SOCIOLOGY 8105 – CRIMINAL POLICY

Spring 1999 Thursday 2:15-4:45 Room 1183 Social Science

Professor Christopher Uggen
(Pronounced You-Gun)
1160 Social Sciences: 624-4016
Office: Tuesday 11:15-2 or by appt.
uggen@atlas.socsci.umn.edu
http://www.soc.umn.edu/~uggen/

DESCRIPTION
This seminar offers an overview of theoretical developments and empirical research in criminology and criminal policy. Each week we will examine: (1) a definitive statement from an important theoretical tradition; (2) a critical empirical test of that theory; (3) a critique of the theory or the research generated by it; and, (4) an attempt to translate the theory into policy. The first five weeks will be devoted to introductions, social disorganization, differential association, anomie, and social control theories. The content for the remaining five weeks will be determined by student interest in (or outside of) the options listed below.

OBJECTIVES

  • The course will help you develop a more nuanced understanding of the dominant theoretical traditions in criminology. This knowledge is absolutely fundamental to teaching criminology at the college level and to conducting original research in the area.
  • I will help you work through selected empirical pieces by some of the very best criminological researchers. As you develop your own research style, it is beneficial to see how others have translated propositions into testable hypotheses, devised appropriate methodologies to test them, and presented the results to diverse audiences.
  • The course will stimulate your thinking about questions at the intersection of social science and public policy. These include how we produce our knowledge, its relevance to lives outside the academy (and penitentiary), and the utility of crime theories and criminologists themselves. Such big-picture considerations may help you to choose the level of abstraction at which you wish to work and the contribution that you can make as teachers and researchers studying the sociology of crime.
  • Finally, a graduate seminar should encourage your professional socialization as you make the transition from student to independent social scientist. I will share anonymous reviews, letters from funding agencies and journal editors, and other materials that may show you another side of the research and publication process.

READINGS
Kornhauser, Ruth R. 1977. Social Sources of Delinquency: An Appraisal of Analytic Models. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Only one text and a reading packet are required. At one prominent sociology department, the preliminary examination in the law, crime, and deviance area asked students to name and discuss the most important book in 20th century criminology. The correct answer (and there was a correct answer) was Kornhauser’s Social Sources. Since the book is (shamefully!) out of print, I can make photocopies available to you without violating copyright law. Once we vote on topics at the first course meeting, we will arrange to compile and distribute the packet materials.

REQUIREMENTS

  • Each student will be responsible for leading one of the course meetings. This includes summarizing and emailing/distributing a precis of the core readings and a list of open-ended questions about the materials two days prior to each class session. The precis is a detailed two page single-spaced summary of the theory, data, methods, and argument of the reading.
  • An original seminar project is required of all students. This may be in the form of a research proposal, a synthesis and critical evaluation of a particular line of research, or an empirical paper addressing a substantive problem in criminology. Do not waste your time on a paper that will only be used to meet course requirements. The seminar project should advance your own research agenda.
  • Seminars are constructed in interaction. I will provide a brief setup at each course meeting and try to provide an environment in which everyone feels comfortable participating, but responsibility for the seminar is borne collectively. This means that you must come to class prepared to discuss the readings (preferably with written comments and questions of your own) and to have considered how the course materials will affect your work. I deliberately kept the reading requirements minimal so that you will have more time to seriously engage the articles.

POLICIES

  • Your course grade will be determined by your written work and seminar participation.I intend to weight precis and discussion leadership at 20%, seminar projects at 60%, and participation at 20%. Active seminar participation is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition to earning an "A" grade.
  • I will only give incompletes in truly extraordinary circumstances. In almost every case, it is far better to turn in a "work in progress" than to delay your progress by taking an incomplete.
  • Teaching Philosophy (attached)
  • Department Policies (attached)

CAUTION
This course is not comprehensive. There are several definitive statements and myriad critiques and tests for many of these topics. To maximize the amount we can cover in a ten-week quarter, I have selected work that I consider exemplary or at least representative. Nevertheless, there are many important areas in criminology and criminal policy that we will not touch. For this reason, the content of the second half of the course will be determined by student demand.

TENTATIVE OUTLINE

1. 4/1 BIG PICTURE: CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY AND CRIME POLICY

Definitive Statement
Kornhauser, Chapter 2 (Chapter 1 recommended).

