Criminology Midterm Flashcards
- Criminology
o The scientific study of the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior
- Criminologist
o Researchers who use scientific methods to study the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior
- Scientific method
o Using verifiable principles and procedures for the systematic acquisition of knowledge
- Criminal justice
o The field of study that focuses on law enforcement, the legal system, corrections, and other agencies of justice involved in the apprehension, prosecution, defense, sentencing, incarceration, and supervision of those suspected of or charged with criminal offenses
Justice
o The quality of being fair under the law. Justice is defined by the relationship that exists between the individual and the state; justice demands that the state treats every person as equally as possible without regard to his or her gender, religion, race, or any other personal status
- Deviant behavior
o Behavior that departs form the social norm
- Criminology in action
o Efforts or criminologists to use their knowledge, training insight, and experience to understand human behavior and predict its occurrences
- Crime typology
o The study of criminal behavior involving research on the links between different types of crimes and criminals. Because people often disagree about types of crimes and criminal motivation, no standard exists within the field. Some typologies focus on the criminal, suggesting the existence of offender groups, such as professional criminals, psychotic criminals, occasional criminals, and so on. Others focus on the crimes, clustering them into categories such as property crimes, sex crimes, and so on
- Consensus view
o The belief that the majority of citizens in a society share common ideals and work toward a common good and that crimes are acts that are outlawed because they conflict with the rules of the majority and are harmful to society
- Social harm
A view that behaviors harmful to other people and society in general must be controlled. These acts are usually outlawed but some acts that cause enormous amounts of social harm are perfectly legal, such as the consumption of tobacco and alcohol
- Conflict view
The view that human behavior is shaped by interpersonal conflict and that those who maintain social power will use it to further their own needs
- Interactionist view
o The view that one’s perception of reality is significantly influenced by one’s interpretations of the reactions of others to similar events and stimuli
- Moral entrepreneurs
o Interest groups that attempt to control social life and the legal order in such a way as to promote their own personal set of moral values. People who use their influence to shape the legal process in ways they see fit
- Common law
o Early English law, developed by judges, that incorporated Anglo-Saxon tribal custom, feudal rules and practices, and the everyday rules of behavior of local villages. Common law became the standardized law of the land in England and eventually formed the basis of the criminal law in the U.S
- Mala in se
o Acts that are outlawed because they violate basic moral values, such as rape, murder, assault, and robbery
- Mala prohibition
o Acts that are outlawed because they clash with current norms and public opinion, such as tax, traffic, and drug laws
- Substantive criminal law
o The branch of the law that defines crimes and their punishment. It involves such issues as the mental and physical elements of rime, crime categories, and criminal defenses
- Procedural criminal law
o Those laws that set out the basic rules of practice in the criminal justice system. Some elements of the law of criminal procedure are the rules of evidence, the law of arrest, the law of search and seizure, questions of appeal, jury selection, and the right to counsel
- Civil law
The set of rules governing relations between private parties, including both individuals and organizations (such as business enterprises and/or corporations). The civil law is used to resolve, control, and shape such personal interactions as contracts, wills and trusts, property ownership, and commerce
- Public law
The branch of law that deals with the government and its relationships with individuals or other governments. It governs the administration and regulation of city, county, state, and federal government agencies
- Felony
A serious offense, such as rape, murder, robbery, or burglary, that is punishable by a prison sentence or, in the case of first-degree murder, by capital punishment.
- Misdemeanor
A minor or petty crime, typically punished by a fine, community sentence, or a jail term.
- Stalking statutes
Laws that prohibit “the willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another person
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
Large database, compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, of crimes reported and arrests made each year throughout the United States.
- Index crimes
The eight crimes that because of their seriousness and frequency, the FBI reports the incidence of in the annual Uniform Crime Report.
Part 1 crimes
Another term for index crimes; eight categories of serious, frequent crimes.
Part 2 crimes
All crimes other than index and minor traffic offenses. The FBI records annual arrest information for Part 2 offenses
Equation for UCR
Number of reported Crimes/Total U.S. Population x 100,000 = Rate per 100,000
Cleared Crimes
Crimes are cleared in two ways – when at least one person is arrested, charge, and turned over to the court for prosecution; or by exceptional means, when some element beyond police control precludes the physical arrest of an offender
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
A program that requires local police agencies to provide a brief account of each incident and arrest within 22 crime patterns, including incident, victim, and offender information
Cross-sectional Survey
Survey data derived from all age, race, gender, and income segments of the population measured simultaneously. Because people from every age group are represented, age-specific crime rates can be determined.
