Exam 1 Flashcards
(26 cards)
intentional act or omission in violation of criminal legislation committed without defence or justification
factual definition of a crime
features of the actual behaviour
-harm or damage caused to others
normative definition of a crime
the nature of both or tied together. (we decide the punishment of the crime)
crime and punishment
is the body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes within its scope, the process of making laws, of breaking laws, and reaching toward the breaking of laws.
criminology
The development of a body of general and verified principles and of other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime, and treatment or prevention.
objective
certain acts are wrong, reflect a collective conscience, helps to keep social order and harmony for most.
consensus theory - making of laws
some acts are seen as so threatening to a society’s survival they are designated crime (morality offences)
factual definition - making of laws
expression often interests of the powerful
-two approaches law support some interests at the expense of others
-laws reflect the values of the ruling class
(keep in mind) crime as harm does not mean it is criminalized
- civil, deviance, and acceptable practice (profits)
conflict theory - making of laws
no agreement, no general theory to explain all criminal behaviour
breaking of laws
what to be done?
applied criminology
‘public debate’, who is being harmed
public criminology
affect on the environment, who commits the crime against the environment and who suffers it, health care system? how do we deal with it.
green criminology
how many incidents that happen - dark figure, all crime not reported -GSS (general social survey) -UCR (uniform crime report) crime rates, number of incidents per 100,000
crime funnel
provide police departments with a standard set of procedures for the collection of crime-related info
-limitations, attempted and completed crimes are counted in the same category - when several crimes are committed in one event only the most serious recorded
UCR
collects more detailed information, “incident based”
- vicitimization survey, (1980) characteristics of crime and victims.
- perceived characteristics of offenders
- patterns of police reporting
UCR2
reported crimes that are not reported to the police
self-report survey
crimes committed by corporate crimes
white collar
agreement between people and government that says people need to give up their absolute right to do whatever we want. When break the contract, the government can take away some natural rights.
social contract
laws, codify, punishment(pleasure/pain) (each crime should have a certain punishment) deterrent, happen right away and appropriate) no capital punishment,
Beccarias
utilitarianism, law should prevent evil and produce good
-ensure the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people
Human behaviour: hedonistic calculus (different pairs/pleasure) punishment assigned to each crime so that pain out weight the pleasure of the crime.
Detterance: Evils of punishment must be moderate to exceed the advantage of the offence.
Jeremy Bentham - Reform the law (punishments)
consists of powerful urges and drives for gratification and satisfaction (impulsive)
ID
executive of the personality, acting as between the super ego and ID (environment)
EGO
acts as a moral code of conceives (right and wrong)
superego
scientific study, based on empirical research, measurement, and experimentation has more validity then philosophical doctrines based on abstract.
positive criminology
