CCJ Midterm Exam 1

CHPS 1-6

Criminology

The scientific study of crime, criminals,the causes and consequences for engaging in such behavior

Deviance

Behavior that violates a social norm

Crime

Any action or behavior that violates the law

Consensus Model

The idea that society generally agrees on what behaviors are wrong, as well as how these norms have been implemented and the ways laws are enforced

Conflict Model

There is conflict between various societal groups with different interests. Law reflects the interests of the more powerful group.

Jurisdiction

The legal authority of a court to handle a case or enforce laws in a spefific area over certain people

What are the three main questions the study of criminology aims to answer?

Why do laws exist, why do people break the law, and what are we going to do about it

What is the difference between criminology and criminal justice?

Criminology focuses on why people do it, while Criminal Justice focuses on what happens after they do. CJ focuses on institutions within the justice system, works toward common goals, and is interrelated. Goals of the CJ system are control crime, prevent crime, provide and maintain justice.

Mala in se

Evil in itself. Acts that are wrong in themselves. Inherently and essentially evil. EX= murder, rape, or robbery

Mala prohibita

Wrong prohibited. Acts that are wrong because the law prohibits them. Not inherently immoral. EX= smoking

List the three components of the CJ system.

a. Describe their function in detail.

Law enforcement

• Prevents and investigates crime

• Enforce laws, respond, gather evidence, and make arrests

• Federal, state, and local agencies

Courts

• Dual court system

• Determine whether the offender is guilty or not

• Conviction, sentencing, trials happen

• State courts include lower courts, trial, and appellate

• Federal courts include district court (trial), appeals, and supreme court

Corrections

• Manages people who have been convicted of crimes

• Prisons, jails, probation, and parole

• Focuses on punishment, supervision, and rehabilitation

List and define the four types of jurisdiction (courts) discussed in class.

• original= The court has the authority to hear a case for the first time.

• general= Power and authority to try and decide any case.

• limited= The court can hear only certain types of cases or cases involving certain limits (traffic court). Don’t try felony cases.

• Appellate= The court has the authority to review decisions made by lower courts

List the protected classes under the hate crime legislation.

Race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity

The UCR:

a. What is it?

b. Who creates it?

c. What crimes are included?

d. How are they divided?

e. What are the main criticisms?

• Uniform crime reports. System used by the FBI to collect and report crime data from law enforcement agencies. All crime reported to the police

• FBI

• The UCR includes part 1 offenses= serious offenses and crimes against people (8 in total. 4 of them are crimes against people and 4 of them are crimes against property). Part 2 offenses are all other crimes

• Criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

• Dark figure of crime, which is all unknown and unreported crimes

• Human error

• Hierarchy rule: The rule only scores the offense with the highest score on the hierarchy list.

The NCVS:

a. What is it?

b. Who creates it?

c. What crimes are included?

d. Why is it used?

• National Crime Victimization Survey. Survey that asks people about their experiences with crime, including crimes that weren’t reported to the police

• Census Bureau and Bureau of Justice Statistics

• The NCVS includes all part 1 crimes except arson and criminal homicide

• Additional insight into the dark figure of crime, estimates the true amount of crime, and learns about victims, the offenders, crimes, and experiences within the CJ system.

Self-Report surveys:

a. What are they?

b. Who are they given to?

c. What are the criticisms?

• The NCVS was created to address the dark figure of crime from the UCR

• Surveys collecting data by asking respondents to provide info of themselves as to whether they engaged in illegal or criminal behavior

• Given to people in the general population, often focusing on juveniles, students, inmates, or specific groups

• Dishonesty, exaggeration, memory, and sampling problems

Deterrence theory

People avoid illegal actions when the perceived costs and punishments of those actions outweigh their potential benefits. People are discouraged from committing crimes. Fear of punishment prevents crime.

Classical School

The idea that people have free will/choice and choose whether to commit a crime based on a rational decision.

Social Contract

Arrangement of citizens agreeing to abide by the rules/laws given by a society in return for protection.

Utilitarianism

The idea that an action is right if it produces the greatest amount of good or happiness for the greatest # of people.