- National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
The ongoing victimization study conducted jointly by the justice Department and the U.S. Census bureau that surveys victims about their experiences with law violation.
Self-report survey
A research approach that requires subjects to reveal their own participation in delinquent or criminal acts
- Retrospective cohort study
A study that used an intact cohort of known offenders and looks back into their early life experiences by checking their educational, family, police, and hospital records.
Meta-analysis
A research technique that uses the grouped data from several different studies.
Systematic review
A research technique that involves collecting the findings from previously conducted studies, appraising and synthesizing the evidence, and using the collective evidence to address a particular scientific question
Predictive polling
A technique that relies on data mining’s ability to predict future crime using large data sets and geospatial technologies.
Instrumental crimes
Offenses designed to improve the financial or social position of the criminal.
Expressive crimes
Crimes that have no purpose except to accomplish the behavior at hand, such as shooting someone
Aging out
The process by which individuals reduce the frequency of their offending behavior as they age. Also known as spontaneous remission
Masculine hypothesis
The view that women who commit crimes have biological and psychological traits similar to those of men.
Chivalry hypothesis
The idea that low female rime and delinquency rates are a reflection on the leniency with which police treat female offenders
Liberal feminist theory
Theory suggesting that the traditionally lower crimes rate for woman can be explained by their second-class economic and social position. As women’s social roles have changed and their lifestyles have become more like those of men, it is believed that their crime rates will converge.
Racial threat hypothesis
The belief as the percentage of minorities in the population increases, so too does the amount of social control that police direct at minority group members.
Chronic offender
According o Wolfgang, a delinquent offender who is arrested five or more times before he or she is 18 stands a good chance of becoming an adult criminal; such offenders are responsible for more than half of all serious crimes
Early onset
A term that refers to the assumption that a criminal career begins early in life and that people who are deviant at a very young age are the ones most likely to persist in crime.
Persistence
the idea that those who started their delinquent careers early and who committed serious violent crimes throughout adolescence are the most likely to persist as adults.
Continuity of crime
The view that crime begins early in life and continues throughout the life course. Thus, the best predictor of future criminality is past criminality
Three strikes
Policies whereby people convicted of three felony offenses receive a mandatory life sentence.
Victimologist
People who study the victim’s role in criminal transactions
Victimization (by justice system)
While the crime is still fresh in their minds, victims may find that the police interrogation following the crime is handled callously, with innuendos or insinuation that they were somehow at fault. Victims have difficulty learning what is going on in the case; property is often kept for a long time as evidence and may never be returned. Some rape victims report that the treatment they receive from legal, medical, and mental health services is so destructive that they cannot help but feel “re-raped”
Cycle of violence
The idea that victims of crime, especially childhood abuse, are more likely to commit crimes themselves.
Chronic victimization
Those who have been crime victims maintain a significantly higher chance of future victimization than people who have remained nonvictims. Most repeat victimizations occur soon after a previous crime has occured, suggesting that repeat victims share some personal characteristic that makes them a magnet for predators.
Victim precipitation theory
The idea that the victim’s behavior was the spark that ignited the subsequent offense, such as when the victim abused the offender verbally or physically.
Active precipitation
The view that the source of many criminal incidents is the aggressive provocative behavior of victims
Passive precipitation
The view that some people become victims because of personal and social characteristics that make them attractive targets for predatory criminals.
lifestyle theory
People may become crime victims because their lifestyle increases their exposure to criminal offenders.
Deviant place theory
People become victims because they reside in socially disorganized, high-crime areas where they have the greatest risk of coming into contact with criminal offenders.
Routine activities theory
The view that the volume and distribution of predatory crime are closely related to the interaction of suitable targets, motivated offenders, and capable guardians.
Suitable target
According to routine activities theory, a target for crime that is relatively valuable, easy transportable, and not capably guarded
Capable guardians
Effective deterrents to crime, such as police or watchful neighbors
Motivated offenders
The potential offenders in a population. According to rational choice theory, crime rates will vary according to the number of motivated offenders.
