Chapter 5: Correlates of Criminal Behavior Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Chapter 5: Correlates of Criminal Behavior Deck (40)
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1
Q

Definition: Correlate

A

a phenomenon that accompanies another phenomenon and is related in some way to it

2
Q

6 Major Correlates to Crime

A

age, gender, race, drug & alcohol use, socio-economic status, spatial location

3
Q

Age as a Correlate

A

criminal activity intensifies in adolescence and young adulthood (except white collar)

4
Q

Definition: Maturational Reform (3)

A

theory that people are less likely to commit crimes as they age for 3 reasons

1) Physiological limits
2) Social bonds
3) Responsible trajectory of human agency (ie. getting wasted)

5
Q

Crime as risk taking behavior (3)

A

1) Young people concerned more with benefits than costs
2) Immediacy weighs heavily
3) “Limited Rationality”

6
Q

Reasons Age is related to crime (3)

A

1) Individual factors: conduct problems; bullying; unemotional
2) Family background: poor parental supervision; physical abuse; child of convicts more likely
3) Institutional: exposure to juvenile court

7
Q

Romance-crime Nexus

A

men more likely to offend after breakup

8
Q

Gender as a Correlate

A

men more likely to commit crimes (9x more homicide); especially violent crimes & serious property offences. Females only higher for drug possession and prostitution

9
Q

Women and Crime

A

female cases more likely to be withdrawn and have shorter sentences. very few dangerous offenders. women more likely to be killed in spousal homicides

10
Q

Otto Polak’s Explanation for Sex Differences

A

supposed “greater cunning and deceitfulness” of women

11
Q

Chivalry Thesis

A

preferential treatment by law enforcement agents and agencies

12
Q

Power Control Theory

A

in patriarchal families the daughters have very strict rules relayed to them by their mothers that deters them from risk taking. This is not the case in egalitarian families

13
Q

5 Pathways for Women’s Involvement in Crime (Kathleen Daly)

A

1) Harmed and harming women: endured abuse; difficult family life; substance abuse
2) Battered women: abusive partner is defining factor
3) Street women: suffered serious abuse and are engaged in prostitution, drug selling and theft
4) Drug-connected women: engaged in illicit drug use and sale because of connections
5) Other women: usually engaged in crime for economic gain

14
Q

Convergence Theory

A

as women’s roles become more like men’s, crime rates will converge (appears to be stable now); limited to petty theft and fraud

15
Q

Race as a Correlate

A

more minorities in the criminal justice system (blacks in the USA, aboriginals in Canada)

16
Q

Differential Offending Hypothesis

A

the biological perspective that there are actual differences in racial groups

17
Q

Differential Treatment Hypothesis

A

structural inequality in administration of justice is responsible; police give more attention; social spaces more surveillance;

18
Q

Cultural Theories

A

identify traits, characteristics, way of life to explain involvement in criminal justice process; dominant vs subculture idea

19
Q

2 Strains as to Why Aboriginals are Overepresented

A

1) the view that they are inherently violent
2) Close to cultural conflict theory: their culture is different from the dominant and they are alienated by the norms, laws etc.

20
Q

Criticisms of Cultural Theories

A

1) Presuppose monolithic & static culture
2) Assume there is “Aboriginal behavior”
3) Pathologize their culture
4) Do not engage with bi-dimensional phenomenon: incorporating their cultures without access to legit opportunity

21
Q

Structural Theories of Crime

A

situate locus of criminality in historical context and prevailing structures of society; like the distribution of valuable resources (education, jobs etc.). 3 types

22
Q

Colonial Model

A

Frantz Fanon: a socio-psychological perspective that focuses on the intersection of structural oppression, alienation and 3 adaptive forms of behavior (assimilation, crime, or protest); results in cultural limbo

23
Q

Tatum’s 4 Stages of Colonization

A

1) Territory of one group invaded by another
2) Colonial society formed; cultural imposition, disintegration and recreation occur
3) Native peoples find themselves governed by colonizer’s representatives
4) Colonial society develops a caste system based on race

24
Q

Definition: Mentacide

A

deliberate and systematic destruction of a group’s minds with the ultimate objective being extirpation of the group

25
Q

Historic Trauma Transmission Model

A

Wesley & Smolewski: focus on how historic trauma manifests itself social and psychologically; acculturation associated with negative outcomes; idea of learned helplessness

26
Q

4 ways that traumatic memories are passed down

A

1) Biological channels: presdispositions
2) Story telling
3) Direct result of violence, deficient parenting etc.
4) Psychological avenues: memory, recollections of pain & suffering

27
Q

Critical Race Theory

A

Derrick Bell: challenges the policies & dynamics & taken for granted assumptions of institutional power; social constructionist approach; left leaning; legal indeterminacy

28
Q

Definition: Social Constructionist

A

questions the idea of observable or measurable social reality, proposes a crime is whatever a society defines it to be

29
Q

Assumptions of the Critical Race theory

A

1) Law reflects dominant groups and favors them
2) Enforcement is biased
3) Law interpretation is subjective
4) Law is not colour blind
5) racism in justice system is normal

30
Q

Definition: Racialization

A

process whereby categories of the population are constructed, differentiated, inferiorized and excluded

31
Q

Drug & Alcohol Misuse as a Correlate

A

correlated with mischief, robbery, murder and auto theft; over half of inmates have substance abuse problems

32
Q

3 Factors that link Drug use and crime

A

1) Efforts to support addiction
2) Under the influence
3) Mere possession

33
Q

Goldstein’s Model for Drug/Crime Correlation

A

1) Psychopharmacological: drugs can change behavior
2) Economically compulsive: crime committed to feed habit
3) Systemic: violence inherent in involvement with illicit substance (territory disputes etc.)

34
Q

SES as a Correlate

A

lower classes = more crime (goes back to 18th century in Europe); however, poverty in and of itself does not cause crime; suggested that inequality, rather than SES, causes crime

35
Q

3 key variables of SES

A

education, income and occupation

36
Q

Wright’s 3 findings for SES-crime link

A

1) The link is an indirect one: it operates through mediating variables such as attitudes, behavior, neighbourhood etc.
2) Low SES promotes delinquency: because of alienation, financial strain etc.
3) High SES promotes delinquency: less adherence to conventional values; more risk taking/social power

37
Q

Overall SES-Crime link

A

negative correlation for serious offences; level of education predicts amount of violence; intimate partner violence higher with less education

38
Q

Spatial Location as a Correlate

A

more crime closer to city centre; larger communities; certain high-risk neighbourhoods (lower income/education); more in Western Canada; more in the Southern states

39
Q

Neighbourhood characteristics

A

less “collective efficacy” (helping each other out), more immigrants, less opportunities

40
Q

Highest Homicide rates (world/Canada)

A

World: Turkey/Ukraine
Canada: Thunder Bay/Winnipeg