Untitled Flashcard Set

Street families

The less common type of family found in neighborhoods governed by the COS.

Respect in COS

Granting a person the proper deference they deserve due to their willingness and ability to use violence.

Sutherland’s differential association theory

Criminal behavior is learned through interaction with others who communicate values and attitudes favorable to crime.

Recent research on Sutherland

Shows that earlier associations are not as influential as more recent associations on criminal behavior.

Differential reinforcement theory of crime

People learn criminal behavior through rewards and punishments that reinforce or discourage certain actions. Integrates DAT

Punishment according to differential reinforcement theory

Designed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Reinforcement according to differential reinforcement theory

Designed to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Learning theorists' question

Why do people engage in certain kinds of behaviors?

Control theorists' question

Why do people not engage in crime or delinquency?

Techniques of neutralization

Allow individuals to drift between conforming behavior and criminal behavior without feeling guilt.

Denial of injury

Technique of neutralization used to justify delinquent acts like Sarah's theft.

Attachment in social bond theory

The emotional element that prevents juveniles from engaging in delinquency.

Commitment in social bond theory

The energy and emotion invested in completing goals like obtaining a high school degree.

Ineffective parenting

According to Hirschi's social bond theory, a primary cause of criminal offending.

Spiritualistic factors in crime

The historical belief that crime was a direct result of the devil.

Deterrence theory

Crime can be prevented when punishment is certain, swift, and severe enough to outweigh the benefits of offending.

Demise of deterrence theory

harsher punishments often don’t significantly reduce crime, especially for impulsive offenders, and it overemphasizes rational decision-making while ignoring social and environmental influences. Practical challenges in ensuring certainty and swiftness of punishment also limited its effectiveness.

Collective efficacy

Describes neighborhoods with shared trust and willingness to solve problems together.

Causes of high crime rates in social disorganization theory

Economic deprivation, family disruption, residential instability, and proximity to high crime areas.

Strain theories

Argue that people cope when under strain.

Merton's structural strain theory

People commit crime when they experience a gap between societal goals and the legitimate means to achieve them, leading to frustration or “strain.”

Types of strain in general strain theory

Includes failure to achieve goals, loss of positive stimuli, and presentation of negative stimuli.

Negative affective state in criminal coping

Anger is the most critical state leading to criminal behavior according to Agnew.

Status frustration

Experienced by lower class boys who have not been socialized with middle class values.

Differential access to legitimate means

Stressed by Merton's strain theory as a cause of crime.

Neighborhood-based differential access

Stressed by Cloward and Ohlin as a cause of crime through illegitimate means.

Structural theories and gender gap

Attempt to explain crime but do not universally succeed at explaining the gender gap in offending.

Labeling Theory

People become deviant when society labels them as such; being stigmatized can lead individuals to internalize that label and continue offending.

Social Bond Theory

People refrain from crime when they have strong bonds to society—through attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

Social Disorganization Theory

Crime occurs more often in communities with weak social institutions, poverty, and instability, where social control breaks down.

Social Control Theory

People are naturally inclined to break rules, but socialization and strong relationships restrain them from doing so.

Dual Taxonomy Theory

There are two main offender types—life-course persistent offenders who start early and continue offending, and adolescent-limited offenders whose delinquency is temporary.

Drift/T.O.N Theory

Offenders “drift” between conformity and deviance by using excuses or justifications (neutralizations) to temporarily suspend moral constraints.

Subcultural Theory

Working-class youth experience frustration when they fail to meet middle-class standards of success, leading them to reject conventional values and form delinquent subcultures that reward deviant behavior and provide alternative status.