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Sociology of Crime > Exam 2 > Flashcards

Exam 2 Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Social Contract

A

An unofficial agreement shared by everyone in a society in which they give up some freedom for security.

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2
Q

Criminality

A

The state of being a criminal.

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3
Q

Theory

A

A well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena

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4
Q

Correlation

A 
A statistical relation between two or more variables such that systematic changes in the value of one variable are accompanied by systematic changes in the other
//
A reciprocal relation between two or more things
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5
Q

Independent Variable

A

A value that does not depend on changes in other values.

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6
Q

Dependent Variable

A

A value that depends on changes in other values.

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7
Q

Positivism

A

The term used to describe an approach to the study of society that relies specifically on scientific evidence, such as experiments and statistics, to reveal a true nature of how society operates. Cause-and-effect.

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8
Q

Determinism

A

The doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will.

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9
Q

What is the difference between micro- and macro-level theories?

A

Macro-level sociology looks at large-scale social processes, such as social stability and change. Micro-level sociology looks at small-scale interactions between individuals, such as conversation or group dynamics.

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10
Q

What is the purpose of criminological theorizing?

A

It can influence basic or pure research and/or applied research

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11
Q

The Enlightenment

A

a movement in the 17th and 18th centuries that saw the rise of concepts such as reason, liberty and the scientific stuff.

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12
Q

Classical School of Criminology (Utilitarianism)

A

People deliberately do things because they expect to benefit from them in some way. Philosophical view or theory about how we should evaluate a wide range of things that involve choices that people face. Consists of only one evaluative principle: Do what produces the best consequences.
The notion that public policy decisions should maximize pleasure, while minimizing pain among the general citizenry

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13
Q

Deterrence Theory

A

Theory from behavioral psychology about preventing or controlling actions or behavior through fear of punishment or retribution. This theory of criminology is shaping the criminal justice system of the United States and various other countries.

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14
Q

Absolute Deterrence

A

A particular punishment can

deter a type of crime completely.

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15
Q

Marginal Theory

A

A relatively more severe

penalty will produce some reduction in crime.

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16
Q

General Deterrence

A

By punishing the offender we hope that others

considering committing the same crime with not think it worth it.

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17
Q

Specific Deterrence

A

Same as general but with respect to the

offender themselves, not other potential offenders

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18
Q

Certainty (Deterrence theory)

A

Probability of apprehension and

punishment for a crime

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19
Q

Celerity/Swiftness (Deterrence theory)

A

Swiftness with which criminal
sanctions are applied after the commission
of crime.

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20
Q

Severity (Deterrence theory)

A

Punishment must be just severe enough to
overcome the gain from a crime. Punishment that is
too severe is unjust, and punishment that is not
severe enough will not deter.

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21
Q

Structure Theory

A

Factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, customs, etc.) that determine or limit an agent and his or her decisions.

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22
Q

Agency Theory

A

The capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices.

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23
Q

Neoclassical Theories

A

Places the blame for committed crimes soley on the individuals, rather than on environmental factors. Crime, then, is a result of people making a calculated choice to maximize pleasure while avoiding the pain of punishment.

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24
Q

Tough on Crime policies

A

Refers to a set of policies that emphasize punishment as a primary, and often sole, response to crime.

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25
Q

Expected Utility Theory

A

States that the decision maker (DM) chooses between risky or uncertain prospects by comparing their expected utility values, i.e., the weighted sums obtained by adding the utility values of outcomes multiplied by their respective probabilities. WTF does this even mean.

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26
Q

Rational Choice Theory

A

an economic principle that states that individuals always make prudent and logical decisions. These decisions provide people with the greatest benefit or satisfaction — given the choices available — and are also in their highest self-interest.

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27
Q

Rousseau and Human Nature.

A

Saw society as unnatural, and a social sense is therefore also not natural but artificial. In other words to define ‘human nature’ we have to think about what humans would have been like before society.

