Criminology Key Terms

Absence of spuriousness

The most important criterion to establish a casual relationship, once a correlation has been determined, requiring the ruling out of potential spurious factors.

Causation

One type of relationship among observable variable which analyzes correlation, time sequence, and the absence of spuriousness

Compurgation

A method of determining innocence in which the accused gathered together a group of twelve reputable people who would swear that he/she was innocent

Control

In order to establish a direct casual relationship between two variables, one must control for other variables which might also affect the dependent variables

Correlation

The idea that things tend to vary systematically in relation to each other

Cross-sectional research

A form of research that consists of collecting data on a number of variables (such as crime, unemployment) across a number of entities (persons, cities, states, etc.) at a particular point in time to assess the relationship between those variables

Direction of Causation

If a casual relationship means that an increase in the independent variable leads to an increase in the dependent variable, this indicates positive directionality; if an increase in the independent variable leads to a decrease in the dependent variable, this indicates negative directionality.

Falsification

The process of attempting to disprove a scientific theory involving systematically observing the relationships described in the theory and then comparing the observations to arguments of the theory itself

Individual difference theories

Theories that focus on characteristics of individual persons (ex. age, race, gender)

Interaction effect

When the magnitude/strength of the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable depends on the value of a third

Intervening relationship

When one variable influences another through a third, mediating variable

Longitudinal research

A form of research that consists of collecting data on a single entity (such as a city) over time, to assess the relationship between changes in different variables (such as unemployment rates and crime)

Meta-analysis

Collects data on a number of similar studies of the relationship between particular variables to form an overall conclusion

Natural explanations

Make use of objects/events in the material world to account for events that occur

Penitentiary

A place for isolating criminals, who were sorry for their sins, and giving them only the Bible to read and some manual labor to perform

Probability

The conclusion that a casual relationship exists is usually stated in terms of probability, not in absoluteness

Scientific theories

The natural explanation that makes statements about the relationships between observable phenomena

Spiritual explanations

Part of a general view of life in which many events are believed to result from the influence of otherworldly powers

Structure/process theories

Theories that focus on characteristics of aggregates of persons, such as groups, culture, neighborhoods, and societies

Theoretical Rationale

The idea that a good reason to believe that a casual relation exists

Theories of the behavior of criminal law

Theories that suggest that the volume of crime and the characteristics of criminals are determined primarily by the enactment/enforcement of laws

Theory

A sensible way of understanding something, of relating it to the whole world of information, beliefs, and attitudes that make up the intellectual atmosphere of a people at a particular time or place

Time sequence

In a casual relationship, the independent variable must precede the dependent variable in time.

Trial by battle

A method of ending blood feuds in which both parties would swear to the truth of their claims in the dispute and then they (or their designated representatives) would fight each other and God would give victory to the righteous person, defeating the one who had just sworn a false oath; thus, the family of the loser would have no grounds for exacting vengeance on the winner.

Trial by ordeal

A method of ending blood feuds in which the accused was subjected to difficult and painful tests, from which an innocent person (protected by God) would emerge unharmed while a guilty person would die a painful death

Baby boomer

A person born between 1946 and 1964, referring to the post-World War II increase in births.

Ferguson effect

According to some, the tendency for police to be less likely to make arrests and get involved in anything but the most serious crimes, after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and de-policing, as a result of anger against police for highly volatile and well publicized incidents

George Floyd

An unarmed Black man murdered by police officers in Minneapolis in 2020

Gini index

Measures income distribution: a zero represents perfectly even distribution, whereas a one represents complete concentration

Great American Crime Decline

One of the most monumental criminological occurrences in modern history, taking place from the early 1990s to the present day

Incapacitation

Physically removing offenders from society, typically by incarceration

Income inequality

The extent to which income is distributed unevenly throughout a population

Lagged effect

Occurs when it takes a while for a change in an independent variable to result in a change in a dependent variable.

Moral poverty

Children not learning right from wrong and associated ills such as drug abuse

National Crime Victimization Survey

Interviews a sample of individuals twice a year, asking them for information about offenses they may or may not have reported to the police

New York effect

The additional decline of crime in New York, as compared to the national crime drop

Stay-at-home (SAH) orders

Occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic during the spring of 2020, regulating the movement of citizens in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus

Superpredators

A term coined by conservatives when US crime was at its peak, referring to offenders who are the “youngest, biggest, and baddest generation any society has ever known”

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

Data published by the FBI which tabulates crimes reported to all participating police departments in the United States. It underreports actual crime, because many victims fail to report crime and does not include crime committed in areas where the police do not participate in reporting.