Mid term Flashcards
True or False Criminologists use Crime and Deviance interchangeably as they are defined as the same thing?
False
What year did the study of crime at universities begin in Canada?
1950’s at UBC
Define Criminology.
The study of crime.
Define Crime.
Violation of laws that are in place resulting in punishment.
What is Mala in Se?
Mala in Se: Morally and Universally wrong. Ex: Murder
What is Mala Prohibita?
Wrong because the law says it’s wrong. Ex: Speeding.
What is the Consensus perspective?
Consensus that the laws reflect society views.
What is the Conflict perspective?
Consensus that the laws conflict with society’s views.
The media focus on crime events which lead to the public to falsely believe that there is a threat or crisis is referred to as a:
Moral Panic
What is Media Effect?
Exposure to media will impact people behaviour.
Ex. If a child watches murder shows they will become a murderer.
What is a Moral entrepreneur?
A person, group or organization that takes the leads in identifying certain behaviours as deviant and in need of legal sanction.
What are the 5 characteristics of moral panic?
1)Concern (worried about the issue)
2) Hostility (hostile towards the group involved)
3) Consensus (idea that the threat is serious)
4) Disproportionality (not propionate to the actual threat)
5) Volatility ( it will disappear quickly with no explanation)
ex. killer clowns, murder hornets
What are the three perspectives of Moral Panic:
Grassroots: Genuine public concern about a problem
Elite engineering: Small, powerful groups deliberately set out to create moral panics to divert public attention away from serious social problems
Interest groups: act independently of one another and believe they’re acting in the best interest of society
What is an Ideal victim?
Weak in some capacity, legal routine activity, Blameless, unassociated with perp, subordinate to perp and ability to assert victim status.
What are the three types of offences?
Summary,Indictable and Hybrid offences.
What type of offence can be prosecuted by way of indictment or by way of summary conviction?
Hybrid Offence.
Which court hears 95% of cases in BC?
Provincial court of BC
Jamie was arrested at work for stealing from her employer. Jamie’s arrest in front of her peers is meant to act as…
General deterrence
Define Criminal law.
the entire set of principles, procedures and rules established by the government through the courts and criminal legislation to ensure public safety.
What is a summary offence?
Not that serious,
Ex: public nudity
6 months imprisonment and or $5000 fine,
Judge in provincial court, charges must be laid within 12 months of the commission of the offence
What is an Indictable offence?
More serious,
Ex: murder,
Can include life in prison,
Most have a choice on the court,
Provincial court judge or BC supreme court,
Judge or jury too
What is a hybrid offence?
Can be dealt with as either summary and indictable
What are the two elements of criminal law?
Actus Reus: the Criminal ACT or personal conduct in crime
Mens Rea: the mental element, the intent to commit a crime (AKA the guilty mind)
What is the crown counsel?
They can an decide if no charges should be laid, charges should be laid or an alternative court process may be done
What are the four structures of courts?
1) Supreme court of Canada
2) BC Court of Appeal
3) BC Supreme Court
4) BC Provincial Court
Define Supreme Court of Canada.
Highest appeal in Canada, 3/9 judges must be from Quebec.
Judges appointed by fed gov
Define BC court of appeal.
Highest court in BC, 3-5 judges appointed by fed government, possible decisions: affirm lower court decision,order new trial, modify original charges and modify sentence
Define BC Supreme Court.
Can hear all indictable offences where accused chose a trial in supreme court and appeals from provincial court
Define BC Provincial court.
Can hear most criminal matters. Judges appointed by provincial gov, 95% of criminal cases heard here
What are the 5 key court appearances?
1)Bail
2)Arraignment
3)Preliminary Inquiry
4)Trial
5)Sentencing
What are the three types of grounds when talking about bail?
Primary ground: accused in threat to the public,
Secondary ground: Accused may flee,
Tertiary ground: would the people lose confidence in the CJS if they are let out.
Define Arraignment.
Appearance to see if they plead guilty or not, if not summary trial date set, indictable chose a provincial court and date is set or BC supreme court is chosen preliminary inquiry. If guilty: no trial goes straight to sentencing.
What is the purpose of Preliminary Inquiry?
To see if there is sufficient evidence for a trial.
What two things must be proven in a criminal trial?
Actus reus and Mens rea beyond reasonable doubt.
What are the three types of sentencing?
Denunciation
Retribution
Deterrence
Define Denunciation.
Telling them what they did was wrong and they shouldn’t do that.
Define Retribution.
Retaliation type of thing for what they did. Eye for an Eye.
Define Detterence.
Punishment to show people they shouldn’t break that law or this will happen to them.
What are the two types of detterence?
Genereal: punishing one person so others don’t do it
Specific: punishing an individual to prevent them from doing it again(death penalty, lock them up for a long time)
What is Custodial sentencing?
Punishment that DOES NOT require the offender to be incarcerated.
What is a Custodial sentence?
Punishment requiring some sort of incarceration.
What are the four types of non-custodial sentences?
Absolute discharge: get off free essentially
Conditional discharge: basically forgiven for what you did following good behaviour for 1-3 years,
Fine and victim surcharge: pay specific amounts of money within a set time frame.
Probation: avoiding doing certain things or seeing certain people to avoid you reoffending, under supervision in the community,
Define Provincial correctional facilities.
Holds sentences less than 2 years.
Hold while awaiting trial or transfer to federal.
Administered by BC corrections.
Define Federal Correctional facilites.
2+ year sentences
Administered by correctional services of Canada
Release from federal: Full Parole= can apply afte serving ⅓ of their sentence or
Statutory release= automatically release after ⅔ of their sentence except life sentences or parole board believes you will reoffend
What is victimology?
Study of victims and trends in victimization
In 2008 what was the cost of victimization?
83$ billion
What is the definition of a victim?
A person harmed, injured or killed as a result of a crime, accident or other event or action
Victim status is tied to what?
Culpability: Deserving of blame; guilty or wrongdoing
What are the three categories of victims?
Primary victim: Direct: actually victimized suffered direct harm
Secondary victim: Indirect, witness or bystander
Tertiary victim: Indirect victim family or friends or primary victim
What is victim Precipitation?
The problematic assumption that victims can somehow influence or bring about their own victimization by exhibiting behaviours that provoke a victimizer.
In 1958 what did Wolfgang notice?
That ¼ of homicides the eventual victim was the initial aggressor.
What are three ways to measure crime rates?
Official report
Victimization report
Self-Report
Define official report.
The rates of crime for 100,000 residents, Rate=(Number of crimes divided by population) x 100,000
What is the UCR?
Uniform crime report
Overview: Developed in 1962, provides accurate and standardized measures to facilitate temporal and spatial comparisons
Collects summary data for almost 100 different criminal offences
Josh’s car was broken into, and a number of items were stolen. He is unsure exactlywhat is missing, so he decides not to report this crime to the police. Which of the following terms reflects how this crime will be considered in statistical reports?
Part of the dark figure of crime
How are crime rates counted?
Violent crime: count the # of victims
Property: Count the # of events
Mixed offences: Only the most serious offences
What is the crime severity index?
Asking people what crimes they’ve been victims of.
What is a self report?
Questionnaire if they’ve committed a crime in a paticular period of time
