalized. Over the last few years, for example, state
legislatures along with members of the general public have de-
bated the pros and cons of same-sex marriages and certain forms
of biomedical research, especially those involving human cloning
and the use of human stem cells.
A second perspective on crime is the political one, where
crime is the result of criteria that have been built into the law by
powerful groups and are then used to label selected undesirable
forms of behavior as illegal. Those who adhere to this point of
view say that crime is a definition of human conduct created by
authorized agents in a politically organized society. Seen this way,
laws serve the interests of the politically powerful, and crimes are
merely forms of behavior that are perceived by those in power as
direct or indirect threats to their interests.Thus, the political per-
spective defines crime in terms of the power structures that exist
in society and asserts that criminal laws do not necessarily bear
any inherent relationship to popular notions of right and wrong.
Even though political processes that create criminal definitions
are sometimes easier to comprehend in totalitarian societies,the po-
litical perspective can also be meaningfully applied to American so-
ciety. John F. Galliher, a contemporary criminologist, summarized
the political perspective on crime when he wrote, “One can best
understand crime in a class-structured society such as the United
States as the end product of a chain of interactions involving pow-
erful groups that use their power to establish criminal laws and sanc-
tions against less powerful persons and groups that may pose a threat
to the group in power.”8 Galliher points out that since legal defini-
tions of criminality are arrived at through a political process,the sub-
ject matter of criminality will be artificially limited if we insist on
seeing crime solely as a violation of the criminal law.
Some criminologists insist that the field of criminology must
include behaviors that go beyond those defined as crimes through
the political process; not doing so, they say, restricts rather than
encourages inquiry into relevant forms of human behavior.9
19
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
Adherents of our third perspective, the sociological (also
called “sociolegal”) viewpoint, would likely agree with this state-
ment, seeing crime as “an antisocial act of such a nature that its
repression is necessary or is supposed to be necessary to the
preservation of the existing system of society.”10 Some criminol-
ogists have gone so far as to claim that any definition of crime
must include all forms of antisocial behavior.11 Ron Claassen, a
modern-day champion of restorative justice, suggested, for ex-
ample, that “crime is primarily an offense against human rela-
tionships, and secondarily a violation of a law—since laws are
written to protect safety and fairness in human relationships.”12
A more comprehensive sociological definition of crime was of-
fered by Herman Schwendinger and Julia Schwendinger in 1975:
Crime encompasses “any harmful acts,” including violations of
“the fundamental prerequisites for well-being, [such as] food,
shelter, clothing, medical services, challenging work and recre-
ational experiences, as well as security from predatory individu-
als or repressive and imperialistic elites.”13 The Schwendingers
have challenged criminologists to be less constrained in what
they see as the subject matter of their field, saying that violations
of human rights may be more relevant to criminological inquiry
than many acts that have been politically or legally defined as
crime.“Isn’t it time to raise serious questions about the assump-
tions underlying the definitions of the field of criminology,”
asked the Schwendingers, “when a man who steals a paltry sum
can be called a criminal while agents of the State can, with im-
punity, legally reward men who destroy food so that price levels
can be maintained whilst a sizable portion of the population
suffers from malnutrition?”14 Jeffrey H. Reiman, another con-
temporary criminologist,
Doesn’t a crime by asked similar questions.
“The fact is that the label
any other name still
cause misery and
‘crime’ is not used in
America to name all or
the worst of the actions
suffering? that cause misery and
suffering to Americans,”
said Reiman. “It is primarily reserved for the dangerous actions
of the poor.” Writing about unhealthy and unsafe workplaces,
Reiman asked, “Doesn’t a crime by any other name still cause
misery and suffering? What’s in a name?”15 While a sociolegal
approach to understanding crime is attractive to many, others
claim that it suffers from wanting to criminalize activities that
cause only indirect harm, that is, it is easier for most people to
20
■ deviant behavior
Human activity that violates social
norms.
appreciate the criminality involved in a holdup or a rape than in
cost-cutting efforts made by a businessperson.
Finally, a psychological (or maladaptive) perspective
states that “crime is a form of social maladjustment which
can be designated as a more or less pronounced difficulty
that the individual has in reacting to the stimuli of his envi-
ronment in such a way as to remain in harmony with that
environment.”16 Seen this way, crime is problem behavior,
especially human activity that contravenes the criminal law
and results in difficulties in living within a framework of
generally acceptable social arrangements. According to
Matthew B. Robinson,“The maladaptive view of crime does
not require any of the [traditional] elements . . . in order for
an act to be a crime: no actual harm to others; no prohibition
by law before the act is committed; no arrest; and no con-
viction in a court of law. Any behavior which is maladaptive
. . . would be considered crime. If criminologists adopted this
view of crime,” said Robinson, “the scope of criminology
would be greatly expanded beyond its current state. All
actually or even potentially harmful behaviors could be
examined, analyzed, and documented for the purpose of
gaining knowledge about potentially harmful behaviors and
developing strategies to protect people from all harmful acts,
not just those that are called ‘crime’ today.” 17
As this discussion shows, a unified or simple definition of
crime is difficult to achieve. The four points of view that we
have discussed here form a kind of continuum, bound on
one end by strict legalistic interpretations of crime and on
the other by much more fluid behavioral and moralistic
definitions.
Crime and Deviance
Sociologically speaking, many crimes can be regarded as de-
viant forms of behavior—that is, as behaviors that are in some
way abnormal. Piers Beirne and James Messerschmidt, two
contemporary criminologists, defined deviance as “any social
behavior or social characteristic that departs from the conven-
tional norms and standards of a community or society and for
which the deviant is sanctioned.”18 Their definition, however,
does not count as deviant any sanctionable behavior that is not
punished or punishable. Hence, we prefer another approach to
defining deviance.The definition of deviant behavior that we
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
the PROFESSOR | SPEAKS
What Is Crime?
ELLEN G. COHN
Florida
International
University
Put simply, crime is an act that violates a law. So if there is a law against
a certain behavior and you engage in it, you have committed a crime.
On the other hand, if there is no law against a behavior, then it’s not a
Source: Reprinted by permission of Ellen G. Cohn, Ph.D. Photo courtesy of Ellen G. Cohn. Logo courtesy of Florida International University.
Illegal
Illegal and Deviant
Deviant
|
FIGURE 1 The Overlap between Deviance
and Crime
will use in this book is as follows: Deviant behavior is human ac-
tivity that violates social norms.
Abnormality, deviance, and crime are concepts that do not
always easily mesh. Some forms of deviance are not violations of
the criminal law, and the reverse is equally true (see Figure 1).
Deviant styles of dress, for example, although perhaps outlandish
to the majority, are generally not circumscribed by criminal law
unless (perhaps) decency statutes are violated by a lack of cloth-
ing. Even in such cases, laws are subject to interpretation and may
be modified as social norms change over time.
In 2009, for example, a judge in Palm Beach County,
Florida, held that a city ordinance barring the wearing of
baggy pants was unconstitutional.19 County Judge Laura John-
son ruled that no matter how “tacky or distasteful” baggy pants
crime, no matter how socially unacceptable it might be. An omission
can be a crime, too; if you don’t do something the law requires you to
do, that’s a crime. Sometimes the situation affects whether a behavior is
considered a crime. Gambling is illegal in some states while playing the
lottery is not.
Laws are constantly changing, creating new crimes and eliminat-
ing old ones. Because not everyone agrees with the law, there are
illegal behaviors that are commonplace.There are laws against speed-
ing, but when I drive to work, it’s rare to see anyone obeying the
speed limit!
This definition basically says that a behavior is a crime only
because the law says so. However, some people see crime as a broader
concept—behavior that violates prevailing social standards of ac-
ceptable behavior. This helps to explain why laws keep changing: as
social attitudes about behaviors change over time, the laws are
changed to conform to new social views. For example, marijuana
was criminalized in the early twentieth century, after drug use
became less socially acceptable. In the late twentieth century, social
attitudes changed again, and many states legalized or decriminalized
marijuana use.
might be to others, they are merely a fashion statement and
that wearing them, especially when no nudity is involved, is a
freedom protected under the Fourteenth Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. The ordinance had been overwhelmingly
approved by voters only two years earlier.
Some types of behavior, although quite common, are still
against the law even though those who engage in them might
not think of them as deviant. Speeding on interstate highways,
for example, although probably something that most motorists
engage in at least from time to time, is illegal. Complicating mat-
ters still further is the fact that certain behaviors are illegal in
some jurisdictions but not in others. For example, commercial-
ized gambling, especially that involving slot machines and games
of chance, is against the law in most parts of the United States but
has been legitimized in Nevada, on some Indian reservations, on
cruise ships operating outside of U.S. territorial waters, and on
some Mississippi riverboats. Even state governments, seeking
to enhance revenues, have gotten into the gambling business
through state lotteries, which now operate in 38 states, and many
states have laws specifically forbidding participation in online
gambling, due largely to their interest in protecting their own
lottery revenues. Similarly, prostitution, which is almost uni-
formly illegal in the United States, is an activity that is fully
within the law in parts of Nevada as long as it occurs within
licensed brothels and as long as those engaged in the activity meet
state licensing requirements and abide by state laws that require
condom use and weekly medical checkups.
21
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

LIBRARY EXTRA 1–2

A young man wearing baggy pants is seen at a pay phone
in Nashville, Tennessee. Some jurisdictions have attempted to
outlaw the wearing of baggy pants. Should the wearing of such
clothing be criminalized?
Source: AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
behavior, and even the use of salt. In 2010, for example, New York
State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduced a bill to completely ban
the use of salt in restaurant kitchens throughout the state.20 Ortiz
argued that reducing the use of salt would lead to healthier
lifestyles and would save the state money on health-care bills while
reducing the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease. Chefs
who added salt to their preparations would be fined $1,000 per
serving under the proposed legislation.
While the question “What should be criminal?” can be an-
swered in many different ways, the social and intellectual
processes by which an answer is reached can be found in two
contrasting points of view: (1) the consensus perspective and
(2) the pluralist perspective.The consensus viewpoint holds that
laws should be enacted to criminalize given forms of behavior
when members of society generally agree that such laws are
necessary. The consensus perspective, reflected in the actions of
Islamic protestors described in a Crime in the News box in this
chapter, is most applicable to homogeneous societies, or those
characterized by shared values, norms, and belief systems. In a
multicultural and diverse society like the United States, how-
ever, a shared consensus may be difficult to achieve. In such a
society, even relatively minor matters may lead to complex de-
bates over the issues involved, and these debates show just how
difficult it is to achieve a consensus over even relatively minor
matters in a society as complex as our own.
Finally, the question of what should be criminal should be
distinguished from issues arising from excessive enforcement
of the law. In one surprising case of what many saw as an
overreaction by law enforcement officers, a 12-year-old

