Chapter One Flashcards
four definitional perspectives of crime?
legalistic, political, sociological, psychological
crime in legalistic perspective?
human conduct in violation of the criminal laws of the fed gov or prov /local jurisdiction that has the power to make such laws
shortcoming of legalistic approach>
yields moral high ground to powerful makers of law
to make illegal
criminalize
formal written enactment of a legislative body
statute
law in the form of statutes or formal written strictures made by a legislature or gov body with power to make law
statutory law
three primary forms of law?
criminal, civil, admin
what is criminal law for?
regulate actions that can harm interests of state
3 types of criminal law offenses?
indictable , summary conviction, hybrid offenses
what is civil law for?
enforcing private rights and deals between individuals (ie. contracts, property claims)
what is admin law for?
daily business activities
political perspective of crime?
politically powerful create laws to prevent direct/indirect threats to their intersts
Schwendinger socio definition of crime?
any harmful acts including violation of human rights (direct or indirect)
psych perspective of crime:
form of social maladjustment which can be designated as a difficulty that the individual has in reacting to the stimuli of his enviro in such a way as to remain in harmony with that enviro
human activity that violates social norms
deviant behaviour
three contrasting points of view on how to reach answer on “what is criminal”?
consensus, pluralist, conflict
an analytical perspective on social organization that holds that laws should be enacted to criminalize given forms of behaviour when members of society generally agree that such laws are necessary
consensus perspective
4 principles of consensus perspective
1) most members of society believe in existence of core values
2) laws reflect collective will of ppl, represent social conscience
3) laws serve all ppl equally, is just in application
4) law violators must be improperly socialized, psychologically defective, suffer from other lapse
consensus perspective most applicable where?
in homogeneous societies (not multicultural)
what is pluralist perspective?
analytical approach to social org that holds that a multiplicity of values and beliefs exist in any complex society but that most social actors agree on usefulness of law as formal means of dispute resolution
basic principles of pluralistic perspective
1) society consists of many diverse social groups
2) each group has own set of values, beliefs, interests that may place them in opposition to other grps
3) general agreement that formalized laws useful for dispute resolution
4) legal system is value-neutral
5) legal system concerned with best interests of society
an analytical approach to social org that holds that conflict is fundamental aspect of social life and can never be fully resolved
conflict perspective
key elements of conflict perspective;
1) society made up of diverse social grps with diff defs of right and wrong
2) conflict tween grps is unavoidable cuz compete for power
3) law is tool of power, and those in power want to maintain power
gov initiative, program or plan intended to address probs in society
social policy
term “criminology” coined by:
Paul Topinard
types of criminology definitions:
1) disciplinary 2) causative 3) scientific
what is criminology from disciplinary definition?
body of knowledge, discipline of study (Sutherland)
Cressey’s def of criminology as a discipline:
body of knowledge regarding delinquency and crime as social phenomenon (processes of making, breaking, reacting to breaking of laws.
causative defs of crime emphasize:
criminology’s role in uncovering the underlying causes of crime (Holmes, Vito)
European Society of Criminology def of criminology:
all scholarly, scientific, and professional knowledge concerning the explanation, prevention, control, treatment of crime…also practice of law
criminology as defined by text:
(Gibbs) interdisciplinary profession built around sci study of crime and criminal behaviour (forms, causes, legal aspects, prevention, control)
4 questions criminology should answer:
1) why do crime rates vary? 2) why do individuals differ as to criminality? 3) why is there variation in reactions to crime? 4) what are the possible ways to control criminality?
criminality is:
behavioural predisposition that disproportionately favours criminal activity
what is criminal behaviour?
human behaviours, both intentional and negligent, that violates criminal law
what is criminal justice?
sci study of crime, criminal law, comps of crim justice system (police, courts, corrections)
criminal justice vs criminology?
control law-breaking vs. causes of criminality
series of interrelated propositions that attempt to describe, explain, predict, control some class of events (needs logical consistency and testing)
theory
what is a general theory?
attempts to explain all forms of criminal conduct through single overarching approach
what is integrated theory?
explanatory perspective that merges concepts drawn from diff sources
criminologist vs criminalist?
one who is trained in field of criminology, credentialed vs specialist in collection and examination of physical evidence of crime
ppl who do day to day work of CJS are called:
criminal justice professionals
evidence based criminology stands opposed to _____ criminology
armchair
how to declare scientific:
systematic collection of related facts, emphasize availability and application of sci method, existence of general laws/a field for experiment or observation, accepted into sci tradition, emphasis on worthwhile subject in need of study
Gottfredson def of theory:
postulates, theoretical constructs, logically derived hypotheses, definitions
use of standardized, systematic procedures in search for knowledge
research
applied research vs pure research?
practical application in mind vs sake of advancing sci knowledge
primary vs secondary research?
original direct investigation vs. new evaluations of existing info collected by other researchers
sci research stages:
1) prob identification 2) develop research design 3) choose data gathering tecnique 4) review findings (stat analysis)
2 purposes of hypothesis:
1) explanation that accounts for set of facts that can be tested by further investigation and 2) something taken to be true for purpose of argument or investigation
concept that can undergo measurable changes
variable
crucial defining feature of quasi-experimental design?
give researchers control over “when and to whom” of measurement
5 main data gathering strategies in criminology:
case studies, surveys, participant observation, self-report, secondary analysis
5 major obstacles to evaluation research:
1) ideology and intuition 2) lack of resources 3) resistance from funders 4) resistance from funding recipients 5) nature of academic discourse
what is the social prob perspective?
belief that crime is manifestation of underlying social probs (public health model, focus prevention and social programs, macro approach)
what is social responsibility perspective?
belief that individuals are fundamentally responsible for their own behaviour and choose crime over law abiding actions (rational choice theory, micro approach)
what is social relativity
social events are differently interpreted according to cultural experiences and personal interests of initiator, observer, recipient of that behaviour
inputs vs contributions:
immediate propensities and predispositions of actors in given situation vs. background causes of crime
criminal event is result of coming together of inputs provided by:
the offender, CJS, victim, and society
three ways CJS fails:
1) prevent criminal activity 2) prevent early release 3) adequately identify specific offenders prior to crime
outputs vs interpretations
immediate effects of crime vs. real impact of outputs mediated by perceptual filters
