Introductory Criminology Flashcards
1
Q
What is Criminology?
A
Body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon
-Making laws, breaking laws, reacting towards breaking laws
Law, Crime, Treatment
2
Q
What is Criminal Justice?
A
Body of knowledge to understand how police, courts, and corrections operates.
-Often with the aim of making the systems more effective
3
Q
What is Deviance?
A
Body of knowledge to understand why people engage in deviant behavior and reactions to it.
-Deviant behavior: goes against social norms.
-Not all deviant behavior is criminal and not all criminal behavior is deviant
4
Q
What was criminal behavior attributed to in the middle ages?
A
It was attributed to witchcraft due to violating societal and religious norms
5
Q
What happened during classical criminology?
A
Utilitarianism
-People choose to act criminally or lawfully
-People choose based on which has less work for a larger payoff
-Fear of punishment can be used to distinctiveness and control criminal behavior
6
Q
What happened to criminology in the 19th century positivism?
A
-External factors were believed to be a function of human behavior
-Use of scientific method to explore and solve problems…like crime
7
Q
What was the main points during positivist criminology?
A
-Applied positivist thinking to understanding crime
-Namely biological and psychological explanations (biological determinism)
-Phrenology
-Atavistic anomalies (traits)
8
Q
What did Emile Durkheim feel about Sociological Criminology?
A
-Spurred by industrial revolution, increasing urbanization, and beginning of sociological thought
-Cartographic School: mapping social factors and crime
-Acknowledged omnipresence of crime
-With move to an industrialized society, people are unsure of their social order and norms.
9
Q
What were the concerns for the Chicago School?
A
-Social ecology – urban mapping, social disorganization
-Concentric Zone of Deviance
-Socialization: how relationships impact crime and deviance
10
Q
What were the main ideas of Conflict Criminology?
A
-Based on Marxist thinking
-Society is structured to develop and produce goods, and the exploitation of the working classes leads to conflict
-Crime is a product of economic inequality
11
Q
What are the forces of each era of Criminology?
A
Classical - Situational Forces
Biological/Psychological - Internal Forces
Structural - Ecological Forces
Process - Socialization Forces
Conflict - Economic and Political Forces
Integrated - Multiple Forces
12
Q
What are some ways for social control (not punishment)?
A
-Money
-Propaganda
-Social Media
-Education
-Work
13
Q
What are 5 ways a crime can be defined?
A
-Reported to police
-Charges
-Successful conviction
-Reported in victimization survey
-Self reported criminal activity in anonymous crime survey
14
Q
What 5 factors affect crime rates?
A
-Report sensitive
-Policing sensitive
-Definition sensitive
-Media sensitive
-Actual trends in data
15
Q
What does Uniform Crime reports feed into?
A
It feeds into the Crime Severity Index
16
Q
What kind of data is used for uniform crime reports?
A
Aggregate data
17
Q
How is uniform crime reports collected in 4 different ways?
A
-Records founded crimes
-Raw figures ( counting number of crimes)
-Percentage change over time (50% increase, 10% decrease)
-Crime rate (x/100,000 people)
18
Q
What 5 things affect the accuracy of the uniform crime reports and crime severity index?
A
-Reporting practices
-Law enforcement practices
-Changes in legal definitions
-Media practices
-Methodological issues
19
Q
What is the crime severity index?
A
The Crime Severity Index (CSI) measures changes in the level of severity of crime in Canada from year to year. In
20
Q
What are self report surveys?
A
-Asks people about their experiences of crime ( as victims and perpetrators)
-Anonymous questionnaires
-Can ask about behavior, intent, attitudes
21
Q
What are victimization surveys?
A
-Subset of self-report surveys, asking about victimization
-General Social Survey (victimization is a part of the cycle)
22
Q
What is a benefit of self-report surveys?
A
Better at showing distribution of criminal behavior
23
Q
What are 5 ways we can get information to measure crime?
A
-Commissions of inquiry
-Meta-analysis
-Systematic review
-Data mining
-Crime mapping
24
Q
What is correlation?
A
A statistical measure that expresses the extent to which two variables are linearly related
25
What is causation?
