CH 1

Question 1

What are the 6 main areas of criminology?

Answer 1

1. the definition of crime and criminals.
2. the origins and role of law.
3. the social distribution of crime.
4. the causation of crime
5. patterns of criminal behaviour
6. societal reactions to crime

Question 2

What are norms?

Answer 2

established rules of behaviour or standards of conduct

Question 3

What is crime?

Answer 3

behaviour that breaks the rules

Question 4

In most societies, how was crime handled prior to the 18th century?

Answer 4

offences were handled privately by the wronged individual and their family

Question 5

What is the legal definition of crime?

Answer 5

an act or omission that violates the criminal law and is punishable with either a jail term, fine, and/or some other sanction

Question 6

What are white-collar crimes?

Answer 6

crime that is committed by people in the course of their legitimate business activities

Question 7

Why does only focusing on the criminal law lead to the conclusion that crime is primarily a lower-class phenomenon?

Answer 7

It only takes into account offences such as burglary, assault, theft etc
- does not take into account white collar crimes

Question 8

What are human rights?

Answer 8

the minimum conditions required for a person to live a dignified life.

Question 9

What did Hagen propose we encompass in our definition of crime?

Answer 9

• a definition that considers behaviours that are both actually and potentially liable to criminal law
• deviance and crime be considered on a continuum ranging from least serious to most.

Question 10

What are the 4 categories of Hagen’s approach of crime and deviance?

Answer 10

1. consensus crimes
2. conflict crimes
3. social deviations
4. social diversions

Question 11

What must we consider for every crime despite the severity of the offence?

Answer 11

we must understand the act’s social context before we can determine whether it is deviant and how it should be classified

Question 12

Why is crime socially defined?

Answer 12

Because some things that are considered unlawful here can be practices that are quite acceptable elsewhere, and vice versa
-e.g., it is unlawful in Singapore to possess chewing gum b/c it is messy.

Question 13

How is crime relative?

Answer 13

the rules can change over time

-e.g., gay marriage was prohibited by the Criminal Code

Question 14

Values

Answer 14

a collective idea about what is right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable in a particular culture

Question 15

Consensus theory

Answer 15

Laws represent the consensus of the people

- the agreement of most people in a society that certain acts should be prohibited by the criminal law

Question 16

Class Conflict theory

Answer 16

laws are passed by members of the ruling class in order to keep their privileged position by keeping the common people under control.

• e.g., Hayter Reed using the Indian Act to control the Indigenous population
• was using the system to restrict the movement of their people, who he saw as a threat to the government and white settlers.

Question 17

Group Conflict theory

Answer 17

attempts to explain certain types of criminal behaviour as resulting from conflict in interests between divergent groups
- e.g., the division on abortion

Question 18

What is Green Criminology?

Answer 18

• criminologists contributing to the debate about the causes and consequences of environmental destruction
• ## rooted in the environmental and animal rights movements

Question 19

Terrorism

Answer 19

the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people

Question 20

Why is terrorism difficult to define?

Answer 20

• “terrorism” is a socially constructed term

- “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”