Intro Criminology

Deviance

a violation of ever-changing social norms (incudes behaviors, physical and mental conditions, and beliefs)

Crime

a violation of a formal, written law

Violent Crime

acts that involve physical harm or threat of physical harm against another person (kidnapping, murder)

Property Crime

acts that involve taking or damaging the property of another person or entering another person's property without permission (theft)

Status Offenses

acts that are only considered illegal based on specific social characteristics of an individual (legal age for alcohol and tobacco)

Victimless/ Public Order Crimes

acts that could result in self-harm or behavior between consenting adults (gambling, prositution)

White-Collar Crimes

acts that are committed by individuals or corporations for financial gain within the context of their business/employment (tax evasion)

Crimes Against the Government

acts committed against government officials or again the general public (terrorism, assassination)

Omission

not doing something you are legally supposed to do (not paying taxes, registering your children for school)

Commission

doing something you are not allowed to do (breaking laws)

Mala Prohibita Crimes

acts that are considered crimes because people have decided they should be a crime (prostitution, marijuana, gambling)

Mala in Se Crimes

acts that are inherently bad (murder)

Misdemeanor

less serious crimes that are punishable by a maximum of one year jail (low drug charges, trespassing)

Felonies

more serious crimes that are punishable by at least one year in prison (aggerated assault, armed robbery, murder)

4 Criteria for Determining the Seriousness of a Crime

1. harm inflicted (how severe are the injuries) 2. status of the victim (age, gender, disabilities, political) 3. moral judgments (how personally offended) 4. offender characteristic (child vs adult, male vs female)

3 Parts of Criminal Justice System

1. policing - filling reports, detaining suspects, gathering evidence, making arrests ($100 billion) 2. legal systems - guilty/innocent of crime, punishments ($50 billion) 3. corrections - implements the punishments ($75 billion)

(Punishment) Retribution

getting back at the person who committed the crime

(Punishment) Incapactation

looking at the public safety component, prevents them from continuing more crime (death penalty, jail/prison time)

(Punishment) Deterrence

make punishment so severe so people stop or do not commit the crime (proactive)

(Punishment) Rehabilitation

trying to get the person back to normal life (addiction treatment, help with assisting)

Clearance Rate

the percent of crimes reported to the police that result in a suspect found and being arrested

Recidivism

the likelihood that someone who is released from prison will re-offend and end up back in prison. (83% of men & 74% of women)

Desistance

exiting crime

Correlates of Crime

sex (second strongest correlation), age (strongest correlation), social class, race, substance use, & mental illness

Differential Involvement Explanation

people are involved in a crime at different rates based on various social characteristics due to cultural, biological, or structural level factors

Differential Treatment Explanation

people are not involved in crime at different rates based on various social characteristics, but rather crime rated different are a result of being treated differently in a criminal justice system

Deductive Research

research that starts with a theory and then tests the theory with data

Inductive Research

research that starts with data and then develops a theory

Variable

aspects of your research that can change or vary

Hypothesis

a specific prediction on how you expect two or more variables to be related

Dependent Variable

the variable that is hypothesized to change depending on or under the influence of another variable

Independent Variable

the variable that is intended to influence, or lead to, changes in another variable

Positive Relationship

both variables change in the same direction (positive, positive)

Negative Relationship

both variables change in opposite directions (positive, negative)

Direction Not Applicable

one or more of the variable cannot be quantified (sex, race)

Population

the entire set of individuals or other entities to which study findings are to be generalized

Sample

a subset of the population that participates in the research study and/or the data that is used in the research study

Sampling Frame

a list of all units in the population subset from which the sample is drawn

(Sampling Type) Random

each person in the population has equal chance of being selected into the sample

(Sampling Type) Representative

the sample is selected so that is accurately represents the entire population being studied

(Sampling Type) Non-Representative

the sample does not accurately represent the entire population being studied

Cross-Sectional Research

a study that collects data at only one point in time

Longitudinal Research

a study that collects data at two or more points in time

Trend/Repeated Cross-Sectional Design

a longitudinal study in which data is collected at two or more points in time from different samples of the same population

Panel Design Longitudinal Research

a longitudinal study in which data are collected from the same individuals - the panel - at two or more points in time

Official Statistics : UCR

police departments submit information to the FBI, which is compiled into annual statistics, collects limited demographic information, "hierarchy rule", index & non-index crimes