Critique
Wilson, James Q. 1975. Thinking about Crime. Chapter 3: "Criminologists."
Braithwaite, John. 1993. "Beyond Positivism: Learning from Contextual Integrated Strategies." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 30:383-99.

Theory into Policy
Sherman, Lawrence L., Denise C. Gottfredson, Doris L. MacKenzie, John Eck, Peter Reuter, and Shawn D. Bushway. 1998. Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising." National Institute of Justice Research in Brief. Washington, DC: USGPO.
 

2. 4/8 SOCIAL (DIS)ORGANIZATION AND NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT (Mike Massoglia and Manuel Guerrero)

Definitive Statements
Shaw, Clifford, and Henry H. McKay. 1931.Social Factors in Juvenile Delinquency. Pages 383-93.
Bursik, Robert J., Jr. 1988 "Social Disorganization and Theories of Crime and Delinquency: Problems and Prospects." Criminology 26:519-52.

Critique
Kornhauser chapter 3 (esp. 51-82)

Critical Test
Sampson, Robert J., Stephen W. Raudenbush, and Felton Earls. "Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy." Science 277:918-24.

Theory into Policy
Bursik, Robert J., Jr., and Harold G. Grasmick. 1995. "Neighborhood-Based Networks and the Control of Crime and Delinquency." Pages 107-130 in Crime and Public Policy: Putting Theory to Work, edited by Hugh D. Barlow. Boulder, CO: Westview.
 

3. 4/15 DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION & SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM (Andrew Odubote and Donna Cernohous)

Definitive Statements
Sutherland, Edwin H. and Donald R. Cressey. "A Sociological Theory of Criminal Behavior." Pp. 77-83 in Criminology 10th Edition.
Sutherland, Edwin H. 1973. "Development of the Theory." Pp. 13-29 and "Critique of the Theory" Pp. 30-41 in Edwin H. Sutherland on Analyzing Crime, edited by Karl Schuessler. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Critical Tests
Matsueda, Ross L. 1992. "Reflected Appraisals, Parental Labeling, and Delinquency: Specifying a Symbolic Interactionist Theory." American Journal of Sociology 97: 1577-1611.
Matsueda, Ross L. 1982. "Testing Control Theory and Differential Association: A Causal Modeling Approach" American Sociological Review 47: 489-504.

Critique
Kornhauser chapter 5 (esp. 181-204).

Theory into Policy
Duncan, Greg J., and Stephen W. Raudenbush. 1998. "Neighborhoods and Adolescent Development: How Can We Determine the Links?" Paper presented at Pennsylvania State University Symposium November 5-6, 1998.
 

4. 4/22 ANOMIE THEORY AND "STRAIN" VARIANTS (Jeremy Staff and Lara Cleveland)

Definitive Statement
Merton, Robert K. 1938. "Social Structure and Anomie." American Sociological Review 3:672-82.

Critical Tests(?)
Farnworth, Margaret, and Michael J. Leiber. 1989. "Strain Theory Revisited: Economic Goals, Educational Means, and Delinquency." American Sociological Review 54: 263-274. and/or
Messner, Steven F. and Richard Rosenfeld. 1997. "Political Restraint of the Market and Levels of Criminal Homicide: A Cross-National Application of Institutional-Anomie Theory" Social Forces 75: 1393-1416.

Critique
Kornhauser, Chapter 4, esp. pages 139-150.

Theory into Policy
Uggen, Christopher. 1999. "Ex-Offenders and the Conformist Alternative: A Job Quality Model of Work and Crime." Social Problems 46:1-25.
 

5. 4/29 SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY AND LIFE-COURSE VARIANTS (Donna Cernohous and Dee Sanford)

Definitive Statement
Hirschi, Travis. 1969. Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chapters 1 and 2 (Chapters 7-11 recommended if you are unfamiliar with Hirschi).

Critical Test (actually an extension to later in the life course)
Sampson, Robert J. and John H. Laub. 1990. "Crime and Deviance over the Life Course: The Salience of Adult Social Bonds." American Sociological Review 55: 609-627.

Critique
Liska, Allen E. and Mark D. Reed. 1985. "Ties to Conventional Institutions and Delinquency: Estimating Reciprocal Effects." Criminology 50:547-60.

