Term Test 1

Question 1

What is criminology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of crime, criminal behaviour, and the criminal legal system.

Question 2

What are criminologists interested in?

Answer 2

The social and structural causes of criminal behaviour, and how society views crime and people who have been criminalized.

Question 3

What is the difference between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary?

Answer 3

Multidisciplinary means people from different disciplines working together using their own knowledge; interdisciplinary means integrating methods and knowledge from different disciplines.

Question 4

What are some criminological interests?

Answer 4

1. Fear of crime
2. Victimology
3. Deviance
4. Crime statistics
5. Crime prevention
6. Juvenile delinquency
7. Gangs.

Question 5

What does the fear of crime involve?

Answer 5

People believing crime is getting worse and they are more in danger than they truly are.

Question 6

What is victimology?

Answer 6

The scientific study of victims of crime, focusing on understanding their experiences, characteristics, and needs, as well as the factors that contribute to victimization. Believes that victims should have more say in the function of the criminal justice system.

Question 7

What do crime statistics often reflect?

Answer 7

The workings of the criminal justice system more than the actual nature of crime.

Question 8

What is juvenile delinquency?

Answer 8

Criminal behaviour in youth, often due to exposure to crime or false beliefs about it.

Question 9

What is criminalization?

Answer 9

When activities or people are treated as criminal through social or legal processes.

Question 10

What are crimes that are mala in se and malum prohibitum?

Answer 10

MALA IN SE: Crimes that are evil or wrong by nature (e.g., murder, rape).

MALA PROHIBITUM: Acts that are crimes only because they are prohibited by law (e.g., marijuana use).

Question 11

What is the difference between crime and deviance?

Answer 11

Deviant acts may violate norms or mores but aren’t always criminal.

Question 12

What is Hagan’s Typology of Deviance and the four categories in Hagan’s Typology?

Answer 12

A framework that classifies deviance by considering social harm, social response, and agreement about norms.

1. Consensus crimes
2. Conflict crimes
3. Social deviations
4. Social diversions.

Question 13

What is social control?

Answer 13

Mechanisms and resources by which society ensures norm-conforming behaviour.

Question 14

How is social control enforced?

Answer 14

Through sanctions (positive, negative, collective, centralized, diffused), and social coordination.

Question 15

What is the difference between social coordination and social control?

Answer 15

Coordination organizes harmonious activities; control regulates incompatible aims.

Question 16

What is a formal sanction?

Answer 16

A punishment enforced by agents like police or doctors.

Question 17

What is an informal sanction?

Answer 17

Social cues and peer responses that enforce norms (e.g., side-eyeing someone in public).

Question 18

What is solidarity?

Answer 18

A sense of unity and shared purpose in society.

Question 19

What is the difference between mechanical and organic solidarity?

Answer 19

Mechanical: unity through similarity. Organic: unity through interdependence in diverse roles.

Question 20

What role do institutions play in social control?

Answer 20

They discipline individuals through socialization (e.g., school systems).

Question 21

What does Michel Foucault say about discipline?

Answer 21

Discipline creates habits and norms that guide people, shaping actions and possibilities.

Question 22

What shapes public perceptions of crime and policy responses?

Answer 22

How crime data is collected and analyzed.

Question 23

What are the five main crime types in criminology?

Answer 23

Violent crimes, property crimes, white-collar crimes, organized crimes, victimless crimes.

Question 24

Why do violent crimes receive more attention?

Answer 24

Because they are rare but cause the most harm and fear.

Question 25

What is crime rate and the Crime Severity Index (CSI)?

Answer 25

CRIME RATE: The number of crimes per 100,000 people. CSI: A measure that factors in both the volume and seriousness of crime.

Question 26

What are official sources and unofficial sources of crime data?

Answer 26

OFFICIAL: Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), court data, correctional data. UNOFFICIAL: Victimization surveys, self-reports, academic/NGO studies.

Question 27

What are pros and cons of official data?

Answer 27

PROS: Standardized, trackable over time, useful for identifying patterns. CONS: Sensitive to police practices and laws; may miss or misrepresent cases.

Question 28

What are police-sensitive crimes vs report-sensitive crimes?

Answer 28

Crimes that depend on police action to be recorded and crimes influenced by whether victims choose to report them.

Question 29

What are the three types of homicide in Canadian law?