What Should Be student, Alexa Gonzalez, was arrested in New York City in
2010 for doodling on her junior high school desk with a
washable felt-tipped marker.21 School safety officers took the
Criminal? girl into custody for defacing school property and for creating
As you have probably realized by now, the question “What is graffiti—both against the law in New York City. Upon being
crime?”is quite different from the question “What should be crim- turned over to New York Police Department (NYPD) officers
inal?”Although most people agree that certain forms of behavior, as required by school policy, Alexa was handcuffed and taken
such as murder, rape, bur- to a police station. After spending hours in confinement, the
The consensus viewpoint glary, and theft, should be girl was released into the custody of her mother. Eventually,
holds that laws should be against the law, there is far she was ordered to perform eight hours of community service
less agreement about the and assigned to write an essay on what she had learned from
enacted to criminalize appropriate legal status of the experience. The question in this case was not whether
defacing public property is wrong and if there should be a
given forms of behavior things like drug use, abor-
tion (including the use of law against it but how the police should react to such
when members of society “abortion pills” like RU- situations.
The second perspective, the pluralist view of crime, recog-
generally agree that such 486, or Mifeprex), gam-
bling, “deviant” forms of nizes the importance of diversity in societies like ours. It says that
laws are necessary. consensual adult sexual
22
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

CRIME | in the NEWS

Muslim Countries Seek Blasphemy Ban
[NEW YORK]—Islamic nations are mounting a campaign for an inter- Freedom.The independent, congressionally mandated panel issued a re-
national treaty to protect religious symbols and beliefs from mockery— port last week warning that existing laws against blasphemy, including in
essentially a ban on blasphemy that would put them on a collision Pakistan,“often have resulted in gross human rights violations. . . .”
course with free speech laws in the West. More broadly, introducing laws to protect religions from criticism
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that Algeria and would weaken the whole notion of human rights, said Sweden’s ambas-
Pakistan have taken the lead in lobbying to eventually bring the pro- sador to the U.N. in Geneva, Hans Dahlgren.“Religions as such do not
posal to a vote in the U.N. General Assembly. If ratified in countries that have rights—it’s people who have rights,” he said, adding that the
enshrine freedom of expression as a fundamental right, such a treaty European Union, whose presidency Sweden currently holds, would
would require them to limit free speech if it risks seriously offending re- oppose attempts to limit freedom of speech.
ligious believers.The process, though, will take years and no showdown
is imminent. Discussion Questions
The proposal faces stiff resistance from Western countries, including 1. What do you think of the argument made by Pakistani diplomat
the United States, which in the past has brushed aside other U.N. Marghoob Saleem Butt, who stated,“There has to be a balance be-
treaties, such as one on the protection of migrant workers. . . . tween freedom of expression and respect for others”? Might such a
The countries that form the 56-member Organization of the Islamic balance be achieved without a law or treaty supporting it?
Conference are now lobbying a little-known Geneva-based U.N. com-
mittee to agree that a treaty protecting religions is necessary. . . . 2. What’s the difference between the consensus and pluralistic per-
The proposal may have some support in the General Assembly. For spectives? How is the concept of dueling perspectives relevant to
several years the Islamic Conference has successfully passed a non- the story in this box?
binding resolution at the General Assembly condemning “defamation
of religions.”
If the treaty [is] approved, any of the U.N.’s 192 member states that
ratified it would be bound by its provisions. Other countries could face
criticism for refusing to join.
Just last month, the Obama administration came out strongly against
efforts by Islamic nations to bar the defamation of religions, saying the
moves would restrict free speech.
“Some claim that the best way to protect the freedom of religion is
to implement so-called anti-defamation policies that would restrict free-
dom of expression and the freedom of religion,” Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton said.“I strongly disagree. . . .”
Marghoob Saleem Butt, a Pakistani diplomat in Geneva, . . . con-
firmed the campaign’s existence and has lobbied for the ban.“There has
to be a balance between freedom of expression and respect for others,”
Butt said in a telephone interview. “Taking the symbol of a whole reli-
gion and portraying him as a terrorist,” said Butt, referring to the
Muhammad cartoons,“that is where we draw the line.”
One American expert with more than 20 years [of] experience of
the U.N. human rights system said the treaty could have far-reaching Members of the Muslim League demonstrate against perceived
implications. blasphemy in Kashmir, Pakistan. Why would Western countries
“It would, in essence, advance a global blasphemy law,” said Felice have difficulty criminalizing the act of blasphemy?
Gaer, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Source: AP Photo/Shakil Adil

Source: Adapted from Frank Jordans, “Muslim Countries Seek Blasphemy Ban,” November 19, 2009, The Associated Press. Used with permission of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved.

behaviors are typically criminalized through a political process
only after debate over the appropriate course of action.The po-
litical process often takes the form of legislation and may involve
appellate court action (by those who don’t agree with the legis-
lation).After the horrific shootings that occurred on the campus
of Virginia Tech University in 2007, for example, legislatures at
both the state and federal levels began to reexamine gun laws to
see if new laws were needed to keep guns out of the hands of po-
tential mass killers. Given the diversity of perspectives that char-
acterize our society, however, agreement was not easy to
reach—and gun-control proponents vigorously debated those
who sought to protect existing laws supporting gun ownership
and making the purchase of guns relatively easy for most
Americans. For the law’s perspective on another issue, see the
23
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
■ criminologist
One who is trained in the field of criminology; also, one who
studies crime, criminals, and criminal behavior.
■ criminalist
A specialist in the collection and examination of the physical
evidence of crime.
Who’s to Blame box in this chapter. Learn more about both sides
of the gun-control debate via Web Extras 1–4 and 1–5.
What Do
Criminologists Do?
A typical dictionary definition of a criminologist is “one who
studies crime,criminals,and criminal behavior.”22 Occasionally,the
term criminologist is used broadly to describe almost anyone who
works in the criminal justice field, regardless of formal training.
There is a growing tendency, however, to reserve application of the
term criminologist to academics,researchers,and policy analysts with
advanced degrees who are involved in the study of crime and
crime trends and in the analysis of societal reactions to crime.
Hence, it is more appropriate today to describe specially skilled
investigators, crime-laboratory technicians, fingerprint experts,
crime-scene photographers, ballistics experts, and others who
work to solve particular crimes as criminalists.A criminalist is “a
specialist in the collection and examination of the physical evi-
dence of crime.”23 Police officers, corrections professionals, proba-
tion and parole officers, judges, district attorneys, criminal defense
attorneys, and others who do the day-to-day work of the criminal
justice system are best referred to as criminal justice professionals.
Academic criminologists and research criminologists gener-
ally hold doctoral degrees (Ph.D.s) in the field of criminology or
criminal justice from an accredited university. Some criminologists
hold degrees in related fields like sociology and political science
but have specialized in the study and control of crime and de-
viance. Most Ph.D. criminologists teach either criminology or
criminology-related subjects in institutions of higher learning, in-
cluding universities and two- and four-year colleges. Nearly all
criminology professors are involved in research or writing projects
by which they strive to advance criminological knowledge. Some
Ph.D. criminologists are strictly researchers and work for federal
agencies like the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS), and the National Criminal Justice Refer-
ence Service (NCJRS) or for private (albeit often government-
funded) organizations with such names as RAND and the Search
Group, Inc.
The results of criminological research in the United States
are generally published in journals like Criminology (the official
publication of the American Society of Criminology [ASC]),
24
WEB EXTRA 1–4
WEB EXTRA 1–5
WEB EXTRA 1–6
LIBRARY EXTRA 1–3
LIBRARY EXTRA 1–4
Theoretical Criminology, Justice Quarterly (the Academy of Criminal
Justice Sciences), Crime and Delinquency, the American Journal of
Criminal Justice (the Southern Criminal Justice Association), the
Journal of Qualitative Criminology, Social Problems, and Victimology.24
International English-language journals are numerous and in-
clude the Canadian Journal of Criminology, the Australian and New
Zealand Journal of Criminology, and the British Journal of Criminol-
ogy. Read some of these journals and visit the organizations that
sponsor them at Web Extra 1–6.
People who have earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in the
field of criminology often find easy entrance into police investigative
or support work, probation and parole agencies, court-support
activities, and correctional
Private security provides (prison) work. Criminolo-
gists also work for govern-
another career track for ment agencies interested
individuals interested in in the development of
effective social policies in-
criminology and criminal tended to deter or combat
crime.Many criminologists
justice.
with master’s degrees also
teach at two- and four-year colleges and schools.
Private security provides another career track for individ-
uals interested in criminology and criminal justice. The num-
ber of personnel employed by private security agencies today
is twice that of public law enforcement agencies, and the gap
is widening. Many upper- and mid-level private managers
working for private security firms hold criminology or
criminal justice degrees. The same may soon be true for the
majority of law enforcement personnel, especially those in
managerial positions.
Anyone trained in criminology has many alternatives (see
Table 1). Some people with undergraduate degrees in criminol-
ogy or criminal justice decide to go on to law school. Some
teach high school, whereas others become private investigators.
Many criminologists provide civic organizations (such as victims’
assistance and justice advocacy groups) with much-needed
expertise, a few work for politicians and legislative bodies, and
some appear on talk shows to debate the pros and cons of various
kinds of social policies designed to fight crime. Some criminol-
ogists even write books like this one! For more thoughts on the
role of criminologists in the twenty-first century, read Library
Extra 1–4.
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