The relationship between cause and effect
26
What are a few things that have been linked to crime?
-Ecology
-Social problems
-Age
-Gender
-Race and Indigenous peoples
-Culture
-Guns
-Economy
-Drugs
-Justice
-Policies
27
What is ecology?
The study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment;
28
What is the ecology of crime?
-Day/season/climate
-Temperature
-Population density
-Region
29
What are some correlations between age and crime?
-People tend to age out of crime
-Early onset criminality leads to chronic criminality
-Young adults commit the most crime
30
What are 4 correlations between gender and crime?
-Men have higher crime rates than women
-Women have higher involvement in prostitution, fraud, theft
-Men have higher involvement in sexual assault, weapons, B&E
-Trends in offending and victimization are different across gender
31
What is victim precipitation theory?
Some people initiate the confrontation that leads to injury/death/victimization
32
What is active precipitation?
“direct, positive precipitator” in the crime
33
What is passive precipitation?
Personal characteristic that threatens / encourages victimization
34
What are lifestyle theories?
Some lifestyles increase exposure to potential victimization
35
What is the main ideas of Equivalent Group Hypothesis?
-Victims and criminals are equivalent groups – same group
-Conditions that predispose people to criminality also predispose them to victimization
-Victim-offender overlap
36
What is the main idea of the proximity hypothesis?
-Exposure and association with high-risk people in high-risk places at high-risk times increased risk of victimization
-“Wrong place at the wrong time”
37
What is the main ideas of the deviant place hypothesis?
-There are natural areas for crime, and crime will be here regardless
-“Transitional areas” that bridge commercial and residential
-Deviant Places
38
What is routine activity theory?
-Attempts to combine the interaction of the lifestyle theories
-Place, victim, offender
-Explains predatory crime
39
What are the 3 things needed for crime to happen according to routine activity theory?
-Lack of capable guardians (No police presence, absence of homeowners, no security systems)
-Motivated criminals (Teenage boys, unemployed, addict population)
-Suitable targets (Unlocked homes, expensive cars, easily transportable goods)
40
What are 5 things included in the victims right movements?
-Social programs
-Victim-impact statements
-Compensation
-Victim supports – court and crisis response
-Restorative justice
41
What are 6 things Criminologists study?
-Criminal Statistics
-Sociology of Law
-Theory Construction
-Criminal Behavior Systems
-Penology
-Victimology
42
What are 6 form of research for Criminology?
-Survey Research
-Longitudinal Research (cohort)
-Aggregate Data Research
-Experimental Research
-Analyzing Policy
-Observational and Interview data (ethnographic)
43
What are 3 characteristics of consensus view?
-The law defines crime
-Agreement exists on outlawed behavior
-Laws apply to all citizens equally
44
What are 4 ideas of the conflict view?
-The law is a tool of the ruling class
-Crime is a politically defined concept
-"Real crimes" are not outlawed
-The law is used to control the underclass
45
What are 3 ideas of the Interactionalist view?
-Moral entrepreneurs define crime
-Crimes are illegal because society defines them that way
-Criminal labels are life-transforming events
46
What is quantitative victimology?
UCR can give an indication, victimization surveys show more accurate, and higher rates of crime
47
What is qualitative victimology?
Victimization studies can describe experiences of crime, moving through the CJS, and ongoing impacts
48
What are the costs of victimization?
-Victim costs (Personal loss, Medical care, Property, Earnings and Economic)
-CJS costs (Police, Legal, and Community Programs)
-Crime Career Costs (Loss of Legal Activities)
-Intangible (Pain and suffering, Quality of life, Psychological costs)
49
What is victim blaming?
Putting some/all of the responsibility of the crime onto the victim and away from the perpetrator
50
What is the main idea of positivist victimology?
Criminal behavior as a product of social, biological, psychological and economic forces
51
What is the main idea of critical victimology?
Criminal behavior is caused by economic inequality, and law defined by those in power
52
What are 4 personal responses to victimization?
-Recognize that people have reasons (valid ones) for not reporting
-Target-hardening… Crime displacement
-Fighting back “stand your ground” laws
-Community organization (transformative justice)
53
What are Rational Choice Theories?
