Understanding Crime and Criminology

These flashcards cover key concepts and definitions related to crime and criminology, essential for understanding criminal justice and sociological perspectives on crime.

Criminalization

The process by which behaviors or actions are defined as crimes, influenced by social values and norms.

Implicit Bias

The unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions regarding other people.

Structural Racism

Systemic discrimination against racial and ethnic groups embedded in laws, policies, and practices.

Criminology

The scientific study of crime, criminal behavior, and the criminal justice system.

Deviance

Behavior that deviates from accepted social norms, which may include both criminal and non-criminal acts.

Colonialism

The policy of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

Intersectionality

The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, which create overlapping systems of disadvantage.

Theft

An offense where an individual takes something that does not belong to them without the owner's permission with the intent to deprive the owner of it.

Capitalist Theory

A perspective that explains how laws and crime definitions disproportionately affect the poor and marginalized in society.

Structural Discrimination

Systemic policies and practices that result in unequal treatment for certain groups based on characteristics such as race or gender.

Historical Context

The study of how social changes and historical events shape the definition of crime and deviance over time.

Malleability of Law

The concept that laws can evolve and change in response to social movements and shifting public values.