Victim-witness assistance programs
Government programs that help crime victims and witnesses; may include compensation, court services, and/ or crisis intervention
Victim compensation
Compensations from the state to pay for damages associated with the crime.
Crisis intervention
Emergency counseling for crime victims.
Restitution agreements
Conditions of probation in which the offenders repay society or victims of crime for the trouble the offenders caused. (money/community service)
Target hardening
Making one’s home or business crime proof through the use of locks, bars, alarms, and other devices.
Marginal deterrence
The concept that a penalty for a crime may prompt commission of a marginally more severe crime because that crime receives the same magnitude of punishment as the original one
Classical criminology
18th century social thinkers believed that criminals choose to commit crime and that crime can be controlled by judicious punishment.
Rational choice theory
The view that crime is a function of a decision-making process in which the potential offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act.
Reasoning criminals
Those who think through personal factors and situational factors.
Offense-specific crime
The idea that offenders react selectively to the characteristics of particular crime
Offender-specific crime
The idea that offenders evaluate their skills, motives, needs and fears before decding to commit crime
Boosters
Professional shoplifters who steal with the intention of reselling stolen merchandise
Permeable neighborhood
Areas with a greater than usual number of access streets from traffic arteries into the neighborhood.
Edgework
The excitement or exhilaration of successfully executing illegal activities in dangerous situations.
Situational crime prevention
A method of crime prevention that stresses tactics and strategies to eliminate or reduce particular crimes in narrow settings, such as reducing burglaries in a housing project by increasing lighting and installing security alarms.
Defensible space
The principle that crime prevention can be achieved through modifying the physical environment to reduce the opportunity individuals have to commit crime
Crime discouragers (3 categories)
guardians, handlers, managers
Diffusion of benefits
Efforts to prevent one crime help prevent another.
Discouragement
Crime control efforts targeting a particular locale help reduce crime in surrounding areas and populations
Displacement
A program that helps lower crime rates at specific locations or neighborhoods may be redirecting offenders to alternative targets
General deterrence
A crime control policy that depends on the fear of criminal penalties. Aimed at convincing potential violators that pains outweigh benefits.
Perceptual deterrence
The theory that the perceived certainty, severity, and celerity of punishment are inversely related to the decisions by would-be offenders commit crime, regardless of the actual likelihood of being apprehended and punished. People who believe they will be punished will be deterred even if the actual likelihood of punishment is insignificant.
Deterrence theory
The view that if the probability of arrest, conviction, and sanctioning increases, crime rates should decline.
Tipping point
Minimum amount of expected punishment necessary to produce a significant reduction in crime rates
Informal sanctions
Disapproval, stigma, or anger directed toward an offender by significant other resulting in shame, embarrassment, and loss of respect.
Restrictive deterrence
Convincing criminals that committing a serious crime is too risky and that other less-dangerous crimes or actions might be a better choice.
Specific deterrence
The view that if experienced punishment is severe enough, convicted offenders will be deterred from repeating their criminal activity
Incapacitation effect
The idea that keeping offenders in confinement will eliminate the risk of their committing further offenses.
Focused deterrence
A policy that relies on pulling every deterrent “lever” available to reduce crime in the targeted problem
Just desert
Philosophy of justice that asserts that those who violate the rights of others deserve to be punished. The severity of punishment should be commensurate with the seriousness of crime.
Blameworthy
Basing punishment solely on whether a person is responsible for wrongdoing and deserving of censure or blame
Positivism
The branch of social science that uses the scientific method of the natural sciences and suggests that human behavior is a product of social, biological, psychological, or economic forces.
Psychopathic personality
A personality characterized by a lack of warmth and feeling, inappropriate behavior responses, and an inability to learn from experience. Some psychologists view psychopathy as a result of childhood trauma; others see it as a result of biological abnormality
Atavistic anomalies
According to Lombroso, the physical characteristics that distinguish born criminals from the general population and are throwbacks to animals or primitive peoples.
