Chapter 3 Key terms Flashcards
in legal terms, whether the offender actually engaged in a given criminal act.
Actus Reus
a period of the late 17th to 18th century in which Western philosophers and scholars began to emphasize the rights of individuals in society.
Age of Enlightenment
the predicted tendency of homicides to increase after an execution, particularly after a high-profile execution.
Brutalization effect
one of the key elements of deterrence; the assumption is that people perceive a high likelihood of being caught and punished if they commit a crime.
Certainty of punishment
a model of crime that assumes that crime occurs after a rational individual mentally weighs the potential consequences of a crime and then makes a decision about whether to do it.
Classical School
theory of crime associated with the Classical School; proposes that individuals will make rational decisions regarding their behavior.
Deterrence theory
punishments given to individual offenders that are meant to prevent or deter others from engaging in similar criminal activity.
General deterrence
a concept regarding whether offenders actually knew what they were doing and meant to do it.
Mens rea
assumes that aggravating and mitigating circumstances should be taken into account for purposes of sentencing and punishing an offender.
Neoclassical School
the assumption that a given punishment must be serious enough to outweigh any potential benefits gained from a crime.
Severity of punishment
an Enlightenment ideal or assumption that stipulates an unspecified arrangement among citizens in which they promise the state or government not to commit offenses against other citizens and in turn gain protection from being violated by other citizens.
Social contract
punishments given to individual offenders that are meant to prevent or deter them from committing crime in the future.
Specific deterrence
the assumption that the sooner offenders are punished (for a crime of which they are guilty), the more they will be deterred from breaking the law.
swiftness of punishment
a philosophical concept that relates to the idea of the greatest good for the most people.
Utilitarianism
Important Caveat to the previously important Classical School
Neoclassical
Model used by all Western societies in their justice systems
Neoclassical school
What are the impacts of Beccaria’s work on other theorists?
Political and philosophical state of affairs
Documents constructed before and during the American Revolution were influenced by Beccaria and others
The U.S. Constitution
&
The Bill of rights
Philosophies and workings of the justice systems
