Final Exam (Ch 7-13) Flashcards
What is theory?
A set of concepts and the relationships among these concepts.
Define hypothesis.
A statement about the dirction of the relationship between two concepts.
Why do we use theory?
To explain why crimes are committed and who commits them.
Acronym: LC,P,S,T,ES.PU
What are the six charachterisics of a good theory?
- Logical consistency : Do the propositions (statements) made within the theory make sense with one another
- Parsimonious:
A theory should contain the minimum number of concepts / statements that is required to understand the phenomenon - Scope: How much of a given phenomenon the theory seeks to explain.
Larger the scope the stronger the theory - Testable :Can you conduct empirical tests to verify the validity (i.e., the ‘truth’) of the theory.
- Empirical support: A theory is only valid if studies empirically verify its concepts and their proposed relationships.
- Practical Utility: A good theory will contain predictions that can be used to prevent crime and/or perform interventions
What is not a characterstic of a good theory?
Subjectivity
Think the chart at the begining of every class
What are the seven theoretical classifications?
- Classical school
- Positivist School
- Biological
- Psychological
- Sociological
- Consensus
- Conflict
What was the timeline of Classical and Pre-Classical school?
Pre-Classical: Pre 18th century
Classical: During the 18th century
Think early stages of evolution
What theory took place in the 19th century?
Early Positivist
Acronym is SCI
Which three theories took place in the 20th century?
Early: Sociological Positivist
Mid: Conflict perspective
Late: Integrated perspectives
Main Idea, Response and Limitation
Pre Classical
Main Idea: Possessed by demon/evil spirit
Response: Extreme things carried out by religious authority(forced confessions, toture, dealth penalty)
Limitation: No laws or safegaurds to protect accused rights
Main Idea, Response and Limitation
Classical School
Main Idea: Free will, choice to commit crime
Response: Swift,Certain and severe punishments
Limitation: oversimplified in effectiveness of deterrence
JB & CB
Who were the two key theorist in Classical school?
Jeremy Bentham & Cesare Beccaria
What was Benthams belief?
- Had rational choice
- Will base it on if it brings pleasure or pain
What was Beccarias belief?
- That certain,swift and severe punishments would deter crime
- Foundation of the modern CJS
- Crime=Punishment
Define specific deterrence.
Punshiment that prevents the offenders from reoffending in the future
Death penalty, life sentence
What is general deterrence?
Punishment to deter socity from engaging in crime
public arrest
Define Effective deterrence.
- Certain: how likely you will be caught
- Swift: how likely someone you be punished
- Severe: how severe is the sentence
Classical theorist attribute criminality to:
Free and Rational choice
Main Idea, Response, Limitation
Early Positivist school.
Main Idea: Crime is inherited genetically
Response: Sterilization, indeterminate sentence
Limitation:Supports eugenics and didnt account for sociological factors
What is the Criminal Man of 1876?
Applied scientific method to study criminaly by measuring the skulls and bodies of prisoners.
What did Ceseare Lombroso believe?
- Darwins theory of eveolution
- Criminals were evolutionary throwacks and can be identified through physical attributes
How were criminals identified by atavistic stigmata?
- Strong jaws
- Strong K-9 teeth
- Reseading hairlines
- Big ears
- Tattoos
- Long arms
Define the Medical Model.
Crime is a disease and needed treatment or rehab
An early positivist theorist is most likely to suggest which of the following explanations for a criminal’s behaviour?
The individual is a throwback to an earlier stage of evolution
Acronym EME
What are the three biological somatotypes?
- Endomorph (Obtuse & Outgoing)
- Mesomorph (Muscular,Aggressive & Most likely to be criminal)
- Ectomorph (Skinny & Withdrawn)
What is Heritability?
Focus on genetic predispositions for crime
What is the differences between Monozygotic and Dyzygotic twins?
Monozygotic : 1 sperm and 1 egg, Genetically identical
Dyzygotic: 2 sperm and 2 egg, No more genetically similar than siblings
How do twin studies compare traits of DZ and MZ twins?
Concordance rates
What is concordance relating to twins?
In random sample of pairs the proportion of pairs that share certain charcteristics.
