Module 2 Vocab Flashcards
Criminology
The scientific study of crime and the causes of criminal behavior
Correlation
The relationship between two measurements or behaviors that lend to more in the same direction
Causation
The relationship in which a change in one measurement or behavior creates a recognizable change in another measurement or behavior
Theory
An explanation ofa happening or circumstance that is based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning
Choice theory
A school of criminology based on the belief that individuals have free will to engage in any behavior including criminal behavior
Classical criminology
A school of criminology that holds the wrongdoers act as the weight of possible benefits vs. The expected costs of being apprehended
Positivism
A school of the social sciences that sees criminal and delinquent behavior as the result of biological, social, and psychological forces
Seduction of crime
The thrill of a crime drives the criminal to commit more
Neurocriminology
The study of how genetics and brain activity influence criminal behavior
Psychoanalytic theory
Sigmund freud’S theory that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives
Social psychology
Focuses on human behavior in the context of how human beings relate and influence one another
Sociology
The study of the development and functioning of groups of people who live together within a society
Social disorganization theory
Deviant behavior is more likely in communities where social institutions (family, etc.) fail to exert control over the population
Strain theory
The assumption that crime is a result of frustration felt by individuals who cannot reach their financial and personal goals through legitimate means
Anomie
A condition in which the individual feels a disconnect from society due to the breakdown or absence of social norms
Cultural deviance theory
Branch of social structure theory based on the assumptions that members of certain subcultures reject the values of the dominant culture by exhibiting deviant behavior patterns
Subculture
Subdivision that exists within the dominant culture
Social conflict theories
A theory that views criminal behavior as the result of class conflict
Social reality of crime
Theory that criminal laws are designed by those in power to help them keep power at the expense of those who do not have power
Social process theories
Theories that consider criminal behavior to be the predictable result of a person’s interaction with the surrounding environment
Learning theory
The theory that delinquents and criminals must be taught both practical and emotional
Skills necessary to participate in legal activity
Control theory
A series of theories that assume that all individuals have the potential for criminal behavior, but are restrained by the effect of such actions on close relationships
Labeling theory
Hypothesis that society creates crime by labeling certain behavior an people as deviant
Life Course criminology
The study of crime based on the belief that behavioral patterns developed in childhood car predict criminal activity later in life