The idea that people rationally decide the benefit outweighs risk of being caught and punished
54
What is the micro perspective of rational choice theory?
Micro perspective – Individual decisions to commit crime or deviant acts
55
What is the macro perspective of routine activity theory?
Macro perspective – social and economic reasons to explain crime
56
What is Jack Katz idea about crime?
"Crime is Sexy"
-Crime has an emotional appeal
(Getting away with it, thrill of the chase, control over a victim, power)
57
What are 2 problems with situational crime prevention?
-Motivated criminals can adjust to the “new normal” – extinction
-Motivated criminals move somewhere else – crime displacement
58
What are 2 benefits of situational crime prevention?
-Can reduce other crimes – diffusion of benefits
-Can impact other surrounding areas - discouragement
59
What 2 things does Situational Crime Prevention do?
-Prevent crime by removing, or making targets less suitable
-Prevent crime by increasing guardians
60
What is general detterence?
Preventing crime by convincing potential offenders that the pains outweigh the benefits
61
What 3 things can create deterrence?
-Certainty of punishment
-Severity of punishment
-Celerity of punishment
62
Who founded psychoanalytic theory?
Freud
63
What are the main ideas of psychoanalytic theory?
-Development of unconscious personality in childhood affects lifetime behavior
-Criminals have weak egos and damaged personalities
-Linked to conflict that occurs during stages of development
64
What is a psycho-dynamic perspective?
Criminality viewed as a psychosis that prevents people from seeing affect on victims and controlling impulses
65
What theory did Bandura become the founder of?
Social Learning Theory
66
What is Social Learning Theory?
Criminal behavior is learned through human interaction
67
Who played a role in the idea of Cognitive Theory?
Kohlberg
68
What is Cognitive Theory?
-Moral development: serious offenders have different moral orientations than law-abiding citizens. Focuses on reasoning processes, and how we perceive the world
-Information processing – violence-prone people encode information incorrectly.
Learned problematic scripts that emphasize aggression
69
What is victimology?
“The study of the harm done to victims and their role in criminal transactions”
70
What is active precipitation?
“direct, positive precipitator” in the crime
71
What is passive percipitation?
Passive precipitation – personal characteristic that threatens / encourages victimization
72
What is victim percipitation theory?
Some people initiate the confrontation that leads to injury/death/victimization
73
What is the main idea of classical criminology?
People have free will, choose crime rationally, and are controlled by the fear of sanctions
74
What is the idea of "crime pays"?
It is the idea that the profits of the crime outweighs the cost of the crime which "justifies" it
75
What are to aspects of specific deterrence?
-Criminal sanctions should be so powerful that criminals never repeat the criminal act
-Works for some, but in general punishments do not have a deterrence effect for those who experience the punishment
76
77
What is re-integrative shaming theory?
Communicates shame to a wrongdoer in a way that encourages him or her to desist; stigmatization shames in a way that makes things worse
78
What is dis-integrative shaming theory?
the focus is not only on the actual act committed, but on the person as a whole
79
What are the goals of incapacitation strategies?
Seeks to reduce crime by controlling the motivated offender through incarceration/incapacitation
80
What is the idea of "just deserts"?
Punishment is necessary to preserve what crime takes away or unstabilizes
81
What are 3 ideas that are part of "just deserts"?
-People who violate other’s rights deserve punishment
-We should not add to human suffering, punishment makes those punished suffer
-Punishment is sometimes necessary to prevent more misery than it inflicts
82
What are somatypes?
Analyzed body types – Mesomorphs (higher percentage of muscle than body fat), Endomorphs (softer bodies with curves), Ectomorphs )an individual with long, lean muscles, arms, and legs)
83
What are trait theories?
Look at biological or psychological causes of criminality
-ie. intelligence, personality, chemicals, genetics.... AND family, education, neighborhood
~Combination of protective factors and risk factors
84
What is nature vs nurture?
“Nature” means innate biological factors (namely genetics), while “nurture” can refer to upbringing or life experience more generally.
