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Sociology 112 > Crime, law, and regulation > Flashcards

Crime, law, and regulation Flashcards

1
Q

Criminology

A

The study of crime causation, crime prevention, and the punishment and rehabilitation of offenders

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2
Q

Crime

A

Designates particular behaviours and actions that require social control and social intervention, codified in law

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3
Q

Deviance

A

Actions that violate social norms, and that may or may not be against the law
- Farting, picking your nose

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4
Q

Social norms

A

Shared and accepted standards and social expectations

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5
Q

Homosexual

A

Violates social norms and is a deviance

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6
Q

Are all crimes deviant?

A

Most crimes are understood as deviant, but not all deviant acts are considered criminal
- Assisted suicide

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7
Q

Can the perceptions of deviance change?

A

Acts that were once considered deviant can become an accepted element of society, while acts that were once considered normal can shift and become deviant (piercing, tattoos, smoking)

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8
Q

Social deviance

A

Any acts that involve the violation of accepted social norms

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9
Q

What did Howard Becker argue? EX?

A

The act itself is not inherently deviant, but rather people’s reactions to the specific act make it deviant
- Smoking pot with others (normal) VS. smoking pot around people that dont (very deviant)

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10
Q

Who defines deviance?

A

Laws, social interactions, parents, institutions (religion, education), media, scientists (doctors), politicians

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11
Q

Moral entrepreneur

A

A person who influences or changes the creation or enforcement of a society’s moral codes

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12
Q

What is the difference between informal and formal social control?

A

Informal social control: Gossiping about someone for being sexually promiscuous
Formal social control: imprisoned for having sex with a minor

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13
Q

Rational Choice Theory

A
  • Movement to balance crime fairly

- Behaviour, not the result of supernatural forces, but rather purposeful

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14
Q

What were Beccaria and Bentham’s view of criminology?

A
  • If crime results in some form of pleasure for the criminal, then pain must be used to prevent crime
  • Sentences must be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime
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15
Q

What are the 2 basic beliefs of classical criminology? (4 total)

A

1) Crime is a rational choice as people enjoy free will (their own choice)
2) Criminal solutions requiring less work yet yielding greater payoffs are more attractive than lawful solutions

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16
Q

What are the other 2 basic beliefs of classical criminology? (4 total)

A

3) A fear of punishment can control a person’s choices
4) When criminality is met with measured severity, certainty of punishment, and swiftness of justice, a society enhances its ability to control crime and criminal behaviour

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17
Q

What do classical criminologist argue?

A

That before a person engages in a rational evaluation of the pros and cons, costs and benefits of the situation

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18
Q

Informal punishment

A

Mild and may involve raised eyebrows, gossip, ostracism (dirty looks)
- burping, farting, picking their nose

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19
Q

Stigmatization

A

Negative evaluation because of a perceptible sign that distinguishes a person from others
- Homosexuality

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20
Q

Formal punishment

A

Results from people breaking laws, which are norms stipulated and enforced by government bodies

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21
Q

White-collar crime

A

Illegal acts committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his or her occupation

  • Through their job, embesilement
  • People in high positions with availability to resources
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22
Q

Street crimes

A

Committed disproportionately by people from lower classes

- Arson, burglary, robbery, assault, and other illegal acts

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23
Q

Victimless crimes

A

Violations of the law in which no victim steps forward and is identified
- based on moral principles

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24
Q

Rule of law

A

The requirement that no person is above the law, and state power should not be applied arbitrarily
- Promotes fairness and equality

