Deviance, Crime and Social Control Flashcards
Conflict Theory:
A theory that examines social and economic factors as the causes of criminal deviance.
Control Theory:
A theory that states social control is directly affected by the strength of social bonds and that deviance results from a feeling of disconnection from society.
Corporate Crime:
Crime committed by white-collar workers in a business environment.
Corrections System:
The system tasked with supervising individuals who have been arrested for, convicted of, or sentenced for criminal offenses.
Court:
A system that has the authority to make decisions based on law.
Crime:
A behavior that violates official law and is punishable through formal sanctions.
Criminal Justice System:
An organization that exists to enforce a legal code.
Cultural Deviance Society:
A theory that suggests conformity to the prevailing cultural norms of lower-class society causes crime.
Deviance:
A violation of contextual, cultural, or social norms.
Differential Association Theory:
A theory that states individuals learn deviant behavior from those close to them who provide models of an opportunities for deviance.
Formal Sanctions:
Sanctions that are officially recognized and enforced.
Hate Crimes:
Attacks based on a person’s race, religion, or other characteristics.
Informal Sanctions:
Sanctions that occur in face-to-face interactions.
Labeling Theory:
The ascribing of deviant behavior to another person by members of society.
Legal Codes:
Codes that maintain formal social control through laws.
Master Status:
A label that describes the chief characteristic of an individual.
Negative Sanctions:
Punishments for violating norms.
Nonviolent Crimes:
Crimes that involve the destruction or theft of property, but do not use force or the threat of force.
Police:
A civil force in charge of regulating laws and public order at a federal, state, or a community level.
Positive Sanctions:
Rewards given for conforming to norms.
Power Elite:
A small group of wealthy and influential people at the top of society who hold the power and resources.
Primary Deviance:
A violation of norms that does not result in any long-term effects on the individual’s self-image or interactions with others.
Sanctions:
The means of enforcing rules.
Secondary Deviance:
Deviance that occurs when a person’s self-concept and behavior begin to change after his or her actions are labeled as deviant by members of society.
Self-report Study:
A collection of data acquired by using voluntary response methods, such as questionnaires or telephone interviews.
Social Control:
The regulation and enforcement of norms.
Social Disorganization Theory:
A theory that asserts crime occurs in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control.
Social Order:
The regulation and enforcement of norms.
Strain Theory:
A theory that addresses the relationship between having socially acceptable goals and having socially acceptable means to reach those goals.
Street Crime:
Crime committed by average people against other people or organizations, usually in public spaces.
Victimless Crime:
Activities against the law, but that do not result in injury to any individual other than the person who engages in them.
Violent Crimes:
Crimes based on the use of force or the threat of force.