-Looking at these factors affect a persons life and/or choices
85
What are some biochemical factors?
-Nutritional deficiencies (related to diet, addiction, lifestyle)
-Sugar: either high sugar diets or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
-Hormones (androgens, PMS)
-Allergies (linked to hyperactivity)
-Contaminants (lead, copper, mercury, cadmium, etc)
86
What is neurological theory?
People committing crime often have brain impairment (causing antisocial behaviour)
87
What are some neurological factors?
-FASD
-Minimal Brain Dysfunction
-ADHD (in combination with below-average writing and verbal abilities)
-Traumatic Brain injury, tumours, other nervous system diseases
88
What is genetic theory?
Criminal traits and predispositions are inherited
89
What are 2 studies that are in regards to genetic theory?
Includes research like longitudinal twin and sibling studies
90
What is evolutionary theory?
As we have evolved, some traits have becoming ingrained
91
What is explained and studied in genetic theory?
-Explains gender differences in crime
-Research focuses on aggression and gender
92
What are 2 examples of theories within the evolutionary theory?
-Selection theory
-Cheater theory
93
What is eugenics?
Eugenics is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to "improve" the genetic quality of a human population
94
What are some examples of eugenics?
Forced steralization of Indigenous women, people with disabilities, non-aryan races during WWII, etc
95
What is psycho-dynamic perspective (psychoanalytic theory)?
Psychodynamic theory (sometimes called psychoanalytic theory) is the development of unconscious personality in childhood affects lifetime behavior
96
What are some ideas attributed to psycho-dynamic perspective (psychoanalytic theory)?
-Criminals have weak egos and damaged personalities
-Linked to conflict that occurs during stages of development
-Criminality viewed as a psychosis that prevents people from seeing affect on victims and controlling impulses
97
What is social learning theory?
-We are not born violent, but learn to be violent through behavior modelling
-If we see people being rewarded for certain acts, we will copy them (and vise versa for punishment)
98
What is cognitive theory?
-Focuses on reasoning processes, and how we perceive the world
-Kohlberg – moral development: serious offenders have different moral orientations than law-abiding citizens
-Information processing – violence-prone people encode information incorrectly.
-Learned problematic scripts that emphasize aggression
99
What is sociological criminology?
The study of patterns of behavior within social structure – how they can be predicted and controlled
100
What is the main focus of social structure theories?
-The effects of social structure on crime
-Social structure → class stratification or social classes
-Namely – economic inequality
101
What is social disorganization theory?
Focuses on conditions in the environment:
~Links crime rates to neighborhood characteristics or neighborhood disorganization
-Deteriorated
-Inadequate social control
-Law-violating gangs and groups
-Conflicting social values
102
What is social strain theory (anomie theories)?
Focuses on conflict between goals and means:
-Unequal distribution of wealth and power
-Class frustration and anger
-Alternative methods of achievement
103
What is cultural deviance theory?
Combines social disorganization theory and strain theory:
-Development of subcultures as a result of disorganization and stress
-Sub-cultural values in opposition to conventional values
-For people who cannot meet the demands/goals of mainstream society, a subculture emerges
104
What is concentric zone theory?
Crime occurs in transitional zones
105
What is social ecology?
Social ecology studies relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions.
106
What is anomie ecology?
The lack of normal ethical or social standards.The focus is on the link between crime and the social structure of society.
107
What are 8 things social ecology is connected to?
-Community deterioration (disorganization)
-Employment – long term unemployment, limited opportunities
-Fear – deterioration and disorganization give the perception of danger
-Siege mentality (us vs them)
-Population turnover or rapid development or change
-Poverty (as people get money/resources, they leave)
-Weak social control (informal, institutional, public)
-Weak social supports – social altruism
108
What are 5 responses to lock out?
-Conformity
-Innovation
-Ritualism
-Retreatism
-Rebellion
109
What are the 7 theories (Choice, Trait, Social Structure Theories)?
-Routine Activity Theory
-Rational Choice Theory
-Biosocial Theories
-Psychological Theories
-Concentric Zone Theory
-Social Ecology School (theories)
-Anomie (strain) Theory
110
What is relative deprivation theory?
