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This study guide provides a comprehensive overview of key concepts and theories in criminology, covering topics such as classical criminology, positivist school, social disorganization theory, and learning theories. It explores the historical development of criminological thought, examines various perspectives on crime causation, and delves into the social and psychological factors that contribute to criminal behavior. The guide is particularly useful for students seeking a foundational understanding of criminology and its major theoretical frameworks.
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Demonic Perspective crime was said to be the result of supernatural forces
Classical Criminology individuals have free will and choose tocommit crimes based on rational, hedonistic decisions; they weigh out thepotential costs and benefits of offending and then choose what will maximizetheir pleasure and minimize their pain
Cesare Beccaria believed that punishment should fit the crime, in speedy and public trials, and that capital punishment should be done away with completely
Deterrence Crime may be controlled through the fear of punishment
Swift, Severe, Certain Punishment works best when its perceived to be
Positivist School People do not freely choose their behavior.Instead, their behavior is determined by factors outside of their free will, suchas genetics, IQ, education, employment, peer influences, parenting, andeconomics. Most of the scientifically validated criminological theories of themodern era fall into this category
Cesare Lombroso
The Criminal man (1876) "Born Criminal" Non-physical anomalies Biological Determinism
Charles Darwin English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)
Born Criminals Lombroso's term for people whose deviance he attributed to their more primitive biology
Genetic Throwback A primitive sub species who were biologically different from non criminals
Scientific Method A series of steps followed to solve problems including collecting data, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and stating conclusions.
Atavistic relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral
Criminology is the scientific study of crime, especially why people commitcrime.
Ernest Burgess Creator of the Concentric Zone Model
Felton Earls He is known for a long-term study of the influence of neighbors' willingness to help each other on the neighborhood's crime rate.[
Stephen Raudenbush He is best known for his development and application of hierarchical linear models (HLM) in the field of education but he has also published on other subjects such as health and crime.
Collective Efficacy Trust and dependence amongst neighbors, and their willingness & ability to take action if there is a problem; social infrastructure can provide a buffer from crime
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) Originating in the early 1990s, the PHDCN was designed to advance understanding of the developmental and contextual pathways of human behavior. To date, the PHDCN has examined delinquency, violence, criminal justice contacts, teenage sexuality, substance abuse, compounded deprivation, residential mobility, and mental health, among many other outcomes. The Project also provided a detailed look at the social environments in which human development takes place by collecting innovative data about Chicago neighborhoods and institutions, including from surveys, systematic videotaping of streets, and key informant interviews
Compositional effect a shift in the behavior of a group that results from a change in the group's composition, rather than a change in the behavior of individuals already in the group
Contextual effect The use of the present context of sensory information to determine its meaning.
Cross-Sectional type of study that measures a variable across several age groups at the same time
David Kirk coined the term legal cynicism
Andrew Papachristos His research aims to understand how the connected nature of cities — how their citizens, neighborhoods, and institutions are tied to one another — affect what we feel, think, and do.
Legal Cynicism A cultural orientation in which the law and the agents of its enforcement are viewed as illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill- equipped to ensure public safety.
Structural Features of Neighborhoods socioeconomic status, residential mobility, ethnic heterogeneity, and family disruptio
Police Interactions NEED DEF
Strategies of Action means and methods social actors use to achieve goals and fulfill needs
Learning Theories theories that see criminal behavior as learned, just as legal behavior is learned
Micro-level theories theories of delinquency that focus on the individual. focus on a small group of offenders or on an individual crime.
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observation
Ronald Akers Social Learning Theory of Crime; Added modeling and Operant conditioning
Differential Association- Reinforcement Theory a learning-theory approach that asserts that criminal behavior is the result of socialization into a system of values that is conducive to violations of the law
Operant Conditioning a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Respondent Conditioning A stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure in which a neutral stimulus (NS) is presented with an unconditioned stimulus until the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that elicits the conditioned response.
Soft Behaviorism Behavior patterns are all that is observable about a person but there may be more.
Behavioral Interactional Dimension refers to the direct and indirect interactions and associations with individuals that
engage in delinquent activities.