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25
Historically, in which 3 ways did sociologists approach the law?
1) Consensus view: law is a neutral framework for sustaining social stability 2) Conflict view: society is a diverse collection of groups that are continuously in conflict 3) Interactionist view: crime and law reflect the beliefs of people who force their definitions of right and wrong on the members of society
26
How do critical race theorists explore crime?
They explore the links between race and law, particularly the ways in which race and law are mutually constitutive
27
Moral panic (media)
The reaction of a group based on the false or exaggerated perception that some group or behaviour threatens the well-being of society - Video games encourages killers
28
What is the CSI? and how much has it changed his 2000?
Crime Severity Index - measures the seriousness of crimes - Dropped 6% in 2010 - Dropped 23% since 2000
29
Which areas in Canada have the highest CSI values?
1) Northwest Territories & Nunavut (territories) | - Highest provinces: Saskatchewan & Manitoba
30
Which areas in Canada have the lowest CSI values?
Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador
31
Moral Panics: | What does Stanley Cohen say about moral panic?
Happens when we take something, then link it to a negative trait = Problem identity-> Media reporting -> social anxiety -> increase social control -> deviance amplification
32
Example of Media Reporting exaggeration
Saying that the youth were violently protesting, when really only 5% were violent & 95% were peaceful
33
Example of Increasing Social Control
Cops showing up with shields and riot gear
34
Example of Deviance Amplification
Was never actually a problem, but the media over exaggerated it, and it became a problem
35
What happened to the crime rate, and the severity of crime in 2011?
It dropped
36
Among Canadian cities, in 2011, where has the highest crime statistics?
Regina, followed by Saskatoon
37
What is happening to the number of police reported crime in Canada?
The amount of reported crimes continues to decrease --> Police reported crimes was 6% in 2011
38
What is happening to the crime severity and the number of violent crimes in Canada?
Both are decreasing | crime severity is decreasing faster
39
What does the crime severity by CMA 2011 show us?
Regina & Saskatoon are the highest | Guelph, Quebec, Toronto are the lowest
40
How many prisoners per 100 000 population does Canada have? US?
107 | 737
41
What % of Canadian crimes result in sentencing to custody?
2% =100 000
42
Fear-gendered paradox | Feminist
The phenomenon whereby women experience higher rates of fear of being victimized, even tho men are more likely to be victims of crime
43
Public order crimes
Prostitution, gambling, and pornography that are believed to run contrary to moral principles
44
Moral Regulation
Certain behaviours become constituted as immoral and are thereby regulated (laws) - perpetuated through discourse - Affects our perception of crime victims Ex. our thought on if a prostitute is killed vs. if school girls are killed
45
What are some characteristics of accused persons?
- Males commit more crimes than females - Police reported rates of offending tend to be higher among youth and young adults - Higher rates of incarceration among aboriginal population
46
Biological Perspective: | Positivism
Application of the scientific method to the social world - Focused on the individual - Biological determinism
47
Biological Determinism
The hypothesis that biological factors completely determine a person's behaviour
48
What did Cesare Lombroso come up with?
The criminal Man, that you are born criminal | - Could be distinguished by his anatomy: asymmetrical face, large ears, particular eye defects, etc.
49
Medicalization of deviance
Non-normative behaviour being defined medically | - Medical definitions of deviant behaviour are becoming more common (prevalent)
50
What is the focus of criminology shifted towards?
Shift focus of criminology toward considerations of the environment in which people are located
51
How do Functionalist approach crime?
- Strain is a result of socio-economic status Rules governing behavior break down resulting in people no longer knowing what to expect from one another - balancing tensions produces society
52
How do est Functionalist Emile Durkheim approach crime?
Roots in the notion of anomie - state of normlessness in which norms are confused, unclear, or absent - normlessness leads to deviant behaviour Society evolved to the industrial model, where rules governing broke down and people no longer knew what to expect from others
53
Strain Theory (Merton)
- People experience strain when culturally defined goals cannot be met through socially approved means - Deviance depends on the extent to which society provides the means to achieve cultural goals
54
According to Merton's strain theory, what are the 5 social goals and their means, for social adaptation?
1) Conformity 2) Innovation 3) Ritualism 4) Retreatists 5) Rebellion
55
Conformity (Merton's strain theory)
When individuals both accept social goals and have the means to achieve those goals
56
Innovation (Merton's strain theory)
When an individual accepts society's goals but is incapable of achieving those goals through socially approved means - Most strongly linked with criminal behaviour - - drug dealer, bank robber
57
Ritualism (Merton's strain theory)
Adaptation happens when social goals are reduced in importance - someone belonging to a religious order
58
Retreatism (Merton's strain theory)
Reject societal goals and they reject the legitimate means of achieving such goals
59
Rebellion (Merton's strain theory)
The creation of an alternative set of goals and means, replacing (supplanting) conventional ones - Alternative life styles
60
What is the Illegitimate opportunity theory? Who started it?
Cloward & Ohlin - The assertion that individuals must be located in deviant "learning environments" that provide them with the opportunities to both learn and develop the expertise needed to engage in criminal behavior
61
How do Conflict Theorists view crime?
- The outcome of class struggle - Focus on how the government produces criminogenic environments - Challenge that law is neutral & equal - Role that bias plays in the criminal justice system - Criminal law protects the powerful
62
Criminogenic Environments
An environment that, as a result of laws that privilege certain groups, produces crime
63
How do symbolic interactionists view crime? What are their two types of theories?
Criminal behaviour is learned in the same way as any other type of behaviour 1) Differential Association Theory 2) Labelling Theory
64
Differential Association Theory (Sutherland) | - Symbolic Interactionism
- People learn criminal behaviour through social interaction | - "excess of definitions" lead us to conform or deviate
65
``` Labelling Theory (Becker) - Symbolic Interactionism ```
- Labelling of a person as deviant | - No act inherently deviant until a group with social power status labels it as such
66
What do feminists focus on when they approach crime?
- The gender gap in crime - Gendered pathways to crime - Importance of the contexts in which males and females offend - How the organization of gender deters or shapes crime by women, and encourages it by men
67
``` Chilvary Hypothesis (Pollak) - Feminist ```
The argument that women accused of criminal activity are treated more leniently by law enforcement officials as a result of the latter's traditional, chivalrous attitude toward women

Sociology 112 (10 decks)

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