Week 3: Reviving Classical Theory Flashcards

1
Q

What are Classical Theories?

A
  • Argue that individuals choose to engage in crime based on a rational consideration of the costs and benefits associated with crime
  • Dominated theory during the late 1700s and much of the 1800s
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1
Q

What are Neo-Classical Theories?

A
  • They see criminal behaviour as determined by a variety of individual and social factors
  • These theories are deterministic theories and have dominated theory since the late 1800s
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2
Q

What is the Rebirth of Neo-Classical Theory?

A
  • Resurgence in the late 1960s
  • Measure certainty/severity of punishments
  • Cross-sectional studies (individual perceptions of deterrence)
  • Experiential effect (previous experience highly influences expectations of getting caught again)
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3
Q

What is the Deterrence Model of Crime?

A
  • Argues that people are rational and pursue their own interests, attempting to maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain
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4
Q

What is the Impact of Deterrence Theory?

A
  • Has had an enormous impact on contemporary crime control policies
  • Became popular in the 1970s with Gary Becker’s work
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5
Q

What are the two types of Deterrence?

A
  • Specific deterrence
  • General deterrence
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6
Q

What is Specific Deterrence?

A
  • Refers to the idea that punishment reduces the crime of those specific people who are punished
  • Evidence has shown that increasing swiftness/celerity of punishments does not reduce subsequent offending
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7
Q

What does Braithwaite argue about Punishment?

A
  • Punishments that isolate people from society increase future crime, while punishments that are reintegrative decrease future crime
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8
Q

What does Sherman argue about Punishment?

A
  • Effect of punishments are dependent on the extent to which punishments are administered in a fair and respectful manner
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9
Q

Why would Punishment not Deter People from Future Crime?

A
  • Many offenders may not be rational (often impulsive and high in negative emotionality)
  • Punishment may increase strains, reduce social control, and increase the social learning of crime
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10
Q

What is Rational Choice Theory?

A
  • Crime is seen as a rational choice
  • Behaviour can be deterred through fear of punishment
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11
Q

What are the type of Criminals in Modern Choice Theory?

A
  • Seek excitement and thrills
  • Have low stake in conformity (little to lose)
  • Are risk-taking
  • Many are rational and will be deterred by severe punishment
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12
Q

What do Criminals Chose Crime Based on?

A
  • Personal Needs (water, foot, etc.)
  • Situational Factors (Natural disasters, etc.)
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13
Q

What does Crime Depend on?

A
  • Chances of getting caught
  • Anticipated punishment
  • Need for gain
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14
Q

What are Offence Specific Situations?

A
  • Offenders are selective about specific crimes (opportunity, guardianship, etc.)
  • Some crimes are more attractive than others (what are advantages/disadvantages about particular type of crime?)
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15
Q

What are Offender Specific Situations?

A
  • Offenders evaluate their own skills for crime
  • For ex. white-collar crime, serial murder, money heist, terrorism, identity theft, etc.
16
Q

What are Personal Factors Affecting Criminal Behaviour?

A
  • Perception of future earnings from crime
  • Perception of legitimate income opportunity
  • Knowledge of “successful” criminals
  • Experience and perception of risk of getting caught (learning)
  • Personality and lifestyle (Less self-control, under stress)
17
Q

What does the Decision to Commit Crime Depend on?

A
  • The location (The ability to avoid detection)
  • The target (No one home, cash in till, etc.)
  • The available means and techniques (Skills and tools needed for the job)
18
Q

What is Bounded Rationality?

A
  • Rationality is constrained by the limits of time, ability and the availability of relevant information
19
Q

What Impacts Rationality?

A
  • Self-control, moral beliefs, strains, emotional states, associations with delinquent peers, etc.
20
Q

What are Formal Costs of Crime?

A
  • Legal criminal justice punishments
  • The main focus of Deterrence theories
21
Q

What are Informal Costs of Crime?

A
  • Disapproval from parents, friends, etc.
22
Q

What are the Moral Costs of Crime?

A
  • Guilt and shame that one experience
23
Q

What does Cornish and Clarke Argue about Crime as a Rational Choice?

A
  • It is necessary to adopt a “crime-specific focus”
  • Should focus on particular types of crime rather than examining all crime in general
  • The costs and benefits associated with different crimes vary
24
Q

What is Criminal Involvement?

A
  • Heavily influenced by pervious learning and experience over substantial periods of time that are influenced by background factors (ex. Individual traits and social and demographic characteristics)
  • Most crime theories focus on criminal involvement
25
Q

What are Criminal Events?

A
  • Heavily influenced by the immediate situation and the selection of a target based on costs and benefits
26
Q

What was Wright and Decker’s Study on Armed Robbers in Action?

A
  • A study with eight-six current armed robbery in St. Louis focus on their thoughts and actions during a robbery
27
Q

Who were the Participants win Wright and Decker’s Study?

A
  • Black
  • Males and females
  • Adults and juveniles
  • Successful and unsuccessful
  • Experienced and inexperienced
  • High and low-rate offenders
28
Q

What did Participants Spend their Money on in the Wright and Decker’s Study?

A
  • Desperate partying (gambling, drug use, heavy drinking etc.)
  • “Status enhancing” items (clothing to project an image)
  • Daily living expenses (food, shelter, and child-care items, drugs, etc.)
29
Q

What are the two Competing Demands that Robbers face when selecting a Target?

A
  1. Immediate action
  2. Caution in selection of target
30
Q

What are the two Decisions that Robbers have to make when Searching for a Target?

A
  1. Suitable area
    - Physical Barriers (for ex. access to car)
    - Psychological Barriers (fear of unknown areas)
    - Sporting venues and entertainment districts Brough more targets
  2. Specific victim
    - appear to have cash
    - Often go after those at ATM’s
    - Prefer whites (perceived to be less likely to resist)
31
Q

What are the two Methods Robbers use to Approach a Victim?

A
  1. Stealth or speed to sneak up
    - Lurk in background and strike out of nowhere so little chance of evasive action
  2. Manage a normal appearance
    - Fit into the social setting to get close enough for a surprise action
32
Q

What are two Strategies Robbers used to Rob their Victims?

A
  1. Simply ordering victims to hand over possessions
  2. Taking possessions without waiting for what was offered (many preferred this for fear of victim had a concealed weapon)
33
Q

What are the two Methods used by Robbers to Mentally Handle the Prospect of Getting Caught?

A
  1. Cognitive techniques to neutralize the capacity of threatened sanctions to deter an intended offence
  2. Refused to dwell on chance of being caught while committing the offence
34
Q

What are the Criticism of Rational Choice Theory?

A
  • Criminals often commit crime with little planning and little consideration for costs and benefits and not in their self-interest
  • Cornish and Clarke argue that even impulsive acts reveal some consideration for the costs and benefits of the act