CJ doctoral study

Sociology deals with all sorts of behaviors and anthropology looks at the human experience from a historical perspective. Criminology differs in that it is more focused on crime and its causes. Criminological questions include:

• What causes crime? (not from a legislative perspective)
• What causes recidivism?
• Is poverty associated with a higher incidence of crime?
• If a race (African Americanism) isn't fully assimilated into a society after several generations, then is there likely to be a higher incidence of crime within that non-assimilated group?
• Can criminal tendancies be inherited or is it learned or is it a combination? (nature vs. nurture)
• Are dysfunctional families more likely to produce social outcasts that are more likely to engage in anti-social behaviors, to include criminality?
• Does alcohol or drug abuse increase the liklihood of criminal activity?
• What role does a broken family play in the criminality of the children? What role does a father play in the success or failure of offspring, to include anti-social or criminal behaviors?

Many of the above questions definately have sociological implications that can be studied from an anthropological perspective; but in criminology, they are studied from the perspective of a criminologist and not a sociologist. The distinction may be minute, but it's there. It would also be difficult for many of these questions to be answered from a quantitative study, so a qualitative analysis might be a tad bit easier. Anyways, it's a facinating topic that could be akin to circular madness.

 

EVERYTHING that you say is true. Also quite interesting.

But underlying all of it is the definition of "crime" and that's largely a decision of the State, not an independent phenomenon UNLESS you decide that the State merely criminalizes behavior that is universally condemned, such as raping one's grandmother.

I found the question of "universal crime" quite engaging but the fact remains that most criminal offenses, such as controlled substance violations or securities exchange commission rules, do not fall into that category.

So do you limit your study of criminology to crimes and criminals fitting a much more restricted "universal" definition? Hardly satisfactory since you'd be artificially excluding most crimes and criminals from your area of study and criminals have much in common whether they have offended against "universal" rules or specific "legislative" rules.

Or you COULD view crime as a rejection of society or a matter of class warfare as in Marxism. Maybe, but that model doesn't reflect reality. There are other approaches, too...

I don't know. There IS such a thing as "crime", there ARE "criminals" and the subject is decidedly worthy of scholarly pursuit. But I can't help thinking it's all built on quicksand, somehow...

 

Er, have any of you guys talked to the University of Leicester? http://www.le.ac.uk/criminology/phd.html In particular, I'd draw attention to this paragraph: "Support for part-time students is provided by Department staff who have developed an expertise in teaching people who choose to study a distance away from the University. Our part-time students are in regular communication with Department staff by telephone, fax, letter and email."

Angela

 

So you would define which crime is Mala in Se and which is Mala Prohibitum.

Of course all of this would be based upon your definition of "evil"...as it were.

As for checking out University of Leicester...yes I've checked out U of L and they have a solid looking program...In fact I have not ruled them out for a graduate degree in Criminal Justice but am a bit afraid of attending a research and writing school over seas do to slight differences which could affect your grade such as how to spell program...er...programme...er...prognosis.

 

Criminology doesn't delve too much into creating statutes, but from a historical perspective, our laws pretty much come from the 10 commandments or at least that was the genesis of it, regardless of how it has evolved. The 10 commandments covers everything, although people tend to oversimplify it.

I am of the opinion that drug laws for users should be civil in lieu of criminal, but trafficking should remain criminal. Regarding securities exchange violations (most of which are civil), it is ironic that someone can steal a great deal of money and get a slap on the wrist because the civil crime wasn't a violent act, but if someone steals a pack of chewing gum from Walmart, he can legally be arrested and hauled off to jail. Similarly, a bank robber is going to do some serious time, due to the perceived violence of the act. There is a strange dichotomy between large civil thefts and small criminal thefts; one is an arrestable offense, while the other is not.

Historically, the police have dealt primarily with violent crimes and criminal thefts. Due to the complexities that can be involved with civil thefts, many police officers are not equipped to engage in such investigations. State or Federal agencies generally deal with those types of civil or criminal thefts, which can include the use of a forensic accountant. The legislators have made it easy for the police to focus on certain types of crimes. I once heard an attorney lament that a bank robber who steals $200 at gunpoint will do 6 to 20 years in prison, while a gentlemanly thief who skims 3 million from off the books gets by with a nolle prosse (due to the complexity of the case) or a slap on the wrist or probation or, in rare instances, serves time in a "gentlemens Federal prison" where there are no walls or fences to keep them inside (they remain inside on an honor code). Criminologist rarely deal with these types of crimes.

Indeed, it may be built on quicksand, but that is the fabric of our society. Life is short and there are no easy answers. In fact, life itself seems to be built on quicksand, as the hourglass points with great certainty to the impending death of each of us. But with the limited time that is allocated to each of us, we continue to try and analize the reasons for criminal behaviors, as well as the defination of criminal behaviors, albeit it's all on shakey ground and always has been.

Math isn't on shakey ground, is it? At least not till you get to physics where it starts to get shakey, such as theories on bending time... Even math is shakey!!! LOL

Criminology embraces societal order and predictability, while anarchy is the opposite of this. Thus, most people love cops because we maintain their security and the status quo.

