Criminology Chapter 6 Flashcards
What are the major theoretical perspectives of crime and deviance based on? 3 things
Biological, psychological and sociological explanations.
What are 6 criminological theories that do not fall squarely within biology, psychology or sociology and go into detail with the 2 out of 6?
Critical criminology, rational choice theory, opportunity theory and feminist theory
- Contemporary social learning theory involves biology, psychology and sociology.
- Classical School theory is neither any of the three
What does “theoretically speaking” or “it sounds good in theory” imply?
“theoretically speaking” or “it sounds good in theory” imply that theory does not necessarily work in practice.
Why do we need theories?
To understand and explain crime and deviance through a disciplined, scientific approach
What would friends or family say about what causes crime? 5 things
- Explanations that are based on truisms
- Explanations that are based on what they heard on the media
- Results of poor child-rearing
- Criminals that suffer from mental illness
- Soft-on-crime laws
Why are some explanations for what causes crime not qualified enough to be “good theory? two reasons
- Explanations are overly simplistic
- Lack the critical elements required to be “good” theory
Most individuals who experience ____ parental control and role modelling during their youth eventually turn out to be ___-_____ adults, whereas individuals from seemingly ideal family backgrounds sometimes go on to become adult ________.
Most individuals who experience poor parental control and role modelling during their youth eventually turn out to be law-abiding adults, whereas individuals from seemingly ideal family backgrounds sometimes go on to become adult criminals.
Interpersonal violence involves four factors. What are they?
Interpersonal violence involves a blend of biological, psychological, sociological and personal factors
What are 3 things that a good theory must have?
- A good theory must be logical with a valid structure. It follows the basic rules of critical thinking and logic.
- It helps us make sense of reality: A good theory should make statements or propositions about reality that can be tested so that the theory can be accepted or rejected on the basis of solid evidence
- Good theories should be parsimonious so that they are easier to test
Define parsimonious
If two theories explain the same phenomenon equally effectively, scientists should prefer the one that offers the simplest and most straightforward explanation
What are 3 theories that have been tested successfully?
Social disorganization theory, social control theory and social learning theory
What are two things that challenged 3 theories to be re-examine?
Developments in genetic research and brain-imaging techniques have caused criminologists to re-examine rational choice theory, routine activity theory and lifestyle exposure theory
What is an example of how development of DNA testing affected David Milgaard’s case?
Thanks to DNA testing, David Milgaard received exoneration (not guilty)
What are 4 circumstances that affect theorists?
Social, political, economic and historical circumstances
Define Positivist School and what did it reflect?
A school of thought that attributed criminal behavior to biological or psychological factors; often referred to as the “Italian School”. This school notion of criminality as an inherited propensity was a reflection of what was going on in the mid-to late 1800s as it was linked to Charles Darwin’s evolution theory, Gregor Mendel’s work on genetics and developments in the fields of physical anthropology, medicine and psychiatry.
Define Chicago School. What did it contribute to? (6 things) and what it was shaped by? 3 things
Chicago School is the first school of sociology in the United States; contributed to social disorganization theory, cultural transmission theory, differential association theory, subcultural theory, the sociology of deviance and symbolic interactionism. It was shaped by: - rapid urbanization that took place around the globe in late 1800s and early 1900s
- emergence of the discipline of sociology in the 1890s
- social forces such as the Progressive movement
Fun fact: theories emerges as a reflection of what was going on in the past and the time that they were being proposed
Theories even originated from hard sciences such as chemistry, physics and biology
What happened to Galileo?
He was forced to recant his observation that the earth and the planets revolved around the sun by religious authorities
Define psychopathy
A personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and an inability to feel for others
What is conventional wisdom or knowledge?
Ideas that are accepted by society in any given period.
Define Classical School of criminology and what was 3 of its recommendations. What are 3 things it was implemented in?
Classical School of criminology is a body of work that emerged in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries that argued people have the capacity to think rationally; contemporary deterrence theory is rooted in this school of thought. 3 recommendations are the need for due process, the use of imprisonment as a form of punishment and limitations on the severity of punishment. It was implemented in the US Constitution, the English Penitentiary Act and the French criminal code.
What was the notion for the “medical model” that Cesare Lombroso endorsed and what did this notion cause? 2 things
“medical model” - notion that criminals were sick and in need of treatment. This notion increased the number of prison reforms and a new emphasis on rehabilitation
What did social disorganization theory come from and what did it focused on? (3 things it focused on). What is one example of social disorganization theory being used?
Social disorganization theory, put forward by Chicago School theorists Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay in the early 1940s, resulted in the ongoing Chicago Area Project. This theory focuses on redesigning socially disorganized slums through the creation of community organizations, cleaning up neighborhoods and reviving community pride. An example of the application of this theory is the efforts by the City of Surrey to “renew” the Whalley-Newton area
What are 3 theories that contributed to the development of a number of crime prevent programs? What are 3 examples of crime prevention programs and 8 examples of measures to stop crime?