■ social policy
A government initiative, program, or plan intended to address
problems in society.The “war on crime,” for example, is a kind
of generic (large-scale) social policy—one consisting of many
smaller programs.

of a broad range of illegal behaviors commit-

TABLE 1 |What Do Criminologists Do? ted by frequently unknown or uncooperative
The term criminologist is usually applied to credentialed individuals, such as individuals—but they also must manage their
those holding advanced degrees in the field, who engage in the study of work under changing conditions mandated by
crime, criminal behavior, and crime trends. The word criminalist is used to ongoing revisions of the law and fluctuating
describe people who specialize in the collection and examination of the
social policy. In addition, as we have already
physical evidence associated with specific crimes. Others working in the
seen, a wide variety of perspectives on the
criminal justice system are called criminal justice professionals. This table lists
nature of crime abound. All this leads to con-
the activities of all three.
siderable difficulties in defining the subject
Some Activities of Criminologists matter under study.
Data gathering Public service There is some evidence that the term
Data analysis Analysis of crime patterns and trends criminology was coined by a Frenchman, Paul Top-
Theory construction Scholarly presentations and publications inard,in 1889;25 he used it to differentiate the study
Hypothesis testing Education and training of criminal body types within the field of anthro-
Social policy creation Threat assessment and risk analysis pology from other biometric pursuits.26 Topinard,
Public advocacy
while he may have coined the term, did little to
Some Jobs in the Field of Criminalistics help define it.As with the concept of crime,various
Forensics examiner Crime-scene photographer definitions of criminology can be found in the lit-
Crime-laboratory technician Polygraph operator erature today.About two decades ago,criminologist
Ballistics expert Fingerprint examiner Joseph F. Sheley wrote,“There seem to be nearly as
Crime-scene investigator many definitions of contemporary criminology as there
Some Jobs in the Field of Criminal Justice are criminologists.”27
Law enforcement officer Judge One straightforward definition can be had
Probation or parole officer Defense attorney from a linguistic analysis of the word criminology.
Corrections officer Prosecutor As most people know, -ology means “the study of
Prison program director Jailer something,” and the word crimen comes from the
Cybercrime investigator Private security officer Latin, meaning “accusation,” “charge,” or “guilt.”
Juvenile justice worker Victims’ advocate Hence, linguistically speaking, the term criminology
literally means “the study of criminal accusations,”
that is,“the study of crime.” In addition to this fundamental kind of
linguistic definition, three other important types of definitions can
What Is Criminology? be found in the literature: (1) disciplinary, (2) causative, and (3) sci-
The attempt to understand crime and deviance predates written his- entific. Each type of definition is distinguished by its focus. Disci-
tory.Prehistoric evidence,including skeletal remains showing signs of plinary definitions are those that, as their name implies, focus on
primitive cranial surgery, seems to indicate that preliterate people criminology as a discipline. Seen from this viewpoint, criminology
explained deviant behavior by reference to spirit possession. Primi- is a field of study or a body of knowledge.Some of the earliest crim-
tive surgery was an attempt to release unwanted spiritual influences. inologists of the past century, including Edwin H. Sutherland, who
In the thousands of years since, many other theoretical perspectives is often referred to as the “dean of American criminology,” offered
on crime have been advanced.This book describes various crimino- definitions of their field that emphasized its importance as a disci-
logical theories and covers some of the more popular ones in detail. pline of study. Sutherland, for example, wrote in the first edition of
his textbook Criminology in 1924, “Criminology is the body of
knowledge regarding the social problem of crime.”28 Sutherland’s
Definition of Terms text was to set the stage for much of American criminology
Before beginning any earnest discussion, however, it is neces- throughout the rest of the twentieth century. Reprinted in 1934
sary to define the term criminology. As our earlier discussion of with the title Principles of Criminology,29 it was to become the most
the nature of crime and deviance indicates, not only must influential textbook ever written in the field of criminology.30
criminologists deal with a complex subject matter—consisting Although Sutherland died in 1950, his revered text was revised for
25
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

WHO’S TO BLAME—The Individual or Society?

Should Polygamy Be a Protected Religious Practice?
Taeler Leon, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Think about it:
Christ of Latter Day Saints, an ultraconservative offshoot of the
Mormon Church, was arrested in a rural area outside of Salt 1. Not all women involved in polygamous unions would agree
Lake City, Utah, and charged with polygamy and the rape of with Adaleen and Hendy, and those who oppose polygamy
a child. The charges came after the parents of a 13-year-old argue not only that it is illegal but that it degrades women,
girl, whom Leon had “married” in a ceremony performed by a devalues the family, and victimizes young women who are
church elder, complained to the Utah State Bureau of Investi- forced into arranged unions. Nonetheless, there are those
gation (SBI) that Leon was holding their daughter against her who would agree with Adaleen and Hendy that the practice
will. SBI agents visited Leon’s compound and learned that six should be allowed based on constitutional guarantees of
of Leon’s wives and 16 of his children were living at the com- freedom of religion. Which perspective makes more sense to
pound. The compound, which consisted of four houses and a you? Why?
communal building containing a small school, chapel, and 2. Do a bit of historical research and see if you can learn the
dining and meeting areas, was set in a secluded location well legal history of the practice of polygamy in the United States.
off the main road. When did it become illegal? Why?
A follow-up investigation revealed that the children’s births
3. What rights, if any, should members of minority faiths have
had been officially registered at the county courthouse and
when they advocate or engage in behavior that goes beyond
that the needed homeschooling papers had been filed with
social norms or violates the law? Give some examples.
the State Board of Education for each of the school-aged
children living at the compound—meaning that they were 4. Would the rights you identified above extend to the practice
exempt from required attendance at public schools. of polygamy? Why or why not?
Polygamy is a criminal offense in Utah and is banned un-
der the state’s constitution. It has been officially repudiated
by the mainstream Mormon Church since 1890. After deter-
mining that Leon was married concurrently to multiple
women, SBI agents took him into custody and interviewed
each of his wives. Each told much the same story of how she
had been promised by her parents to Leon at an early age,
how she had been married in a small ceremony, and how she
had borne Leon’s children. What surprised investigators,
though, was the women’s agreement that their way of life,
while it might not be common in the wider society, was a mat-
ter of choice—and that they should be left alone to practice
their faith. “Taeler’s committed no crime in the eyes of God,”
said Adaleen, Leon’s first wife, speaking for the others. “We
should be free to practice our religion just like others are,”
she said. Polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs is pictured on an FBI Ten Most
Hendy, another of the wives, pointed out that members of Wanted poster prior to his arrest in 2006. Jeffs, the fugitive
the American Indian Church have been allowed to use pey- leader of a polygamist Mormon sect, was wanted in Utah and
ote in their religious ceremonies, even though it is a banned Arizona on charges linked to allegations of arranging
drug, unavailable to non–Native Americans. “If they can marriages between men and underage girls. He was arrested
smoke peyote, then why can’t we get married and live the and convicted on those charges in 2007. Why is the practice of
way we want to?” she asked. “It’s our religion, and it’s sup- polygamy a violation of the criminal law? Should it be?
posed to be a free country.” Source: FBI/AP Wide World Photos

Note: Who’s to Blame boxes provide fictionalized critical thinking opportunities, and are not actual cases.

many years by Donald R. Cressey and later by David F. Luckenbill.
By 1974, Sutherland’s classic definition of criminology had been
modified by Cressey:“Criminology is the body of knowledge re-
garding delinquency and crime as a social phenomenon. It includes
26
within its scope the processes of making laws, of breaking laws, and
of reacting toward the breaking of laws.”31
Causative definitions emphasize criminology’s role in uncov-
ering the underlying causes of crime. In keeping with such an
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

■ criminology
An interdisciplinary profession built around the scientific study of
crime and criminal behavior, including their forms, causes, legal
aspects, and control.
■ criminality ■ criminal behavior
A behavioral predisposition that disproportionately favors A way of acquiring valued resources from others by exploiting
criminal activity. and deceiving them.

emphasis, contemporary criminologists Gennaro F.Vito and Ronald

M.Holmes stated,“Criminology is the study of the causes of crime.”32
Finally, there are those who point to the scientific nature of
contemporary criminology as its distinguishing characteristic. Ac-
cording to Clemens Bar-
There is evidence that tollas and Simon Dinitz,for
the term criminology was example, “Criminology is
the scientific study of
coined by a Frenchman, crime.”33 Writing in 1989,
Paul Topinard, in 1889. Bartollas and Dinitz
seemed to be echoing an
earlier definition of criminology offered by Marvin E.Wolfgang and
Franco Ferracuti,who wrote in 1967,“Criminology is the scientific
study of crime, criminals, and criminal behavior.”34
One of the most comprehensive definitions of the term
criminology that is available today comes from the European Society
of Criminology (ESC), which in its constitution defines criminology
as “all scholarly, scientific and professional knowledge concerning
the explanation, prevention, control and treatment of crime and
delinquency, offenders and victims, including the measurement and
detection of crime, legislation, and the practice of criminal law, and
law enforcement, judicial, and correctional systems.”35 ESC’s em-
phasis is on “knowledge”; even though it mentions the “practice” A criminalist at work. Crime-scene investigators, like the person
of what many would call criminal justice (that is, policing, courts, shown here, can provide crucial clues needed to solve crimes.
and corrections), it is the study and knowledge of such practice that How does the work of a criminologist differ from that of a
criminalist? Would you like either kind of work?
form the crux of the ESC perspective.
Source: CORBIS–NY
For our purposes, we will use a definition somewhat simpler
than that of the ESC but one that brings together the works of pre- that are sometimes easily confused. Criminology, criminality,
vious writers and also recognizes the increasingly professional status crime, deviance, and criminal behavior are five concepts used in
of the criminological enterprise.We will say that criminology is an this chapter and learning the definition of each provides a good
interdisciplinary profession built around the scientific study of crime and crim- start for anyone studying in this field.
inal behavior, including their forms, causes, legal aspects, and control.As this As a field of study, criminology in its present form is primarily
definition indicates, criminology includes consideration of possible a social scientific discipline. Contemporary criminologists generally
solutions to the problem of crime. Hence, this text describes treat- recognize, however, that their field is interdisciplinary—that is, it
ment strategies and social policy initiatives that have grown out of draws upon other disciplines to provide an integrated approach to
the existing array of theoretical explanations for crime. understanding the problem of crime in contemporary society and
Our definition is in keeping with the work of Jack P. Gibbs, a to advance solutions to the problems crime creates. Hence, anthro-
notable contemporary criminologist, who writes that the purpose pology (especially cultural anthropology or ethnology), biology, so-
of criminology is to offer well-researched and objective answers to ciology, political science, psychology, psychiatry, economics,
four basic questions: (1) “Why do crime rates vary?” (2) “Why do ethology (the study of character), medicine, law, philosophy, ethics,
individuals differ as to criminality?” (3) “Why is there variation in and numerous other fields all have something to offer the student
reactions to crime?” and (4) “What are the possible means of con- of criminology, as do the tools provided by statistics, computer sci-
trolling criminality?”36 It is important to note that our definition ence, and other forms of scientific and data analysis (see Figure 2).
and Gibbs’s guiding queries encompass a number of different terms The interdisciplinary nature of criminology was well stated by
Jim Short, past president of the ASC, who said,“The organization
27
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?

