Midterm Flashcards
Crimes that are considered inherently wrong are called?
Mala in Se crimes
Crimes that are considered wrong because the legislature says so are called?
Mala Prohibitum crimes
A crime punishable by death or more than one year imprisonment is called?
a felony
a crime punishable by a fine or less than one year imprisonment is called?
a misdemeanor
what is substantive law?
the body of law that defines criminal law
what is procedural law
the law governing how criminal cases are taken care of, i.e. how they go through the system
what is criminology
the study of crime and what do to about it
what is the consensus model
when a society comes together, people come to agreements based on shared morals
what is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
the UCR is data gathered by the FBI from local law enforcement and is used to study crime trend
Most reported crimes happen between the months of July and August. Why?
it is hot. People get grumpy
what does ‘aging out’ of crime mean
most people age of crime because they take on the responsibilities of adulthood: children; jobs, debt, etc.
what is the chivalry hypothesis of crime?
women are not in trouble for crimes as often as men because men feel the need to protect women from punishment for crimes
What is PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
young people tend to be victimized more than older people. Why?
because young people are more vulnerable
Married people are less likely to be victims of crime. Why?
because they dont go out as much, and youve got someone to watch your back
what is target antagonism?
some victims of crime might antagonize their perpetrator into an attack
what is the victim precipitation theory
victims sometimes initiate their own attack, an example might be wearing flashy jewelry
what is deviant place theory?
sometimes bad places can head to crime. bad neighborhood, seedy bars, etc.
what is a sex offender registry?
convicted sex crimes offenders may have to register their location/identification with local law enforement
what is routine activities theory?
sometimes routine to lead to crime, like when you walk down the same street and a criminal notices your routine walking pattern.
what is rational choice theory?
people make ‘rational’ choices about whether to commit crimes
are all crimes in fact based on ‘rational’ motivation?
no, an example might be voluntary manslaughter
one way to fight crime is to create defensible spaces. what are defensible spaces?
locations where ‘spaces’ can be protected? like locking doors, having walls, barb-wire, etc.
one of the problems of crime prevention is displacement. What is displacement?
crime is not successfully combatted, but rather just moves. More police in a neighborhood, move to the next door neighborhood