3 theories that contributed to development of crime prevention programs : Routine activity theory, lifestyle exposure theory and rational choice theory.
3 examples of crime prevention programs: situational crime prevention, target hardening and community policing.
8 examples of measures to prevent crime: Improved street lighting, burglar alarms, CCTV cameras, automobile immobilizers, GPS tracking, secure parking lots with barriers, boutique-style community police stations and bike patrols by police.
Define rational choice theory
A modern version of Classical School thinking originating in economics; it assumes that humans are rational and have free will, and that offenders make conscious choices to commit crime, based on a cost-benefit analysis
How did social learning theory premised on differential association theory and who made this theory?
Ronald Aker’s social learning theory is built on criminal behavior is learned through social interaction and added that processes of reinforcement and punishment were critical, with Skinner’s operant conditioning and Bandura’s work on imitation and modelling behavior.
Define differential association theory and who made this?
Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory is a theory that proclaims criminal behavior is learned through the process of social interaction, and that the process includes the learning of criminal skills, motivations, attitudes and rationalizations.
What happens if the public and politicians believe that crime is caused by a poor social environment during 1940s, 1950s and 1960s? 3 things
Then we can expect a wellspring of sociological theories that explain crime in those terms, buttressed by public support and public policy and aimed at eradicating criminogenic social conditions.
Define criminogenic
Crime-causing
What happens if crime rates were rising during 1960s-80s? 2 things
We expect to see
- growing public support for conservative politicians such as Ronald Reagan in the US and Margaret Thatcher in the UK.
- Greater demand for rational choice theories, deterrence theories or theories that support the incapacitation of “life-course persistent offenders”
Why do terms like “zero tolerance” and “truth in sentencing” capture the public imagination and become political buzzwords? 3 reasons
Because of the period of increasing crime rates, the growing public hostility toward crime and criminals and the corresponding increase in conservative, “tough on crime” politics
What was the Classical School of Criminology, what did they do and who were the three most well-known members of the Classical School?
The Classical School consisted of a group of European social philosophers who lived during the the 18th-century Enlightenment. They were social reformers who challenged the way criminals were dealt with, criticized the absence of due process and argued against the death penalty and the use of torture to extract confessions. The 3 most well-known members are Baron de Montesquieu, Cesare Beccaria, and Jeremy Bentham.
What is demonology or spiritualism? What was the prescribed remedies for criminality and insanity? (3 stages)?
Demonology or spiritualism is a theological (religious) theory about criminals and mentally ill people being possessed by evil spirits or demons. The prescribed remedies for criminality and insanity were confession through interrogation and torture, repentance and then execution. These were conducted either by religious authorities or by the king.
How was the 18th century marked by great social and political turmoil? 6 things
- England lost control of America
- French aristocracy lost their heads to the guillotine
- Newton discovered the laws of gravity
- Voltaire argued against superstition
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote about the “social contract”
- Adam Smith inquired into “the nature and causes of the wealth of nations”
What are 4 things that Beccaria’s and Bentham’s work mentioned? and define them
- Hedonism (The view that pleasure is the primary good; the pursuit of pleasure and avoid pain)
- Utilitarianism (A philosophy that suggests reasoned decisions will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. For example, actions of government and individual should be measured on how much pleasure they bring and how many people benefit from those actions.)
- Free will (A will whose choices are not conditioned or determined by factors external to itself; also, the doctrine that free will exists)
- Human beings as rational, logical actors
What did Beccaria argued? 6 things
- Argued against secret accusations and the use of torture
- Argued that accused individuals should have the right to know their accusers and the right to a fair trial
- Argued against death penalty
- Argued that punishment should be proportional to the crime
- Argued that people agreed to join society but they did not agree that society should be able to kill them if they misbehaved
- Argued against religious dogma and the authority of the Church
What did Beccaria help formed through his argument against the Church and the death penalty? Hint: 4 things helped create 2 things
Beccaria’s recommendation regarding presumed innocence, trial by jury, restraints on judicial authority and limitations on the severity of punishment formed the basis for new criminal codes in the US and France.
What were 4 things that Bentham argued?
- He argued that humans are rational, free-willed actors and that their behavior is governed by a hedonistic calculus.
- He argued that individuals would make a rational choice about whether or not to commit crime based on the pleasure derive from it and the amount of pain they might suffer if they were caught and punished.
- Excessive punishment was evil in itself
- He argued that punishment should be restricted only to the amount required to achieve deterrence, that the prescribed punishment should be made widely known to the public in advance and that certainty and swiftness of punishment were more important for deterrence than the severity of the punishment
