Juvenile Exam 1

Front 1

Choice theory

Back 1

holds that youths will engage in delinquent and criminal behavior after weighing the consequences and benefits of their actions; delinquent behavior is a rational choice made by a motivated offender who perceives that the chances of gain outweigh any possible punishment or loss

Front 2

Trait theory

Back 2

holds that youths engage in delinquent of criminal behavior due to aberrant physical pr psychological traits that govern behavioral choices; delinquent actions are impulsive or instinctual rather than rational choices

Front 3

Social disorganization theory

Back 3

the inability of a community to exert social control allows youths the freedom to engage in illegal behavior

Front 4

Biosocial theory

Back 4

the view that both thought and behavior have biological and social bases

Front 5

Utalitarians

Back 5

Those who believe that people weigh the benefits and consequences of their future actions before deciding on a course of behavior

Front 6

General deterrence

Back 6

crime control policies that depend on the fear of criminal penalties, such as long prison sentences for violent crimes; the aim is to convince law violators that the pain outweighs the benefit of criminal activity

Front 7

Specific deterrence

Back 7

: sending convicted offenders to secure incarceration facilities so that punishment is severe enough to convince offenders not to repeat their criminal activity
Situational crime prevention: crime prevention method that relies on reducing the opportunity to commit criminal acts by making them more difficult to perform, reducing their reward, and increasing their risks

Front 8

Criminal atavism

Back 8

the idea that delinquents manifest physical anomalies that make them biologically and physiologically similar to our primitive ancestors, savage throwbacks to an earlier stage of human evolution

Front 9

Waiver

Back 9

transferring legal jurisdiction over the most serious and experienced juvenile offenders to the adult court for criminal prosecution

Front 10

Status offense

Back 10

conduct that is illegal only because the child is underage (tobacco purchase, running away)

Front 11

Part I UCR

Back 11

offenses including homicide and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson, and motor vehicle theft; recorded by local law officers, these crimes are tallied quarterly and sent to the FBI for inclusion in the UCR

Front 12

Part II UCR

Back 12

All crimes other than Part I crimes; recorded by local law enforcement officers, arrests for these crimes are tallied quarterly and sent to the FBI for inclusion in the UCR

Front 13

NCVS

Back 13

the ongoing victimization study conducted jointly by the Justice Department and the US Census Bureau that surveys victims about their experiences with law violation

Front 14

UCR

Back 14

compiled by the FBI, the UCR is the most widely used source of national crime and delinquency statistics

Front 15

Social process theories

Back 15

view delinquency as the result of a person’s interaction with critical elements of socialization

Front 16

Social control theories

Back 16

posits that delinquency results from a weakened commitment to the major social institutions (family, peers, and school); lack of such commitment allows youth to exercise antisocial behavioral choices

Front 17

Social structure theories

Back 17

explain delinquency using socioeconomic conditions and cultural values

Front 18

Cultural deviance theories

Back 18

a unique lower-class culture develops in disorganized neighborhoods whose unique set of values and beliefs puts residents in conflict with conventional social norms

Front 19

Social disorganization theory, strain theory, and cultural deviance theory

Back 19

What are the three branches of social structure theory?

Front 20

Anomie

Back 20

normlessness produced by rapidly shifting moral values; according to Merton, anomie occurs when personal goals cannot be achieved using available means

Front 21

Drift

Back 21

that youths move in and out of delinquency and that their lifestyles can embrace both conventional and deviant values

Front 22

General strain theory

Back 22

according to Agnew, the view that multiple sources of strain interact with an individual’s emotional traits and responses to produce criminality.

Front 23

Differential association theory

Back 23

asserts that criminal behavior is learned primarily within interpersonal groups and that youths will become delinquent if definitions they have learned favorable to violating the law exceed definitions favorable to obeying the law within that group

Front 24

Reintegrative shaming

Back 24

technique used to allow offenders to understand and recognize their wrongdoing and shame themselves. To be reintegrative, shaming must be brief and controlled and then followed by ceremonies of forgiveness, apology, and repentance.

Front 25

Sentencing circle

Back 25

: In some Native American communities, people accused of breaking the law meet with community members, victims, village elders, and agents of the justice system in a sentencing circle. Each member of the circle expresses his or her feelings about the act that was committed and raises questions or concerns. The accused can express regret about his actions and a desire to change the harmful behavior. People may suggest ways the offender can make things up to the community and those he harmed. A treatment program, such as AA, an be suggested if appropriate.

