Exam 1 Flashcards
what is the legalistic approach to crime
any culpable action or inaction prohibited by law and punishable by the state as a misdemeanor or felony
what are issues related to the legalistic approach to crime
culpability and legal defense (acts reas and mens are); crime distinctions (felonies and misdemeanors); male in se vs male prohibita
what is the criminological approach to crime
violations of social norms (folkways, mores, laws); relativity of crime and deviance; making and breaking rules and the social reaction to it
what are folkways
violations of norms in terms of manners (farting in public, turning around on an elevator)
what are the three common sources of criminal data
UCR, NCVS, self-report surveys (official crime stats, victimizations surveys, self-report studies)
what are some advantages of the UCR
◦ Collected since 1930’s
◦ 18,000+ police departments volunteer info
◦ Can examine percent change in types of crime
from previous year (or other time periods)
◦ Can find descriptive information about demographic correlates of Part I crimes (e.g., gender, age, race, geographic region)
what are some disadvantages of the UCR
◦ Underestimation of the amount of crime
◦ Minimizes seriousness of white-collar crimes
◦ Bias
◦ Changes in citizens’ reporting practices may
artificially raise estimates of official crime rates
◦ Police crackdowns or politically motivated police reporting can artificially bias official crime statistics
◦ Definitions of crimes may vary across police precincts (e.g., issues with defining rape)
what are the index 1 crimes
criminal homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson
what are the index 2 crimes
everything else
how does each source of data produce different results
when relying on UCR, it depends on the information provided by the police not the total number of crimes committed (a lot of crime committed isn’t even reported to the police, NCVS excludes homeless people or white collar crime, Self-report is not valid
what is the UCR measuring
the UCR measures crimes that are reported to the police, it does not shed light on the dark figure of crime
what crimes does the NCVS include
street crimes and sheds light on the dark figures of crime
what crimes does the NCVS exclude
homicide, steers away from white collar
how is information collected in the NCVS surveys
the BJS collects a sample of 90,000 households and asks them questions on whether or not any member of their house has been a victim
what is the dark figure of crime
amount of unreported or undiscovered crime, which calls into question the reliability of official crime statistics
what types of crimes do self-report surveys measure?
reveals the hidden figure of crime
what are the advantages of NCVS
- More accurate estimate of the number of crimes (Note important exception: Homicide!) Thus, illuminates some of “dark figure of crime”…
- Info on context has improved development of theories of victimization (e.g., we now know that most violent crime is intra-racial; that is, black-
on-black, or white-on-white
what are the disadvantages of NCVS
- Potential issues with underreporting or over-reporting
- Excludes some populations due to household sampling (e.g., homeless, runaways, etc.)
- Like UCR, these data also divert attention away from white-collar crimes, as focus is on street crimes.
what is a convenience sample in self-report survey
convenience sampling is bias because it includes the sample of the population that is the easiest to reach
what is a random sample in self-report survey
random samples give the population an equal chance of being selected to participate in the survey
what is the difference between prevalence and incident offending
prevalence is how many people are doing it- proportion of the sample; incidence is how frequently people engage in certain crimes
what is quantitative research
“quantify” variables and analyze numerical patterns such as mean differences, variation, etc.
what is qualitative research
meaning and interpretation rather than numerical trends
what are some advantages of self-report surveys
◦ Reveals “hidden figures of crime”
◦ Can examine theoretically interesting correlates of crime
◦ With longitudinal designs, can examine changes over life course (and increase causal inference)
what are disadvantages of self-report surveys
◦ Often focuses on minor or “trivial” offenses such as truancy, running away, minor substance use, etc.
◦ Potential issues with validity
◦ Many focus primarily on boys
◦ May also ignore white-collar offenses
what is deductive research
deductive research is when we develop a theory then create a general hypothesis from the theory and prove it when we collect observations
what is inductive research
we collect observations and begin to notice patterns so we create a hypothesis from it to develop a theory
what is a definition
statement of a concepts meaning; “true” by definition
what is a fact
empirical ‘existence’ statement; “true” by observation
what is a hypothesis
testable relational statements; often both empirical and causal claims
what are experimental methods
changing variables to see the changing outcome
what are observational methods
just observing change; researcher attempts to predict nature
what scientific method do they use the most in criminological research
they mostly use observational methods because they are more natural- can’t necessarily imitate crime in a lab
what is a variable
characteristics of whatever is being studied
what is a dependent variable
the effect, or the variable to be explained or predicted
what is an independent variable
the causes, or the variable that theoretically explain or predict change in the dependent variable
what are simple causes in causality
only one variable causes change; “water in a freezer:” temperature causes the water to freeze
what are complex causes in causality
more than one variable causes change; so many factors go into why a car will not start
what are the three basic criteria for causation
- association/correlation: x is related to y in a statistical sense
- non-spuriousness: relationship between x and y is not false- it doesn’t reflect confounding variable z
- proper time order: x comes before y
what is correlation in experimental methods
often manipulate independent variables, then observe changes in dependent variables
what is correlation in observational methods
usually observe correlations between independent and dependent variables
what are correlations
variables that are related in a statistical sense
what is a mediation variable
mediating variables intervene between two variables and
explain why they are correlated
what is a moderating variable
moderators “change” or modify the relationship between two variables (e.g., they may specify certain conditions under which two variables are correlated)
what are the key correlates of crime
prior criminality; association with criminal peers; geographic location; age; gender; SES; race/ethnicity
how does prior criminality relate to crime
- persistent heterogeneity: “persistent difference”- differences between criminals and non-criminals: criminals have lower self-control than those who don’t commit crime
