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Flashcards in Test 3 Deck (50)
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1
Q

Social process explanations

A

peer influences, socialization, social interaction. Explain why many people turn to crime.

2
Q

9 propositions of D.A.

A
  1. Criminal behavior is learned.
  2. Criminal behavior is learned in a process of communication.
  3. Learning occurs within intimate personal groups.
  4. When criminal behavior is learned, it includes techniques, beliefs and ideas.
  5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
  6. A person becomes delinquent because they learn definitions favorable to the violation of law over definitions unfavorable to the violation of law.
  7. Differential association may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.
  8. Criminal behavior is learned the same way any other behavior is learned.
  9. Although criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by these general needs and values, because noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.
3
Q

Definitions favorable to violation of law:

A

people will break the law if they develop more lawbreaking attitudes than law-abiding attitudes.

4
Q

Frequency, duration, priority, and intensity:

A

Frequency – how often one spends time with friends. Duration: how much time on the average one spends with them during each association. Priority: how early in life the associations occur. Intensity: how much importance one places on one’s associations.

5
Q

Delinquent peers

A

having delinquent peers influences delinquency, and delinquency increases involvement with delinquent peers.

6
Q

Albert Bandura:

A

founder of social learning theory.

7
Q

Social learning theory

A

Bandura. Said aggressive tendencies are learned rather than inborn. We see friends/family act aggressively, or on TV. Can learn aggression is acceptable behavior. Used classical and operant conditioning.

8
Q

Burgess Akers

A

Developed differential reinforcement theory of crime and named it social learning theory. Said criminal behavior and attitudes are more likely to be learned if they are reinforced, or rewarded. When the rewards for criminal behaviors outweigh the rewards for alternative behaviors, differential reinforcement occurs and the criminal behavior is learned.

9
Q

Personal and social controls

A

personal controls – concern things as individual conscience, commitment to law, a positive self-concept. Social controls – concern attachments to and involvement in conventional social institutions such as the family, schools, and religion.

10
Q

Sykes and Matza

A

Developed neutralization theory. Said adolescents need to neutralize any guilt or shame they feel before committing delinquent acts.

11
Q

Techniques of neutralization

A

precede delinquency and comprise an important part of the definitions favorable to law violation.
Allow them to persist in criminal behavior but not think of themselves as criminals.

12
Q

Techniques of neutralization - Denial of responsibility

A

adolescents say they are not responsible for the delinquent acts they intend to commit. Blame abusive parents/deviant friends/peer pressure.

13
Q

Techniques of neutralization - Denial of injury

A

they reason that no one will be hurt by their intended illegal behavior.

14
Q

Techniques of neutralization - Denial of victim

A

may reason their target deserves the harm.

15
Q

Techniques of neutralization - Condemnation of condemners

A

offenders question the motives and integrity of police, parents, teachers, and other parties who condemn the offenders’ behavior. My parents used marijuana when they were my age, so why can’t I ex.

16
Q

Techniques of neutralization - Appeal to higher loyalties

A

offenders reason that their illegal behavior is necessary to help people dear to them.

17
Q

Travis Hirschi

A

Founder of social bond theory.

18
Q

Social bond theory

A

said human nature is selfish. The key question is why people do not commit crime. Their bond to society keeps them from breaking the law – it produces conformity.
Tested among high school students - asked about minor juvenile deliquency through self-reported surveys.

19
Q

Elements of the bond

A

All four elements are connected. Someone with a strong tie in one element tend to have strong ties in the others.

20
Q

Elements of the bond - Attachment

A

the most important social bond element. Refers to the degree to which we care about the opinions of others. The more sensitive we are to their views, the less likely are we to violate the norms and the other way around.
Do you love your parents? If yes, not likely criminal behavior.

21
Q

Elements of the bond - Commitment

A

refers to an individual’s investment of energy and emotion in conventional pursuits, such as getting a good education. The more committed people are, the more they have to lose if they break the law. People with low commitment are more likely to deviate.
Measured through GPA

22
Q

Elements of the bond - Involvement

A

the amount of time an individual spends on a conventional pursuit. More time spent, the less opportunity to deviate.
Questions about number of extracurricular activities.

23
Q

Elements of the bond - Belief

A

refers to acceptance of the norms of conventional society. People who believe in these norms are less likely to deviate than those who reject them.
Are the rules of society just and fair? If yes, not likely criminal behavior.

24
Q

Gottfredson and Hirschi

A

presented a general theory of crime. + self-control theory.

25
Q

General theory of crime

A

said all crime stems from one problem: lack of self-control, which results from ineffective child rearing and lasts throughout life.