TWINS
Define or explain each of the following terms. Each response should consist of three or four sentences or several points (point form or diagrams are acceptable). Each correct response is worth up to two marks
- MZ twins are the result of 1 sperm and 1 egg that splits into two producing genetically identical twins that share 100% of the 1% of DNA that explains variation in characteristics.
- DZ twins are the result of 2 sperm and 2 eggs that produce twins that are no more genetically similar than full siblings, sharing 50% of the 1% of DNA that explains variation in characteristics.
- We look at concordance rates between MZ and DZ twins to determine the heritability of a trait
- Twins studies have found a higher rate of concordance for criminality amongst MZ twins compared to DZ twins.
What is the main limitation of twin studies?
Shared environment but this concern is eliminated with adoption student
What is FASD?
Prenatal alcohol exposure
Why are people with FASD overrepresented?
Associated with poor reasoning, judgement, impulsivity, and inability to learn/undertsand consequences.
What things may factor into peoples life with FASD?
Childcare, alcohol use, drug use, caregiver issues, fostercare, mental health.
How are TBI and Crime related?
If the frontal lobe is damaged it can result in a lack of control over behavior, and TBIs can change personalities to more criminality like.
What is the link between intelligence and crime?
Lower IQ is related to being involved in crime.
What was the significance of the study of the Kallikaks conducted by Henry Goddard?
It was one of the first studies linking low IQ (feeblemindedness) to heredity, and this was thought to be a risk factor for criminality
What is the contempary prespective?
Intelligence has an indirect effect on criminality through employment
What are psychoanalysis components of a personality?
- Id: Impulsive and instinctual. Maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
- Superego: Moral compass, conscience, and ethical principles
- Ego: Regulator between the id and superego. Delay gratification until it can be achieved in socially acceptable ways.
What are the three learning theories?
1) Classical Conditioning
2) Operant Conditioning
3) Social Cognitivism (Social Learning Theory)
Define Classical Conditioning.
- When people learn give a certain response based on stimuli through association
- Dog hears bell = salivation because that means they are being given food
Operant Conditioning.
- Learning to produce or withhold a particular response due to its consequences
- Reinforcement and punishment
Social Cognitivism.
- Learning through social environments
- The clown doll, kids would use aggression towards it after seeing someone punch the doll.
Who and Perspective
What is the root of sociological positivism?
Emile Durkheim
Rejected the positivist perspectives: crime was inherited deficit.
What did Emile Durkheim argue?
Crime was normal and served a social function.
What does society require to be cohesive?
Integration and Regulation
What is an anomie?
When a person commits a crime because there is no reason not to commit crime
Where and when was the first school of sociology?
Chicago in 1892
What did the sociology argue?
The nature of the neigbourhood not the nature.Crime was seen as a product of the environment.
For Chicago school theorists, the main cause of crime was rooted in
The neighbourhood rather than the person.
What are the two perspectives derived from durkheim and the subsections?
- Anomie and Strain
-Anomie-Strain(Merton), General Strain Theory (Agnew), The Culture of the gang (Cohen), Differential oppurtunity (Cloward & Ohlin) - Social Control: social bond (hirshi), General Theory of crime (Gottfredson and Hirishi)
What is the Anomie Strain (Merton)?
Gap between cultural goals of american society and access to legitmate ways to acheive this dream.n
Acronym CIRRR
What are the five modes of adaptiona according to the Anomie strain (Merton)
- Conformity (low risk of crime)
- Innovation (most likley to be a criminal)
- Ritualism (works to make ends meet)
- Retreatism (Want to drop out of society)
- Rebellion (over throw the current system)
ACRONYM: FRP
What are the three strains everyone suffers from?
- Failure to achieve positively valued goals
- Removal of a positively valued stimuli
- Presentation of a noxious stimuli
Define General Strain Theory (Agnew).
All people suffer strain and frustration not just those living in poverty.
Define the The Culture of the gang (Cohen).
Focused on how different subcultured teenage boys handle strain in their lives.
What are the three boy subcultures and how do they handle strain?
Delinquent Boy: Drops out of school and turns to crime, Primary cause of gangs, settting social standards that are easy to meet.
Corner Boy: Knows he is in the lower class but makes the best life he can there.
College Boy: Focus’s on himself and overcoming challenges in the middle class even though it is unlikely.
What is the Differential oppurtunity (Cloward & Ohlin)?
