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CRIM 300W > Week 2 - Classical Criminology > Flashcards

Week 2 - Classical Criminology Flashcards

1
Q

Classification of theories: theoretical paradigm

A
  • Classical/neoclassical
  • Earliest, 17 th century
  • Died out in 20 th century until mid 70s - rebirth
  • Positive/positivism
  • Largest area
  • Conflict/critical
  • 60s application of Marx
  • Integrated
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2
Q

Pre-classical views of crime

A

spiritualistic approach attributes crime to supernatural causes, such as demons or divine punishment. Responses were often brutal, including torture and exorcism.

Crime as a sin against a god given natural law

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3
Q

How was guilt determined in pre-classical views of crime?

A

Guilt was determined through ordeals, such as torture by water or fire. The belief was that divine intervention would reveal the truth through these brutal methods.

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4
Q

What were the Salem witch trials?

A

The Salem witch trials took place in Massachusetts between 1692-93, where more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft, leading to 19 executions by hanging.

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5
Q

the Enlightenment

A
  • Presitge of science in the society
  • Religious fanaticism as the greatest evil facing society
  • Religious toleration in any truly civilized government
  • Human rights enshrined in laws
  • Focus on pleasure of the world
  • Started in western europe
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6
Q

Thomas Hobbes

A
  • Leviathan 1651
  • One of the earliest and most powerful voices of the enlightment
  • Developed social contract
  • All part of a society – no right to take revenge
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7
Q

Shared beliefs of enlightenment

A
  • Social contract
  • We each pay and give part of our freedom, in exchange state protects us
  • Democracy
  • Right to participate in government
  • Right to liberty and happiness
  • Free will and rational choice based on costs and benefits
  • Free will – can do anything you want, but make rational choices
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8
Q

What were Cesare Beccaria’s ideas on criminal justice?

A

Beccaria advocated for no arbitrary judges, equal punishment for the same crime, no torture or secret accusations, and opposed the death penalty. He emphasized that punishment should be swift, certain, and proportional.

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9
Q

Beccaria and western criminal justice system

A
  • Profound impact on most of CJS around the world
  • Public nature of canadian and US justice system
  • Emphasis on deterrence
  • Due process and individual rights
  • US bill of rights, charter
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10
Q

Neoclassical school

A
  • Takes into account the intent (mens rea), and individual circumstances
  • We have bounded rationality and limited free will
  • Mitigating and aggravating circumstances
  • CJS today
  • New development of classical perspective
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11
Q

What is deterrence theory in criminology?

A

Deterrence theory suggests that crime can be prevented if punishment is certain, swift, and severe enough to deter offenders. Modern deterrence also considers informal societal punishments.

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12
Q

Measures of deterrence – how do we know it works?

A
  • Objective: arrest rates, maximum sentences
  • Perceptual: subjective perception of legal sanctions, knowledge about them, moral
    attitudes
  • Pogorsky 2002: acute conformists, incorrigible offenders, deterrable offenders
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13
Q

Informal deterrence

A

How society punishes, not the criminal justice system, having something to lose

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14
Q

Three strikes and you’re out

A
  • Assumes offenders will make a rational choice and not commit a 3 rd felony
  • Started to put people away for 25-life for non-violent crime: disproportionate punishment

Didn’t even know about the laws

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15
Q

What is rational choice theory (RCT) in criminology?

A

make decisions logically by weighing costs and benefits
Focus on rational motives of perpetrator

  • Jack Katz added pleasure as a motivation
  • Joy, satisfaction, control
  • Micro level approach
  • Focus on personality, choices in perpetrators mind
  • Bounded rationality
  • Take into account extra factors
  • Prevention in addition to punishment
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16
Q

Crime specific focus and displacement (RCT)

A

Displacement: will find another victim, place etc to do the crime
- Don’t deal with crime, displace it to another area
- Doesn’t work with specialties

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17
Q

Choice structuring properties

A
  • Domestic gas account for 50% of all suicides in England
  • Detoxifying the gas led to a 35% decline
  • Toxic gas wasn’t painful, had little preparation, easy opportunity to do it
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18
Q

What is routine activities theory in criminology?

A

Routine activities theory posits that crime occurs when a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian converge in the same place and time.

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19
Q

What is the role of theory in explanations?

A

Theory is a sensible way of understanding something and relating it to the entire world of information, beliefs, and attitudes.

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20
Q

What was compurgation in early criminal justice?

A

Compurgation was a practice where the accused gathered 12 people to swear to their innocence, evolving into testimony under oath and trial by jury.

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21
Q

What are natural explanations of crime?

A

Natural explanations use objects and events in the material world to explain crime, with early roots in Greek philosophy and modern social science continuing this approach.

22
Q

What are scientific theories?

A

Scientific theories make statements about the relationships between observable phenomena and can be tested and potentially falsified through observation

23
Q

What are the six criteria for evaluating scientific theories?

A

comprehensiveness, precision and testability, parsimony, empirical validity, heuristic value, and applied value.

24
Q

What is correlation in scientific theories?

A

Correlation refers to the systematic variation of two variables in relation to each other, either positively or negatively, and is necessary for establishing causation.

25
Q

What is the importance of time sequence in causation?

A

Time sequence is important because it establishes that the cause (X) comes before the effect (Y) in a causal relationship.

26
Q

What is meant by lack of spuriousness in causation?

A

Lack of spuriousness means that the relationship between two variables is not influenced by a third variable.

