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33 Cards in this Set
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- Back
CLASSICAL (18th c.) |
Beccaria- argued for just/humane punishments, punishment should fit the crime. Punishments for crime should outweigh benefits (deterrence), should be swift, certain, and appropriately severe.
Bentham- Principle of Utility: laws should be aimed at making sure pains of punishment should outweigh the crime. Estimation of pleasure/pain based on Intensity, Duration, Certainty, and how soon it is derived. |
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POSITIVIST (19th c.) |
A movement towards a more scientific explanation of crime-- biological causes. Determinism- the belief that events have causes that precede them.
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LOMBROSO |
POSITIVIST Criminal Man- Atavism. Inferior with recognizable physical stigmata. After criticism, created other categories of Insane Criminals and Criminaloids (habitual, juridicial, passion). |
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GARAFOLA |
POSITIVIST Argued for “natural” definition of crime- an act is criminal if it universally condemned due to offending sentiments of probity and pity. Believed that punishments should fit the offender and the danger they pose to society due to their peculiarities. Identified Four Categories:
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FERRI |
POSITIVIST believed criminals were characterized by (a) moral insensibility and (b) low intelligence. Social defense: the purpose of punishment is not to deter or rehabilitate, but to protect society from criminal predation |
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MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CLASSICAL AND POSITIVIST |
punishment should fit the crime not the offender. causes of crime are rational choice/free will not biological, psychological, or social. purpose of punishment is deterrence not social defense. criminals and non criminals are the same, criminals are inferior. |
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SOCIAL STRUCTURAL THEORIES (DEF) |
Explain Aggregate/group crime rates instead of individual causes of crime.
Social Disorganization Theory (Shaw & McKay) Anomie (Durkheim) Strain (Merton) General Strain (Agnew) |
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(NEO)CLASSICAL THEORIES |
Rational Choice Routine Activities Theory Deterrence |
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SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES |
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective- focuses on how people interpret and define their social reality and the meanings that they attach to their social reality in the process of interacting with one another via language (symbols).
Differential Association (Sutherland) Social Learning Theory (Akers)
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SOCIAL CONTROL THEORIES |
Social control mechanisms are those designed to minimize deviance and nonconformity.
SOCIAL BONDING (Hirschi) SELF CONTROL THEORY (Gottfried & Hirschi) NEUTRAL AND DRIFT (Sykes & Matza)
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DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES |
Emphasize that the individual criminal’s propensity develops along different pathways. They explore the onset, acceleration, and deceleration of offending. Crime varies across the life course, with most criminal involvement occurring during adolescence. Developmental theories are integrative in that they take into account social, psychological, and biological factors simultaneously.
AGE LIMITED/DUAL PATHWAY (Moffit) AGE GRADED (Sampson & Laub)
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CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE |
LABELING THEORY (Tannenbaum & Lemert) CONFLICT THEORIES (marx and weber) |
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THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT |
Consequentialist- actions are morally right if, but only if, they result in desirable consequences.
RETRIBUTIVISM- based on dual premises that humans possess free will and punishment justified when it is deserved (primary deontologist view)
DENUNCIATION- justified as a means of expressing society’s condemnation and relative seriousness of crime. hybrid of utilitarianism and retribution.
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SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION (Shaw & McKay) social structural theory |
Considers how delinquency is geographically distributed/what social conditions coincide with high crime rates.
social disorganization = breakdown of informal community rules. This leads to (1) lack of informal controls, which in turn leads to (2) development of values that promote asocial behaviors. *no more collective efficacy
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STRAIN THEORY (Merton) social structural theory |
Crime is caused by the gap between commonly held cultural goals and the legitimate means available to achieve them. In American culture, monetary success is the predominant cultural goal, but not everyone has the same access to attain it. Some people respond to this disjunction in criminal ways.
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GENERAL STRAIN THEORY (Agnew) social structural theory |
Strain is the result of negative emotions that arise from negative relationships with others.
NEGATIVE RELATIONS prevent achievement of positively values goals, remove positively valued stimuli, and present negatively valued stimuli. Can very in magnitude, recency, duration, and clustering. The strain leads to NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. Coping can occur in either a Behavioral, Cognitive, or Emotional way. Can lead to DELINQUENT REACTIONS in the form of instrumental (obtaining what was lost), Retaliatory (committing a violent act as an expression of strain/emotions emitted), or Retreatist (rejecting cultural goals and institutionalized means of attaining them, being in but not of society). However, some people can cope with strain without becoming delinquent.