Biological determinism
A belief that criminogenic traits can be acquired through indirect heredity from a degenerate family whose members suffered from such ills as insanity, syphilis, and alcoholism, or through direct heredity - being related to a family of criminals
criminal anthropology
Early efforts to discover a biological basis of crime through measurement of physical and mental processes
Inheritance school
Advocates of this view trace the activities of several generations of families believed to have an especially large number of criminal members
Somatotype
A system developed for categorizing people on the basis of their body build
Biosocial theory
An approach to criminology that focuses on the interaction between biological and social factors as they relate to crime
Biophobia
A view held by sociologists that no serious consideration should be given to biological factors when attempting to understand human nature.
Sociobiology
The scientific study of the determinants of social behavior, based on the view that such behavior is influenced by both the individual’s genetic makeup and interactions with the environment.
Reciprocal altruism
According to sociobiology, acts that are outwardly designed to help others but that have at their core benefits to the self.
Trait theory
The view that criminality is a product of abnormal biological and/or psychological traits
Individual vulnerability model
Assumes there is a direct link between traits and crime; some people are vulnerable to crime from birth
Differential susceptibility model
The belief that there is an indirect association between traits and crime
androgens
Male sex hormones
Neocortex
A part of the human brain; the left side of the neocortex controls sympathetic feelings toward others.
Testosterone
The principal male steroid hormone. Testosterone levels decline during the life cycle and may explain why violence rates diminish over time
Cerebral allergies
A physical condition that causes brain malfunction due to exposure to some environmental or biochemical irritant
Neuroallergies
Allergies that affect the nervous system and cause the allergic person to produce enzymes that attack wholesome foods as if they were dangerous to the body. They may also cause swelling of the brain and produce sensitivity in the central nervous system-conditions that are linked to mental, emotional, and behavioral problems.
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
A device that can record the electronic impulses given off by the brain, community called brain waves
Minimal brain dysfunction (MBD)
An abruptly appearing, maladaptive behavior that interrupts an individual’s lifestyle and life flow. In its most serious form, MBD had been linked to serious antisocial acts, an imbalance in the urge-control mechanisms of the brain, and chemical abnormality.
Learning disability (LD)
A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using spoken or written languages.
Chemical restraints or chemical straitjackets
Antipsychotic drugs such as Haldol, Stelazine, Prolixin, and Risperdal, which help control levels of neurotransmitters, that are used to treat violence-prone people.
Arousal theory
A view of crime suggesting that people who have a high arousal level seek powerful stimuli in their environment to maintain an optimal level of arousal. These stimuli are often associated with violence and aggression. Sociopaths may need greater than average stimulation to bring them up to comfortable levels of living; this needs explains their criminal tendencies
Contagion effect
Genetic predispositions and early experiences make some people, including twins, susceptible to deviant behavior, which is transmitted by the presence of antisocial siblings in the household.
Defective Intelligence
Traits such as feeblemindedness, epilepsy, insanity, and defective social instinct, which Goring believed had a significant relationship to criminal behavior.
Psychoanalytic or psychodynamic perspective
Branch of psychology holding that the human personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes developed early in childhood.
Behaviorism
The branch of psychology concerned with the study of observable behavior rather than unconscious motives. It focuses on the relationship between particular stimuli and people’s responses to them.
cognitive theory
The study of the perception of reality and of the mental processes required to understand the world in which we live.
Id
The primitive part of people’s mental makeup, present at birth, that represent unconscious biological drives for food, sex, and other life-sustaining necessities. The id seeks instant gratification without concern for the rights of others.
Pleasure principle
According to Freud, a theory in which id-dominated people are driven to increases their personal pleasure without regard to consequences
Ego
The part of the personality, developed in early childhood, that helps control the id and keep people’s actions within the boundaries of social convention
Reality Principle
According to Freud, the ability to learn about the consequences of one’s actions through experience.
Superego
Incorporation within the personality of the moral standards and values of parents, community, and significant others
Conscience
One of two parts of the superego; it distinguishes between what is right and wrong
Ego ideal
Part of the superego; directs the individual into morally acceptable and responsible behaviors, which may not be pleasurable.
Eros
The instinct to preserve an create life, a basic human drive present at birth
thantos
According to Freud, the instinctual drive toward aggression and violence
Oral stage
In Freud’s schema the first year of life, when a child attains pleasure by sucking and biting.