27
Q

What is theoretical rationale in scientific theories?

A

Theoretical rationale is a coherent explanation of why a relationship exists, providing a good reason to believe in a causal connection.

28
Q

What are some characteristics that increase the likelihood of crime according to individual difference theories?

A

Characteristics include early childhood behavior issues, neurotransmitter imbalances, poor rearing, association with criminals, weak attachment, low involvement, and a perception of less risk of punishment

29
Q

What are some structural factors associated with increased crime rates?

A

economic modernization, materialistic cultures without legitimate means, high unemployment, frequent residential mobility, family disruption, and media dissemination favoring law violation

30
Q

What is the impact of punishment certainty and severity on crime?

A

Increases in punishment certainty decrease crime, but increases in punishment severity do not reduce crime or may even increase it.

31
Q

What are some characteristics of actions more likely to be defined as criminal?

A

Actions that are simple, immediate in gratification, exciting, risky, involve little skill, and cause pain or suffering are more likely to be defined as criminal.

32
Q

What is a key limitation of the UCR (Uniform Crime Report) in the USA?

A

the UCR underreports crime because victims fail to report crimes, and police may only record the most serious offenses.

33
Q

How can crime victimization surveys help address the underreporting issue of the UCR?

A

Crime victimization surveys can help by capturing unreported crimes, but they don’t account for victimless crimes.

34
Q

What was the trend of crime in the USA from the 1960s to the 1990s?

A

Crime increased into the 1960s, violent crime surged in the 1980s, and both violent and property crime began to decline in the early 1990s.

35
Q

What is the main argument of the book “Body Count: Moral Poverty… And How to Win America’s War Against Crime and Drugs”?

A

The book, written by conservatives, argues that the rise in crime was due to “moral poverty” and dismissed factors like poverty, focusing instead on harsher punishments and more guns as solutions.

36
Q

What is “moral poverty” as discussed in “Body Count”?

A

Moral poverty refers to children growing up without loving adults, being neglected or abused, and not learning right from wrong, which leads to an inability to control impulses and a lack of empathy.

37
Q

What does the book “Crime and Punishment in America” argue as the main cause of rising crime rates?

A

The liberal book argues that poverty, income inequality, and lack of social services are the main causes, noting that the growing prison population diverts funds from education and housing.

38
Q

What were the main factors contributing to the decline in crime during the 1990s?

A

Factors included the economy (a 30% real GDP increase), changing demographics as baby boomers aged out of crime, increased law enforcement, prison expansion, and specific events like the decline of crack cocaine and legalization of abortion.

39
Q

What is the “incapacitation effect” related to prison expansion in the 1990s?

A

The incapacitation effect refers to reducing crime by keeping offenders in prison, which is believed to account for a 12% drop in homicides and an 8% drop in property crime.

40
Q

What role did lead exposure play in crime rates?

A

Lead exposure from gasoline and paint affected neurological development, with a lag of about 20 years, potentially contributing to the decline in crime.

41
Q

How did the quality of policing impact the crime drop in the 1990s?

A

Improved policing strategies, such as hotspot policing and crime mapping (CompStat), may have contributed to the crime drop, though some argue the decline began before these policies were implemented.

42
Q

What did classical criminology emerge as a protest against?

A

It emerged as a protest against the spiritualistic approach to crime, which viewed crime as a sin and violation of God’s natural law, leading to harsh punishments.

43
Q

What did Glaser and Zeigler’s 1974 study reveal about the death penalty and murder rates?

A

They found that states with the death penalty had higher murder rates and shorter sentences for murderers, reflecting a lower value on human life.

44
Q

What did Tittle’s 1969 research conclude about the correlation between certainty and severity of punishment?

A

Tittle concluded that certainty was correlated with less crime for all offenses, and severity only deterred crime when certainty was high.

45
Q

What are the two types of deterrence?

A

Specific deterrence: Reduction in future offenses by an individual who has been punished.
General deterrence: Prevention of crime by the public due to observed punishment of others.

46
Q

How does imprisonment serve as a deterrent according to Nagin?

A

Imprisonment has a deterrent effect when certainty and celerity are high. Short but certain incarceration for probation violations and three-strikes laws can reduce arrests by imposing lengthy sentences.

47
Q

What are some crime prevention strategies linked to rational choice theories?

A

Strategies include altering situations to increase perceived efforts and risks, such as airport baggage screening, target hardening, and preventing large drunken gatherings.

48
Q

What is CPTED, and how does it relate to crime prevention?

A

CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) changes the physical landscape to influence behavior, such as by improving lighting, natural surveillance, and relocating gatherings.

49
Q

What are the key victimization risk factors identified by Routine Activities Theory?

A

Higher victimization rates are linked to being younger, male, unmarried, poor, African American, and engaging in public activities or associating with offenders.

50
Q

How do modern lifestyle changes affect crime patterns according to Routine Activities Theory?

A

Modern life has increased targets and decreased capable guardianship, while offenders typically operate in familiar areas and remain consistent in their behavior.

51
Q

What is focused deterrence, and what strategy was used in Operation Ceasefire?

A

Focused deterrence combines rational choice and routine activities theories. Operation Ceasefire targeted high-risk individuals, disrupted gun trafficking to youth, and intensified enforcement on violent gang members, which led to significant drops in youth homicide.

52
Q

routine activities theory

A

Cohen and felson

motivated offender
suitable target
capable guardian

CRIM 300W (7 decks)

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