Midterm 1 Flashcards by Anthony Laurence

Crime deviance continuum:

What determines seriousness? (CSH)

Degree of consensus that an act is wrong
Severity of societies response to that act
Degree of harm

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Three agencies of the Canadian Legal System (CLS)

The police
The courts
The correctional/prison system

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2 Theories of law creation

The consensus model
The conflict model

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What is the consensus model?

That law is a product of social agreement about what is morally wrong

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What is the conflict model?

That law originates out of conflict between specific groups that have different beliefs and interests.

Groups have different levels of power and those with the power want to protect their interests

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Cesare Beccaria’s (1764) An Essay on Crimes and Punishment was a critique of what?

Beccaria was criticizing the cruelty and inhumanity that characterized the criminal justice system of his day

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3 sources of crime statistics

UCR 2.0
Victimization Surveys
Self-report Surveys

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What are the limitations of the UCR?

Doesn’t show the dark figure of crime

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Why criminologist need crime data (DEERP)?

Description – How much and what types of crime

Explanation – Crime trends? Social or geographical patterns?

Evaluation – Is crime prevention or control working?

Risk Assessment – Location, time, environmental designs – how people can avoid risk, the more known about when and where crime is happening

Prediction – prediction = prevention and prevention is preferrable to punishment

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Adolphe Quetelet, one of the key figures of “The Statistical School” of crime theory found that crime is influenced by what?

Social Organization

society prepares the crime and the guilty parties are just the instruments by which it is executed

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What are the three key beliefs shared by Biological Theorists?

Criminals = biologically distinct from non-criminals
Biological difference exists at birth, predispose people to crime
Criminals can be identified by their differences (e.g. genetics, physical structure, brain structure)

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Explain Cesare Lombroso’s Theory of Atavism:

o What are stigmata?

Features of a criminals that defines them as atavism:

Big jaw

Hairy

Big cheek bones

Abnormal heads

Insensitive to pain

More neanderthal-like

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What is William Sheldon’s Somatotype Theory?

There are THREE different body types

Each with different temperaments and personalities

The idea was looking at different body types could predict personality traits

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What are the traits of an endomorph?

Round and soft

Easygoing and happy

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What are the traits of a mesomorph?

Well-built and muscular

Aggressive and reactive

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What are the traits of an ectomorph?

Tall and lean

Introverted and nervous

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Twin Studies:

o What do they examine?

o How do they examine this?

Used to examine nature vs nurture
Compares monozygotic (MZ) = identical twins

Share 100% genetics
Came from the same egg
With dizygotic twins (DZ)

Share 50% genetics
Two eggs
Relies on equal environments Assumption

MZ = equal genetics + equal environment
DZ = different genetics + equal environment

If genetics matters, we should see higher concordance between MZ and DZ

Concordance evidence behavior
60% for MZ twins
30% for DZ twins

What is concordance?

the probability that a pair of individuals will both have a certain characteristic (phenotypic trait)

Which version/allele of MAOA is related to crime?

What is this gene known as?

– The Warrior Gene (Monoamine Oxidase A)

Low activity allele vs high activity allele

Low activity MAOA = less neurotransmitter regulation

Low activity MAOA may be linked to crime

Possibly correlated to aggression and violence

Which version/allele of the 5-HTT gene is related to crime?

Short version of 5-HTT – less sensitive to punishment

Reduced serotonin
Increases risk of crime

Which version/allele of the DRD4 gene is related to crime?

Long version of DRD4 – more pleasure seeking

Need more dopamine to feel pleasure
Increased risk of crime

What is the Differential Susceptibility Perspective?

Individuals with certain genetic makeups are more sensitive to favorable and unfavorable environmental influences than those without these genetic makeups.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory:

o What are the three components of our personalities?

Id: our biological drives

Superego: ethical and moral dimensions of our personalities

Ego: mediates Id and Superego

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory:

o What are the three ways in which the Superego can be dysfunctional?