Anal stage
In Freud’s schema, the second and third years of life, when the focus of sexual attention is on the elimination of bodily wastes
Phallic stage
In Freud’s schema, the third year, when children focus ther attention on their genitals
Oedipus complex
A stage of development when males begin to haves sexual feelings for their fathers
Electra complex
A stage of development when girls begin to have sexual feelings for their fathers
Latency
A development stage that begins at age 6. During this period, feelings of sexuality are repressed until the genital stage begins at puberty; this marks the beginning of adult sexuality.
Fixated
An adult who exhibits behavior traits characteristic of those encountered during infantile sexual development
Inferiority complex
People who have feelings of inferiority and compensate for them with a drive for superiority.
Identity crisis
A psychological state, identified by Erikson, in which youth face inner turmoil and uncertainty about life roles.
Latent delinquency
A psychological predisposition to commit antisocial acts because of an id-dominated personality that renders an individual incapable of controlling impulsive, pleasure -seeking drives.
disorders
Any type of psychological problems, such as anxiety disorders, mood disorders and conduct disorders.
Conduct disorders (CD)
A pattern a repetitive behavior in which the rights of others or social norms are violated
Bipolar disorder
An emotional disturbance in which moods alternate between periods of wild elation and deep depression.
Attachment theory
The belief that the ability to form attachments that is, emotionally bond to other person has important lasting psychological implications that follow people across the life span.
Alexithymia
A deficit in emotional cognition that prevents people from being aware of their feelings or being able to understand or talk about their thoughts and emotions; they seem robotic and emotionally dead.
Psychosis
A mental state in which the perception of reality is distorted. People experiencing psychosis hallucinate, have paranoid or delusional beliefs, change personality, exhibit disorganized thinking, and engage in unusual or bizarre behavior .
Schizophrenia
A type of psychosis often marked by bizarre behavior, hallucinations, loss of thought control, and inappropriate emotional responses. Schizophrenic types include catatonic, which characteristically involves impairment of motor activity; paranoid, which is characterized by delusions of persecution; and hebephrenic, which is characterized by immature behavior and giddiness.
Social learning theory
The view that human behavior is modeled through observation of human social interactions, either directly from observing those who are close and from intimate contact or indirectly through the media. Interactions that are rewarded are copied, while those that are punished are avoided.
Behavior modeling
Process of learning behavior (notably aggression) by observing others. Aggressive models may be parents, criminals in the neighborhood, or characters on television or in video games and movies.
Moral development
The way people morally represent and reason about the world
Humanistic psychology
A branch of psychology that stresses self-awareness and “getting in touch with feelings”
Information processing
A branch of cognitive psychology that focuses on the way people process, store, encode, retrieve, and manipulate information to make decisions and solve problems.
Personality
The reasonably stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions, that distinguish one person from another.
Sadistic personality disorder
A repeating pattern of cruel and demeaning behavior. People suffering from this type of extreme personality disturbance seem prone to engage in serious violent attacks, including homicides motivated by sexual sadism.
Psychopath
People who have an antisocial personality that is a product of a defect or aberration within themselves.
Sociopath
Personality disorder characterized by superficial charm and glibness, a lack of empathy for others, amoral conduct, and lack of shame, guilt, or remorse for antisocial behavior. The term may be used interchangeably with psychopath, but both terms have been replaced by antisocial behavior disorder.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
A widely used psychological test that has subscales designed to measure many different personality traits, including psychopathic deviation, schizophrenia, and hypomania
California Personality Inventory (CPI)
A frequently administered personality test used to distinguish deviant groups from nondeviant groups.
Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)
A test that allows researchers to assess such personality traits as control, aggression, alienation, and well-being. Evaluations using this scale indicate that adolescent offenders who are crime prone maintain negative emotionality, a tendency to experience aversive affective states such as anger, anxiety, and irritability.
Intelligence
A person’s ability to reason, think abstractly, understand complex ideas, learn from experience, and discover solutions to complex problems.
Nature theory
The view that intelligence is largely determined genetically and that low intelligence is linked to criminal behavior
Nurture theory
The view that intelligence is not inherited but is largely a product of environment. Low IQ scores do not cause crime but may result from the same environmental factors.
Primary Prevention programs
Treatment programs that seek to correct or remedy personal problems before they manifest themselves as crime
Secondary prevention programs
Treatment programs aimed at helping offenders after they have been identified.
