juvenile delinquency 1 Flashcards
Moral Panic
heightened concern over an issue that is not in line with its seriousness or frequency of occurrence in the world
Delinquency
an act committed by an individual under the age of 18 that violates the penal code of the region where the act is committed
Status offenses
acts that are considered problematic because of the age of the person carrying them out
Normative conception of delinquency
conception that assumes that there is a general set of norms of behavior, conduct, and conditions with which we can agree
Folkways
everyday norms that do not generate much uproar if they are violated
Mores
moral norms that may generate more outrage if broken
Law
strongest norms because they are backed by official sanctions
Social constructivist conception of delinquency
popular ideas about delinquency that are created and influenced by social, political, and economic factors that change over time
Critical conception of delinquency
conception that critiques the existing social system that creates norms of oppression
The cradle to prison pipeline
refers to the many issues for children that make it more likely they will be incarcerated at some stage in their lives
Social differentiation
process by which we define, describe, and distinguish people based on different categories
Ascribed category
category an individual is born into and cannot change
Achieved category
flexible category that individuals may be able to move in and out of
The sociological imagination
the only way to truly understand the experiences of the individual is to first understand the societal, institutional, historical conditions that individual is living under
Social constructionist
popular ideas about delinquency that are created and influenced by social, political, and economic factors, and that change over time
Sampling
smaller group that is representative of the whole
Random sample
each individual in the population has an equally likely chance of making it into the sample
Ethnography
studying by integrating into the population you’re studying
Ethical and moral dilemmas
if you observe juveniles committing a crime, what do you do?
Qualitative data
descriptive, not measured
Inductive reasoning
reasoning that moves from specific observations to broader generalizations based on those observations
Quantitative data
data on number scale
deductive reasoning
reasoning from general ideas to more specific observations (use of hypothesis)
Uniform crime report
official data in the form of crimes known to the police or arrests collected by the FBI
Clearance rate
rate at which a certain crime category is closed because of arrest or exceptional means
National incident based reporting system
expands the number of offenses reported; distinguishes between attempted and completed crimes; reports all crimes committed at the same time
National crime victimization survey
primary US source of data on criminal victimization
Self report surveys
data collection method in which respondents select the responses themselves, usually in questionnaire format
National longitudinal survey of youth
focuses on actual behaviors of youth, but is not equally valid and reliable across race, gender, and age
Ecological fallacy
mistake of making an inference about an individual based on aggregate data for the group
Microlevel theories
theories of delinquency that focus on the individual
Normative theory
assumes that consensus is a basic fact of organized life
Free will
individuals weigh the costs and benefits of all their actions and act when benefits > costs
Certainty of punishment
most important element in deterrence; assumption that individuals perceive a high likelihood of being caught and punished, they will not engage
Celerity of punishment
assumes that the faster a punishment occurs, the more likely the individual will not engage in that behavior in the future
