Week 3 - The search for causes

Criminological Theory

A set of interrelated ideas that attempt to describe, explain, predict, and ultimately control some class of events.

Classical Theory

The theory that crime is caused by an individual's exercise of free will and rational choice.

Neoclassical Theory

A perspective emphasizing conscious choices and the effects of circumstances and individual differences on criminal behavior.

Classical/Neoclassical Theory

Crime is associated with free will, rational choice, pain and pleasure, punishment, deterrence, and the possibility of crime prevention.

Free Will

The idea that individuals have the ability to make informed choices about their behavior.

Pain and Pleasure

Two central determinants of human behavior in classical theory; people consider the consequences of actions in making choices.

Deterrence

The idea that swift and certain punishment can prevent crime.

Punishment

A necessary evil in classical theory that can help deter individuals from committing crime.

Rational Choice Theory

The theory that crime results from conscious choices.

Routine Activities Theory

The theory that lifestyles affect the amount and type of crime.

Enlightenment

The intellectual movement associated with a move away from superstition and mysticism and toward recognition of human rationality and informed choice.

Early Biological Theories

Theories that assume behavior is predetermined and genetically based, that criminality may be passed from generation to generation, and that some people are further along the evolutionary ladder.

Biological Determinism

The idea that behavior is predetermined by biological or genetic factors.

Eugenics

A movement influenced by early biological theories that sought to control human reproduction based on beliefs about inherited characteristics; it became associated with extreme social policies in the 1920s-1930s.

Biosocial Theories

Theories that focus on the interaction between biology and the physical environment in producing behavior.

Gender Ratio Problem

The issue that men are far more involved than women in crime, with the gender gap tending to increase as the seriousness of the offense increases.

Chromosome Theory

The theory involving genetic correlates of deviant behavior, including examples such as XYY syndrome.

XYY Syndrome

A genetic condition discussed in connection with theories about genetic correlates of deviant behavior.

MAO-A Gene

A gene discussed in biosocial theories as a possible genetic correlate of deviant behavior.

CREB Genes

Genes discussed in biosocial theories as possible genetic correlates of deviant behavior.

Biochemical Factors and Imbalances

The idea that chemical imbalances may be linked to crime, involving hormones, brain chemistry, and the endocrine system.

Endocrine System

The body's system involved with hormones that is considered in biosocial explanations of crime.

Heredity

The passing of genetic traits from parents to offspring.

Heritability

The extent to which differences in behavior may be influenced by genetic factors, as suggested by adoption and twin studies.

Genes and Behavior

The idea that genes can influence behavior indirectly through complex chains of events in the brain and do not determine behavior by themselves.

Psychological Theories

Theories emphasizing personality and mental processes as major factors in criminal behavior.

Personality

The major motivational element within individuals according to psychological theories.

Behavioral Conditioning

The process through which the frequency of a behavior can be increased or decreased through reward, punishment, or association with other stimuli.

Personality Disturbances

Disturbances or diseases of the mind considered in early psychological theories.

Psychopathology

The study of psychopathic mental conditions.

Psychopathy

A mental or personality disorder that may lead to crime; its causes are unclear.

Psychopath

A person described in the slides as being unable to empathize with others.

Somatogenic

The view that psychopathy is rooted in a malfunctioning central nervous system.

Psychogenic

The view that psychopathy is rooted in interpersonal experiences.

Psychosis

A form of mental illness in which an individual is said to be out of touch with reality.

Schizophrenia

A condition involving disjointed thinking and possibly delusions or hallucinations.

Psychological Profiling

An attempt to categorize, understand, and predict an offender's behavior based on the belief that criminality can be viewed as symptomatic of an offender's personality.

Neuroscience

The scientific study of the nervous system.

Neuroprediction

The use of computer algorithms to assess risk and forecast the likelihood of particular forms of behavior.

Personal Dangerousness

The likelihood that a given individual will later harm society or others, often measured in terms of recidivism.

Recidivism

The measure often used when assessing personal dangerousness by considering whether an offender returns to criminal behavior.

Individual Treatment

A crime-control approach emphasized by psychological theories that focuses on the individual.

Sociological Theories

Theories that focus on social groups, social institutions, social arrangements, socialization, opportunities, norms, values, and the structure of society as causes of criminal behavior.

Socialization

The process through which individuals interact with and learn from society and other individuals.

Subculture

A group with its own norms and values that may differ from those of the larger society.

Social Groups

Groups of individuals whose dynamics, organization, and relationships can contribute to the development of crime.

Social Institutions

Structures within society that can influence behavior and contribute to criminal behavior.

