Chapter Seven Flashcards
socialized
process of acquiring social norms, values, behavior, and skills through interaction with significant others such as parents, peers, and teachers
social process theory
view that criminality is a function of people’s interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in society
social learning theory
view that people learn the techniques and attitudes of crime from close relationships with criminal peers; crime is a learned behavior
social control theory
view that everyone has the potential to become a criminal, but most people are controlled by their bonds to society. Crime occurs when the forces that bind people to society are weakened or broken
social reaction (labelling) theory
view that people become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and they accept those labels as a personal identity
parental efficacy
the ability of parents to be supportive of their children and effectively control them in non-coercive ways
differential association theory
view that people commit crime when their social learning leads them to perceive more definitions favoring crime than conventional behavior
differential reinforcement
behavior is reinforced by being either rewarded or punished while interacting with other; also called direct conditioning
negative reinforcement
using either negative stimuli or loss of reward to curtail unwanted behaviors
neutralization theory
view that law violators learn to neutralize conventional values and attitudes enabling them to drift back and forth between criminal and conventional behavior
drift
movement in and out of delinquency, shifting between conventional and deviant behaviors
neutralization techniques
methods of rationalizing deviant behaviors, such as either denying responsibility or blaming the victim
self-control
a strong moral sense that renders a person incapable of hurting others or violating social norms
commitment to conformity
obedience to the rules of society and the avoidance of nonconforming behavior that may jeopardize an individual’s reputation and achievement
moral filtering
process of making socially and morally responsible decisions
moral entrepreneurs
individuals who create moral rules that reflect the values of those in power rather than any objective, universal standards of right and wrong
stigmatize
to apply negative labeling with enduring effects on a person’s self-image and social interactions
successful degradation ceremonies
a course of action or ritual in which someone’s identity is publicly redefined
retrospective reading
reassessment of a person’s past to fit a current generalized label
primary deviance
norm violation or crime that has little of no long-term influence on the violator
secondary deviance
norm violation or crime that comes to the attention of significant others or social control agents, who apply a negative label that has long term consequences for the violators self-identity and social interactions
deviance amplification
process whereby secondary deviance pushed offenders out of mainstream society and locks them into an escalating cycle of deviance, apprehension, labeling, and criminal self-identity
racial profiling
the use of racial and ethnic characteristics by police in their determining whether a person is likely to commit a crime or engage in deviant and/or antisocial activities
diversion programs
programs of rehabilitation that remove offenders from the normal channels of the criminal justice process, thus enabling them to avoid the stigma of a criminal label
restitution
permitting an offender to repay the victim or do useful work in the community rather than facing the stigma of a formal trail and a court-ordered sentence
culture conflict
result of exposure to opposing norms, attitudes, and definitions of right and wrong, moral and immoral