Answer 29

First-degree (premeditated), second-degree (spontaneous), third-degree (manslaughter/negligence).

Question 30

What is mens rea and actus rea?

Answer 30

"Guilty mind"—the intent behind the crime. "Guilty act"—the physical act of committing the crime.

Question 31

What is law and the three definitions of law?

Answer 31

A system of rules that regulate behaviour and can be enforced by penalties. 1. Functional (responds to needs) 2. Teleological (designs happiness) 3. Expressive (states values).

Question 32

How can law shape attitudes?

Answer 32

Law can lead public opinion, as seen in changing views on weed legalization.

Question 33

What is legitimacy and how does it work?

Answer 33

The belief that those in power have the right to govern, making people obey laws. Works through 1. Monopoly of rule-making 2. Recognizability 3. Norm clarity.

Question 34

What is a legitimation crisis?

Answer 34

When people lose belief in the legitimacy of authority.

Question 35

What is legal pluralism?

Answer 35

The coexistence of multiple legal systems in the same area.

Question 36

What did Professor Gail Super say about trust in South Africa’s justice system?

Answer 36

It’s low due to the criminal justice system's historical use as a tool of oppression.

Question 37

What is deterrence in criminology and what theory introduced the idea?

Answer 37

Deterrence emphasizes the predictable and fair consequences of breaking the law to discourage offending. Introduced by Classical Criminology Theory.

Question 38

What is the key assumption of Classical Criminology?

Answer 38

Humans are rational and capable of making choices.

Question 39

What are the objectives of punishment in Canada?

Answer 39

General deterrence (society) Specific deterrence (individual) Denunciation Incapacitation Rehabilitation Reparations/restitution Revenge.

Question 40

What does Classical Theory believe about human nature?

Answer 40

Humans are rational beings with free will and not inherently evil.

Question 41

What did the Classical School argue about criminal decisions?

Answer 41

People weigh benefits against punishments when deciding to offend.

Question 42

What was the Classical School’s view on punishment?

Answer 42

Punishment should deter crime, not serve vengeance, and must be proportional.

Question 43

What is the focus of Neo-Classical Theories?

Answer 43

Fairness in punishment and fitting punishment to deter future offenses.

Question 44

What is the most effective deterrent, according to Neo-Classical theories?

Answer 44

The certainty of punishment.

Question 45

Do more severe punishments reduce crime?

Answer 45

No; they can increase reoffending.

Question 46

What does Rational Choice Theory argue, and what are the 2 types of crime decisions?

Answer 46

Individuals make choices based on a rational analysis of available options, aiming to achieve outcomes that best align with their preferences and goals. Involvement decisions are long-term decisions influenced by background, experience, and needs,. Event decisions are immediate choices made in specific situations.

Question 47

What three elements are needed for a crime to occur according to Routine Activities Theory?

Answer 47

A motivated offender, a suitable target, and absence of a capable guardian (any formal or informal presence that can deter crime).

Question 48

What does Situational Crime Prevention suggest?

Answer 48

That changing environments can reduce crime by ADDRESSING OPPORTUNITIES, not just offenders.

Question 49

What are 5 techniques of situational crime prevention?

Answer 49

Increasing the perceived effort of crime Increasing the risk Reducing rewards Reducing provocations Reducing excuses.

Question 50

How does law create hierarchy?

Question 51

What is the structure of law in a federalist system?

Answer 51

Laws exist at local, state/provincial, and national levels.

Question 52

What happens when laws conflict?

Answer 52

Federal law prevails; resolved through judicial review.

Question 53

What is judicial review?

Answer 53

When courts evaluate lower-level laws for consistency with higher protections.

Question 54

What does Michelle Alexander mean when she says the MASS INCARCERATION is “a legal strategy of discriminatory treatment that has emerged to preserve racial hierarchy in American society”

Answer 54

- Even though explicit racism became illegal, the criminal justice system evolved to serve similar purposes. - Through laws, policies, and policing practices, people of color (especially Black Americans) are disproportionately: stopped, searched, arrested, charged, and imprisoned. - When she says mass incarceration is a “legal strategy of discriminatory treatment,” she means that the law is being used (strategically or systemically) to appear neutral on the surface but in effect, target and control marginalized racial groups. - This process preserves racial hierarchy, maintaining white dominance in American society even after the fall of Jim Crow.