Front 26

Labeling

Back 26

designating certain individuals as delinquent, thereby stigmatizing youths and encouraging them to accept this negative personal identity

Front 27

Restorative justice

Back 27

using humanistic, nonpunitive strategies to right wrongs and restore social harmony

Front 28

Retrospective reading

Back 28

the reassessment of a person’s past to fit a current generalized label

Front 29

Primary deviance

Back 29

norm violations that have very little influence on the actor and can be quickly forgotten and/or overlooked

Front 30

Secondary deviance

Back 30

deviant acts that define the actor and create a new identity

Front 31

Social reaction theory

Back 31

also called labeling theory, explains how sustained delinquent behavior stems from destructive social interactions and encounters. Illegal acts are defined by the social audience’s reaction and not the moral content of the illegal act itself.

Front 32

Life course conflict

Back 32

theory that focuses on changes in criminality over the life course; developmental theory

Front 33

Authority conflict pathway

Back 33

pathway to delinquent deviance that begins at an early age with stubborn behavior and leads to defiance and then to authority avoidance

Front 34

Overt pathway

Back 34

pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor aggression, leads to physical fighting, and eventually escalates to violent delinquency

Front 35

Covert pathway

Back 35

pathway to a delinquent career that begins with minor underhanded behavior, leads to property damage, and eventually escalates to more serious forms of theft or fraud

Front 36

Problem-behavior syndrome

Back 36

a cluster of antisocial behaviors that include family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexuality and early pregnancy, educational underachievement, suicide attempts, sensation seeking, and unemployment, as well as delinquency.

Front 37

Control-balance theory

Back 37

the concept of control has two distinct elements: the amount of control one is subject to by others and the amount of control one can exercise over others. Conformity results when these two elements are in balance; control imbalances produce deviant and criminal behaviors.

Front 38

Latent trait

Back 38

a stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition, such as defective intelligence or impulsive personality, that makes some people delinquency-prone over the life course

Front 39

Social capital

Back 39

positive relations with individuals and institutions, as in a successful marriage or a successful career, that support conventional behavior and inhibit deviant behavior.

Front 40

Critical feminists

Back 40

hold that gender inequality stems from the unequal power of men and women and the subsequent exploitation of women by men; the cause of female delinquency originates with the onset of male supremacy and the efforts of males to control females’ sexuality

Front 41

Liberal feminists

Back 41

asserts that females are less delinquent than males, because their social roles provide them with fewer opportunities to commit crimes; as the roles of girls and women become more similar to those of boys and men, so too will their crime patterns

Front 42

Chivalry hypothesis

Back 42

the view that low female crime and delinquency rates are a reflection of the leniency with which police treat female offenders

Front 43

Masculinity hypothesis

Back 43

view that women who commit crime have biological and psychological traits similar to those of men

Front 44

Gender/schema theory

Back 44

a theory of development that holds that children internalize gender scripts that reflect the gender-related social practices of the culture. Once internalized, these gender scripts predispose the kids to construct a self-identity that is consistent with them

Front 45

Nuclear family

Back 45

a family unit composed of parents and their children; this smaller family structure is subject to great stress due to the intense, close contact between parents and children

Front 46

Patriarchal family

Back 46

"a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line" - in other words a family where the father is the authority figure and everyone gains his approval or follows his instructions. A matriarchal family is the opposite where the mother rules the roost.

Front 47

Intrafamily violence

Back 47

an environment of discord and conflict within the family; children who grow up in dysfunctional homes often exhibit delinquent behaviors, having learned at a young age that aggression pays off

Front 48

Child neglect

Back 48

passive neglect by a parent or guardian, depriving children of food, shelter, health care, and love

Front 49

Child abuse

Back 49

any physical, emotional, or sexual trauma to a child, including neglecting to give proper care and attention, for which no reasonable explanation can be found

Front 50

Abandonment

Back 50

parents physically leave their children with the intention of completely severing the parent-child relationship

Front 51

Balancing the interest approach

Back 51

efforts of the courts to balance the parents’ natural right to raise a child with the child’s right to grow into adulthood free from physical abuse or emotional harm