Mens rea

Gulity mind

Actus reus

Guilty act (Beccaria focused on only this)

Brutalization effect

Exposure to or use of violence can make people more accepting of violence and increase violent behavior. (Homicides increase after an execution)

Neoclassical School

Modification of the classical school that takes into account contextual circumstances. Still classical, though, since people choose their behavior.

Hedonistic calculus (also know the name of the corresponding philosopher)

A way of people deciding whether to commit a crime by weighing the expected pleasure against the costs/punishment- Jeremy Bentham.

• Pleasure versus pain.

Describe the pre-classical perspectives of crime and punishment.

Crime is explained through supernatural and religious beliefs. Punishments would be severe and cruel to scare people away.

Who is considered to be the father of Criminal Justice?

Ceasare Beccaria

Describe Beccaria’s proposed reforms of the CJ system.

• Father of classical school and deterrence theory

• Emphasizes the social contract and utilitarianism

• For a given act, a particular punishment should be administered as established by law, regardless of contextual circumstances

• Torture and secret accusations shouldn’t be used

• Believes an act against society is harmful to society regardless of intent

• The accused person should be able to know who accused them and publicly confront and cross-examine witnesses

What did Beccaria believe would be the best strategy for crime prevention?

• Beccaria argued that proper education is the best way to prevent crime, rather than relying on harsh punishments. He believed that educating the public about laws and consequences would lead to a more law-abiding society.

What did Beccaria think about capital punishment?

• Beccaria opposed the death penalty because it gives an example of barbarity to the rest of the citizens. Negative example for society

• Violates the social contract

List and define Beccaria’s three key elements of punishment.

a. Which one did he consider to be the most important?

Swift

• Punishment should happen quickly after the crime. Beccaria believed that people build an association between the pains of punishment and their criminal acts.

Certainty (The most important one)

• The offender should be certain that they will be caught and punished for committing a crime.

Severity

• In order for a punishment to be effective, the penalty must outweigh the potential benefits of the crime. However, too much severity would lead to more crime.

• Punishments should be proportional to the crime committed

Distinguish between specific and general deterrence.

• Specific deterrence = Punishment is meant to stop the individual offender from committing a crime again.

• General deterrence= Punishment is meant to discourage other people/potential criminals from committing crimes.

According to Beccaria, what is the most serious crime? Why?

Treason because it is a criminal offense that most directly violates the government. It attacks society and violates/disregards the social contract

Aggregate studies

Studies that examine groups of people or large populations to identify patterns and relationships between crime and other factors.

• Collection of studies

Cross-sectional studies

Studies that collect data from people/groups at one specific point in time

Longitudinal studies

Studies that collect data from the same people/groups over an extended period of time to observe changes in their behavior.

Experiential effect

An individual’s previous experience highly influences their expectations regarding the chances of being caught and the resulting penalties.

Routine Activities Theory (know the three factors)

Crime occurs when 3 factors come together at the same time and place. The more routine you live your life, the more opportunity the offender has.

• Motivated offender = a person who is willing to commit a crime

• Lack of guardianship= no person or security measure is present to prevent a crime

• Suitable target = easy target

Locations that have a high combination of these 3 factors are called hotspots. Crime occurs more frequently here.

Rational Choice Theory

People decide whether to commit a crime by weighing the potential benefits against the consequences, including formal punishments and informal social consequences.

Hot Spots

Specific locations where crime occurs more frequently than in other areas. EX= neighborhood with frequent burglaries or a parking lot where cars are broken into.

Broken-windows perspective

Visible signs of disorder and neglect may encourage more crime and disorder if they aren’t addressed.

Explain the most notable paradox of deterrence research.

The people we most want to deter (chronic offenders) are the least likely to be deterred because they feel they have little to lose and little to fear from punishment.

Which element of punishment has been shown to have the most consistent deterrent effect?

Certainty of punishment

According to Thomas Hobbes what is the tool used to enforce the social contract?

Fear

Distinguish between formal and informal deterrence.

Formal

• Deterrent effects of law enforcement, cops, and corrections

• Offical sanctions

Informal

• Any factors beyond formal sanctions, such as friends, family, and community

• Fear of social consequences

Under rational choice, which sanctions tend to affect behavior more: formal or informal factors?

