Hi all, thanks to Allison for a very nice reminder and summary of useful resources in the previous post. This post may be a little long, so I have broken it up into three different parts to accommodate those who don’t want to be bogged down by my terribly boring ramblings, LOL. Now then, let’s begin with something that Dr Cho asked me to tell y’all about~

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Don’t OutFOXy OutFOXed, OutFOX it with Google video!
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Dr Cho would like to share with you guys that you could view OutFOXed on Google Video from start to finish. Click here to follow the link.

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Lightening Lecture Sizes with the Power of PDF
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Some of my tutorial members have asked for the file sizes to be reduced because it takes a while to download from this WordPress blog (if you thought downloading the file took long, you should try uploading it… (@__@))

Either way, in light of this, PDF versions of the lectures will be created alongside the Powerpoint versions from now on so that you can choose which you would like to download. The PDF versions of the last three lectures follow below:

Lecture 1 Lite (click to download)

Lecture 2 Lite (click to download)

Lecture 3 Lite (click to download)

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The Basics of Crime and Criminality (Proofed: Sunday, February 7, 2009 10:00 am)
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I have noted that there are some first year students as well as students that are more focused on the media who are taking this course. Because of this, I think that it would be wise for me to introduce some basic elements regarding the concept of crime to those who may be new to the topic. Some of these things may seem obvious to those who major in criminal justice and criminology, but what is obvious to some is sometimes not so apparent to others. So with that, let us begin with a basic understanding of what crime is.

The most basic concept of crime is that it is an act that is officially sanctioned through mechanisms of the state. Thus, crime is primarily defined by the legal status of the act, which is why something can be criminalised, decriminalised and then recriminalised (as is the case for the solicitation of a prosititute in Hong Kong). It is in this way that crimes are specific to the statutes and laws that govern a specific place.

Related to this is the concept of deviance which is a much broader term that encompasses all behaviours that are in violation of some norm or value held by some group (yes, it really is this broad, LOL). Indeed, it is so broad that one could argue that deviance is more culturally-specific than place-specific. For example, Chinese children do not usually call their fathers or mothers by their first name regardless of where they are in the world and doing so would be regarded as deviance for those who subscribe to Chinese cultural values. Certainly, deviance can eventually become crimes through criminalisation while crimes could also become simple deviance through decriminalisation (as is the case with homosexuality in Canada, for example).

Moving the discussion back onto crime, it is important to remember that crime is traditionally divided into two major types. These two categories of crime rely heavily on the belief that social order is achieved because there is consensus for universal norms and values in society. The categories go by the Latin terms mala prohibita and mala in se. I should note that while I personally do not agree with this dichotomy, it is a very basic principle in the study of criminology and criminal justice, which is why I think I should give it some face time.

Mala prohibita roughly translates to “wrong due to prohibition” and constitutes actions that may not seem wrong but is considered wrong because certain laws prohibit the behaviour. Easy examples of crimes that are considered mala prohibita include soliciting for prostitution, unregulated gambling, indecent exposure, and drunk driving (also abbreviated to DUI in North American discourse, meaning Driving Under the Influence).

As you may have noticed, these crimes are generally related to public safety concerns (as in DUI) or violations of certain minor moral and social standards (as in soliciting prostitution). Because mala prohibita crimes normally do not involve any actual harm or intent to harm, they also tend to carry lighter sanctions.

Apart from these crimes, there are also crimes that are considered mala in se which is translated roughly to “wrong in themselves”. These are generally considered crimes that are inherently wrong and universally decried by any civilised community, encompassing acts like murder, theft, rape, and arson. These crimes are usually considered serious offences and tend to bear severe penalties. Indeed, it may have also come to your attention that these are the types of crimes that appear on the news more often than mala prohibita crimes.

Well, I think I’ve gone on for a little too long at this point, so I guess I’ll finish off here.

Before I go though, I should inform you that I have uploaded a Powerpoint lecture that I presented in HKU Open Day 2oo8 because it introduces the three basic theoretical streams of criminology. The lecture is extremely basic and was designed to encourage interaction, thus it may not be as informative as it should be.

Still, there are some very simple theoretical concepts within it and that may help some of the more uninitiated get a better grasp of the subject… (^__^”)

Open Day 2008 Criminology Intro Talk Powerpoint (click to download)

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Feel free to comment or point out any errors in the post as I am sure there may be some (I am normally quite clumsy, LOL)! I will do my best to respond and correct as soon as I can.

Right then, take care and have a good weekend all!