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28
Q

Hobbes and Human Nature

A

Believed that human beings naturally desire the power to live well and that they will never be satisfied with the power they have without acquiring more power. Believed that the basic nature of human beings was to be naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish.

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29
Q

Locke and Human Nature

A

Locke believed that human nature is characterised by reason and tolerance. Like Hobbes, Locke believed that human nature allowed men to be selfish.

30
Q

Cesare Beccaria

A

Beccaria advocated swift punishment as the best form of deterrent to crime. His best known work was his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty and was a pioneering study in the field of criminology. Beccaria identified a pressing need to reform the criminal justice system, citing the then-present system as barbaric and antiquated.

31
Q

Cesare Beccaria (contd.)

A

The deterrence of crime (through rational, enlightened administration of legal punishments) was the central purpose of criminal justice. Fundamentalist. Legal reform implementing a more rational and fair justice system, which would effectively deter people from choosing criminal acts, was the answer to the problem of crime.

32
Q

Classical/Neoclassical

A

1) People have free will.
2) People exhibit hedonism (they seek pleasure and avoid pain.
3) People have rationality (to anticipate the consequences of different actions and to calculate the most beneficial outcomes).
Neoclassical is a slightly modified version. Now allows for individual differences in motivation. Prime focus is deterrence.

33
Q

Functionalism

A

Social order is realized because people reach a general consensus (they agree on what is acceptable)

34
Q

What are some critics of deterrence theory?

A

The costs aren’t the same for everyone, but the penalties are fairly uniform.

35
Q

What are some critics of rational choice theory?

A

The model makes unrealistic assumptions, particularly about the amount of information available and an individual’s ability to processes this information when making decisions.

36
Q

What does it mean when offenders act within a limited or bounded rationality?

A

An individual’s rationality is limited by the information they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have to make a decision.

37
Q

What types of crime and types of offenders are more deterrable?

A

Instrumental crime. (involves behavior that has a specific tangible goal, such as the acquisition of property. Predatory crimes, such as theft, burglary, and robbery are examples.)

38
Q

Is deterrence effective? Why/why not?

A

It’s impossible to assign a simple “true” or “false” to the deterrence doctrine.

39
Q

Social ecology

A

The study of the social and behavioral consequences of the interaction between human beings and their environment.

40
Q

Socialization, social ties

A

A continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.

41
Q

Social disorganization theory

A

The inability of a community to organize effectively to prevent social problems from occurring, due to poverty, residential mobility, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity.

42
Q

Target Hardening

A

The measure of strengthening the security by increasing the required effort to commit crimes to or at an object

43
Q

Concentric zones

A

A model of city growth containing five zones, each growing gradually and invading the adjacent zone;
zone I - central business district
zone II - transitional zone
zone III - working class area
zone IV - residential zone
zone V - commuter zone
It was developed by Ernest W. Burgess between 1925 and 1929.

44
Q

Broken Windows Theory

A

Academic theory proposed by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling in 1982 that used broken windows as a metaphor for disorder within neighbourhoods. Their theory links disorder and incivility within a community to subsequent occurrences of serious crime.

45
Q

Relative Deprivation

A

The notion that one’s neighbor or peer has more than oneself, resulting in strain. This differs from ideas of “absolute deprivation” (where one is lacking wealth in an objective sense) in that one can, conceivably, be wealthy and still feel inadequate in comparison to his or her peers in terms of wealth.

46
Q

Anomie or Strain theory

A

States that we wouldn’t normally commit crime. Rather, something externally imposed on us must push, prod, or compel us to commit crime.

47
Q

Neighborhood mechanisms

A

1) Private, consisting of the density and strength of relationships between family and friends in an area.
2) Parochial, which refers to the relationships between residents and semiformal organizations like churches and schools.
3) Public, where residents have relationships with institutions outside the neighborhood, such as government.
An organized community would be strong in all three areas.
Informal neighborhood ties accounted for much of the effects of the three traditional indicators of disorganization.