■ criminal justice WEB EXTRA 1–7

The scientific study of crime, the criminal law, and components LIBRARY EXTRA 1–5
of the criminal justice system, including the police, courts, and LIBRARY EXTRA 1–6
corrections. LIBRARY EXTRA 1–7

but it also must—if it is to have any relevance—blend the practical

requirements of our nation’s judicial system with emotional and
rational calls for morality and justice. Is the death penalty, for ex-
ample, justified? If so, on what basis? Is it because it is a type of
vengeance and therefore deserved? Can we say that it is unjustified
because many sociological studies have shown that it does little to
reduce the rate of serious crime such as murder? Just what do we
mean by “justice,” and what can criminological studies tell us—if
anything—about what is just and what is unjust?
The editors of the journal Theoretical Criminology,38 which be-
Psychology

gan publication over a decade ago, wrote in the inaugural issue

Political Science
Sociology

Ethics

that “criminology has always been somewhat of a haphazardly-

Biology
Anthropology

Psychiatry

assembled umbrella-like structure which nevertheless usefully

Economics

shelters a variety of theoretical interests that are espoused and

Philosophy

Ethology

employed by different disciplinary, methodological and political

Medicine

traditions.” Such a structure, they said, “has obvious advantages,

Law

notably that it facilitates an interdisciplinary and inclusivist forma-

tion rather than supposing an exclusive but contentious ‘core.’ But
|
FIGURE 2 Criminology’s Many Roots one of its weaknesses is that its inhabitants, many of whom shuttle
backwards and forwards between it and their parent disciplines,
of knowledge by traditional disciplines has become increasingly tend to communicate honestly and meaningfully only with those
anachronistic,as the generation of knowledge has become more in- who speak the same theoretical language.”39 In other words, while
terdisciplinary. From its earliest beginnings, when philosophers the field of criminology can benefit from the wide variety of ideas
grappled with relationships between human nature and behavior available via a multiplicity of perspectives, all of which seek to
and biologists sought to relate human physiology to behavior,crim- understand the phenomenon we call “crime,” successful cross-
inology’s concerns have reached across virtually all disciplines that disciplinary collaboration can be quite difficult.
focus on the human condition. Additionally, much of the impetus As our earlier definition of criminology indicates, however, it
for criminology has come from concerns that crime be controlled. is more than a field of study or a collection of theories; it is also a
Criminology thus cuts across professions as well as disciplines.”37 discipline and a profession.40 More than a decade ago, in his presi-
It is important to note that although criminology may be in- dential address to the ASC, Charles F.Wellford identified the “pri-
terdisciplinary as well as cross-professional, few existing explanations mary purposes” of the criminology profession:“Controlling crime
for criminal behavior have been successfully or fully integrated. Just through prevention, rehabilitation, and deterrence and ensuring
as physicists today are seeking a unified field theory to explain the that the criminal justice system reflects the high aspiration we have
wide variety of observable forms of matter and energy, criminolo- as a society of ‘justice for all’ characterize the principal goals that
gists have yet to develop a generally accepted integrated approach to in my judgment motivate the work of our field.”41
crime and criminal behavior that can explain the many diverse forms Notably, criminology also contributes to the discipline of
of criminality while also leading to effective social policies in the area criminal justice, which emphasizes application of the criminal
of crime control.The attempt to construct criminological theories law and study of the components of the justice system, especially
that are relevant to the problems of today is made all the more diffi- the police, courts, and corrections. As one author stated, “Crimi-
cult because, as discussed earlier, the phenomenon under study— nology gives prominence to questions about the causes of criminality,
crime—is very wide-ranging and is subject to arbitrary and while the control of lawbreaking is at the heart of criminal justice.”42
sometimes unpredictable legalistic and definitional changes. Learn more about the interdisciplinary nature of criminology via
A successfully integrated criminology must bring together the Web Extra 1–7. Read a few articles describing the nature of con-
contributions of various theoretical perspectives and disciplines, temporary criminology at Library Extras 1–5, 1–6, and 1–7.
28
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
■ theory
A series of interrelated propositions that attempts to describe,
explain, predict, and ultimately control some class of events.A
theory gains explanatory power from inherent logical consistency
and is “tested” by how well it describes and predicts reality.
■ general theory
A theory that attempts to explain all (or at least most) forms of
criminal conduct through a single overarching approach.
A police officer speaks to a group of young people.
Criminology examines the causes of crime and seeks ways to
prevent or control it. Criminal justice examines the criminal justice
system, including police, courts, and corrections. How do the two
disciplines complement one another?
Source: Peter Casolino/Alamy Images
Theoretical Criminology
Theoretical criminology, a subfield of general criminology, is the
type of criminology most often found in colleges and universities.
Theoretical criminology,rather than simply describing crime and its
occurrence, posits explanations for criminal behavior.As Sutherland
stated,“The problem in criminology is to explain the criminality of
behavior. . . . However, an explanation of criminal behavior should
be a specific part of [a] general theory of behavior and its task should
be to differentiate criminal from noncriminal behavior.”43
To explain and understand crime, criminologists have devel-
oped many theories. A theory, at least in its ideal form, is made
up of clearly stated propositions that posit relationships, often
of a causal sort, between events and things under study. An old
Roman theory, for example, proposed that insanity was caused by
the influence of the moon and may even follow its cycles—hence
the term lunacy.
Theories attempt to provide us with explanatory power and
help us understand the phenomenon under study. The more
applicable a theory is found to be, the more generalizable it is from
one specific instance to others—in other words, the more it can be
applied to other situations.A general theory of crime is one that
attempts to explain all (or at least most) forms of criminal conduct
■ unicausal
Having one cause. Unicausal theories posit only one source for
all that they attempt to explain.
■ integrated theory
An explanatory perspective that merges (or attempts to merge)
concepts drawn from different sources.
through a single overarching approach. Unfortunately, as Don M.
Gottfredson, past president of the ASC, observed, “Theories in
criminology tend to be unclear and lacking in justifiable general-
ity.”44 When we consider the wide range of behaviors regarded as
criminal—from murder to drug use to white-collar crime to
cybercrime—it seems difficult to imagine one theory that can ex-
plain them all or that might even explain the same type of behav-
ior under varying circumstances. Still, many past theoretical
approaches to crime causation were unicausal while attempting
to be all-inclusive, that is, the approaches posited a single identifi-
able source for all serious deviant and criminal behavior.
An integrated theory, in contrast to a general theory, does
not necessarily attempt to explain all criminality but is distin-
guishable by the fact that it merges (or attempts to merge) con-
cepts drawn from different sources.As noted criminologist Gregg
Barak stated, “An integrative criminology . . . seeks to bring to-
gether the diverse bodies of knowledge that represent the full ar-
ray of disciplines that study crime.”45 Hence, integrated theories
provide potentially wider explanatory power than narrower for-
mulations. Don C. Gibbons, professor of sociology at Portland
State University, noted,“The basic idea of theoretical integration
is straightforward; it concerns the combinations of single theories
or elements of those theories into a more comprehensive argu-
ment. At the same time, it would be well to note that in practice,
integration is a matter of degree: some theorists have combined
or integrated more concepts or theoretical elements than have
others.”46
Both the general applicability and the theoretical integration of
criminological theories to a wide variety of law-violating behaviors
are intuitively appealing concepts.Even far more limited attempts at
criminological theorizing, however, often face daunting challenges.
“As we shall see,”noted Gibbons,“criminologists have not managed
to articulate a large collection of relatively formalized arguments in
a general or integrated form.”47 Hence, although we will use the
word theory in describing the many explanations for crime,it should
be recognized that the word is only loosely applicable to some of
the perspectives we will discuss.
Many social scientists insist that to be considered theories, ex-
planations must consist of sets of clearly stated, logically interre-
lated, and measurable propositions.The fact that only a few of the
theories rise above the level of organized conjecture—and those
offer only limited generalizability and have rarely been inte-
grated—is one of the greatest challenges facing criminology today.
29
 WHAT IS CRIMINOLOGY?
Experimental Before leaving this
brief discussion of theory,
criminology uses social we should mention that a
scientific techniques to particular aspect of crimi-
nology, called experimental
test the accuracy of criminology, consists of the
effort to use social scien-
theories about crime
tific techniques to test the
and criminality. accuracy of theories about
crime and criminality.
Criminology
and Social Policy
Formulation of Social Policy
Of potentially broader importance than theory testing are social
policies based on research findings. Some policy implications,
including those relating to the physical environment, may be
readily agreed upon and easy to implement—such as the instal-
lation of brighter lighting in crime-prone areas in an effort to re-
duce criminal activity.48 Other policy innovations, especially
those involving calls for cultural or social changes, can be far
more complex and difficult to implement, even when there is
strong evidence for them.A few years ago, for example, an edito-
rial in the highly regarded British magazine New Scientist asked,
“Why are we so reluctant to accept that on-screen violence is bad
for us?”49 The article, titled “In Denial,” noted that “by the time
the average U.S. schoolchild leaves elementary school, he or she
will have witnessed more than 8,000 murders and 100,000 other
acts of violence on television.” If the child has access to computer
games and cable TV, the article said, the numbers will be far
higher. Scientific studies have consistently demonstrated the
detrimental effects of media violence, according to the article,
“yet every time a study claims to have found a link between ag-
gression, violence, educational, or behavioral problems and TV
programs or computer games, there are cries of incredulity.”
A number of professional groups—including the American
Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Psychological Association, and the American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry—have all said that violence in
television, music, video games, and movies leads to increased levels
30
LIBRARY EXTRA 1–8
WEB EXTRA 1–8
of violent behavior among children. A joint statement issued by
those organizations stated that “the effects of violence in the me-
dia are measurable and long-lasting . . . based on over 30 years of
research . . . that viewing entertainment violence can lead to in-
creases in aggressive attitudes, values and behaviors, particularly in
children. [Moreover,] . . . prolonged viewing of media violence can
lead to emotional desensitization toward violence in real life.”50
Similarly, some years ago the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is-
sued a report on teenage violence;51 it concluded that “Hollywood
aggressively markets violent movies, music and electronic games to
children even when they have been labeled as appropriate only for
adults.”52 The complete 116-page FTC report Marketing Violent
Entertainment to Children is available at Web Extra 1–8.
Even after all the studies that have been done, however,
policymakers have been reluctant to curtail the production of
violent media, and violence on TV and in video games is still a
way of life in the United States. New Scientist noted that the profit
motives of media vendors interfere with policies aimed at crime
reduction, saying that “any criticism of a multibillion-dollar busi-
ness is bound to provoke a sharp rebuttal.”53
Professional criminologists are acutely aware of the need to
link sound social policy to the objective findings of well-
conducted criminological research.A meeting of the ASC, for ex-
ample, focused on the need to forge just such a link. At the
meeting, ASC President Alfred Blumstein, of Carnegie Mellon
University, told criminologists gathered there that “an important
mission of the ASC and its members involves the generation of
knowledge that is useful in dealing with crime and the operation
of the criminal justice system, and then helping public officials to
use that knowledge intelligently and effectively.”54 Blumstein
added,“So little is known about the causes of crime and about the
effects of criminal justice policy on crime that new insights about
the criminal justice system can often be extremely revealing and
can eventually change the way people think about the crime
problem or about the criminal justice system.”55
Social Policy and Public
Crime Concerns
Although American crime rates declined steadily for more than a
decade beginning in the mid-1990s, concern over national secu-
rity, crime, immigration, and terrorism (which are also forms of
criminal activity) remains pervasive in the United States. About
25 years ago, crime was the number one concern of Americans
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
people, it does not become the gentleman from Ohio to rise here in
his place, and undertake to charge that the Democratic party
adopted that rule, after he has sent out to the country and published
a speech, revised and printed in pamphlet form, in which he purports
to give the facts as they occurred in 1849.”
Mr. Giddings: “I repeat what I said when I first rose, that the
Democratic party in its caucus, speaking through its committee, did
agree to the resolution.”
Mr. Edmundson: “I want to let the gentleman from Ohio know that
he is asserting what is not true. I am stating facts within my own
knowledge. The Democratic caucus voted down the resolution, and
refused to adopt it. Now, any statement made in conflict with that, I
say this from my own personal knowledge, is a statement which is
not true, and he who makes it knows, at the time he is making it, that
it is not true.”
Mr. Giddings:

