Chapter 8 Vocab Flashcards
Behaviors that violate significant social norms.
Deviance
A mark of social disgrace that sets the deviant apart from the rest of society.
Stigma
The social scientists who study criminal behavior.
Criminologists
A theory that views deviance as a natural outgrowth of the values, norms, and structure of society.
Strain Theory
The situation that arises when the norms of society are unclear or no longer applicable.
Anomie
Theory that explains deviance as a natural occurrence.
Control Theory
Theory that explains deviance as a learned behavior.
Cultural Transmission Theory
Refers to the frequency and closeness of associations a person has with a deviant and nondeviant individuals; “The heart of the cultural transmission theory.”
Differential Association
When people suspend their moral beliefs to commit deviant acts.
Techniques of Neutralization
A theory that focuses on how individuals come to be identified as deviants.
Labeling Theory
Nonconformity that goes undetected by those in authority. Individuals are not considered deviants to themselves or society.
Primary Deviance
This results in the individual being labeled as a deviant and accepting that label as true.
Secondary Deviance
In some sort of public setting -such as a trial- the individual is denounced, found guilty, and given the new identity of deviant.
Degradation Ceremony
Any act that is labeled as such by those in authority, is prohibited by law, and punishable by the government.
Crime
The threat or actual use of violence to achieve political goals.
Terrorism
Describes offenses committed by individuals of high social status in the course of their professional lives.
White-Collar Crime
A large-scale organization of professional criminals that controls some vice or business through violence or the threat of violence.
Crime Syndicate
the system of law enforcement that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of criminal offences
Criminal Justice System
The considerable power the police have to decide who is arrested for a crime.
Police Discretion
The practice of assuming that nonwhite Americans are more likely to commit crimes than white Americans.
Racial Profiling
The process of legal negotiation that allows an accused person to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for a lighter sentence.
Plea Bargaining
Sanctions such as imprisonment, parole, probation, and community service that are used to punish criminals.
Corrections
The term for repeated criminal behavior.
Recidivism
Sociologist:
-Developed the Strain Theory
-Idea that society judges you based on success even if you didn’t have access to the proper opportunities to achieve that
Robert K. Merton