Theory into Policy
Sampson, Robert J. and John H. Laub. 1996. "The Military as a Turning Point in the Lives of Disadvantaged Men." American Sociological Review 61:347-367.

Session content for 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 5/27, and 6/3 determined by student rankings.

6. 5/6 OPTION #1: CHOICE DAY (Andrew Odubote and Mark McCrory)

Definitive Statement (in this case, a review article)
Clarke, Ronald V. and Derek B. Cornish. 1985. "Modeling Offenders’ Decisions: A Framework for Research and Policy." Pp. 147-85 in Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, Volume 6, edited by Norval Morris and Michael Tonry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Critical Test
Piliavin, Irving, Rosemary Gartner, Craig Thornton, and Ross L. Matsueda. 1986. "Crime, Deterrence, and Rational Choice." American Sociological Review 51:101-119.

Critique
Akers, Ronald L. "Rational Choice, Deterrence, and Social Learning Theory in Criminology: The Path Not Taken." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 81:653-76.

Theory into Policy:
Sherman, Lawrence W. and Douglas A. Smith. 1992. "Crime, Punishment, and Stake in Conformity: Legal and Informal Control of Domestic Violence." American Sociological Review 57:680-90 and Berk, Richard A., Alec Campbell, Ruth Klap, and Bruce Western. 1992. "The Deterrent Effect of Arrest in Incidents of Domestic Violence: A Bayesian Analysis of Four Field Experiments. American Sociological Review 57:698-708.

This week we will also be reading an individual-level analysis of routine activities theory with implications for theories of choice and deterrence:
Osgood, D. Wayne, Janet K. Wilson, Patrick M. O'Malley, Jerald G. Bachman, and Lloyd D. Johnston. 1996. "Routine Activities and Individual Deviant Behavior." American Sociological Review 61:635-55.

7. 5/13 OPTION #11: STREET YOUTH DAY (Mike Massoglia, Jeremy Staff and Tamra Boyce)

GUEST: BILL McCARTHY, UC-DAVIS

Definitive Statement and Empirical Test
Hagan, John, and Bill McCarthy. 1997. Mean Streets: Youth Crime and Homelessness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
You will probably want to read the whole book, but be sure to read chapters 1,3,and 6-10.
[Note: The best price we found on the paperback version was $16.69 ($13.46 used) from  www.bigwords.com. Use ID# 36019 to get small discount.]

Critique
I will seek permission from Joachim Savelsberg and Karen Heimer to distribute their critical comments delivered at an ASA "authors meet critics" panel.
 

8. 5/20 OPTION #4: POWER-CONTROL DAY (Melissa Thompson, Manuel Guerrero and Tamra Boyce)

Definitive Statements:
Hagan, John, A.R. Gillis and John Simpson 1985. "The Class Structure of Gender and Delinquency: Toward a Power-Control Theory of Common Delinquent Behavior." American Journal of Sociology 90:1151-1178.
Hagan, John, John Simpson and A.R. Gillis. 1987. "Class in the Household: A Power-Control Theory of Gender and Delinquency." American Journal of Sociology 92:788-816.

Critical Test?:
Uggen, Christopher. 1999. "Class, Gender, and Arrest: An Intergenerational Analysis of Workplace Power and Control." Manuscript plus reviews and correspondence with editors.

"Inside" Critique:
Jensen, Gary and Kevin Thompson. 1990. "What’s Class Got to Do with It? A Further Examination of Power-Control Theory." American Journal of Sociology 95:1009-23.

Feminist Critique and Issues for Policy Consideration:
Chesney-Lind, Meda, and Randall  G. Shelden. 1998. Girls, Delinquency and Juvenile Justice. Pages 101-123 (esp 120-23).
 

5/27 OPTION #5: LABELING DAY (Melissa Thompson, Lara Cleveland, and Mike Masssoglia)

Definitive Statement:
Becker, Howard S. 1997 [1963]. Outsiders. New York: Free Press. You will probably want to read the whole book, but be sure to read at least Chapters 1,2, and 8. Available for $13.90 ($11.21 used) at www.bigwords.com (use ID# 36019 to get small discount).

Critical Test (of labeling mental illness):
Rosenfeld, Sarah. 1997. "Labeling Mental Illness: Effects of Services versus Stigma." American Sociological Review 62:660-72.
Manski, Charles F. and Daniel S. Nagin. 1998. "Bounding Disagreements about Treatment Effects: A Case Study of Sentencing and Recidivism." Sociological Methodology 28:99-138.