“‘Go, show your slaves how choleric you are,

And make your bondmen tremble,’

but do not come here to make any imputations upon me.”

Mr. Edmundson (advancing towards Mr. Giddings, who had sprung
Shakespeare on him unexpectedly): “I want to hear what the
gentleman from Ohio is saving.”
Mr. Giddings: “Let gentlemen keep cool.”
Mr. Edmundson: “I will keep cool, if you will state the facts.”
At this point there were loud cries of “Order, order,” and much
confusion and excitement in the hall.
Mr. Cobb: “When the gentlemen from Ohio stated that the
Democratic party had adopted as a party the plurality rule, I
unhesitatingly denied that statement. When he said that the
resolution was introduced by Mr. Stanton, he read the language of
Mr. Stanton to show that he made the statement to the House, and
to the country, to that effect. I stated then that it was a
misconstruction of the language of Mr. Stanton, and that it must have
been so from the facts as they were. Now, Mr. Clerk, I ask this
House, and I put it to the candor of every man on this floor, if, at the
time this declaration was made, it was not its understanding that the
language quoted was the language of Mr. Stanton?”
Several members: “He so stated, expressly.”
Mr. Cobb: “I put it to the memory and candor of gentlemen here, if
the gentleman from Ohio did not so intend it, then he made a charge
against the party without any particle of ground to stand on. If he did
intend it, it was an effort to falsify the record on which he was
standing. This language was the language of the reporter, giving an
account of the proceedings of the day, and does not occur in
connection with Mr. Stanton’s name at all. There is a vote intervening
between the time when Mr. Stanton addressed the House, and the
remarks here made by the reporter, which had no earthly connection
with them whatever. Where, then, is the point of the gentleman’s
remarks when he charges me with sitting by and allowing Mr.
Stanton to state that the plurality proposition was the result of an
agreement between the two parties, unless it be because he had put
in Mr. Stanton’s mouth the language of the reporter? I submit the
facts to the House; I shall not characterize them.”
Mr. Orr: “Since the debate commenced, Mr. Stanton has come
within the limits of this hall. I have had an interview with him, and he
has authorized me to state, that when the proposition to elect by
plurality was presented to the Democratic caucus, it was almost
unanimously rejected by them, and that when he offered the plurality
resolution he did it upon his own individual responsibility.”
These crushing refutations of the charges of Mr. Giddings raise a
strong doubt of his honesty in this matter. He was a sharp politician,
and sought without regard to the means to elect Mr. Banks Speaker
of the House.
The Know-Nothings, recruited as were the Republicans from the
same parent stem of John Adams Federalism, were the allies of the
Sectionalists led by Mr. Giddings in 1856. The folly of the Southern
Know-Nothings in the great conflict over the Speakership in the
Thirty-fourth Congress was remarkable.
Some of them, like Zollicoffer and Humphrey Marshall, were
afterwards such violent Secessionists that they became Generals in
the Confederate army. Even Henry Winter Davis was so much
opposed to the Republican party at this time, and for several years
after, that he denounced it as a miserable, useless faction, and
sneeringly asked, “Why cumbers it the ground?” Mr. Zollicoffer, a
Southern man, of no mean powers, with surprising inconsistency
refused to vote for a Democratic candidate for Speaker when none
other had the remotest chance to beat Banks, and at the same time
inveighed against Mr. Campbell, a Pennsylvania Know-Nothing, for
voting for Banks, and thereby aiding the Sectionalists in opening the
door for disunion and civil war. These men and their congeners in
bigotry, like the blood-stained fanatic Lord George Gordon before
them, strove to excite a religious war, and preached proscription of
foreigners, and persecution of Catholics in the American Congress.
No union with slaveholders, was the platform of Joshua R. Giddings;
no-Popery, and no citizenship for foreigners, the platform of Henry
Winter Davis.
“I go against the Catholics,” said Mr. Cullen of Delaware, during
the same Speakership contest. “I never will support them. They are
not fit to be supported by Americans. The people of the State from
which I come look upon them with abhorrence. A Catholic priest, a
short time ago, came among us. He was a stranger. He taught the
doctrine of purgatory. After he had proclaimed that doctrine, an
honorable gentleman of the State of Delaware, and who at the last
election ran for Governor on the same ticket with myself, declared
that he ought to be egged! I vote against the Catholics!”
Mr. Dowdell, of Alabama: “I am exceedingly pained at the
spectacle which has been presented to-night. When Rome was
burning Nero was fiddling and dancing. Now, sir, we are standing
upon a slumbering volcano. Upon our borders in the common
territory of this country, our people are marshalling their forces to try
the great question whether they are able to govern themselves, it
may be with rifles in their hands. I have been reminded by the
ludicrous scenes witnessed here of a parallel to be found in a book
entitled, ‘Georgia Scenes.’ Ned Brace, the hero of the story,
happened to be in a city during the prevalence of a great fire, the
flames in red volumes were rising higher and higher each moment,
the people were running to and fro in great consternation, women
and children were screaming through the streets, and the midnight
fire-bells were sending out their rapid and startling sounds, when
Ned quietly took his position on the sidewalk. About this time a large
old man, nearly out of breath, came running by in great haste, whose
home was threatened with destruction perhaps, and was abruptly
stopped by Ned with the interrogatory: ‘Sir, can you tell me where I
can find Peleg Q. C. Stone?’ ‘Damn Peleg Q. C. Stone, my house is
on fire;’ was the impatient reply. Now, sir, while the fire of civil war is
threatening to be kindled upon our borders, questions are
propounded here quite as impertinent at this time of danger, and
calculated to provoke similar impatience, if not a similar reply. I have
no fear that any party in this country opposed to religious liberty will
ever be strong enough to control its legislation.”
Mr. Paine, of North Carolina: “I ask whether any gentleman in this
House is willing to see the Government of the United States, and the
Congress of the United States, in the hands of the Roman Catholics
of this country? This is a matter which enters into the private
feelings, however unwilling members may be to expose it. These
very gentlemen themselves would not trust the government of the
country and Congress in the hands of Roman Catholics.”
Mr. Valk, of New York: “The honorable gentleman from Alabama
(Mr. Dowdell) took occasion to draw the attention of the House to the
once living embodiment of that portrait on my right—that of La
Fayette. I frankly and freely do honor to his memory. But the
gentleman forgets one remark which fell from the lips of that man
when living. He said: ‘If ever the liberties of this country are
destroyed it will be by Catholic priests.’”
Mr. Bowie of Maryland: “Sparks says that is a lie.”
At this point Mr. Kelly tried to get the floor to repel the furious
assaults of the Know-Nothings upon his church, of which the
preceding extracts are but a few specimens.
Mr. Kelly: “I should like to explain my vote.”
The Clerk: “The clerk would remind the gentleman from New York
that it is too late. He can proceed, however, if no objection is made.”
There were loud cries of “object!”
Mr. Kelly: “Does the Clerk decide that I am not in order?”
The Clerk: “The Clerk makes no decision.”
Mr. Pennington: “I move that the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Kelly) have leave to explain his vote, and I do so because the
gentleman is a Catholic, and the only one I believe of that faith upon
this floor. I think that under the circumstances it would be only
common courtesy to hear him.” Loud cries of “Hear him.”
Mr. Bowie: “Hear him; he is the only Catholic here.”
Mr. Washburn: “I will yield to the gentleman for ten minutes.” Mr.
Kelly, without previous preparation, now proceeded to make his
second speech in the House, January 9, 1856, his first having been
delivered December 19, 1855, in reply to Mr. Whitney, a New York
Know-Nothing.
Mr. Kelly: “I am aware, Mr. Clerk, that it is very improper to bring
religious matters into legislative business at all but when I hear such
remarks as have fallen from the intelligent gentleman who has just
spoken, I feel that it becomes me, as a member of the religious body
which the gentleman has been assailing, to say something, at least,
in its defense.
“The accusation is made here that the Catholic religion is
dangerous to the institutions of this Republic. Sir, no man possessed
of any intelligence would give any weight to a charge of that sort.
When have the Catholic clergy urged their flocks to support
particular individuals for office? When have they from their pulpits
urged their congregations to support particular measures, or to vote
for particular men? There is not in the history of this country an
instance in which the Catholic clergy have so acted. But can the
same be said of other religious denominations in this country? In the
Eastern portion of the Union you will frequently find ministers from
their pulpits invoking their flocks to vote for measures which interest
them, and the section of the Union to which they belong. Now, Mr.
Clerk, I am a Catholic, and I love this Union. I defy any man in this
Congress to say that he is a better citizen, or more devoted to the
true interests of this Union than I am. This is not only my sentiment,
but it is the sentiment of the religious body to which I belong. It is the
sentiment of our priesthood.
“I let the accusation that the Catholic religion is dangerous to our
beloved country, go for what it is worth; for I am satisfied that no
sane man would make such an assertion. But this charge has been
frequently made since we first met here. When my colleague, Mr.
Valk, made several charges against the Catholic religion, I had not
an opportunity to say one word in reply but, sir, I am surprised that
the gentleman from Long Island, a man of intelligence and a
Christian, as I take him to be, should rise upon this floor, and
denounce his fellow Christians because he differs with them in
opinion upon religious questions.” Mr. Valk, who had indulged in
such denunciation, nevertheless, made a denial at this point.
Mr. Kelly: “The gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Paine, asks,
would you like to see this Government in the hands of the Catholic
people? Suppose that it was in the hands of the Catholic people,
have the Catholic people of this Union ever been false to its true
interests? Why, sir, look at the early history of our country, and look
to that State which borders upon this District. A Catholic community
existed there, which extended a liberality to all other religions that
could not be found in other colonies at that time. While Calvert, Lord
Baltimore, was founding a free colony there, religious persecution
was going on in other colonies; and when people were persecuted in
other colonies, where did they go that they might worship God
according to the dictates of their own consciences? They came to
the Catholic colony of Maryland. These are the Catholic people to
whom the honorable gentleman from Alabama has referred. Such,
sir, is the history of the Catholics in this country, and such has it ever
been. These people when they leave their homes in Germany, in
Ireland, or in whatever country they may be found, and come here, it
is to make this country their home. They imbibe the spirit of true
patriotism before they leave the Old World. They come here with
their parents, brethren, and friends, because here they can enjoy
their liberty. And tell me, sir, is not the assertion, that they are
inimical to your liberties unfounded? Are not the people who make it
blinded by prejudice and bigotry? Why, sir, foreigners have always
composed a large portion of the army of the country. They have
fought side by side with our native-born citizens in every battle that
has been fought from the earliest period of our existence as a nation,
down to the present time. They have been working in a common
cause to promote common objects—the blessings and prosperity of
this Union. Let me say to this House, if they come not here with
wealth, they come with willing hands to work and earn their bread
upon your public works, from their very commencement to their
completion. How could your great public works have been
constructed without these men?”
The Know-Nothings, not liking Kelly’s argument, at this point made
a determined effort to cut him off.
Mr. Russell Sage, of New York: “I move that this House do now
proceed to vote for Speaker, and upon that motion I demand the
previous question.”
Mr. Smith, of Alabama: “I hope the gentleman from New York, Mr.
Kelly, will be allowed to proceed with his explanation.”
Mr. Eustis, of Louisiana: “I hope Mr. Kelly will be allowed to
proceed by unanimous consent.”
Several members objected.
Mr. Leiter, of Ohio: “I appeal to the House to withdraw all objection,
and allow the gentleman from New York to go on with his speech.”
Objection was again made.
Mr. Kelly: “I do not care about proceeding further. I wished to deny
the charges made by the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Paine,
and by the gentleman from New York, Mr. Valk, and having done that
I am satisfied to let the matter rest for the present.”[26]
 Mr. Kelly, had he not been cut off by objections, intended to read
the letter of La Fayette, written from Paris in 1829 to a Protestant
citizen of New York, whose guest the old patriot had been during his
last visit to this country. This letter Mr. Valk had grossly perverted. At
the earliest opportunity during that session Mr. Kelly replied to Mr.
Valk and Mr. Smith, and read the La Fayette letter. The sentences in
it which Mr. Valk had so garbled were in reality as follows:—“But I
must be permitted to assure you that the fears which in your patriotic
zeal you seem to entertain, that if ever the liberty of the United
States is destroyed it will be by Romish priests, are certainly without
any shadow of foundation whatever. An intimate acquaintance of
more than half a century with the prominent and influential priests
and members of that Church, both in England and America, warrant
me in assuring you that you need entertain no apprehension of
danger to your republican institutions from that quarter.”

