Criminology Final CH 3-6

Victimologists

Criminologists who focus their attention on crime victims

4 consequences/ costs associated with victimization

a) Victim costs

b) Criminal justice system costs

c) Crime career costs

d) Intangible costs

Vicarious Fear

Occurs when people who are not personally victimized become fearful when they observe or are exposed to violence on a routine basis

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

A condition whose symptoms include depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior

Victimization and Crime

Have a link or joining together which can cause social problems, stress and anger, and revenge seeking

Why are schools a location of a lot of victimization?

They are populated by one of the most dangerous segments of society which are teenage males

Cycle of Violence

The idea that victims of crime, especially childhood abuse are more likely to commit crime themselves

Deviant Place Theory

View that people become victims because they reside in socially disorganized, high crime areas where they have the greatest risk of coming into contact with criminal offenders

Routine Activities Theory

View that the volume and distribution of predatory crime are closely related to:

a) The availability of suitable targets (homes or businesses)

b) The absence of capable guardians (friends, parents, relatives)

c) The presence of motivated offenders (unemployed/ unsupervised teenagers)

Victim Witness Assitance Programs

Government programs that help crime victims and witnesses and may include compensation, court services, and/or crisis intervention

Victim Compensation

In order to help victims survive their ordeal, state governments have set this up to help pay for damages associated with the crime

New Jersey Victims of Crime Compensation Office

Established to help protect the rights of victims by providing funding for legal representation in court, which ensures that victims’ rights are respected in situations where the victim might be overwhelmed by unfamiliar legal requirements and procedures

Victim Advocates

Especially helpful when victims need to interact with the agencies of justice

Victim Impact Statements

Gives the victim the opportunity to tell his or her experiences and describe the ordeal

Victim’s Bill of Rights

Every state has in its code of laws guarantees the following:

a) To be notified of proceedings and the status of the defendant

b) To be present at criminal justice proceedings

c) To make a statement at sentencing and to receive restitution from a convicted offender

d) To be consulted before a case is dismissed or a plea agreement entered

e) To a speedy trial to keep the victim contact information confidential

Rational Choice Theory

Based on the premise that criminal decision making is rational and coherent, not spontaneous or impulsive

The decision to commit crime is shaped by…

a) Human emotions and thought processes

b) Social relationships

c) Individual traits and capabilities

d) Environmental characteristics

Punishment has 4 main objectives…

a) To prevent all criminal offenses

b) When it cannot prevent crime, to convince the offender to commit a less serious crime

c) To ensure that a criminal uses no more force than is necessary

d) To prevent crime as cheaply as possible

Before choosing to commit a crime, reasoning criminals…

a) Evaluate the risk of apprehension

b) The seriousness of expected punishment

c) The potential value of the criminal enterprise

d) Their immediate need for criminal gain

Criminal decision making can be based on 3 factors…

a) Choosing the type of crime

b) Choosing the time and place of crime

c) Selecting the target of crime

Incapacitation Effect

The idea that keeping offenders in confinement will eliminate the risk of their committing further offenses

What were Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria given credit for?

Developing the rational choice theory

Classical Criminology

Developed in the 18th century by social thinkers who believed that criminals choose to commit crimes and that crime could be controlled by severe punishment

The distinction between crime and criminality is…

Crime is an event, criminality is a personal trait

Violence is a matter of choice and serves 4 specific goals…

a) Control

b) Retribution

c) Deterrence

d) Reputation

Positivism

A branch of social science that uses the scientific method of the natural sciences and suggests that human behavior is a product of social, biological, psychological, or economic forces

The 5 elements of the scientific method are…

a) Observations

b) Hypothesis

c) Test hypothesis

d) Interpretation

e) Conclusion

Trait Theory

View that criminality is a product of abnormal biological and/or psychological traits

Biosocial Theory

An approach to criminology that focuses on the interaction between biological and social factors as they relate to crime

Social Learning

Theory that people are not actually born with the ability to act violently, but they learn to be aggressive through their life experiences

Behavior Modeling

Process where aggressive acts are modeled after 3 principle sources:

a) Family interaction

b) Environmental experiences

c) Mass media

Cesare Lombroso (1835 - 1909)

Italian army physician who through his studies believed serious criminal offenders were “born criminals” with physical, savage traits

Criminal Anthropology

Biological basis of crime through measurement of physical and mental processes

Personality

Can be defined as reasonable stable patterns of behavior, including thoughts and emotions that distinguish one person from another

What terms are still commonly used to describe people who have antisocial personality disorder?

a) Psychopath

b) Sociopath