Tertiary prevention programs
Crime control and prevention programs that may be a requirement of a probation order, part of diversionary sentence, or aftercare at the end of a prison sentence.
Socially disorganized
Communities where social institutions are incapable of functioning as expected and as a result their ability to create social control is nullified
Stratified society
A social structure that places people along a status-based hierarchy. In the United States, status is based primarily on wealth, power, and prestige.
Social class
Segment of the population whose members are at a relatively similar economic level and who share attitudes, values, norms, and an identifiable lifestyle.
Underclass
The lowest social stratum in any country, whose members are at a relatively similar economic level and who share attitudes, values, norms, and an identifiable lifestyle.
culture of poverty
The view that people in the lower class of society form a separate culture with its own values and norms that are in conflict with conventional society; the culture is self-maintaining and ongoing
at-risk
Children and adults who lack the education and skills needed to be effectively in demand in modern society.
Social structure theory
The view that disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime
Social disorganization theory
Branch of social structure theory that focuses on the breakdown of institutions such as the family school and employment in inner-city neighborhoods.
Strain theory
Branch of social structure theory that sees crime as a function of the conflict between people’s goals and the means available to obtain them.
Strain
The emotional turmoil and conflict caused when people believe they cannot achieve their desires and goals through legitimate means. Members of the lower class might feel strain because they are denied access to adequate educational opportunities and social support.
Cultural deviance theory
Branch of social structure theory that sees strain and social disorganization together resulting in a unique lower-class culture that conflicts with conventional social norms.
Transitional neighborhoods
Areas undergoing a shift in population and structure, usually from middle-class residential to lower-class mixed use.
Concentration effect
Working-and middle-class families flee inner-city poverty areas, resulting in the most disadvantaged population being consolidated in the most disorganized urban neighborhoods.
Incivilities
Rude and uncivil behavior; behavior that indicates little caring for the feelings of others.
Siege mentality
Residents who become so suspicious of authority that they consider the outside world to be the enemy out to destroy the neighborhood.
Gentrification
A residential renewal stage in which obsolete housing is replaced and upgraded; areas undergoing such change seem to experience an increase in their crime rates
Collective efficacy
Social control exerted by cohesive communities, based on mutual trust, including intervention in the supervision of children and maintenance of public order.
Street efficacy
A concept in which more cohesive communities with high levels of social control and social integration foster the ability for kids to use the wits to avoid violent confrontations and to feel safe in their own neighborhood. Adolescents with high levels of street efficacy are less likely to resort to violence themselves or to associate with delinquent peers.
Relative deprivation
The condition that exists when people of wealth and poverty live in close proximity to one another. Some criminologists attribute crime rate differentials to relative deprivation.
Anomie
According to Durkheim, an anomic society is one in which rules of behavior have broken down or become inoperative during periods of rapid social change or social crisis.
Mechanical solidarity
A characteristics of a preindustrial society that is held together by traditions shared values, and unquestioned beliefs.
Organic solidarity
Postindustrial social systems which are highly developed and dependent upon the division of labor; people are connected by their interdependent needs for one another’s services and productions
Theory of anomie
A modified version of the concept of anomie developed by Merton to fit social, economic, and cultural conditions found in modern U.S. society. He found that two elements of culture interact to produce potentially anomic conditions; culturally defined goals and socially approved means for obtaining them.
Institutional anomie theory (IAT)
The view that anomie pervades U.S. culture because the drive for material wealth dominates and undermines social community values
General strain theory (GST)
According to Agnew, the view that multiple sources of strain interact with an individual’s emotional traits and responses to produce criminality
Negative affective states
According to Agnew, anger, depression, disappointment, fear, and other adverse emotions that derive from strain.
Subcultures
Groups that are loosely part of the dominant culture but maintain a unique set of values, beliefs, and traditions.
Conduct norms
Behaviors expected of social group members. If group norms conflict with those of the general culture, members of the group may find themselves described as outcasts or criminals.
Culture conflicts
According to Sellin, a condition brought about when the rules and norms of an individual’s subcultural affiliation conflict with the role demands of conventional society.
Focal concerns
According to Miller, the value orientations of lower-class cultures; features include the needs for excitement, trouble, smartness, and personal autonomy.