FOOTNOTES:
[22] Captain Rynders died suddenly about the middle of
January, 1885, having enjoyed his usual good health up to within
a few hours of his demise.
[23] Life of A. H. Stephens, by Johnston & Browne, p. 306.
[24] Ibid, p. 306.
[25] Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 34th Congress, p. 44,
et seq.
[26] Cong. Globe, 1855-56, Thirty-first Congress, 1st Session,
pp. 191, et seq.
 CHAPTER VI.
KNOW-NOTHINGS JOIN REPUBLICANS TO ELECT BANKS—
SEWARD BECOMES LEADER—SKETCH OF HIM—DEFEAT
OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY—CAUSES OF IT—FREQUENT
FIST-FIGHTS BETWEEN MEMBERS—DRUNKENNESS AND
ROWDYISM IN CONGRESS—ANGRY DISPUTE BETWEEN
KELLY AND MARSHALL—KELLY’S POPULARITY IN THE
HOUSE—HIS RELATIONS WITH ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
In the last chapter the strange spectacle was presented of
Southern Know-Nothings, while declaring their opposition to the
Abolitionists, actually aiding them to elect a Speaker, and offering as
an excuse for their conduct the dread that the Catholic Church might
obtain control of the Government! The Democratic caucus had
adopted a resolution denouncing the enemies of civil and religious
liberty. Humphrey Marshall and the Southern Know-Nothings
declared this was an insult to them, and not only Marshall, but Cox of
Kentucky, and Zollicoffer and Etheridge assigned the same cause as
presenting an insuperable obstacle to their voting for any Democrat
for Speaker. The Know-Nothings and Abolitionists, having nothing in
common, united to overthrow the party of the Constitution, the former
to prevent the Catholics from seizing the Government, the latter to
get rid of slavery. This ridiculous pretext of the Know-Nothings
concerning the political ambition of the Catholic Church was most
effectively answered by the fact that out of the whole 234 members
of the House, and 7 Territorial Delegates, John Kelly was the only
Catholic in the Thirty-fourth Congress. Mr. Kelly declared truly that
no sane man would offer such an insult to the intelligence of the
country, as a justification for his conduct, but Davis of Maryland,
Cullen of Delaware, Whitney of New York, and other proscriptionists
were wedded to their idols, and in order to strike down an imaginary
enemy, they became the tools of a real one.
For nine weeks the stubborn contest continued. The country, from
one end to another, was roused to feverish excitement. It was the
first time the Republican party had shown front in a National contest.
Ever since the Seward-Fillmore quarrel had led to the overthrow of
the Whig party in 1853, the Freesoilers had been a heterogeneous
mass of the Northern population, unorganized, and with no common
object in view. Mr. Seward keenly felt that success in the present
struggle for the Speakership was vital to the perpetuity of the
Republican party. He summoned to Washington his ablest friends,
Thurlow Weed, Horace Greeley and James Watson Webb. These
four famous leaders soon organized their followers in the House into
a compact body. Mr. Zollicoffer, who subsequently became a
Secessionist, and fell in battle as a Confederate General,
characterized them by name on the floor of the House as the chiefs
of the lobby. In the course of a speech on the 20th of December, in
which he declared, with a short-sightedness unworthy of so clever a
man, that he would not vote for a Democrat against Banks,
Zollicoffer said: “I see here a great organization, numbering from one
hundred and four to one hundred and six members, who are steadily
voting for Mr. Banks. Whilst I have reason to believe that the great
lobby spirits who control that organization are Greeley and Seward,
and Weed and Webb, men of intellect and power at the North, who
are as bitterly opposed to the American party as they are to the
Democratic party, I do, upon my conscience, believe that there are
gentlemen voting for Mr. Banks, from day to day, who do not belong
to the Abolition, or, as they style themselves, the Republican
organization. For example, I cite the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Campbell), at whose position, as he announced it here the other
day, I was surprised. He says he is an American, and he spurned the
idea that the American party at the North were identified with the
Freesoilers of the North and yet he casts his vote steadily against a
conservative National American of his own State, and gives it to Mr.
Banks, a Free Soil Democrat, who has affiliated, as his record clearly
shows, with the most ultra and violent Free-soil and Abolition
factions.”
The Capitol was alive with intrigues and with intriguers from every
part of the country. The leaders retired to the Committee rooms day
by day, and night by night, and runners kept them constantly
informed of the movements of their adversaries. Counter-movements
followed, and new plans succeeded each other on every side without
avail. It was an interesting moment for the historian; the events of the
hour were big with the fate of the country. Federalism and
Democracy were once more, as in the year 1801, locked in a death
struggle. Then, as now, it was the party of the Constitution against
the party of Centralization. The Know-Nothings held the balance of
power, and of course the followers of the man who wrote his own
epitaph in these words, “Author of the Declaration of Independence,
and of the Statutes of Virginia for Religious Freedom,” had nothing to
expect from that pestilent band of bigots. Sprung from the same
parent stem of John Adams Federalism, Joshua R. Giddings and his
Abolitionists, and Henry Winter Davis and his Know-Nothings, were
natural allies against the disciples of Jefferson.
Seward, Weed and Greeley, to their credit be it recorded, having
led the anti-Know-Nothing branch of the Whig party in New York,
were not personally influential with members of the American party in
Congress. But the Republican leaders were men of varied
resources, and Thurlow Weed, the Whig Warwick, was equal to any
emergency. The fierce philippics of Henry A. Wise against the Know-
Nothings in the memorable Virginia campaign just closed, and the
tremendous blows which Alexander H. Stephens had dealt the party
of dark lanterns in his then recent Georgia campaign, were artfully
spread abroad among the proscriptionists in Congress, and the
bitterness of their defeat in both those States added to the chagrin
which the unanswerable arraignments of Wise and Stephens excited
among them. The resolutions of the Democratic caucus, especially
the one denouncing the enemies of civil and religious liberty, and the
alleged contradictory constructions placed upon the Kansas-
Nebraska bill by Northern and Southern Democrats, were also used
by the Seward men as electioneering appeals for Mr. Banks. In one
or two Democratic quarters the Republican leaders were strongly
suspected of employing corrupt appliances.
The great anti-Know-Nothing speech of Alexander H. Stephens at
Augusta, largely quoted from in a former chapter of this book, was
now being used by the Republicans to increase Know-Nothing
enmity to the Democrats. On his part Mr. Stephens was a tower of
strength to the Administration men in the House. He appreciated the
magnitude of the struggle, and was indefatigable in his attempts to
defeat the Republican and Know-Nothing alliance. He rejoiced at the
prominence which the Republican leaders were giving to the victory
over Know-Nothingism in his own State. “I think,” he said in a letter
to his brother, “the Georgia election is more talked of than that of any
other State in the Union.”[27]
Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas, C. C. Clay, R. M. T. Hunter,
Judah P. Benjamin, and other Democratic Senators, were in frequent
consultation with Alexander H. Stephens, John Kelly, Howell Cobb,
James L. Orr, William A. Richardson, and other Democratic
members of the House. The relative strength of the two leading
parties in the House, seventy-four Democrats and one hundred and
four Republicans, was the subject of anxious thought, and all at
length saw that Mr. Richardson, the caucus nominee of the
Democrats, could not be elected. He was, therefore, dropped, and
James L. Orr substituted as the Democratic candidate. As week after
week elapsed, it became evident that the dead-lock could only be
broken by the abandonment of a straight party man by the
Democrats. Even then no election was likely to take place unless the
plurality rule should be adopted. About ten days before the end of
the contest, as alluded to already, a private consultation took place
between Mr. Stephens, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Orr, and Mr. Cobb, at which the
nomination of William Aiken of South Carolina was decided upon as
that of the only available candidate against Banks. But in order to
render this movement effective, the utmost secrecy was necessary
until the time should have come to bring out the new candidate. This
plan originated with Mr. Stephens. Mr. Kelly entered heartily into it.
To him was assigned the important duty as a Northern Democrat of
putting Mr. Aiken in nomination. He was only to do this, when
Banks’s election should appear imminent, or after the plurality rule