Social Arrangements

The organization and structure of society that can contribute to criminal behavior.

Subcultural Theory

The theory that rejection of middle-class values by lower-class youth who lack access to approved opportunities for success can lead to gangs and criminal subcultures.

Reaction Formation

The process in subcultural theory in which lower-class youth reject middle-class values and develop alternative subcultural values.

Focal Concerns

The concerns that can lead members of criminal subcultures into crime: trouble, toughness, excitement, smartness, fate, and autonomy.

Social Action

The focus of sociological theories as a solution to crime, emphasizing social programs intended to change cultural conditions and societal arrangements thought to lead to crime.

Social Process Theories

Theories emphasizing the interaction between individuals and society and often placing responsibility on the offender.

Social Learning

The process through which behavior is learned through interaction between individuals and society.

Differential Association Theory

Sutherland's theory that crime is a natural consequence of interaction with criminal lifestyles and is a product of socialization.

Edwin Sutherland

The criminologist associated with Differential Association Theory.

Burgess and Akers

Researchers who integrated operant conditioning into social learning theory and emphasized reinforcement.

Reinforcement

The idea that rewards or consequences influence behavior and are key to understanding social learning.

Operant Conditioning

A form of learning incorporated by Burgess and Akers into social learning theory in which reinforcement influences behavior.

Restraint Theory

Theories that focus more on the constraints that prevent crime than on the causes of crime.

Containment

The forces that keep people from committing crimes, including inner and outer containments.

Social Control

The bond between an individual and society that helps keep people from committing crimes.

Inner Containments

Internal forces that restrain individuals from committing crime.

Outer Containments

External forces that restrain individuals from committing crime.

Social Bonds

Connections between individuals and society that can discourage criminal behavior.

Emotional Attachments

Connections to significant others that can help prevent individuals from committing crime.

Commitment to Appropriate Lifestyles

A form of social control involving commitment to conventional and socially accepted ways of living.

Conventional Values

Values and beliefs that support socially accepted behavior.

Social Obligations

Beliefs in the correctness of following social rules and obligations.

Neutralization Techniques

Rationalizations offenders use to shed feelings of guilt and responsibility for their behavior.

Denial of Responsibility

A neutralization technique in which an offender denies responsibility for the offense.

Denial of Injury

A neutralization technique in which an offender claims that no real harm was caused.

Denial of the Victim

A neutralization technique in which an offender denies or minimizes the legitimacy of the victim.

Condemnation of the Condemners

A neutralization technique in which offenders shift attention toward criticizing those who condemn them.

Appeal to Higher Loyalties

A neutralization technique in which an offender justifies behavior by claiming loyalty to a higher cause, group, or obligation.

Labeling Theory

The theory that continued crime can result from limited opportunities created by society's negative responses to offenders.

Deviance

A behavior or identity that society defines as unacceptable; labeling theory emphasizes that deviance is created by society.

Criminal Label

The negative label placed on an individual that can produce consequences and potentially contribute to continued crime.

Tagging

The process in which a delinquent becomes viewed as bad because society defines them as bad and does not believe them when they act positively.

Moral Enterprise

The process undertaken by an advocacy group to have its values embodied in law.

Life Course Perspective

The perspective that criminal behavior follows identifiable patterns throughout the life cycle and that transitions can provide opportunities to turn toward or away from crime.

Life Course

An individual's pattern of behavior and development across the stages of life.

Transitions

Events or changes in life that can provide opportunities to turn toward or away from crime.

Dual Taxonomy

A classification distinguishing adolescent-limited offenders from life-course-persistent offenders.

Adolescent-Limited Offenders

Offenders whose criminal behavior is associated with adolescence.

Life-Course-Persistent Offenders

Offenders whose criminal behavior persists across the life course.

Pathways to Delinquency

Patterns through which individuals can develop delinquent behavior.

Authority Conflict Pathway

One of the pathways to delinquency identified in the life-course perspective.

Covert Pathway

One of the pathways to delinquency identified in the life-course perspective.

Overt Pathway

One of the pathways to delinquency identified in the life-course perspective.

Peacemaking Criminology

A criminological perspective identified in the chapter.

Radical Criminology

A criminological perspective identified in the chapter.

Conflict Theories

Theories identified as an additional criminological perspective.

Postmodern Criminology

a perspective that rejects traditional, scientific explanations of crime and instead views crime and criminal law as social constructs shaped by language, power dynamics, and societal institutions

Critical Race Theory

racism is systemic and embedded within American institutions and legal systems rather than just being the result of individual prejudice.

Feminist Criminology

A criminological perspective identified in the chapter.