Informal factors

Who is more influenced by shame and moral beliefs, men or women? Why?

Women because they are more susceptible to informal factors. They experience social pressure and have more empathy and self control then men do.

How are the “three-strikes” law connected to rational choice theory?

Increases the severity of punishment for repeat offenders, making the potential consequence of committing another crime outweigh the expected benefits.

Positive School

A perspective that assumes that individuals have no free will to control their behavior.

3 factors: determie the choices we make regarding all types of behavior

• Bio

• Psych

• Sociology

Eugenics

Belief that human pop. could be improved by controlling who is allowed to reproduce, based on desirable or undesirable traits.

Craniometry

Study of the shape and size of the skull and its relation to criminality.

Phrenology

Study of the bumps, fissures, and smoothness of a person’s skull in determining human dispositions.

Physiognomy

Study of facial features and physical appearance in revealing their character and tendency to commit crime.

Atavism

A person, or the features they have, is a throwback to an earlier stage of human evolution.

• Criminals are evolutionary throwbacks

• Evolutionary throwback = behavior and traits are more primitive, like being closer to animal ancestors than humans. Certain criminals were stuck with traits from a more primitive stage of human evolution. Believed some people didn’t evolve more than others and were most likely to commit crime

• The less evolved you are, the more animal you are, and the more likely you are to commit a crime

Stigmata

Physical traits that supposedly identify criminals.

Determinism

The idea that most human behavior is determined by factors beyond free will and choice

Who is the father of Criminology?

Ceaseare Lombroso

Explain the connection between Lombroso’s theory of criminality and Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Lombroso's theory of the born criminal was influenced by and applied ideas from Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Lombroso believed that criminals were less evolved than other humans and could be identified by physical features.

Lombroso is credited with adding ___________ to the study of criminology?

Biology/Biogical science

Distinguish between criminaloid and the born criminal.

a. Under Lombroso’s theory, which was more dangerous? Why?

Born criminal

• A person believed to be born with biological traits that predisposed to criminal behavior

Criminaloid

• A person who isn’t inherently a born criminal but may commit crimes due to circumstances and environmental influences.

• You can be born good, but something happened

A born criminal is the most dangerous because they cannot reverse their natural tendencies to be antisocial. They have an inevitable tendency to commit crime and are difficult to change or reform.

According to Lombroso, how many atavistic stigmata were required to show that a person was a born criminal?

More than 5

List the three levels of feeble mindedness under Goddard’s theory.

a. According to Goddard which level of feeble-mindedness posed the greatest threat to society? Why?

From highest to lowest

1. Morons

2. Imbeciles

3. Idiotis

The biggest threat is the morons because they are smart enough to slip through the cracks and reproduce, and smart enough to function independently.

What is the name of the Supreme Court case that upheld the legalization of forced sterilization of the feeble-minded?

Buck v Bell (1927)

Explain the link between low IQ and Lombroso’s theory.

Low IQ was viewed as inherited or static that predisposes someone to commit crime and makes them more likely to experience unemployment and school failure. Just as Lombroso believed, born criminals had primitive physical features and low IQ believed they also had primitive mental abilities

• Both views emphasized bio and inherited

• Low IQ leads to criminal behavior

List and describe the three body types under the Somatotype School (American terms).

a. List and describe the three personality traits under the Somatotype School.

b. Know which traits are linked to each body type

Endomorphic (Obese) (Viscerotonic)

• Tend to be jolly, lazy, rounder and softer, with more body fat,

• (Viscerotonic) Sociable, relaxed, and love to be around people

Mesomorph (Muscluar) (Somatotonia)

• Risk-taking, aggressive temperament, strong, athletic, more likely to engage in criminal behavior,

• (Somatotonia) Active, energetic, and assertive

Ectomorph (Thin) (Cerebrotonia)

• Introverted, shy, slender body

• (Cerebrotonia) Prefer to be alone

According to Sheldon, which body type tends to be more criminal? Why?

Mesomorphs are likely to be criminals due to their risk-taking, aggressive dispositions, athletic, and muscular build. They were believed to be more assertive and active.

Biosocial positivism

Criminal behavior results from a combination of biological factors (genetic/brain functioning), social, and environmental factors.

