Psychology & Law Test 1

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Adoption Study

Back 1

A procedure used to evaluate the effects of heredity versus environment in determining behavior, specifically criminal behavior.

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Anomie

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A sense of alienation or meaninglessness.

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Antisocial Personality Disorder

Back 3

A personality disorder characterized by repeated rule breaking, chronic manipulativeness, impulsivive and irresponsible behavior, calleous attitudes towards others, and a lack of guilt or remorse for wrongdoing.

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Atavism

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The view that crime is due to a genetic throwback to a more primitive ang aggressive form of human being.

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Biological Theories of Crime

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An explanation for the causes of criminal behavior that uses heredity and consitutional characteristics of the lawbreaker.

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Classical Conditioning

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A procedure in which one learns to associate a new response witha stimulus.

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Classical School of Criminology

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The point of view that evolved in the 1700's and 1800's, emphasizing the role of free will and cost-benefit analysis in determining criminal behavior.

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Cocordance Rate

Back 8

The extent of similarity in a behavior or characteristic between two twins.

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Conditioned Stimulus

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An act that, through association, comes to elicit a learned response.

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Containment Theory

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The proposition that societal pressure controls the rate of crime.

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Control Theory

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The proposition that people will act in antisocial way unless they are prevented from doing so.

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Criminology

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The study of crime and criminal behavior.

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Differential Association Reinforcement Theory

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A learning-theory approach that asserts that criminal behavior is the result of socialization into a system of values that is conducive to violation of the law.

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Dizygotic Twins

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Fraternal twins; that is, those who share about half the same genes.

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Ecological Theorists

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A group of criminologist who believed that crime was caused primarily by a combination of social, environmental, and cultural factors.

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Ectomorph

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In Sheldon's typology, a tall, thin, physique.

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Endomorph

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In Sheldon's typology, a soft rounded physique.

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Executive Function

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The cognitive ability to plan and regulate behavior carefully.

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Extroversion

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The personality cluster characterized by outgoing orientation, enthusiasm, and optimism.

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Focal Concerns Theory

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A theory that relates the criminal activities of lower-class gangs to their need to achieve those end that are most culturally valued through the simplest possible means.

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Genealogy

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The tracing of the ancestry of an individual; an early method of studying genetic contributions in criminality.

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Learning Theory

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A form of criminological theory that emphasizes how specific criminal behaviors are learned directly from reinforcement and modeling influences.

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Mesomorph

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In Sheldon's typology, a muscular physique.

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Monozygotic Twins

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Commonly called identical twins.

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Neuroticism

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A major dimension of personality involving the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression, often accompanied by distressed thinking and behavior.

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Operant Learning

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A form of learning in which the consequences of a behavior influence the likelihood of it being performed in teh future.

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Positive School of Criminology

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A point of view that emphasized that criminal behavior by a person was determined, rather than a product of free will.

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Primary Deviance

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Behavior that violates a law or nrom for socially acceptable conduct.

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Psychological Theories Of Crime

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The approach that explaining criminal behavior that ues factors within the person such as motivation, ability level, and aspirations.

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Psychopathy

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A long-term pattern of unsocialized or criminal behavior by a person who feels no guilt about such conduct.

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Psychoticism

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A majory element in Eysenck's theory of personality, characterized by insensitivity, trouble-making, and lack of empathy.

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Racial Profiling

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The police practice of using race as a factor in determining actions such as traffic stops, arrests, and questioning of suspects.

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Rational Choice Theory

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A proposition that, if the rationale for committing a crime exceeds that for not committing it, the liklihood of the crime being committed increases.

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Rational Crime Theory

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The theory that some illegal behavior "makes sense" because of the reward and unlikihood of detection.

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Reaction Formation

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The acceptance of whatever it is opposit to the norm.

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Reality Principle

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The psychoanalysis, the task of the ego to reach rational compromises between teh instincts of the id and the moral demands of the superego.

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Secondary Deviance

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Creating or increasing the deviant indenity of a person through the use of offical label or from legal sanctions.

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Social-Process Theories

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A broach category of criminalogical theory that emphasizes how different types of learning involved in social interactions lead to crime.

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Social-Psychological Theory Of Crime

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The theory that propoes teh criminal behavior is learned through social interation.

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Sociological Theories of Crime

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An examination of the institutions and norm of society as they determine adherence to the law and lawbreaking.

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Somatotypes

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Different types of huma n physiques that Sheldon originally hypothesized were linked to distinct ypes of personality.

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Stimulation-Seeking Theory

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A theory that psychopathic beavior is due to individuals attempts to raise their sensory and arousal experiences to an optimal level through repeated thrill-seeking and risk-taking.

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Structural Explanations

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A type of sociological theory of crime that emphasizes similar interests and motivations, but differences in opportunities.

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Subcultural Explanations

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A type of sociological theory of crime that emphasizes class differences in values.

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Unconditioned Stimulus

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A original stimulus, not associated with a new or conditioned response.

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Vicarious Learning

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Learning by observing the actions of another person and their outcomes.