Critique:
Becker, 1963, Chapter 10.

Theory into Policy:
Lundman, Richard J. Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency. Chapter 4: Diversion.
 

6/3 OPTION #9: WHITE-COLLAR AND CORPORATE DAY [A DEBATE ON THE GENERALITY OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORY AND THE UTILITY OF SEPARATE MODELS OF WHITE-COLLAR AND CORPORATE OFFENDING] (Mark McCrory and Dee Sanford)

Definitive Statement:
Sutherland, Edwin H. 1949. White Collar Crime. Chapters 1 and 14. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
* Clinard, Marshall B., and Peter C. Yeager. 1980. Corporate Crime. Chapters 3 and 5. New York: Free Press.

Critique:
Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi. 1990. A General Theory of Crime. Chapter 9: White-Collar Crime.

Critical Test:
Benson, Michael L., and Elizabeth Morre. 1992. "Are White-Collar and Common Offenders the Same? An Empirical and Theoretical Critique of a Recently Proposed General Theory of Crime." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 29:251-72.
Reed, Gary E.; Yeager, Peter Cleary. 1996. "Organizational Offending and Neoclassical Criminology: Challenging the Reach of a General Theory of Crime." Criminology 34: 357-382.

Theory into Policy:
Levi, Michael. 1995. "White-Collar Crimes and Other Crimes of Deception: Connecting Policy to Theory." Pages 247-268 in Crime and Public Policy: Putting Theory to Work, edited by Hugh D. Barlow. Boulder, CO: Westview.
 

OTHER OPTIONS FOR FUTURE INQUIRY:

OPTION #2: CAREER DAY

Definitive Statement
Blumstein, Alfred. 1987. "Characterizing Criminal Careers." Science 237:985-91.
Critical Test
D’Unger, Amy V., Kenneth C. Land, Patricia A. McCall, and Daniel S. Nagin. 1998. "How Many Latent Classes of Delinquent/Criminal Careers?Results from Mixed Poisson Regression Analyses." American Journal of Sociology 103:1593-1630.
Critique
Gottfredson, Michael and Travis Hirschi. 1986. "The True Value of Lambda Would Appear to be Zero: An Essay on Career Criminals, Criminal Careers, Selective Incapacitation, Cohort Studies, and Related Topics." Criminology 24:213-34.
Theory into Policy
Blumstein, Alfred, Jacqueline Cohen, J.A. Roth, and Christy A. Visher. "Crime Control Strategies using Criminal Career Knowledge." Pp. 109-154 in Criminal Careers and Career Criminals Volume 1. AND/OR
Osgood, D. Wayne and David C. Rowe. 1994. "Bridging Criminal Careers, Theory, and Policy through Latent Variable Models of Individual Offending." Criminology 32: 517-554.

OPTION #3: AGE DAY
Definitive Statement
Hirschi, Travis, and Michael Gottfredson. 1983. "Age and the Explanation of Crime." American Journal of Sociology 91:1-21.
Critical Test
Steffensmeier, Darrell J., Emilie Allan, Miles Harer, and Cathy Streifel. 1989. "Age and the Distribution of Crime." American Journal of Sociology 94:803-31.
Critique
Greenberg, David. 1985. "Age, Crime, and Social Explanation." American Journal of Sociology.
Theory into Policy
Uggen, Christopher. "Work as a Turning Point in the Life Course of Criminals: A Duration Model of Age, Employment, and Recidivism." [Under review - I would be happy to share reviewers/editors comments].

OPTION #6: GANG DAY
Definitive Statement:
Thrasher, Frederic M. 1963 [1927]. The Gang: A Study of 1313 Gangs in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Selections]
Empirical Evidence
Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. 1997. "The Social Organization of Street Gang Activity in an Urban Ghetto." American Journal of Sociology, 103: 82-111.
Pattillo, Mary E. 1998. Sweet Mothers and Gangbangers: Managing Crime in a Black Middle-Class Neighborhood." Social Forces 76: 747-774.
Theory into Policy:
Huff, C. Ronald. 1998. "Comparing the Criminal Behavior of Youth Gangs and At-Risk Youth." National Institute of Justice, Research in Brief. Washington, DC: USGPO. [see esp. section on "policy implications."]

