Exam 2 Flashcards
(95 cards)
the view that criminality is a function of people’s interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in society
social process theory
the view that people learn the techniques and attitudes of crime from close relationships with criminal peers
social learning theory
the view that everyone has the potential to become a criminal, but most people are controlled by their bonds to society. Crime occurs when the forces that bind people to society are weakened or broken.
social control theory
the view that people become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and they accept those labels as a personal identity
social reaction (labeling) theory
process of human development and enculturation. Socialization reflects key social processes and institutions: the family, school, peer group, community.
socialization
the ability of parents to be supportive of their children and effectively control them in noncoercive ways
parental efficacy
the view that people commit crime when their social learning leads them to perceive more definitions favoring crime than conventional behavior
differential association theory
results of exposure to opposing norms, attitudes, and definitions of right and wrong, moral and immoral
culture conflict
the view that law violators learn to neutralize conventional values and attitudes, enabling them to drift back and forth between criminal and conventional behavior
neutralization theory
movement in and out of delinquency, shifting between conventional and deviant values
drift
methods of rationalizing deviant behavior, such as denying responsibility or blaming the victim
neutralization techniques
a strong moral sense that renders a person incapable of hurting other or violating social norms
self-control
a strong personal investment in conventional institutions, individuals, and processes that prevents people from engaging in behavior that might jeopardize their reputation and achievements
commitment to conformity
the ties that bind people to society, including relationships with friends, family, neighbors, teachers, and employers. The elements of the social bond include commitment, attachment involvement, and belief
social bonds
a person who creates moral rules that reflect the values of those in power rather than any objective, universal standards of right and wrong
moral entrepreneur
to apply negative labeling with enduring effects on a person’s self-image and social interactions
stigmatize
a course of action or ritual in which someone’s identity is publicly redefined and destroyed and he or she is thereafter viewed as socially unacceptable.
successful degradation ceremony
the reassessment of a person’s past to fit a current generalized label.
retrospective reading
a norm violation or crime that had little or no long-term influence on the violator
primary deviance
a norm violation or crime that comes to the attention of significant others or social control agents, who apply a negative label that has long-term consequences for the violator’s self-identity and social interactions
secondary deviance
process whereby secondary deviance pushes offenders out of mainstream society and locks them into an escalating cycle of deviance, apprehension, labeling, and criminal self-identity
deviance amplification
the use of racial and ethnic characteristics by police in their determining whether a person is likely to commit a crime or engage in deviant and/or antisocial activities
racial profiling
when parents are alienated from their children, their negative labeling reduces their children’s self-image and increases delinquency
reflected appraisal
programs of rehabilitation that remove offenders from the normal channels of the criminal justice process, thus enabling them to avoid the stigma of a criminal lable
diversion programs