People of lower class lack the ability to get legitmate oppurtunity(School)
acronym CCR
What is the three subcultures of Differential oppurtunity?
Criminal Subculture:Formed in lower class neighbourhoods that have structured organized adult crime.
Conflict Subculture: Formed in lower class neighbourhoods that have weak stability and limited oppurtunity to learn crime.
Retreatist Subculture: Exist in bothorganized/disorganized lower-class neighbourhoods. Focuson the buying/selling illegal drugs to retreat from strain/frustration
What did General Theory of crime (Gottfredson and Hirishi) believe?
Argued that low self-control could explain ”all crime, all the time. Low self control is developed or failed to develop by age 10(after that it will not change)
What are the perspectives from Chicago School?
Social Disorganization:
Concentric Zones (Parks & Burgess) & Social Disorganization (Shaw & McKay)
Learning:
Differential Association (Sutherland), Differential Association Reinforcement (Burgess & Akers) & Techniques of Neutralization (Sykes & Matza)
BD, T,WM,RZ, CZ
What are the 5 concentric zones?
Zone 1: Central business district
Zone 2: Zone in transition■ Most socially disorganized–
Zone 3: Workingmen’s homes–
Zone 4: Residential Zone–
Zone 5: Commuters zone
What is the theory on Social Disorganization?
Highest deliquency rates in the zone of tranistion and lowers as you move into the suburbs.
acronym P, EH, HPT
What is a zone in transition characterized by?
Poverty, Ethnic Heterogenity and HIgh poplutation turnover.
What prespective is the one that states crime is a learned thing just like riding a bike or tying shoes?
The differential association (Sutherland)
What is the DART (Burgess & Akers)?
Crim behavior is learned and added that its done by operant conditioning and social cognitivism.
ACRONYM DDDCA
What are 5 neutralization techniques?
- Denial of responsibility (“I didn’t do it!”)
- Denial of injury (“Nobody was hurt”)
- Denial of victim (“They had it coming”)
- Condemnation of the condemners (“Police and politicians commit crime, too”)
- Appeal to higher loyalties (“I did it to protect my gang…”)
What is critical crim?
Broad range of criminological theoriesand perspectives that desire tochallenge inequality
What does critical crim focus on?
Class, gender, ethnicity,sexuality, and other social categorieshave been used to maintainoppressive relations between groups
Between what years did critical crim become a thing?
1960-1970
What is the main question of Critical crim?
Why do the CJS focus so much on lower class crime while ignoring white collar crimes?
What is the foundation of critical crim?
The Karl Marx theory
Bourgeoisie: owners of the means of production
Proletariat: people who do the labour
Why does the state secure and maintain intrest in the bourgeosies?
Because of close ties that exist between those with political power and those with economic control/influence
What is Neo-Marxism?
Cater to the higher class people to while relying on the poor/lower class to commit crimes.
Are men or women more likely to commit a crime?
Men, they are more serious crime too
What crimes has the smallest gender gap?
Property crime
What three things is narrowing the gender gap?
Liberation hypothesis
Economic marginalization hypothesis
Changing criminal justice policies/practices
Why do men have higher crime frequency?
More exposure to socialization/social learning
Fill in the blank:
Women have reduced access to _________ _______
Illigitimate means
Define the Chivalry hypothesis.
Women are seen as weak and less responsible for their actions. Often given more lenient sentences.
What is the opposite of the Chivalry hypothesis?
The Evil women hypothesis: When women break traditional gender roles by engaging in crime they will begiven harsher sanctions and vilified.
What is crime choice theory?
Framework for understanding how decisions are made byindividuals by weighing the costs and benefits of an acti
What is rational choice theory?
The modern version of classical school that criminals make the rational choice to commit crimes after weighing out the pros and cons
What assumption is made about choice theory?
That people think about the benefits and costs of their actions.
Perceived benefits outweigh the perceived costs is the formula for which theory?
Crime Choice Theory
What are some monetary cost and benefits?
Cost: Gas to travel to crime, Equipment to commit crime
Benefits: Money made for doing crime,Stolen goods,Stolen info/data.
What are some Non-monetary costs and benefits?
Cost: Shame, guilt, worry, emotional effort
Benefit:Thrill, confidence boost, peer support,postive emotions
What is a bounded rationality?
