Policymaking Final Exam

Firearm Sentence Enhancement Laws – what was the importance of them and what were they intended to do?

Firearm sentence enchantment laws increases the penalty for a criminal act committed with a G-un: require a minimum sentence or an extra prison term.

What is mandatory sentencing?

sentencing strategy where the decision/discretion to sentence is taken away from judges. The law, not the judges, set the sentences

What is Target hardening?

any of a number of efforts to make it more difficult for criminals to target specific locations (access control: atms giving cash only with the right pin code, etc, surveillence cameras)

How can incarceration lead to crime?

1. prisoners living in prison share information on how to commit crime with other prisoners

2. being too close to other prisoners may cause tension and create violence

3. the violence prisoners experience will be brought to society after they leave

4. the prison experience may enrage prisoners and make them retaliate after they are released.

5. prison has a stigmatizing effect that can make it hard to transition to life outside prison

6. prison deprives families of their primary breadwinner

How do offenders differ? what are the seven types of offenders

1. Some offenders are unlikely to commit further serious crimes, punishment has made future crime unattractive to them

2. some offenders will continue serious offending at low rates until age literally stops them from physically committing crime

3. offenders that continue serious offending at low rates where it is unaffected by age

4. offenders that continue serious offending at high rates until age decreases their desire to commit crime

5. some offenders will continue serious at high rates and this will be unaffected by age

6. offender will increase their serious offending but as aging occurs, will gradually decrease it

7. offender will increase their serious offending and will not decrease it due to aging

What is routine activities theory?

created by Cohen and felson, crime results when three things come together: 1. motivated offender, 2. suitable target, 3. lack of capable guardianship

What is Risk-avoidance?

actions that people take to avoid being victimized or coming face to face with criminals (avoiding certain places at night)

What is risk-management?

the actions that people take when they know that they cannot fully avoid the potential for victimization

What are treatment programs and criminogenic needs?

a method of changing for the better people who are “addicted” to particular illegal behaviors, such as illicit drug consumption and other criminogenic needs

What is the incivilities thesis?

A view that minor breaches of community standards can create and/or lead to various problems, including crime. Broken windows theory is an example of this thesis

What are the types of crime control through environmental design?

Access control (target hardening), surveillance, activity support, motivation reinforcement

what are enterprise zones?

an economically depressed area where incentives are provided to employers such that job development is encouraged (companies in these areas are given lower interest rates for loans and tax credits)

What are work release programs?

the practice of releasing certain jail or prison inmates for specified periods of time so they can participate in the workforce

What are concentrated disadvantages?

The combination of various community-level variables (single parent household, racial composition, poverty) into a single measure or index of social conditions most linked to crime and related problems

When does parole occur?

usually after someone has already served most of their sentence

what is the hydraulic displacement of discretion?

the notion that a reduction or elimination of discretion in one area of the criminal justice system will simply push that discretion somewhere else, in much the same way a hydraulic pump works

What is moral reconation therapy?

a program that attempts to facilitate a change in the client’s process of conscious decision making and seeks to increase a client’s awareness of decision-making and to enhance appropriate behavior through development of higher moral reasoning

What is verbal and physical resistance strategies?

forceful physical resistance to crime includes as such as hitting, kicking and biting. forceful verbal resistance includes yelling and threatening.

what are victims awareness programs?

programs that are supposed to humanize victims, improve offender empathy, and increase understanding of the suffering that victims experience.

What is cognitive psychology?

study of offender’s mental processes and how they perceive the world around them, solve problem and make decisions

What are the different types of parole and probation conditions?

1. support dependents and meet other family responsibilities

2. Make restitution to a victim of the offense

3. work conscientiously at suitable employment or pursue education

4. refrain from engaging in an activity or occupation related to the offense

5. refrain from excessive use of alcohol or narcotics

6. refrain from possessing a firearm

What is transgenerational delinquency

when families influence delinquency among children (kids with convicted parents are more likely to commit crime themselves)

what is population density and mobility

population density is how crowded neighborhoods are. population mobility is how people move out of areas while others move in.

What are the types of intermediate sanctions?

1. community restraints: intensive supervision probation, home confinement and electronic monitoring, gps monitoring

2. programs that add structure and discipline to offender’s lives: adult boot camps, juvenile boot camps

3. hybrid varieties: shock probation, halfway houses, day reporting centers, foster and group homes, scared straight

What is environmental criminology?

a focus on crime with particular attention to the built environment. environmental criminology is concerned with reducing the frequency of criminal events through careful manipulation of physical spaces.