Status frustration
A form of culture conflict experienced by lower-class youths because social conditions prevent them from achieving success as defined y the larger society.
Middle-class measuring rods
According to Cohen, the standards by which teachers and other representatives of state authority evaluate lower-class youths. Because they cannot live up to middle-class standards, lower-class youths are bound for failure, which gives rise to frustration and anger at conventional society.
Corner boy
According to Cohen, a role in the lower-class culture in which young men remain in their birth neighborhood, acquire families and menial jobs, and adjust to the demands of their environment.
College boy
A disadvantaged youth who embraces the cultural and social values in the middle class and actively strives to be successful by those standards. This type of youth is embarking on an almost hopeless path because he is ill-equipped academically, socially, and linguistically to achieve the rewards of middle-class life.
Delinquent boy
A youth wo adopts a set of norms and principles in direct opposition to middle-class values, engaging in short-run hedonism, living for today and letting tomorrow take care of itself.
Reactionformation
According to Cohen, rejecting goals and standards that seem impossible to achieve. Because a boy cannot hope to get into college, for example, he considers higher education a waste of time.
Differential opportunity
The view that lower-class youths, whose legitimate opportunities are limited, join gangs and pursue criminal careers as alternative means to achieve universal success goals.
Sociological social psychology
The study of human interactions and relationships, emphasizing such issues as group dynamics and socialization
Socialization
The interactions people have the various organizations, institutions, and processes of society.
Social process or socialization theory
The view that criminality is a function of people’s interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in society.
Parental efficacy
Parenting that is supportive, effective, and non-coercive
Social learning theory
The view that human behavior is modeled through observation of human social interactions, either directly from observing those who are close and from intimate contact or indirectly through the media. Interactions that are rewarded are copied, while those that are punished are avoided.
Social control theory
The view that people commit crime when the forces that bind them to society are weakened or broken.
Social reaction theory (labeling theory)
The view that people become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and they accept those labels as a personal identity.
Differential association theory
According to Sutherland, the principle that criminal acts are related to a person’s exposure to an excess amount of antisocial attitudes and values.
Differential reinforcement theory
An attempt to explain crime as a type of learned behavior. First proposed by Akers in collaboration with Burgess in 1966, it is a version of the social learning view that employs differential association concepts as well as elements of psychological learning theory.
Direct conditioning
Behavior is reinforced by being either rewarded or punished while interacting with others; also called differential reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement
Using either negative stimuli or loss of reward to curtail unwanted behavior.
Neutralization theory
Neutralization theory holds that offenders adhere to conventional values while “drifting” into periods of illegal behavior. In order to drift, people must first overcome legal and moral values.
Subterranean values
Morally tinged influences that have become entrenched in the culture but are publicly condemned. They exist side by side with conventional values and while condemned in public may be admired or practiced in private
Drift
According to Matza, the view that youths move in and out of delinquency and that their lifestyles can embrace both conventional and deviant values.
Commitment to conformity
A strong personal investment in conventional institutions, individuals, and processes that prevent people from engaging in behavior that might jeopardize their reputation and achievements
Containment theory
The idea that a strong self-image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of criminogenic influences in the environment
Social bond
Ties a person has to the institutions and processes of society. According to Hirschi, elements of the social bond include attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief
Symbolic interaction theory
The sociological view that people communicate through symbols. People interpret symbolic communication and incorporate it within their personality. A person’s view of reality, then, depends on his or her interpretation of symbolic gestures.
Stigma
An enduring label that taints a person’s identity and changes him or her in the eyes of others
Reflected appraisals
When parents are alienated from their children, their negative labeling reduces their children’s self-image and increases delinquency.
Retrospective reading
The reassessment of a person’s past to fit a current generalized label.
Dramatization of evil
As the negative feedback of law enforcement agencies, parents, friends, teachers, and other figures amplifies the force of the original label, stigmatized offenders may begin to reevaluate their own identities. The person becomes the thing he is described as being
Primary deviance
According to Lemert, deviant acts that do not help redefine the self-image and public image of the offender
Secondary deviance
According to Lemert, accepting deviant labels as a personal identity. Acts become secondary when they form a basis for self-concept, as when a drug experimenter becomes an addict.
