basics

Question 1

what are the 4 ways in which crime is socially constructed?

Answer 1

-historically
-contextually
-culturally
-age

Question 2

what are the three psychological reasons people commit crime

Answer 2

-maternal deprivation
-personality traits
-mental abnormality

Question 3

how does maternal deprivation explain crime

Answer 3

-bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis
–out of date (mothers aren’t primary caregivers sometimes)
–not all delinquents come from a broken home

Question 4

how does personality traits explain crime?

Answer 4

-freud - id, ego, superego, out of balance = crime
–lack of empirical evidence
–suggests criminals lack control, doesnt explain corporate crime

Question 5

how does mental abnormality explain crime?

Answer 5

-brain damage or mental illness
–criminals become victims
–hard to prove sometimes

Question 6

what are the 2 biological explanations for crime?

Answer 6

-lombroso
-genetics

Question 7

how does lombroso explain crime

Answer 7

-went into Indian prisons, measure facial features of criminals, said criminals were less evolved shown in features like large foreheads and small eyes
–only looked at caught criminals
–could be features of non-criminals too

Question 8

how does genetics explain crime

Answer 8

-MAOA gene causes aggression, risk taking etc
–dont know enough to conclusively link it to criminal behaviour
–excuses criminal behaviour

Question 9

what is crime

Answer 9

-an action or behaviour that goes against the legislation of a particular country/state

Question 10

what is deviance?

Answer 10

-actions which go against the norms and values of society, not necessarily against the law

Question 11

what is a social construction?

Answer 11

-a social phenomena that isn’t naturally occurring but created by its society