had been adopted, with Orr still running against Banks. The
nomination was not to be enforced by any set speech on the part of
the mover, which might show design and premeditation, but was to
be made as if on the impulse of the moment, and as the sudden act
of an individual who had given up all hope for Orr, and now named
Aiken as a sort of dernier resort to beat Banks.
It showed that the Democratic leaders reposed extraordinary
confidence in Kelly’s coolness, tact and good judgment, that he
should have been selected to initiate this most delicate parliamentary
move. Mr. Orr had agreed to withdraw at the proper moment in
Aiken’s favor. In the meantime Mr. Stephens was to manage the
preliminary strategy necessary to put the train of affairs in motion. He
sounded various members in casual conversation, and found men of
the most opposite views quite favorable to Aiken, as a compromise
candidate against Banks. At length, February first, when it seemed
probable that Banks would be elected, and at the right moment, with
admirable brevity and effect, John Kelly rose and nominated Aiken.
But before Orr could get the floor to withdraw in favor of Mr. Kelly’s
nominee, Williamson R. W. Cobb, of Alabama, who had found
members who were in the secret predicting that Aiken would win,
now sprang up and in a cut-and-dried-speech, and with a great
parade of theatrical language, declared that the time had arrived to
name the winning man, that he had the pleasure of offering an olive-
branch to all those who opposed the Republicans, and after giving
everybody to know that he was about to announce a grand
parliamentary stroke on the part of the Democrats, he nominated
William Aiken of South Carolina. The effect of that supremely ill-
timed speech was to drive off votes which Mr. Aiken would have
otherwise won, for as soon as it dawned upon the Whigs and Know-
Nothings, who had not gone over to Banks, that the latest move was
a Democratic “olive-branch,” a sufficient number of them
reconsidered their intention to vote for Aiken, and Banks was elected
Speaker the next day, under the operation of that extra-constitutional
device—the plurality rule.
The votes of John Hickman and David Barclay, two Democrats
from Pennsylvania, were not given on the final ballot to the candidate
supported by the Democratic side of the House. They were much
censured for their course.
The Congressional Globe contains the following:
 “House of Representatives, Friday, February 1, 1856.
Mr. Ball. I offer the following resolutions, and upon it I demand the
previous question:
Resolved, That Nathaniel P. Banks, of Massachusetts, be, and he
is hereby declared Speaker of this House for the Thirty-fourth
Congress.
Mr. Kelly. I desire to offer a substitute for that resolution.
The Clerk. It is not in order to do so now, as the previous question
has been demanded.
Mr. Kelly. Then I give notice, that if the pending resolution is voted
down, I shall hereafter offer the following:
Resolved, That William Aiken, of South Carolina, be, and he is
hereby elected Speaker of this House, for the Thirty-fourth
Congress.”
The resolution declaring Banks the Speaker was lost by 102 ayes
to 115 noes. Then, before Mr. Kelly could obtain the floor to name
Mr. Aiken, Williamson R. W. Cobb made his fatal olive-branch
speech in favor of Aiken, and Mr. Washburne of Illinois moved to lay
“that olive branch on the table.” The House by a vote of 98 to 117
refused to table the resolution. The main question of declaring Aiken
Speaker was then put and lost, ayes 103, noes 110. It will be
observed that the vote for Aiken was larger than that for Banks.
Banks 102 to 115; Aiken 103 to 110. Mr. Kelly would have had the
honor of naming the Speaker but for the precipitancy of Mr. W. R. W.
Cobb. The plurality rule, a device of doubtful constitutionality, was
adopted the next day, February 2d, and Banks was elected. The
following was the vote: Banks 103; Aiken 100; Fuller 6; Campbell 4;
Wells 1. If Henry Winter Davis and the other five Know-Nothings who
voted for Fuller, or even three of them, had supported Mr. Aiken, his
election would have taken place. Or if only two of those Know-
Nothings, and the two Democratic back-sliders, Hickman and
Barclay, had voted for Aiken, the defeat of Banks, and election of the
Democratic candidate, in this momentous national contest would
have resulted.
 “After a prolonged struggle,” says Mr. Blaine in his Twenty Years of
Congress, “Nathaniel P. Banks was chosen Speaker over William
Aiken. It was a significant circumstance, noted at the time, that the
successful candidate came from Massachusetts, and the defeated
one from South Carolina. It was a still more ominous fact that Banks
was chosen by votes wholly from the free States, and that every vote
from the slave States was given to Mr. Aiken, except that of Mr.
Cullen of Delaware, and that of Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, who
declined to vote for either candidate. It was the first instance in the
history of the Government in which a candidate for Speaker had
been chosen without support from both sections. It was a distinctive
victory of the free States over the consolidated power of the slave
States. It marked an epoch.”[28] If William H. Seward and Thurlow
Weed were here to explain this “distinctive victory,” as Mr. Blaine
calls it, they might, if they were in a confessing mood, call the thing
by another name.
It is certain that votes were thrown away on nominal candidates,
and some even were given for Mr. Banks which belonged rightfully to
Mr. Aiken. The members who cast those votes not only failed to
reflect the sentiments of their constituencies, but in some cases
openly defied and misrepresented the will of the voters to whom they
owed their seats. Why these men betrayed the Democratic party in
the memorable parliamentary battle which, as Mr. Blaine says
“marked an epoch,” will perhaps forever remain one of the mysteries
of the lobby of that eventful Thirty-fourth Congress.
John Kelly, Howard Cobb and others strongly suspected that
corrupt appliances were at work.
Mr. Stephens, in a letter to his brother Linton Stephens, February
1st, 1856, said: “But for a faux pas on the part of that fool C——, I
think we should have made Aiken Speaker to-day. I had set the
programme for it about ten days ago. My plan was this: after the
plurality rule should have been adopted (which I had all along
believed after a while would be), and two ballots should have been
had under it, if the Southern Know-Nothings should not indicate a
purpose to go over to Orr to prevent Banks’s election (which I did not
much expect them to do), then Aiken was to be put in nomination on
the floor, Orr to decline, and let the last vote be between Aiken and
Banks. From my knowledge of the House, its present tone and
temper, knowledge of Aiken and the estimation he was held in by
several of the scatterers, I believed he would beat Banks. This I
communicated to a few, and a few only. I gave Cobb, of Georgia, my
idea; he was struck with it, and communicated it to a few others. It
took finely. I sounded some of the Western Know-Nothings,—
Marshall and others,—and found that they could be brought into it. I
said nothing of my plan, but simply asked carelessly how Aiken
would do. I found that he would do for them. But after his name
began to be talked of, he got so popular in the minds of many that C
——, a fool, plugged the melon before it was ripe. If we had then
been under the pressure of the plurality rule, and the choice between
him and Banks, he would have been elected, sure as fate, in my
opinion.”[29]
In conversations with the writer of this memoir, and in letters to him
on the subject, Mr. Stephens often spoke of Mr. Kelly’s conduct
during this first great struggle between the Democratic and
Republican parties in the House of Representatives, as truly
admirable and patriotic. “Mr. Kelly,” said he, “never hounded on
anybody against the South, but was one of the few Northern
Democrats who then stood firmly by us, in defense of our
Constitutional rights against the assaults of Republicans and Know-
Nothings, who had formed an unholy alliance against us.” The
present writer has sometimes read, with surprise, attacks on Mr.
Kelly in Southern newspapers of respectability and standing, such as
the Baltimore Sun and Atlanta Constitution, which only could be
ascribed to insufficient information on the part of the writers, or
perhaps they unintentionally erred in accepting the scurrilous
caricatures of Puck, and other Gerrymanders, for the real John Kelly.
Mr. Banks appointed the standing Committees of the House in the
interest of the ultra wing of the Republican party, of which William H.
Seward and Joshua R. Giddings were the leaders. M. Seward was at
length at the head of a great organization, with the immense power
of the popular branch of Congress at his back, and no other man in
American politics ever made more of his opportunities. Five years
before he had been rudely jostled from his dream of ambition by the
death of President Taylor, to whose friendship for him he was
indebted for his elevation to leadership in the Whig party in 1849.
That event had been rendered possible in consequence of the
