Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
38 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
What is the social definition of crime? |
typical social definition of crime is behavior that violates the norms or social mores of society. 1 |
|
|
Define norms and social mores |
norm or social more is any standard or rule regarding what human beings should or should not think, say, or do under given circumstances. |
|
|
What are some problems with norms and social mores? |
vary from group to group. are subject to interpretation. mores change from time to time and place to place |
|
|
What is the legal definition of crime? |
crime is an intentional violation of the criminal law or penal code, committed without defense orexcuse and penalized by the state. |
|
|
What is a major advantage of the legal definition of crime? |
at least on the surface, is that it is narrower and less ambiguous than a social definition of crime. |
|
|
What are the three main problems with the legal definition of crime? |
Overcriminalization, undercriminalization, and under enforcement |
|
|
Overcriminalization |
arises in the so-called victimless crimes: Gambling Prostitution involving consenting adults Useof some illegal drugs, such as marijuana |
|
|
Undercriminalization |
Very harmful and destructive actions or inactions that are not criminal, but should be An example is a corporation’s intentional production of a potentially hazardous product to maximize profits. |
|
|
under enforcement/nonenforcement |
is common for: White-collar crimes Government crimes Nonenforcement causes disrespect for the law. |
|
|
What are the 7 elements of crime? |
1.) Harm 2.) Legality 3.) Actus Reus 4.) Mens Rea 5.) Causation 6.) Concurrence 7.) Punishment |
|
|
Harm |
For crime to occur, there must be harm, either physical or verbal. Harm is the external consequence required to make an action a crime. Thinking about committing a crime is not a crime. A verbal threat to strike another person is a crime. |
|
|
Legality |
has two aspects: The harm must be legally forbidden. A criminal law must not be ex post facto. a harm must be legally forbidden for the behavior to be a crime, and the law must not be retroactive. |
|
|
Define an Ex Posto Facto Law |
A law that (1) declares criminal an act that was not illegal when it was committed, (2) increases the punishment for a crime after it is committed, or (3) alters the rules of evidence in a particular case after the crime is committed. |
|
|
Actus Reus |
refers to intentional criminal conduct, or criminal negligence. Crime involves not only what people do but also things they do not do. |
|
|
Mens Rea |
refers to the mental aspect of crime: criminal intent or a guilty state of mind. Criminal conduct is usually limited to intentional or purposeful action or inaction and not to accidents. Sometimes, negligence or reckless action can be criminal. Negligence is the failure to take reasonable precautions to prevent harm. |
|
|
Inthe United States, an offender is not considered responsible or lessresponsible if they: |
Acted under duress Was underage* Was insane Acted in self-defense or defense of a third party Was entrapped Acted out of necessity |
|
|
Duress |
Ifa person did not want to commit a crime, but was forced to do so against his orher will |
|
|
Was Underage |
Generally, a child under age 7 is not responsible for criminal acts. In most states, youth under age 18 are not considered entirely responsible for their criminal acts; they have committed juvenile delinquency. |
|
|
Insanity |
is a legal term that rests on the assumption that someone who is insane at the time of a crime lacks the capacity to form mens rea. refers to mental orpsychological impairment or retardation |
|
|
Self- Defense |
Generally, people are relieved of criminal responsibility if they use only the amount of force reasonably necessary in self-defense or defense of a third party. |
|
|
Entrapment |
People are generally considered not responsible or less responsible for their crimes if they committed the crime through entrapment. It occurs when a person who was not already predisposed to it is induced into committing a crime by a law enforcement officer or by his/her agent. Applies only where normallylaw abiding person isinduced to commit a crime. Ex. If policebuy drugs you are selling, it is NOT this. |
|
|
Necessity |
this can can be used when an act was committed with mens rea but under specific extenuating circumstances—for example, when a crime has been committed to prevent a more serious crime. |
|
|
Causation |
For behavior to be a crime, there must be a causal relationship between the legally forbidden harm and the actus reus. The criminal act must lead directly to the harm without a long delay. |
|
|
Concurrence |
There must be this between the actus reus and the mens rea. The criminal conduct and the criminal intent must occur together. |
|
|
Punishment |
For a behavior to be considered a crime, there must be a statutory provision for punishment or at least the threat of punishment. |
|
|
What are two ways we can distinguish by degree or severity of an offense? |
Felonies—severe crimes Misdemeanors—less severe crimes |
|
|
What is another way we can distinguish and determine the severity of an offense? |
Mala in se:“wrong in themselves” A description applied to crimes that are characterized by universality and timelessness Examples: rape, murder Mala prohibita: offenses that are illegal because laws define them as such They lack universality and timelessness. Examples: trespassing, gambling |
|
|
Why are statistics about crime anddelinquency probably the most unreliable and most difficult of all socialstatistics? |
Behavior may be wrongly labeled. Crimes go undetected. Crimes are sometimes not reported to police. Crimes may be inaccurately recorded by police or not recorded at all. Statistics do not include the dark figure of crime. |
|
|
Define the dark figure of crime |
is the number of crimes not officially recorded by the police. |
|
|
Define crime index |
Any record of crimes |
|
|
What is probably the best index of crime? |
the offenses known to the police |
|
|
Define crime rate |
When crime indexes are compared Crime rates are used because they are more comparable. Crime rates can change because of demographic changes or other factors. |
|
|
Uniformcrime reports (UCR). |
More than 18,000 city, county, and state law enforcement agencies are active in the program. They represent about 98% of the U.S. population. UCR also include statistics on crime index offenses cleared by the police, which is a rough index of police performance in solving crimes |
|
|
NationalIncident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) |
Result of a joint task force of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the FBI aimed at improving the quality of information contained in the UCR. The NIBRS contains more data on more crimes than the UCR, making it possible to examine crimes in much more detail. |
|
|
Nationalcrime victimization surveys (NCVS) |
Crime statistics based on interviews in which respondents are asked whether they have been victims of any of the FBI’s index offenses (except murder and nonnegligent manslaughter and arson) or other crimes during the past six months. If they have, they are asked toprovide information about the experience. |
|
|
Does the NCVS show more or less crimes being committed than the UCR? |
more, they produce different results |
|
|
Self-reportcrime surveys |
ask selected subjects (often highschool students) whether they have committed crimes.
Examples: TheNational Youth Survey TheNational Institute on Drug Abuse surveys |
|
|
More about self-report crime surveys |
Early self-report crime surveys of adults found an enormous amount of hidden crime in the United States. They found that more than 90% of all Americans had committed crimes for which they could have been imprisoned. The most commonly reported offenses in self-report crime surveys are larceny, indecency, and tax evasion. |