26
Q

Self-control

A

people with low self-control act impulsively and spontaneous, value risk and adventure, and care about themselves more than they care about others. More likely than people with high self-control to commit crime because all crime are spontaneous and exciting and require little skills.

27
Q

Life-course theories

A

pay attention to the onset and termination of antisocial behavior, delinquency, and crime at different stages over the life course.

28
Q

Longitudinal studies

A

studies that follow a subject for a long time.

29
Q

Sampson and Laub

A

founded age-graded theory. interested in change and stability in criminal behavior.

30
Q

Age-graded informal social control theory:

A

recognize the importance of the many factors outlined in other life-course perspectives, such as bonds to parents and school during childhood and adolescence, the quality and effectiveness of parenting, influence of one’s friends.

31
Q

Turning points:

A

events helping people to desist from crime. Marriage, stable employment, military service.

32
Q

Life-course persistent offenders

A

begin to misbehave during childhood and continue into adulthood. Chronic criminals. Commit crimes because of biological problems(brain dysfunctions in prefrontal lobe), genetics(MPA ex line in palm, space b/w eyes), environmental factors. Ex. drug/alcohol abuse by mother when in belly, poverty and lack of nutrition, exposure to led/mercery in childhood, learning disabilities.

33
Q

Adolescent-limited offenders

A

begin their offending during adolescence and largely end it once they leave adolescence. Commit crime because influenced by life-course offenders. Mimic life course-offenders.

34
Q

Neuropsychological deficits

A

life-course persistent suffer from neuropsychological problems that often begin during the prenatal period and then lead to psychological problems during childhood and that lead to serious misbehavior.

35
Q

Critical perspective:

A

highlight the ways in which people and institutions respond to crime and criminals. Consider the definition of crime problematic, meaning that the definition of a behavior as a crime and the defining of individuals as criminals are both something to explain.

36
Q

Labeling theory

A

called one of the most significant perspectives in the study of crime and deviance. Addresses three major issues. 1. The definition of deviance and crime. 2. Possible discrimination in the application of official labeling and sanctions. 3. The effect of labeling on continued criminality.

37
Q

Primary deviance

A

deviant behavior that does not have long-term consequences and does not result in the person committing the act being labeled as a deviant.
Ex. A 15 year old male is caught vandalizing or using illegal drugs. His arrest, fingerprinting and other legal measures make him think of himself as a young criminal. People hear about his crime. Maybe friends are told not to spend time with him. Might have trouble finding job for extra money outside of school. He gets angry and thinks if they are all going to treat him this way, then why not act this way.

38
Q

Secondary deviance

A

deviant behavior that results from being labeled as a deviant by society.

39
Q

Discrimination in application

A

applicant with criminal records were called back by the employers only half as often as those with a clean record.

40
Q

Labeling and future offending

A

says labeling causes or increases a deviant self-image which makes them more likely to commit crime in the future.

41
Q

Absolutist vs. relativist definitions of crime:

A

absolutism – deviance is something real that is inherent in behavior. Relativist – nothing about a given behavior automatically makes it deviant. Deviance is not a property of behavior, but rather the result of how others regard the behavior.

42
Q

John Braitwaite

A

argues that the type of shaming, or social disapproval, involved in labeling makes a crucial difference for continued deviance.

43
Q

Disintegrative shaming

A

e.g. Stigmatization. Occurs when offenders are treated like outcasts and no effort is made to forgive them and to involve them in community affairs. Promotes continued deviance because it humiliates and angers offenders, denies them legitimate opportunities, and forces them to associate with criminal peers.

44
Q

Reintegrative shaming

A

occurs when efforts are made to bring offenders back into the community. Reduces continued deviance, because it encourage offenders to feel ashamed. Most common in communitarian societies marked by a high degree of concern for the welfare of others, such as Japan.

45
Q

Conflict and Radical theory

A

argue that law is the key part of the struggle between powerful interests and the powerless – to preserve their dominance, the powerful use the law to control the powerless.

46
Q

Proletariat

A

people who work for the bourgeoisie. Primary interest is to eliminate its oppression by overthrowing the bourgeoisie.

47
Q

Bourgeoisie

A

the ruling class. Own the factories and other modern means of production. Primarily interest is to maintain its dominance by exploiting and oppressing the proletariat.

48
Q

Vagrancy laws:

A

laws prohibiting begging and loitering.

49
Q

Differential association

A

Says juveniles influence each other.

50
Q

Terrie Moffit’s taxonomy

A

Life-course theory