Unit 2 Exam Flashcards
….argues that people consider the consequences prior to the commission of their behaviors, holds that the decision to violate the law comes after a careful weighing of the benefits, and assumes that people have “free will” to choose their behavior
Rational choice/choice theory
Delinquent motives include:
Economic need/opportunity
Problem solving
False expectations
Opportunity
The routine activities theory was developed by:
Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson
Routine activities theory
The view that crime is a normal function of the routine activities of modern living
Violent (predatory) crimes against persons and crimes in which an offender attempts to steal an object from its holder are influenced by three variables:
The availability of suitable targets
The absence of capable guardians
The presence of motivated offenders
General deterrence
Crime control policies that depend on the fear of criminal penalties, i.e., long prison sentences for violent crieme
A guiding principle of deterrence is based on:
The severity of the punishment
The certainty of the punishment
The swiftness of the punishment
There is evidence that adolescents who perceive they will be arrested and punished for a crime will often…delinquent acts
forego
Specific deterrence
If young offenders are punished severely, they will not repeat their illegal acts, idea is that punishment is severe enough to convince them not to repeat their criminal activity
However, in some cases, experiencing punishment may actually…the likelihood of reoffending
increase
Problems with a strict deterrence strategy:
Minors are not “rational”
Experienced offenders do not fear the legal consequences
High-risk offenders may not fear getting arrested
Many juveniles are under influence of drugs/alcohol
Juveniles often commit crimes in groups –“co-offending”
Most serious delinquents are not able to comprehend consequences
Punishment may produce defiance, rather than deterrence
Situational crime prevention
To reduce delinquency, crime control must recognize the characteristics of sites and situations that are at risk to crime
In situational crime prevention, we must ensure
Potential offenders are carefully guarded
The means to commit crime are controlled
Potential offenders are carefully monitored
Criminal atavism
Idea that delinquents manifest physical anomalies that make them biologically and psychologically similar to our primitive ancestors
The school of thought is generally believed to have originated with the Italian physician
Cesar Lombroso (1835-1909), father of criminology
…argue that a combination of personal traits and environmental factors lead to behavior patterns
trait theories
Biosocial theory
Focuses on the association between biological makeup, environmental conditions, and antisocial behaviors
Three areas of biosocial theories:
Biochemical factors
Neurological function
Genetic history
Neurological dysfunction, such as minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) is associated with
antisocial behavior
Arousal theory:
“Thrill” and “sensation seekers”
Three prominent psychological perspectives:
Psychodynamic theory Behavioral theoryCognitive theory
Psychodynamic theory
Branch of psychology that holds that the human personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes
The…theory suggests that an imbalance in personality traits, caused by early childhood, can result in long-term psychological difficulties
psychodynamic
Personality consists of three major components:
Id
Ego
Superego
Behavioral theory
Argument that personality is learned throughout life during interactions with others
…concerns the study of observable behavior, rather than unconscious processes; focuses on particular stimuli and responses to them
Behaviorism
Cognitive theory
Studies the perception of reality and the mental processes required to understand the world we live in
Personality
The stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions, that distinguish one person from the other