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ANOMIE (Durkheim) social structural theory |
Anomie = lack of rules/state of normlessness
Mechanical societies: In Durkheim's theory, these societies were rather primitive with a simple distribution of labor and thus a high level of agreement regarding social norma and rules because nearly everone is engaged inthe same roles...
organic solidarity leads to criminal behavior because of the weakening of social bonds. |
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RATIONAL CHOICE (neo)classical school |
Criminal choices are made in a context of personal/situational constraints and available opportunities. |
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ROUTINE ACTIVITIES THEORY (neo)classical school |
Considers crime from the perspective of crime prevention and offender.
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DETERRENCE THEORY (neo)classical school, theories of punishment |
Form of utilitarianism
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DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION (Sutherland) Social Process Theory |
Criminal behavior is learned in intimate social groups.
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SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY (Akers) Social Process Theory |
Operant psychology can be applied to differential association theory to explain how individuals adopt definitions favorable to crime.
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SOCIAL BONDING THEORY (Hirschi) Social Control Theory |
Social bonding theory assumes people create social bonds that prevent them from committing crimes.
(1) Attachment- the emotional component of conformity, such as bonds to key social institutions like the family and the school.
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SELF CONTROL THEORY |
Individuals with low self control are more likely to commit crime. Most crimes are spontaneous, impulsive acts undertaken due to the temptations of the moment.
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NEUTRALIZATION AND DRIFT THEORY (Sykes & Matza)
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Neutralization (Sykes & Matza)- persons committing delinquent acts know their behavior is wrong, but they are able to neutralize their sense of shame/guilt through justifications.
Drift Theory: The techniques of neutralization are ways in which adolescents get an “episodic release” from conventional moral restraints. |
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AGE LIMITED/DUAL PATHWAY (Moffit) Developmental Perspective |
There is a distinction between adolescent limited (AL) offenders and life course persistent (LCP) offenders and the “maturity gap” may contribute to AL. 85% of offenders are AL. The maturity gap is the period during which youth have already encountered puberty, but are not yet entering into the work force. |
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AGE GRADED THEORY (Sampson & Laub) Developmental Perspective |
Environmental circumstances and human agency interact with various life course events in a manner that explains deviance. Essentially a social control theory.
Primary focus on desistance. As people build up social capital and encounter key turning points in their lives, they are likely to desist.
Low risk trajectory: |
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LABELING THEORY (Tannenbaum & Lemert) critical perspective |
Labeling is the process of being caught and labeled a “criminal”, which becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
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CONFLICT THEORY- MARX critical perspective |
conflict theories concentrate on power relationships/inequalities as the root of crime and all other problems.
MARX- capitalism leads to class struggle and societal ills. bourgeoise- owners of means of production. proletariat- oppressed working class. lumpenproletariat- third class, scum of society, will not be involved in the revolution. primitive rebellion hypothesis- crime is often a rational response to the effects of capitalism in societies. crime is a result of the alienating and exploitive effects of capitalism
altruism vs. egoism
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CONFLICT THEORY- WEBER critical perspective |
Society is best characterized by conflict originating from several sources.
Main argument: Expanded conflict theory from its focus on value and normative conflicts to include conflicts of interest. Social life is seen as a continual struggle to maintain or improve one’s group interests.
crime is a normal and desirable mode of change.
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SOCIAL CRIMINOLOGY DEFINITION (Sutherland & Cressy) |
Body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon.
crimes are defined by society > people commit crimes > society reacts (punishment/treatment) > new info gathered on effectiveness of reaction > informs and amends processes that embody criminology > changes how people define crime. |
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WAYS TO MEASURE CRIME |
Official Statistics (UCR and NIBRS) Victimization survey data (NCVS) Self Reported Data
The UCR is probably the “best” source of data for murder and serious crime, but not helpful in determining rates of drug use.
Victimization surveys cannot tell us about murder or drug use, but is a good source for rape statistics.
Self-report surveys will provide the best information on drug use, but not serious crimes such as murder or rape |
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CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THEORIES |
Logical Consistency- clearly defined concepts; propositions are logically stated and internally consistent
Scope
Parsimony: Conciseness and Abstractness of a set of concepts & propositions
Testability- can't be tautological, open ended, or immeasurable. have to be viewable with objective repeatable evidence
Empirical Validity- supported by extensive legitimate empirical data/evidence
Policy Implications/Usefulness- can it be helpful to us and guide policy/laws
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