Ch 1 Flashcards
(24 cards)
Criminology
The scientific study of crime and criminal behavior.
Crime
Violations of criminal law.
Progression of knowledge
Comte’s theory that knowledge has historically progressed from theological to metaphysical to scientific.
Deviance
Behavior that is outside the limits of social toleration.
Norms
Prescribed rules of conduct
Folkways
Nice customs, traditions, or less serious norms.
Mores
More serious informal social controls
Laws
Codified or written rules that are more serious norms and contain sanctions
Mala prohibita
Acts that are bad due to being prohibited
Mala in se
Acts that are bad in themselves.
Undercriminalization
The under use of criminal law to control deviant activity
Overcriminalization
The overuse of the criminal law as an attempt to control deviant activity
Gemeinschaft
A communal or folk society
Gesellschaft
And associational or heterogeneous society
Manifest functions
Intended or planned consequences of social arrangements
Latent functions
Unexplained, unanticipated or hidden consequences of social activity
Functional necessity of crime
Durkheim’s theory that society defines itself by reacting to crime and wrongdoing
Consensus model
The belief that criminal law originates in the will of the majority
Conflict model
The belief that criminal law reflects the conflicts of interest of groups and that the more powerful groups define the law
Interactionist model
Says that crime is defined by abstract meanings and symbols and has a label assigned by society
Criminal law
Violations of law that are enforced by the state in order to protect victims
Felonies
More serious crimes generally punished by at least a year in jail
Misdemeanors
Less serious crimes that result in less than one year in jail
Cost of crime
The cost of crime include financial and other cost, such as psychological and health cost. Estimates have been as high as $1.7 trillion