Index Crimes

murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson

Official Statistics: NIBRS

created 1982 to expand UCR statistics, divides offenses into groups A & group B, and collects information related to the type of offense, demographics characteristics of victim and offender, and type/value of any stolen or vandalized property

National Crime Victimization Surveys : NCVS

redesigned in1993 to measure a broader range of crimes and collect more detail

Self Report Surveys

makes it easier for cross-national comparison, sample limitations

Routine Activities Theory

motivated offender - suitable target/victim - the absence of a capable guardian

Social Disorganization Theory

physical dilapidation, poverty, radical heterogeneity (more racially diverse neighborhood, more crime), residential transiency (more people move in and out of neighborhood, more crime)

Nature

a person's behavior depends on their genes and their psychological/biological makeup at birth

Nuture

a person's behavior depends on their socialization and enviorment

Physiognomy

a person's criminality can be detected from their outwards appearance, particularly by looking at their facial features

Phrenology

the size, shape, and location of different parts of your brain and skull can predict criminality

Biological Positivism (Lombroso): Atavistic

born criminal, distinguishing physical traits

Biological Positivism (Lombroso): Criminaloid

people who commit crimes but are not "wired" or born criminals and do not have the distinguishing physical traits

Dopamine

facilitates pleasure-seeking and impulsive behaviors

Serotonin

discourages use of aggression or violence

Deterrence Theory (Beccaria)

severity of punishment, celerity of punishment, certainty of punishment

Rational Choice Theory

indivduals make choices that maximize benefits and minimize costs, as many rewards as possible with as few punishments as possible, assumes people make rational choices

Zone 1

business/industrial (second highest crime rate)

Zone 2

transition zone (highest crime rate)

Zone 3 and 4

residential zone

Zone 5

commuter zone

Classic Strain Theory: Strain (Merton)

the tension that results from wanting to attain monetary success, 5 possible choices accepting, rejecting, or replacing two factors: cultural goals of success, legitimate means of achieving the cultural goal

Adaptations to Strain (Merton): Conformity

adaptation in which an individual chooses to achieve culturally accepted goals via institutionalized means

Adaptations to Strain (Merton): Ritualism

goes through the motions without hope of success happening

Adaptations to Strain (Merton): Innovation

achieves goals the unconventionally , cheat/steal

Adaptations to Strain (Merton): Retreatism

reject goals and reject success, criminal/noncriminal (drugs, alcohol)

Adaptations to Strain (Merton): Rebellion

do not share goals and do not follow others, replaces money goals with new goals (joins religious cult)

General Strain Theory (Agnew)

failure to achieve positively valued goals (relationships, family, education) removal of positively valued stimuli (lost job, lost house, relationship ends) presentation of negatively valued stimuli (child abuse, spouse abuse, or drug abuse)

Differential Association Theory (Sutherland)

Edwin Sutherland argued that deviant behavior is learned, like any other behavior. having negative (differential) associations with others increases our likelihood of engaging in crime through socialization; deviance gap

Deviance Gap

difference between your involvement in crime compared to your best friend

Frequency

how often are you exposed to the criminal activities

Priority

time it happened (age, younger= more impactful)

Intensity

association with friend groups (all the time vs sometimes)

Duration

how frequent

Social Bond Theory (Hirschi) Most Important : Attachment

how close our ties are with other people or caring about what they think

Social Bond Theory (Hirschi): Involvement

time we spend participating in noncriminal activities

Social Bond Theory (Hirschi): Commitment

long term goals, how important they are to the individual

Social Bond Theory (Hirschi): Belief

share moral beliefs and believe in laws/police/authorities

General Theory of Crime (Hirschi)

assume we are born selfish and must learn and be taught self control to keep ourselves out of crime. self control must be learned by the age of 10 research shows people with low levels of self control are less likely to feel shame for their actions and more likely to seek out pleasurable feelings regardless of risk.

Labeling Theory

came about during the 1960s and early 1970s cxamines how reactions to deviance and official labels influence the likelihood of future deviance and access to resources in societies. argues that many people evaluate people based on retrospective behaviors

Primary and Secondary Deviance (Lemert): Primary deviance

less serious and infrequent crime

Primary and Secondary Deviance (Lemert): secondary deviance

more serious and frequent crime

Ethic Group with Highest Victim Rate

Native Americans

Ethic Group with Lowest Victim Rate

Asians