disastrous feuds in the Democratic party of New York in 1848. While
Hunkers and Barnburners fought, the Whigs captured the Legislature
of New York, by which a Senator in Congress was to be chosen. Mr.
Seward was elected Senator. His political sagacity soon enabled him
to grasp the situation. Deeming it certain that whoever might control
the Administration patronage, whether Senator or not, would control
the politics of New York, he went to Washington, and paid assiduous
court to that dashing Virginian, William Ballard Preston, Secretary of
the Navy, to whom President Taylor was more attached than to any
other member of his Cabinet. As a charmer Mr. Seward had few
equals. He was addicted to aphorisms, and studied bon mots with
the diligence of Sheridan. His affectation of philosophy was set off by
good manners and easy address. He had been a school-master in
Georgia, and had at his command a fund of South-of-Potomac
reminiscences, saws, and anecdotes. In the company of William
Ballard Preston he was never so happy as when expatiating over the
types, and modes, and fascinations of Southern society. The
Tazewells, Randolphs, Gastons, Lowndes, Calhouns, Crawfords,
Forsyths, Lumpkins, and other famous Cavaliers, were all names
familiar on Mr. Seward’s lips as household words. It did not take him
long to win Preston, and that gentleman soon addressed himself to
the task of winning over the President to the side of Mr. Seward. But
Vice-President Fillmore was Seward’s bitterest enemy, and Taylor’s
confidence was of slower growth than Preston’s. Fierce sectional
passions upon the subject of slavery were already raging between
the North and South, and the old hero of Buena Vista desired to allay
those passions, and render his Administration the era of pacification.
Pledges were finally exacted and given, James Watson Webb
representing Mr. Seward, and Secretary Preston representing the
President, and the patronage of the Administration in New York was
placed at Mr. Seward’s disposal; in consideration of which that wily
diplomat entered into engagements to take no part in the Senate of
the United States in the Abolition agitation, but to pursue a policy of
conciliation and compromise at Washington. He had been elected
Senator to succeed a Democrat. Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and
John J. Crittenden, and the other leading Whigs in the Senate and
House, were friends of Mr. Fillmore, and unalterably opposed to
Seward’s recognition by Taylor, upon any terms, as leader of the
Administration party in New York. Angry controversies took place in
Administration circles. A breach occurred between the President and
Vice-President, and their social relations were broken off. Preston
had acquired complete personal ascendency over Taylor, and the old
soldier became a violent partisan of Mr. Seward. The Senator from
New York was now recognized as the real leader of the Whig party,
and wielded the Administration lash with exasperating indifference to
the powerful men arrayed on the side of Mr. Fillmore. Alienations
took place between life-long friends, and many of the great Whig
statesmen were not even on speaking terms. The Whig party was
rent in twain.
Mr. Blaine has recently discussed some of the political events of
this period of American history, in his valuable work “Twenty Years of
Congress,” but in assigning causes for the destruction of the Whig
party, he has strangely overlooked this portentous quarrel, provoked
by Seward, which was the underlying cause,—the causa causans,—
of the dissolution and utter extinction of that celebrated party.
On the 11th of March, 1850, Mr. Seward, unmindful of his pledges
to William Ballard Preston, made a violent Abolition speech in the
Senate. The Georgia school-master has outwitted the Secretary of
the Navy. Charles Francis Adams, in his memorial address at Albany
on Mr. Seward, stated that he was aware of the “agreement,” as he
called it, between the Auburn statesman and Taylor’s Administration,
but he must have been ignorant of its real terms, for a descendant of
two Presidents would scarcely have regarded the violation of
voluntary pledges as a fit topic for glowing eulogy.
And now in that month of March, 1850, William H. Seward was at
the height of power. In all human probability he would be next
President of the United States. Short-lived triumph. The summer of
his glory was soon overcast with stormy portents. Within four little
months Zachary Taylor lay dead in the White House, and Fillmore,
Seward’s dearest foe, was President. The downfall of the Whig party
soon followed, and Mr. Seward and Winfield Scott sat amid its ruins.
It was about this time that Daniel Webster said to his friend Peter
Harvey of Boston: “One of the convictions of my mind, and it is very
strong, is that the people of the United States will never entrust their
destinies, and the administration of their government, to the hands of
William H. Seward and his associates.”[30]
But Mr. Webster, perhaps, underestimated the character of Mr.
Seward. In 1856, upon the election of Nathaniel P. Banks as
Speaker of the House of Representatives, the distinguished New
York Senator became titular primate of a new and more powerful
organization than the Whig party ever had been in its palmiest days.
England is governed by Cabinet Ministers with seats in Parliament;
the United States by standing Committees of the Senate and House
of Representatives, by whom legislation is initiated, secretly
formulated, and then carried through both Houses by aid of caucus
management, and under the whip and spur of imperious majorities.
This vast energy Mr. Seward now commanded through Speaker
Banks in the House of Representatives. He had admirable
lieutenants. Banks was a fair Speaker in his rulings, and not a sticker
over non-essentials, but in everything that seriously affected the
welfare of the Republican party, he was an aggressive and tenacious
partisan. The astute Thurlow Weed was even a shrewder politician
than Mr. Seward himself; and Horace Greeley, adopting the maxim
of Daniel O’Connell—that agitation is the life of every cause—
employed his unrivaled editorial pen in the anti-slavery crusade, now
fairly inaugurated throughout the Northern States. Yet with all his
great advantages and skill as an organizer, Mr. Seward could not
have carried the Republican party to victory, had not some of the
leaders of the Democratic party, during the last five years of their
ascendency at Washington, wilfully neglected their opportunities,
and given to their more vigilant opponents the vantage ground in the
collision of forces on the floor of Congress.
During the latter days of the Pierce administration, and the whole
of that of Buchanan, measures of great national importance were
defeated through the culpable negligence of a few Southern
Democrats. Northern Representatives who stood by the South in
defense of its constitutional rights, bitterly complained of this neglect
on the part of those who were so deeply interested. These Northern
men, like Mr. Kelly and Horace F. Clark, had to brave a false but
growing public opinion at the North, on account of their heroic
devotion to what they deemed the line of duty, especially on the
great Territorial questions, over which the Union was being shaken to
its foundations. They had, therefore, the right to expect
corresponding earnestness on the part of all their fellow Democrats
of the South. To hold to Jeffersonian, strict construction opinions was
then becoming extremely unpopular at the North, and involved
sacrifices that threatened to blight their political prospects. To
maintain similar opinions at the South was a wholly different matter.
Everybody there believed in the State-rights doctrine, and public
men were carried smoothly on with the current in defending
measures of administration.
Mr. Kelly observed some things which he could not but regard with
pain during the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Congresses, for they
were pregnant with ill-omens for the country, and to a man of his
perspicacious brain they must have foreboded those disasters to the
Democratic party which ere long overtook it. There was an incapacity
for affairs on the part of a few Southern Representatives, and a
proneness to intemperance among quite a number of otherwise
excellent men from the same section. It was a bad symptom of the
distempered state of the Democratic party to find many of its
Representatives frequently, and inexcusably, absent from their seats
when test votes were about to be taken, fraught with vital interest to
the South, and decisive of great national policies. The fault was more
grievous, when the absentees, as was often the case, would have
been able to change the result by being present and voting. This was
attributable in some measure to inexperience, and want of training
for public life. Some there were who were addicted to pleasure
parties, frequently went home to their families, and entertained
fanciful ideas respecting the duties devolving on gentlemen in
society. That they were honorable men who would not stoop to
disreputable conduct, no one who knew them can for a moment
doubt. Indeed their integrity bore refreshing contrast to the looser