Midterm Flashcards
What is criminology?
Scientific study of crime, criminal behavior and the criminal justice system
What is intersectionality?
A framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege
What is a status?
A position in society that is associated with a certain level of prestige
What are some examples of status positions?
Gender, race, age, social class, sexual identity, parent, employee, etc.
What is a role?
The behaviors, obligations, and privileges (BOPs) attached to a status
What is dramaturgy?
The social construction of reality or the act of performing (the idea that the entire world’s a stage)
What is role strain?
People demanding a lot from you that you can’t deliver
How does role strain lead to crime?
Experiencing sustained stress in a certain role can lead someone to engage in crime
What is a social address?
It is the combination of all your the statuses and roles
Why does intersectionality matter in criminology?
It reveals the complexities of people’s experiences
What does intersectionality help us understand in criminology?
Helps us understand how overlapping identities impact individuals treatment within social and legal settings
What are the 3 types of intersectionality?
Structural intersectionality
Political intersectionality
Representational intersectionality
What is structural intersectionality?
Why rates of crime are higher in one place vs another (what groups of people get treated more harshly by the CJS)
What is political intersectionality?
How laws are created and how policies are created that hurt different groups of people
What is representational intersectionality?
The depiction of individuals in mainstream media and how these representations intersect with power relations and influence perception and treatment in the legal system
What are 2 primary sources of crime data?
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
How does the UCR work?
Crimes that are known/reported to the police
Local police departments send data to the FBI
What 8 offenses make up the crime rate?
Violent Crime: Murder, Rape Robbery, Assault
Property Crime: Larceny, Burglary, Arson, Motor Vehicle Theft
Is the FBI data valid?
Reporting is inconsistent
No control over law enforcement reporting practices
How does the NCVS work?
Accounts for unreported crime
Uses phone calls to collect data
It is a national representative sample
What are some differences between UCR and NCVS?
UCR is by FBI and police departments have to report and also accounts only for reported crime
NCVS is by Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), includes unreported crime, data from individuals
What are some examples of secondary sources of data?
Observational, meta-analysis, cohort research, etc.
What is a trend seen in recent homicide rates?
Decreasing recently in the U.S.
When were there spikes in the homicide rate?
Cocaine and crack epidemic
Global pandemic
What is the overall trend in crime rates?
They have been decreasing
What are some factors that influence crime trends?
Age Structure
Immigration
Economy
Gun Availability
Drugs
Gangs
Media
What is the CLERY Act?
Colleges and universities must report crimes that occur on or near campus
What are the 4 dramatic recent changes in criminal justice?
Globalization/Immigration
Militarization
Privatization
Cybercrime/Security
What is globalization?
The increasing interdependence and connection among people, governments, and events worldwide, facilitated by trade, communication, transportation, and computer networks
What are the 3 main consequences of globalization?
Fuels the growth of criminal activities
Labor market changes
Immigration
What criminal activities does globalization fuel?
Trafficking of persons, drug trafficking, fraud/scams, money laundering
What is militarization?
The adopting of military-style strategies, equipment, and mentalities for civilian policing
What are some impacts of militarization?
Growth of SWAT
Culture shift between police and community
Escalation of use of force
Erosion of community trust
Erosion of civil liberties
What is privatization?
The transfer of a company or organization from government to private ownership and control
What are some impacts of privatization?
Private prison industry growth
Contracts with ICE
Disincentive to rehabilitate and reduce crime
Poor work conditions/pay
Aggressive citations strain community relations
Profits are the driving factor
What are some impacts of cybercrime?
World’s 3rd largest economy
Becoming more sophisticated and organized
Dark web and illicit trade
What did those in the middle ages believe about crime?
Believed an individual was influenced by satan (possessed)
Punishment was extremely brutal
What did those in the renaissance ages believe about crime?
Emergences of the social contract (government’s job is to provide protection and safety)
Believed humans are rational thinkers about whether or not to engage in crime
What were the major takeaways of the enlightenment period?
Classical Theory and Routine Activities Theory
What is classical theory?
The idea that you punish the wrongdoer and the punishment should fit the crime
What is routine activities theory?
The idea that thee are some places where rational weighing of costs and benefits are wonky and that’s where you see high rates of crime
What are the 3 camps of positivist criminology?
Biological Positivism
Psychological/Social Psychological Positivism
Sociological Positivism
What was the main takeaway from biological positivism?
We currently look at the influence of brain structure/functioning, hormones, genetics, environmental toxins and factors when examining crime
What were the theories involved in psychological/social psychological positivism?
Anomie/Strain Theory
Control Theory
Labeling Theory
What is anomie/strain theory?
The idea that the ability to achieve goals is based on social status
What is control theory?
The idea that without social controls we would all engage in crime
What is labeling theory?
The idea that you will begin acting like and believing in the label you’re given
What were the main takeaways from sociological positivism?
Theories acknowledged the impact of discrimination and prejudice
Rehabilitate the wrongdoer
Punishment should fit the criminal
What are critical theories concerned with?
Power relations involved in law
Fairness of the social order the law is protecting
Solutions that promise justice rather than repress criminals
What did Marx and Engles believe about crime?
They believed crime is about the defects of society and the product of exploitation caused by repressive conditions of capitalism
What was Richard Quinney’s Theory?
Believed that there were crimes of domination and crimes of accommodation
What are crimes of domination?
Crimes of control
Crimes of government
Crimes of economic domination
Crimes of social injury (racism, sexism)
What are crimes of accommodation?
Predatory crimes (robbery, burglary)
Personal crimes (murder, assault)
Crimes of resistance (protest)
What did William Chambliss believe about crime?
Structural Contradictions Theory
What is structural contradictions theory?
Crime is a product of the social structure
What did Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, William Chambliss, and Richard Quinney’s ideals all have in common?
They all fell under the umbrella of class and criminology