Cytogenetic studies

Examine chromosomes to determine whether genetic differences or abnormalities may be associated with criminal or certain behaviors.

XYY syndrome

A genetic condition in which a male receives an extra chromosome (47 in total) is a predictor of criminality.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals in the brain and body that help transmit electric singlas from one neuron to another

Stimulus hunger

People constantly seek out experiences and stimuli that are risky and illegal

Phenotype

Person’s observable characteristics such as physical appearance are influenced by genetics and environment

Genotype

A person’s genetic makeup inherited from their biological parents

List and describe the four waves of research in the study of nature v. nurture.

Family studies

• Whether criminal behavior is concentrated in certain families; to investigate whether heredity or genetics may influence criminal behavior

Adoption studies

• Compare adopted children with their biological and adoptive parents to determine whether genetics or environment influences their behavior.

Twin studies

• Compare identical and fraternal twins to see the influence of nature & nurture on criminality.

Twins separated at birth

• Study identical twins raised in different environments to examine whether these environments resulted in different personality & behavioral problems.

List and describe the two important conclusions from the family studies.

• Criminality is more common in some families but this could be due to similar environments and life experiences

• A mother's criminal behavior has a stronger influence on children's future criminal behavior than the father's.

What was the conclusion of the twin studies?

Identical twins (MZ) had higher concordance rates for antisocial behavior than fraternal twins (DZ), suggesting that genetics may influence antisocial behavior.

What were the criticisms of the twin studies?

• Identical twins might be more alike because they were treated similarly. EX= dressed the same way or treated similarly.

• Researchers sometimes incorrectly classify twins as well.

What were the conclusions of the adoption studies? (The exact % rates aren’t necessary)

1. Adopted children whose biological and adoptive parents were both criminals had the highly likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior.

2. Adoptive children whose biological and adoptive parents were both non-criminals had the least likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior.

3. Children with criminal biological parents were more likely to engage in criminal behavior than children with only criminal adoptive parents, suggesting a genetic influence.

4. Having criminal adoptive parents also increases the risk of criminal behavior, showing that the environment plays a role too.

What was the most notable criticism of the adoption studies?

Adoption agencies typically incorporate a policy of selective placement. Agencies place children with adoptive families who have similar demographics and backgrounds to their biological parents.

What was the conclusion of the twins separated at birth studies?

Twins separated at birth showed extremely similar tendencies for criminality, traits, and behaviors, with concordance rates being similar to those of identical twins raised together. This supports the idea that genetics significantly influences behavior.

Which plays a larger part in criminality, male or female hormones?

Female hormones

List and describe the two neurotransmitters most commonly associated with criminal behavior.

Serotonin and Dopamine

Which area of the brain is most commonly linked to criminal offending? Why?

Frontal lobe, because any damage (trauma) has been consistently linked to criminality. This lobe is responsible for impulse control, problem-solving, and executive functions; it governs our conscious thoughts and is in charge of emotional impulses.

Describe the difference between the CNS and the ANS and how they are linked to criminal offending.

a. Which is measured by polygraph exams?

CNS (central nervous system): voluntary movements

• Brain and spinal column,

• Responsible for what we, as people, choose to do. Controls our thoughts and behaviors.

ANS (autonomic nervous system): involuntary movements

• Fight-or-flight response,

• EX= heart rate, dilation of pupils

• Response to stress and anger,

• Measured by polygraphs.

Criminal Offending

• Low levels of ANS functioning are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior.

• Low levels of cortical arousal in terms of both the CNS and ANS are clearly linked to a predisposition towards criminal activity.

Why aren’t polygraphs admissible as evidence at trial?

Many are likely to pass because they do not feel anxiety when they lie. They are most likely to pass such tests.

List the four types of brain wave patterns.

a. Which type is most commonly linked to psychopathy?

Delta, theta, alpha, beta. Theta is commonly linked to psychopathy.

Studies have clearly shown that the interaction of ______________ and _____________ is the most consistent predictor of criminality.

Biological and enviornmental factors

Which toxins have been identified as having a profound effect on criminality?

• Lead

• Cadmiium

• Maganese