class 9 - Choice Theory Flashcards
What does it mean to say “violence is not an instrumental crime”?
It means violence is typically not committed solely to obtain a specific good or benefit (unlike selling narcotics to make money). Violence often involves factors like anger, revenge, or disputes rather than a direct financial or material gain.
What are instrumental crimes?
These are illegal activities—such as the sale of narcotics—committed to acquire desired goods or outcomes that are not otherwise obtainable through legitimate means.
How do violent criminals select their targets?
They are often selective, choosing specific targets based on perceived vulnerability, personal grievances, or situations that increase the likelihood of achieving their goal (e.g., revenge or intimidation).
In what ways can violence involve rational thought?
Even if the act is violent, there can be planning or motive behind it—such as revenge, provocation, or settling a disagreement—which suggests some degree of rationality in choosing when and how to commit the act
What examples illustrate “rational” motives behind violence?
Seeking revenge for a perceived wrong, responding to provocation, or trying to resolve a dispute can all be underpinned by thought processes aimed at a specific outcome, indicating a rational component.
How does “legitimate/conventional means” contrast with instrumental crime?
Legitimate/conventional means involve obtaining goods or resolving disputes through lawful, socially approved channels (e.g., working for money), whereas instrumental crimes bypass these legitimate routes.
Why might it be misleading to label all violence as “irrational”?
Some violent acts are planned or calculated, reflecting a degree of logical thought—such as choosing a time, place, or target to achieve a goal—rather than purely impulsive or mindless behavior.
What is situational crime prevention?
A strategy that denies motivated offenders access to suitable targets by improving home security and increasing capable guardianship.
What are examples of situational crime prevention methods?
Strengthening home security, increasing surveillance, and creating environmental barriers to crime.
What are some issues with situational crime prevention?
The effects may wear off over time (extinction), and crime may simply be displaced to other areas.
What is general deterrence?
A strategy aimed at making potential offenders fear the consequences of crime through harsh punishments and aggressive policing.
What are examples of general deterrence strategies?
Mandatory sentences, aggressive policing tactics, and increased fines for criminal activities.
What are the issues with general deterrence?
Criminals may not always fear punishment, and the certainty of arrest or punishment may be low, reducing its effectiveness.
What is specific deterrence?
A strategy that punishes known offenders to prevent them from committing future crimes, aiming to reduce recidivism.
What are examples of specific deterrence strategies?
Harsher prison sentences, large fines, and direct punishment of repeat offenders.
What are some issues with specific deterrence?
It may actually increase the likelihood of re-offending rather than deterring future crimes.
What is incapacitation as a crime control strategy?
Removing offenders from society by incarcerating them, keeping them off the streets.
What are examples of incapacitation strategies?
Long prison sentences and increasing the number of incarcerated individuals.
What are some issues with incapacitation?
Non-dangerous offenders may be locked up, and it is an expensive strategy for crime control.
What is situational crime prevention?
A strategy that makes committing crimes less desirable by reducing opportunities and increasing the difficulty of committing offenses.
What makes criminal acts less likely to occur?
Potential targets are carefully guarded
The means to commit crime are controlled
Potential offenders are monitored
What is “defensible space” in crime prevention?
Crime prevention achieved by modifying the environment to reduce criminal opportunities.
What does CPTED stand for?
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.
How does CPTED help prevent crime?
By designing environments that naturally discourage crime, such as using lighting, surveillance, and spatial design to make crime more difficult.
Why do situational crime prevention programs have mixed success?
Generic programs cannot address the diversity of criminal behaviors, meaning some strategies may work in some areas but not in others.
What is Felson’s community strategy for crime prevention?
Limiting the access of motivated offender groups to potential targets.
How does monitoring potential offenders help prevent crime?
It increases the risk of getting caught, discouraging criminal activity.
How can the means to commit crime be controlled?
Through policies and environmental changes that make it harder for offenders to access tools or opportunities for crime (e.g., locks, security cameras).
What is “increasing the effort” in crime prevention?
Making crimes harder to commit by using target hardening techniques (e.g., locked gates, unbreakable glass) and requiring technological changes like photo ID cards.
How does “increasing the risks” help prevent crime?
Enhancing surveillance, policing, alarms, and security systems to raise the chances of offenders being caught.
What is “reducing the rewards” in crime prevention?
Making crime less profitable by marking property, using identification numbers, and caller ID.
What are examples of “inducing guilt or shame” as a crime prevention strategy?
Using shaming punishments, sex offender registries, and public “john lists.”
What are the three main types of crime discouragers?
Guardians (monitor targets)
Handlers (monitor offenders)
Managers (monitor places)
What are the different levels of responsibility in crime discouragement?
Personal (owners, family, friends)
Assigned (employees with specific tasks)
Diffuse (employees with general tasks)
General (strangers, other citizens)
Why are many chronic offenders not deterred by punishments?
They may already have a history of criminal behavior and do not fear the consequences.
How does the timing of an offender’s first conviction relate to recidivism?
The earlier an offender is convicted, the more likely they are to continue reoffending.
Why might punishment increase recidivism?
Harsh punishment can reinforce criminal behavior by increasing social stigma, reducing job opportunities, and placing offenders in environments with other criminals.
What are informal sanctions?
The disapproval of parents, peers, and neighbors directed toward an offender.
Why might informal sanctions be more effective than formal legal punishments?
Social control comes from perceived negative reactions from friends, family, and acquaintances, deterring individuals from crime.
How does fear of shame and embarrassment deter crime?
The fear of social costs, especially in cases like intimate partner violence (IPV), discourages criminal actions.
How has incarceration changed in the US and Canada over the past 20 years?
Incarceration rates have increased significantly, with some attributing this to the crime decline in the 1990s.
What are the incarceration rates in Canada, the US, and Scandinavia?
Canada: 110 per 100,000
US: 700 per 100,000
Scandinavian countries: ~65 per 100,000
What is selective incapacitation?
A policy of imposing enhanced prison sentences on small groups of dangerous, chronic offenders.
What is the “Just Desert” principle in crime policy?
The idea that those who violate others’ rights deserve to be punished proportionally to the seriousness of their crime.
Why is punishment controversial under the “Just Desert” model?
While punishment is meant to serve justice, it also adds to human suffering, which raises ethical concerns.
How should offenders be treated under the Just Desert model?
They should be held to the same level of blameworthiness or culpability regardless of the offense’s impact.
What is John Braithwaite’s theory of reintegrative shaming?
Encouraging offenders to confront their misdeeds, experience shame, and then rejoin society.
How does Japan use shaming as a crime deterrent?
Prosecution will only proceed when there is no process of public apology, compensation, or forgiveness.
What is the difference between reintegrative shaming and stigmatization?
Reintegrative shaming: Encourages offenders to reform and rejoin society.
Stigmatization: Labels offenders as outcasts, which may lead them to further criminal behavior.
What are “shame punishments,” and how are they used today?
Publicly exposing offenders (e.g., sex offender registries, public apologies) to deter future crimes.