- cumulative continuity: something that happens after you break a rule that makes it more likely that you break another
how does criminal peers relate to crime
selection: some people are more likely to commit crime than others and select into peer groups like themselves: hangout with people who do same kind of things as you
socialization: learning things from your peers like attitudes related to crime
how does age relate to crime
people in their late teens and early 20s are more likely to commit crime (not all types of crime peak at the same age- gambling and fraud are later in life)
how does geographic location relate to crime
crime rate: compare the number of people in a given area to the amount of crime
-US used to have a high crime rate but now we are average in comparison to other countries
which US regions have a higher crime rate
urban areas, the south and the west (some argue bc of climate differences or more interaction with people)
how does gender relate to crime
men are more likely to violate laws than women; gender gap is not the same across all crimes (rape, prostitution, same for drug use); quantitative research shows similar rates of adolescent violence among boys and girls
how is SES related to crime
SES is a weak and inconsistent correlate of criminal behavior; the relationship between SES and crime depends on: type of data, measure of crime, measure of social class
what is the relationship between SES and crime found official stats
poor people are more likely to commit crime and end up in prison; we don’t see this data in self-report surveys
how does race/ethnicity relate to crime
race and ethnicity are inconsistent correlates of crime; researchers find less of a crime gap when they examine: self-report data, examine minor offenses or white collar crimes
how does the crime rate look in terms of immigration groups
first generation immigration groups have lower rates of crimes
what two correlates of crime have the strongest association with crime
prior criminality and criminal peers
what is a paradigm
a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them (framework or lens through which we view the world)
why do paradigms matter
they shape the questions we ask, influence how we attempt to answer them, not usually right, wrong, true or false, and are rather useful or not useful at a given time
what are the two major theoretical paradigms regarding the origins of law
consensus and conflict
what is the consensus paradigm
• Law is a natural part of informal rules of interaction of a society
• NORMS
• Law is a product of consensus & exists to maintain consensus by reaffirming
what we as a social group already believe
• May be seen as recognized by all as necessary for the sake of order
• Ex. Traffic Laws
what is the conflict paradigm
• Recognizes existence of many moralities representing a variety of group interests in a society
• Focuses on whose morality is expressed in law & with what consequences
• Views law as a tool or a weapon, assumes it will be used as such by any group that can do so to its advantage
• Considers the importance of social class in creating and enforcing definitions of crime and punishment
• Laws may exist to protect interests of dominant class • Wealthy are “weeded out” at all stages of the criminal justice system (from defining
crime to sentencing)
what is a theory
a set of concepts linked together by a series of of statements to explain why an event or phenomenon occurs (explanation)
what are the goals of science
provide typologies: create categories of similar/different things; explain phenomena; predict phenomena; provide a sense of understanding about phenomena
what is the scientific process
start with empirical generalizations; develop scientific explanations; use research to test explanations; develop general theories by integrating specific explanations
what are the components of an adequate general theory
motivation for crime; constraint (internal/external); opportunity; contingence
what are the key characteristics on which we evaluate theories
scope; logical consistency; testability; empirical validity; parsimony; policy implications
how did pre-classical societies tend to explain rule-violating behaviors
crime pointed to religious beliefs and supernatural behavior. If people were breaking laws, they must be associated with the devil. Crime was evil and sinful.
how did pre-classical societies respond to criminal offenses
exorcisms to get rid of supernatural beings; kill them; or eat them
what did Thomas Hobbes make about human nature
people are greedy, selfish, at war with one another; people are rational; people create governments and rules to avoid constant states of fear; people grant governments monopoly on use of force
what is the “social contract”
people willingly give up certain rights and choose to abide by society’s rules in exchange for protection from the rule-violators
when is the social contract broken
if people feel they have little or no say in government and application of law
what were the classical school’s key ideas about punishment and control
Beccaria and Bentham thought punishment should fit the crime and when it doesn’t fit the crime then people will stop following social orders; the punishment must be strong enough so that it deters further crime
what lasting impacts did their ideas have on our criminal laws and criminal justice system
effects our prisons, enlightenment ideas throughout the structure of our government, right to trial by jury, notion of culpability, reduction of corporal punishment
explain Beccaria’s views on the death penalty
the death penalty was a violation of the social contract; deterrence vs brutalization effects; intensity vs duration of punishment;
explain Beccaria’s elements of effective punishment
swiftness; certainty; & severity (punishment fits the crime); he believed in specific and general deterrence
according to classical criminologists, why do people engage in crime
crime, like most human behavior, are the result of rational decision-making processes
what basic assumptions did classical criminologists make about human behavior
there is a deliberative actor and utilitarian actor assumptions
what is the deliberative actor assumption
humans think before acting
what is the utilitarian actor assumption
humans attempt to maximize rewards and minimize costs
how did Lombroso explain crime
the notion of crime is biological
how did lombroso challenge classical criminology’s notions of free will and culpability
his ideas suggested that human behaviors may be largely determined by factors that are outside of a person’s control
what are the general principles of positivism
rejection of metaphysical and speculative approaches; denial of “free will” conception of human action and substitution of a “deterministic” model; application of the scientific method; clear distinction between science and morality
Is science completely value free?
no, scientists have all the value drives of a normal human being
what are some scientific values
autonomy: freedom to choose; intellectual integrity; aesthetics; social interaction: collaboration and contribution
