Chapter 1: The Social Sciences Flashcards
What are statistics?
Numbers that are analyzed & collected by social scientists
What is personality?
An individual’s relatively unchanging personal qualities & characteristics
What is psychology?
the systemic study of people’s thoughts, feelings & behaviours which are largely determined by personality
What question do psychologists ask?
What factors in one’s personality lead to the commitment of a crime?
What is sociology?
the scientific study of the development, structure & functioning of human society.
What question do sociologists ask?
What common factors are there in the lives of people who have committed similar crimes?
What is anthropology?
the scientific study of the development of the human species & of the various cultures that make up humanity
What question do anthropologists ask?
What are the values of the culture in which the criminal grew up in & later worked in?
What is the difference between humanities and the social sciences?
Humanities: Disciplines that focus on the creative side of the human experience, such as art, history, religion or literature
Social Sciences: Disciplines that use research & analysis to examine human beings – using techniques such as collecting/analyzing statistics, conducting experiments & examining people’s writings & creations in order to understand people’s actions (Psychology, Anthropology, & Sociology)
How do natural scientists conduct their research?
- Work in strictly regulated conditions (ex. Temperature controlled) to produce reliable results
- Take precise measurements (ex. Amount of chemicals in a tube)
- All foreign material/contaminants in the environment can be eliminated
- ex. (Biology, Physics, Chemistry)
How do social scientists conduct their research? What factors can affect research results?
- Observe & receive information from members of culture
- They cannot manipulate informants in study as if they were chemicals to study effects
- Factors in scientist’s background can influence on the research results (ex. Personality, age, ethnic background)
- The researcher’s presence & participation (ex. Their tone of voice when giving a questionnaire) can affect the response – angry vs. sensitive tone
Define deterrent.
a form of strict punishment of lawbreakers that frightens others from similarly breaking the law
How can the death penalty act as a deterrent from crime?
- The executions of murderers serves as an example to society & will encourage others not to commit the same act
- Assumes that individuals have free will
- Assumes that people are rational or calculated in their thinking
- For most people the pain of being caught & punished by death is enough to make them think twice about committing murder
Define retribution, its cause and its desired outcome.
one of the functions of punishment. This arises from society’s need to inflict an amount of suffering comparable to the suffering caused by an offence. The desired outcome is protection of social order.
What is the argument supporting retribution?
- Anyone who deliberately kills another person has lost the right to life
- Murderers deserve the death penalty for the evil act they have committed.
- Murder is a violation of society’s moral order & the punishment should re-establish this moral order.