Normative Dimension the different patterns of norms and values to which an individual is exposed through this association
Differential Reinforcement people tend to repeat behaviors that are reinforced or rewarded and are less likely to continue behaviors that aren't reinforced.
Imitation copying the behavior of another person
Direct Punishment presenting an aversive stimuli
Indirect Punishment Removal or limitation of rewards
Social structure and Social Learning SS: recognizes the impact of poverty and social inequality on crime rates.
Anomie/normlessness A breakdown of Absence of norms and Values
Strain Tension
Robert Merton Argued that society is set up in a way that encourages excessive deviance. Strain Theory.
"American Dream"
argued multiple sources of strain
Cultural Structure Values regulating goals• Values regulating the means of achieving goals
Cultural Goals the objectives held out as legitimate or desirable for the members of a society to achieve
Norms rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
Literal Demoralization a deinstitutionalization, of the means is one which characterizes many groups in which the two phases of the social structure are not highly integrated
Legitimate means In Merton's strain theory, socially acceptable ways of attaining the institutionalized goals in society
Illegitimate means individuals were unable to meet their goals through legitimate means they would resort to illegitimate, or illegal measures to achieve their goals
Equilibrium when the opportunity cost and the expected return for a crime are equal.
Culturally induced views crime in the context of an offenders culture as a motive to commit crime
End-justifies-the-means doctrine
noneconomic institutions are subservient to the economy
Achievement Orientation A drive to accomplish one's goals and to meet or exceed a high standard of success.
Individualism giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications
Universalism the ethical system stating that all people should uphold certain values that society needs to function
Monetary Rewards are those reflected in pay or having financial value
Metric of Success value comes from enforcement of crimes where there was a victim, a citizen to serve
Social Institutions systems and structures within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals
Devaluation lowering the value of a nation's currency relative to other currencies
Accommodation adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Conformity Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.
Ritualism The rejection of cultural goals but a rigid adherence to the legitimate means of achieving them.
Retreatism abandons both approved goals and the approved means to achieve them
Albert Cohen deviance and delinquency are a result of subculture formation.
An intentional activity that realigns the performance of the project work with the project management plan.
Objective Strains refer to events and conditions that are disliked by most people in a given group,
Subjective Strains events and conditions that are disliked by the people who have experienced them.
Experienced Strains strains the individual personally endured;they may respond with crime in order to alleviate the strain and related emotions
Vicarious Strains real life strains experienced by others around the individual
Anticipated Strains refers to the individual's expectation that current strains will continue into the future or that new strains will be experienced
Social Control Theory a theory of delinquency that links deviance with the absence of bonds to society's main institutions; Travis Hirschi (1969)
Direct Social Control the attempt to punish or neutralize organizations or individuals who deviate from society's norms
Emotional bond Individuals with strong emotional ties to their families and communities are more likely to feel a sense of responsibility towards them
Investment in conventional institutions Describes individual commitment to things like work, school, etc
Beliefs regarding crime How one buys into conventional norms
Negative emotionality the presumed underlying cause of internalizing disorders, characterized by high levels of subjective distress
Control Theory theory that compliance with social norms requires strong bonds between individuals and society
The offender will propose that they were victims of circumstance or were forced into situations beyond their control
denial of injury The offender insists that their actions did not cause any harm or damage
Denial of Victim The offender believes that the victim deserved whatever action the offender committed.
Condemnation of the condemners The offenders maintain that those who condemn their offense are doing so purely out of spite, or are shifting the blame off of themselves unfairly.
appeal to higher loyalties Individuals argue that ethics must be ignored to fulfill more important goals
Preparation something done to get ready
Desperation condition of being driven to take almost any risk as a last resort
Will A legally enforceable declaration of how a person wishes his or her property to be distributed after death
Walter Reckless containment theory
Containment Theory argues that criminals cannot resist the temptations that surround them; Pushes and Pulls
Push refer to forces that drive criminal groups from a setting
Pull refer to forces that draw criminal groups to a setting
Outer Containment Opportunities to receive status• Institutions such as family,school, church• Sense of belonging• Positive role models• Reasonable limits andresponsibilities