A decision made in imperfect circumstances
What are the three types of poor decisions?
Impulsive: Made to quick w/o thinking
Imperfect :Based on wrong/poor info
Impaired:Made under the infuence of alochol,drugs or emotions
Non-monetary benefits include:
Emotions and other psychological aspects that are not easy to measure
What does the routine crime theory suggest?
Everyday routinesand legitimate activities arekey determinants of crimeopportunities. Crime typically occurs during our daily routines
What three things are required in the same time and space for a crime to be committed?
(1) motivated offenders
(2) Suitable targets:
(3) a lack of capable guardians: anything that could prevent crime.
Define or explain each of the following terms. Each response should consist of
three or four sentences or several points (point form or diagrams are acceptable).
Each correct response is worth up to two marks. CRAVED
CRAVED
Mnemonic (aka memory tool) to help us identify which property items are the most “suitable targets”Stands for highly desirable items that are frequently stolen.
–
Concealable (small/easily hidden)
–
Removable (portable, not a permanent fixture)
–
Available (not locked away, easily accessed)
–
Valuable (usually have monetary value)
–
Enjoyable (enjoyed by offenders if not stolen for money)
–
Disposable (can be easily fenced/sold)
How are Rational choice theory and routine activities theory connected?
The capable
gaurdian acts as an influence if they continue with the crime or not.
What is Crime Pattern Theory?
Argued that the physical environment influences criminal behaviour
Acronym NEP
What are the three concepts that describe how an offender moves in the physical enviroment?
Nodes:Main places people travel (Can be an attractor or generator)
Edges: Areas between land uses of different types where crime is more likely(major highways)
Pathways:The routes along which we, including potential offenders, travel between nodes
Define a Crime Generator?
Place that has a high volume of suitable targets potentialoffenders in places with lesscapable guardians (stadiums,skytrain stations)
Define a Crime Attractors?
Places that attract offendersbecause they have a reputation asgood places to commit crime (markets for illicit drugs, parking lots)
Acronym: IIRRR
What are the five techniques to situational crime prevention?
Increase the effort needed to commit a crime
Increase the risk (costs!) of crime
Reduce rewards (benefits!) of crime
Reduce provocations
Remove excuses
True or False
The identification of the age-crime curve is consistent across countries,time ethnic background,gender and measurement type
True
Fill in the blank
According to the Dual Taxonomy Theory, –% of offenders are life-course persistent, and –% of offenders are adolescent limited
10% and 90%
Define Criminal Career.
Longitudinal sequence of offences committed byan offender who has a detectable rate of offending during someperiod
What are the two dimensions of criminal career framework?
- Dimensions of the criminal career
- Varying risk factors
Define dimensions of the criminal career.
Onset: when does the person start offending (aka age of onset)?
Duration: how long does the person offend? Incidence: how frequently is the person offending?
Desistance: when does the person stop offending?
Define Varying Risk Factors.
The factors affecting each of these dimensions (onset, duration,incidence, desistance) might not be identical
What is the focus of development and Life course crim?
Continuty and Change
What is the link between DLC and the general crime?
Argued that there was continuity in offending over the life course.
Problem kids turn into deliquent teens and adults involved in crime.
Define Dual Taxonomy.
Proposes two “types” of offenders based on the well-established age-crime curve.
Adolescence-limited (AL)
Life-course-persistent (LCP) offenders
What are the causes of AL and LCP?
AL: Social mimicry
LCP:Neuropsychological deficits and a criminogenic environment
What is the percent of people who never commit crime?
1-3%
There is three
What are limitations to Dual taxonomy?
Not clear if LCP offenders are actually LIFE-LONG offenders or just persist into early/middle adulthood
No evidence that offenders can be described by justtwo groups
AL group doesn’t always seem to stop inadolescence
What is the age-grade theory?
Change AND stability across the life course– Turning points = change
Cumulative continuity of disadvantage = stability
What are some examples of Turning points and Cumulative continuity?
Turning Points: Marriage, Jobs,Military, Breakup
Cumulative Continuity: Breakup, not being able to get a job, getting pregnant
What is cotinuity and change linked too?
LCP: Continuity
AL: Change
Turning Points: Change
Continuity = cumulative continuity