Weak Superego: Id dominates behaviors

Can act more primitive, more aggressive, led more by sexual desire

2.
Deviant Superego: learn consciousness from criminal influence

Someone grows up in a criminal world
Conscious is trained to value criminal behaviors

3.
Harsh Superego: Excessively strong conscience, leads to unconscious guilt

Crime occurs because people are inviting some form of punishment into their lives due to unconscious guilt

Eysenck’s PEN model: o What does PEN stand for?

Psychoticism Extroversion/Introversion Neuroticism/Stable

Eysenck’s PEN model: o Which two personality types in the PEN model are connected to crime?

Extroverted-Neuroticism Increases criminality due to aggression and risk seeking Extroversion and neuroticism on their own do not cause criminal behaviour

IQ and Crime: o According to Hirschi and Hindelang (1977), how big is the gap in IQ between offenders and non-offenders?

8-9 points

IQ and Crime: o What are the two explanations for why IQ is connected to crime?

1. Low IQ: worse at legitimate activities like school, getting a job etc. 2. Lower verbal IQ limits ability to develop high order cognitive processing (moral reasoning and empathy, when you have these you're less likely to commit crime)

Explain Cesare Lombroso’s Theory of Atavism: o What is atavism?

An evolutionary throwback to more primitive times. Specifically, it's a person who has not developed at the same pace as the rest of society.

What is Id and what does it do?

Id: our biological drives - Born with the Id

What is superego and what does it do?

Superego: ethical and moral dimensions of our personalities - Developed over time -Our conscience

What is ego and what does it do?

Ego: mediates Id and Superego - Deals with reality, makes decisions -Happens subconsciously

Drug & Alcohol Misuse and Crime o What are the four reasons drug and alcohol misuse are related to crime?

1. Efforts to support addiction can lead to crime (buying drugs, theft) 2. Committing crimes under the influence 3. Illegal 4. Involvement in drug markets can lead to criminal interactions

Spatial location o Is crime consistent across neighbourhoods, cities, provinces/territories, or countries?

What country you live in matters: Different countries have different contexts of crime What province or territory you live in matters: Some provinces experience different levels of crime What city you live in matters: What neighborhood you live in matters:

What are the two general hypotheses for why some visible minorities are overrepresented?

1. Some evidence of racial profiling and sentencing disparities (i.e. longer sentences for racial and ethnic minorities 2. Blacks and Indigenous people also offend at a higher rate

Is the gap bigger or smaller for violent crimes compared to property crimes?

Generally speaking, the gap is bigger for violent crimes than property crimes

What are THREE reasons why people tend to desist

1. Developmental maturity – more regulated emotions, self-control, rational decisions 2. Incentives for conformity (turning points) - Marriage, employment, military, children - Called the life course perspective 3. Less free time

What are FOUR reasons why young people commit more crime?

1. Young males prone to risky behaviours - E.g. car accidents, extreme sports 2. Developmentally immature 3. More susceptible to peer influence 4. Fewer incentives for conformity to society rules

How do gender norms & treatment contribute to the gap?

1. Traditional masculinity - Key theme: the importance of dominance achieved through force - Perceived expectation to be a protector, to be tough and confident – can lead to aggression - Own more guns - Breadwinner stereotype - Perceptions of worth and masculinity dependant on ability to provide for family - Economic struggles can lead to crime to provide or regain the feeling of masculinity 2. Strain and Emotion - Strain theory – overall humans are naturally good but pushed to crime via negative emotions cause by problems (economic struggles, exposure to violence - Research show when experiencing strain - Males – more likely to feel anger (outward emotion) - Females – more likely to feel guilt (inward emotion) - self blame 3. Fear of punishment - For some reason, males are less afraid of getting punished or caught offending - Socialization into risk seeking? - Fewer people in their social lives depending on them? E.g. having children 4. Peer influence - On average adolescent boys are: - More violent - Wider friend groups (more friends but less close)

What is the role convergence hypothesis?

Closing of the gap between male and female offenders 1979: females accounted for 15% of crime 2017: females accounted for 25% of crime