Criminolgy EXAM 2 VOCAB

Just Deserts

The idea that people should receive punishment based on the crime they committed.

Culpability

How responsible a person is for committing a crime.

Retribution

Punishment given because someone committed a crime.

Proportionality

Making sure the punishment fits the seriousness of the crime.

Blameworthiness

How much a person deserves to be blamed for their actions.

Rehabilitation

Helping someone change their behavior so they do not commit crimes again.

Recidivism

When someone commits another crime after being punished for a previous one.

Deterrability

How likely someone is to avoid crime because they fear the consequences.

Risk Perception

How likely someone thinks they are to get caught or punished for a crime.

Marginal Benefits

The additional rewards someone expects to gain from committing a crime.

Marginal Costs

The additional risks or consequences someone expects from committing a crime.

Uncertainty

Not knowing whether or when a punishment will happen.

Incapacitation

Preventing someone from committing crimes by restricting their freedom, usually through imprisonment.

Diminishing Returns

When adding more punishment or resources produces smaller additional results.

Spatial Distribution

How crime is spread across different locations.

Spatial Concentration

When crime is heavily concentrated in certain areas.

Spatio Temporal Coverage

When people, places, and activities come together at the same time and place.

Criminal Opportunity

A situation that makes it possible or easier for someone to commit a crime.

Target Suitability

How attractive or easy a person or object is for an offender to target.

Guardianship

Protection or supervision that makes crime more difficult.

Activity Space

The places a person regularly visits during their daily routine.

Nodes

Important places people regularly visit, such as home, school, or work.

Paths

The routes people travel between different places.

Edges

Boundaries between different areas that can affect where crime happens.

Environmental Characteristics

Features of an area that may influence criminal activity.

Facility Characteristics

Features of a building or location that may create or prevent opportunities for crime.

Inertia

How easily an object can be moved or carried away.

Concealable

How easily an object can be hidden.

Removable

How easily an object can be taken away.

CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design)

Designing places in ways that make crime more difficult.

Hot Spots

Locations where crime happens more often than in surrounding areas.

Social Control

The ways society encourages people to follow rules and laws.

Labeling

Giving someone a negative label, such as calling them a criminal, because of their behavior.

Deviance

Behavior that goes against society's rules or expectations.

Criminalization

Making an action illegal or treating someone's behavior as criminal.

Primary Deviance

An initial act of rule

Secondary Deviance

When a person continues breaking rules after being labeled as deviant.

Reintegrative Shaming

Showing disapproval of someone's behavior while still accepting them back into society.

Stigmatic Shaming

Treating someone as a bad person because of their actions rather than separating the person from the behavior.

Victimization

When someone experiences harm or becomes a victim of a crime.

Victim Offender Overlap

The idea that some people who commit crimes have also been victims of crime themselves.

Victim Culpability

The degree to which a victim's actions may have contributed to the situation in which they were harmed.

Victim Blaming

Holding victims responsible for crimes committed against them.

Attribution Error

Incorrectly judging someone's behavior by blaming their personality instead of considering the situation.

Victim Impact Statement

A statement explaining how a crime affected the victim and their family.

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)

A federal law that provides funding to support crime victims.

Crime Victims' Rights Act

A federal law that gives victims certain rights during the criminal justice process.

**VORP (Victim Offender Reconciliation Program)**

A program where victims and offenders meet with a mediator to discuss the harm caused by a crime.

Mediation

A process where a neutral person helps two sides communicate and work toward an agreement.

Human Trafficking

The use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit people for labor or commercial sex.

Hate Crime

A crime motivated by bias against a person's identity or membership in a particular group.

Protected Class

A group protected by law from certain types of discrimination.

Bias

A prejudice or unfair opinion about a person or group.

Workplace Victimization

Experiencing crime or harmful behavior in a work environment.

School Victimization

Experiencing crime, bullying, or other harmful behavior in a school environment.

Empiricism

Gaining knowledge through observation, experience, and evidence.

Determinism

The belief that behavior is influenced or caused by factors outside a person's control.

Free Will

The ability to make choices and decisions independently.

Rationality

The ability to make decisions by considering possible rewards and consequences.

Socialization

The process of learning society's values, rules, and behaviors.

Antisocial Behavior

Behavior that goes against social rules and can harm others.

Phenotype

A person's observable physical or behavioral traits.

Heritability

The amount of variation in a trait within a population that is related to genetic differences.

Epigenetics

The study of how environmental factors can affect how genes work without changing the DNA itself.

Genetic Expression

The process of using information in genes to produce proteins or influence traits.

Neuropsychological

Related to how the brain affects thinking, emotions, and behavior.

Cognitive Development

The development of thinking, learning, memory, and problem

Impulsivity

Acting quickly without thinking about the consequences.

Sensation Seeking

The desire for exciting, risky, or new experiences.

Empathy

The ability to understand and share another person's feelings.

Desistance

The process of stopping criminal behavior.

Persistence

Continuing to engage in criminal behavior over time.

Onset

The point when someone first begins committing crimes.

Frequency

How often someone commits a crime.

Intensity

The seriousness or level of harm involved in someone's criminal behavior.