 

See....I knew this was an interesting topic.

 

Securities violations are really not criminal offences on your side of the pond? Wow! Over here you're looking at up to 7 years for most offences, considerably more if fraud can be proven (although managing to prove serious fraud in a jury trial is one of the SFO's major problems).

Angela

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pain

Ha, I never knew that Bruce. I was told recently by Professor Keith Haley over at Tiffin (co-author of Bohm & Haley, Introduction to CJ as well as a spate of other books) that the ACJS was originally called the Association of Police Professors. It consisted of cops who got PhD's.

 

Great observation nosborne. Your views are reflected strongly in the new multi-disciplinary approach that CUNY Grad Center (At John Jay and very resident) is taking to their CJ doc program. It includes courses from many of the areas that you cite and then some. Really though, at some point it all becomes interconnected doesn't it?

 

Criminology is a descendant of Sociology, it's pretty common to see professors in CJ departments with Ph.D.'s in Sociology. However, Criminology deals exclusively with crime and criminal behavior, while sociology is much more generalized. Thinking back to my Intro to Sociology course, I believe one of the first major sociological studies involved observing people in a bowling alley....hardly criminal behavior.

 

Some are criminal violations and some are civil violations; and sometimes it's difficult to distinguish the two from each other. If one is arrested on a criminal violation, the defense attorney will naturally declare that it was a misunderstanding and that it is just a civil violation and the criminal charge should be dropped. It's a giant gray area where cops get nervous and attorneys are quite comfortable.

 

Somewhere in there is a very good PhD thesis that sits right at the junction of business, CJ and criminology analysing the effect of sentencing rules, civil versus criminal liability and multiple versus single agency approaches to supervision on the frequency and severity of securities violations. Could be fun for somebody doing the CJ track of the DBA at NCU.

Angela

 

Re: Strange

I agree that Homeland Security is the "flavor of the month" and will probably stay on the list for the forseeable future. An advanced degree in Homeland Security, while specialized in name, does have crossover to other fields. Homeland Security, as presently defined, is composed of elements of law enforcement, physical security, intelligence collection and dissemination, immigration, IT, public administration, etc. Since most of the people pursuing such degrees will be mid-career (or second career) professionals, a Homeland Security degree may open a wider range of options than an CJ degree. I would suspect that it would be especially popular among military officers and Federal employees prior to their relatively early retirements.

A masters degree in Homeland Security will be more of an applied degree than theoretical largely because the nature of the subject is more multi-disciplinary and practical than "pure." Whatever theory is involved comes from other fields and has probably already been explored and developed. I can't see anyone entering Criminal Justice or any academic field via the back door with a Homeland Security background so the utility of a Ph.D. in HS is doubtful. (when and if some school offers one)

 

I received e-mails from the director of Nova Southeastern University's Criminal Justice Institute and an administrative assistant for the program in the last couple of days and this is what I was told:

- NSU's Ph.D. in Criminal Justice is still in the development stage and may be up and running in the next year or so

- NSU currently has a university-wide hold on starting any new Ph.D. programs but that should be lifted soon

- At a recent staff meeting there was talk of putting together draft syllabi for the proposed courses in the Ph.D. program

- The three initial concentrations in the Ph.D. in CJ program will be Behavioral Science, Juvenile Justice, and Organizational Leadership

I'll post any additional information that I receive in the future regarding NSU's Ph.D. in CJ program.

abnrgr275

 

Hi Angela:

There certainly seems to be more criminal prosecution of business fraud in recent years (as evidenced by Enron, et al). Then, on a somewhat lesser degree there's Martha Stewart. There have also been (some call) spurious prosecutions in recent times which were detailed here in a book called Go Directly to Jail : The Criminalization of Almost Everything by Gene Healy. Your suggestion for a dissertation topic is interesting.

 

abnrgr275,

That would be great! Do you know anything about the faculty specializations in CJ at NSU?

 

A DBA with a CJ emphasis would be a really interesting degree track.

Personally, I do not see the Federal Government or ANY local governments which are prepared and focused on white collar crime due to the specialized training, education and man hours it would take to do so...additionally, government follows money and money comes from industry which subscribes to a laissez faire' philosophy of free enterprise...thank you special interest groups and soft money donors. White collar crime is still a lucrative business.

 

John,

Here's a link that lists some of the faculty at the NSU Criminal Justice Institute:

www.cji.nova.edu/HTML/online-program/faculty_phone.htm

The Chronicle of Higher Education and the NSU human resources website had a couple of job postings for tenure-track CJ professors a few months ago, so it looks like NSU is attempting to beef up their CJ faculty base in anticipation of starting the Ph.D. program.

abnrgr275

 

And unions and pacs...

Uhhh....you describe quite the opposite of laissez-faire.

 

decimon....

How do you mean?

Laissez-faire is concerned with keeping government out of business and leaving free enterprise to its own dealings. I believe that our government happily does this as industry supplies government with money.

So how exactly is that the opposite of Laissez-faire?