OPTION #7: NEO-MARXIAN DAY
Definitive Statement:
Colvin, Mark and John Pauly. 1983. "A Critique of Criminology: Toward an Integrated Structural-Marxist Theory of Delinquency Production."
Critical Test:
Messner, Steven F.; Krohn, Marvin D. 1990. "Class, Compliance Structures, and Delinquency: Assessing Integrated Structural-Marxist Theory." American Journal of Sociology 96:300-328.
Critique
Tittle, Charles. Critique in Advances in Criminological Theory.
Theory into Policy
Turk, Austin. 1995. "Transformation versus Revolution and Reformism: Policy Implications of Conflict Theory." Pages 15-27 in Crime Control and Public Policy: Putting Theory to Work, edited by Hugh D. Barlow. Boulder, CO: Westview.

OPTION #8: ROUTINE ACTIVITIES DAY
Definitive Statement
Cohen, Lawrence E. and Marcus Felson. 1979. "Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity Approach." American Sociological Review 44:588-608.
Critical Test
Miethe, Terance D., Mark C. Stafford, and J. Scott Long. 1987. "Social Differentiation in Criminal Victimization: A Test of Routine Activities/Lifestyle Theories." American Sociological Review 52:184-94.
Critique
TBA
Theory into Policy
Felson, Marcus, and Ronald C. Clarke. 1995. "Routine Precautions, Criminology, and Crime Prevention." Pages 179-190 in Crime Control and Public Policy: Putting Theory to Work, edited by Hugh D. Barlow. Boulder, CO: Westview.

OPTION #10: INTEGRATION DAY [Debate On Integrating Theory]
OPTION #11: STREET YOUTH DAY [Hagan and McCarthy’s Mean Streets]
OPTION #12: GOTTFREDSON/HIRSCHI DAY [A General Theory of Crime]
OPTION #13: SEDUCTIONS DAY [Jack Katz’s Seductions of Crime]
OPTION #14: FOUCAULT DAY [Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish]
OPTION #15: GUN DAY [John R. Lott, Jr.’s More Guns, Less Crime]
OPTION #16: CONTROL/BALANCE DAY [Charles Tittle’s Control Balance Theory]
OPTION #17: WRITE-IN CANDIDATES [Your call...]

Uggen's Teaching Goals and Philosophy

1.Respect for Students.

The other points are really a subset of this one. Education is a service industry, but you cannot simply purchase a unit of education the way you would buy other commodities. Instead, you must devote time and energy to learning. I respect those students who must make work, family, or other commitments their top priority. Nevertheless, to benefit from the class and to be rewarded with a high grade, you must find time to do the work.

2. Procedural Justice or Fairness.

In my non-statistics classes, I typically grade exams and papers anonymously (by identification numbers rather than names) to avoid favoritism or other biases. Universal standards and strict deadlines are the best way I know to provide equal opportunities for all students.

3. High Standards for Excellence.

I reserve grades of A for outstanding work that engages course materials with original thought and creativity or a mastery of technical skills. You can receive a B by doing all of the work well and a C by meeting all course requirements.

4. Opportunities for Independent Work.

All must meet the basic requirements. For those wishing to engage the material at the highest level, I allow flexibility for more ambitious projects.

5. Responsiveness and Accountability.

You will have the opportunity to evaluate me and to critique the course in time for me to make changes that will benefit you. If you think I have failed to live up to the principles or philosophies here listed, please let me know about it.

6. Accessibility.

I will be available to you during office hours and flexible in scheduling appointments outside these hours (including nights and weekends).

7. Openness to Diverse Perspectives.

Sharing your experiences and understandings (publicly or privately) enriches the course for your fellow students, especially when you disagree with me.

8. Enthusiasm for the Subjects I Teach and for Teaching as a Vocation.

I cannot expect you to really engage the course materials if I am bored with them. Therefore, I will make every effort to make the texts, lectures, and assignments current, relevant, and intellectually engaging.

9. Skills, Knowledge, and Attitudes.

I teach: (1) technical and life skills that will benefit you inside and outside of the classroom; (2) abstract and concrete knowledge about the social world; and, (3) attitudes promoting the free and good-humored exchange of ideas.

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