People who live in poverty, in close proximity to more affluent people, experience more strain
111
What is general strain theory (agnew)?
Ability to cope with strain and resulting negative affective states can result in criminality
112
What are 4 thing that are considered "strain"?
-Failure to achieve goals of society (Merton’s theory)
-Disconnect between expectations and achievements – relative deprivation
-Removal/loss of positive stimulus or supports
-Negative stimulus (conflict, stressful life events)
113
What is focal concern theory?
People who obey “street rules” are in conflict with dominant culture
114
What are the focal concerns of focal concern theory?
-Toughness
-Excitement
-Autonomy
-Smarts
115
What is the theory of delinquent subcultures?
-Cannot achieve conventional success – cannot “measure up” to middle class standards
-Result of socialization, not because middle class is “closed”
116
What is the theory of differential oppurtunity?
People in lower classes have different opportunities, or means, to achieve conventional success
117
What is the focus of social pattern theories?
Study of operations of social institutions
118
What 4 factors contribute to social processes?
-Family relations
-Institutional Involvement
-Peer relations
-Educational experience
119
Who is responsible for social learning theory?
Bandura
120
What are 8 parts differential association theory?
-Crime is learned (just like other behaviors)
-Crime is learned through interaction with others
-Learning crime happens in intimate personal groups
-Learning crime includes techniques, rationalizations, attitudes
-We come into contact with people who have different ideas about obeying legal rules
-If acquaintances have values/beliefs that are favorable to crime, we perceive more benefits of crime
-Differential associations vary in intensity, frequency, duration, priority
-Learning concepts favorable to criminality produces criminal behavior
121
What is differential reinforcement theory?
-Combines differential association with psychological learning theories (ie. operant conditioning)
-The same learning process occurs for deviant and conventional behaviour
~Direct conditioning (rewards and punishments)
~Imitation
~~Both weigh more heavily for the importance/admiration in the relationship
122
What is neutralization theory?
Most people hold conventional values, but neutralize them to enable drift between deviant and conventional behavior
123
What are subterranean values?
Subterranean values: some immoral values that run deep in society but are publicly condemned
124
What are 5 techniques of neutralization?
1. Defense of necessity
2. Metaphor of the ledger
3. Denial of law’s necessity
4. Claim that everyone else is doing it
5. Claim of entitlement
125
What is social control theories?
People obey the law because of a commitment to conformity
126
What is containment theory?
Sufficiently positive self-image/self-esteem can protect people from developing criminality
127
What are 4 examples of internal pushes (containment theory)?
-Restlessness
-Rebellion
-Discontent
-Hostility
128
What are 3 examples of external pressures (containment theory)?
-Poverty
-Minority status
-Limited opportunities
129
What are 3 examples of external pulls (containment theory)?
-Deviant peers
-Subcultures
-Media
130
What replaced containment theory in the 1960s?
Hirschi's Social Control Theory
131
What is the idea behind Hirschi's Social Control Theory?
Criminality is linked to weakening of social bonds / social capital
132
What is labelling theories?
Society creates deviants / criminals through the labelling of certain behaviors, and eventually the people who do these behaviors, as deviant / criminal
133
What is differential enforcement?
The law is created – deviance is defined – by people in power
As a result it benefits the powerful and punishes the powerless
134
What does differential enforcement explain?
Explains prevalence (and lack of prosecution) of white-collar crimes, over policing/incarceration of lower-class and racialized groups
135
What is primary deviance?
Unsanctioned / unpunished
136
What is secondary deviance?
Sanctioned / punished and a label is applied
137
What is retrospective reading?
“Rewriting” the past to fit the label
138
What is general deviance theory?
Sanctions lead to weaker social bonds, poor self-image
139
What is differential social control?
-A person’s self-image reflects the judgements or perceptions of others
-Focus on perceived labels from their significant others, and less about society’s labels
140
What are latent trait theories?
“Hidden” traits that can lie under the surface throughout life
141
What are life course theories?
How criminality and crime patterns change over time
142
What is the social development model?
Social Development Model – social control, social learning, social structure models come together