48
Q

Private control

A

Consisting of the density and strength of relationships between family and friends in an area.

49
Q

Parochial control

A

Refers to the relationships between residents and semiformal organizations like churches and schools.

50
Q

Public control

A

Where residents have relationships with institutions outside the neighborhood, such as government.

51
Q

Collective efficacy

A

When residents are proactive in protecting interests of their community, leads to social cohesion and willingness to intervene.

52
Q

Social capital

A

Informal social networks within communities that enable community tasks to get done.

53
Q

Routine Activities theory (The copy and pasted one)

A

Reviewed as a leading rational choice perspective that is distinct from deterrence;
Felson & Cohen; assumes offenders are motivated
key concepts: crime triangle
Has: logical consistency, wide scope, and parsimony
Testability: CPTED, opportunity theory, situational crime prevention, designing out crime
Empirical Validity: strong support
Policy Implications: Practical - safe neighborhood, avoiding hot spots; Theoretical - neighborhood watch, curfews, time bars close, liquor store hours;
TARGET HARDENING

54
Q

Routine Activities theory

A

Crime is relatively unaffected by social causes such as poverty, inequality and unemployment.

55
Q

Situational Crime Prevention

A

AKA Target Hardening. The name given by criminologists to crime prevention strategies that are aimed at reducing the criminal opportunities which arise from the routines of everyday life.

56
Q

Anomie

A

A state or a condition in society in which the norms are no longer effective in regulating behavior; is also the result of a disjunction between people’s aspirations and their ability to achieve these goals.

57
Q

1.Social Integration & 2.Regulation

A

1) Refers to the principles by which individuals or actors are related to one another in a society.
2) Aimed at restricting behaviors that directly threaten public health, safety welfare or well being.

58
Q

General Strain Theory

A

Robert Agnew. Expands the sources of strain from one cause to three. Stated that it is unlikely that a single instance of strain would be a problem, but rather an accumulation of events fitting into the categories below.

1) The inability to achieve positively valued goals
2) The removal of, or threat to remove, positively valued stimuli
3) To present a threat to one with noxious or negatively valued stimuli

59
Q

Institutional Anomie Theory

A

Proposed by Messner and Rosenfeld in 1994. … In par- ticular, the higher crime rate is attributed to the cultural pressure exerted by economic goals and the “American dream,” coupled with weakened controls of noneconomic social institutions.

60
Q

Shaw and McKay

A

Social Disorganization Theory.

61
Q

Park and Burgess

A

Chicago and concentric zones.

62
Q

Robert K. Merton

A

Anomie and forms of deviance as adaptions.

63
Q

Agnew

A

General Strain Theory

64
Q

Emile Durkheim

A

Socialization and social ties; integration and regulation; collective conscience; anomie/normlessness

65
Q

Learning Theories

A

Strand of criminological theory emphasizing the socialization processes involving level of definitions favorable to crime versus conventional definitions; reference group, subculture, and environment are important, additionally relevant factors; differential association is a fundamental assumption; Akers is one of the leading contemporary learning theories.

66
Q

Differential Association Theory

A

Through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behavior. Is the most talked about of the learning theories of deviance.

67
Q

Subculture

A

A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture.

68
Q

Techniques and Neutralization

A

Theoretical series of methods by which those who commit illegitimate acts temporarily neutralize certain values within themselves which would normally prohibit them from carrying out such acts, such as morality, obligation to abide by the law, and so on.

69
Q

1.Excuses and 2.Justifications

A

1) Admit act is bad, but don’t accept full responsibility.

2) Deny act as wrong, but suggest act was appropriate. Accept full responsibility for actions.

70
Q

Hegemonic Masculinity

A

Norms & Values upheld as ideal for all males.

71
Q

Sex

A

Biological

72
Q

Gender

A

Social, psychological, & cultural attributes of masculinity & femininity. Socially constructed.

Sociology of Crime (1 decks)

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