Non-Sociological Explanations of Crime

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering biological and psychological theories of crime, including major schools of thought, key theorists, and genetic factors.

Classical Criminology

A perspective developed by Cesare Beccaria suggesting people have free will, choose to commit crime, and can be deterred by punishment that is swift, certain, and severe.

Social Contract

A voluntary agreement where citizens give up some freedom to the state in exchange for protection and a safer society.

The Enlightenment

The historical period that provided the roots for Classical theory through a focus on rational approaches and the social contract.

Neo-classical School

A school of criminology that sought flexibility in the justice system by individualizing sentences to consider offender characteristics, motives, and mitigating circumstances.

The Positivist School

A $19^{th}$ century movement that applied the scientific method to study human behavior, believing it is determined by forces beyond an individual's control.

Cesare Lombroso

A theorist who proposed that criminals were biological throwbacks, or atavists, who could be identified by physical stigmata.

Atavists

A term used by Cesare Lombroso to describe criminals as biological throwbacks to an earlier evolutionary stage.

Stigmata

The physical signs or attributes identified by Lombroso as indicators of atavism in "born criminals."

Incapacitation

According to Lombroso, the only effective response for born criminals since deterrence was believed not to work.

MAO-A Gene

A genetic factor where a lower functioning variant combined with childhood abuse resulted in violent or antisocial behavior in $85\%$ of cases.

Neuroplasticity

The concept that the brain's structure and function are malleable and can be altered by trauma, medical conditions, or injury.

Social Learning Theory

A theory by Albert Bandura suggesting aggression is learned through family, subcultural influences, and symbolic modelling.

Symbolic Modelling

One of the three ways aggression is learned according to Social Learning Theory, alongside family and subcultural influences.

Desensitization

A potential effect of violent media where an individual becomes less emotionally reactive to violence over time.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)

A psychological condition which, according to the DSM-V, affects $3\%$ of men and less than $1\%$ of women.

Psychopathy Checklist

An assessment tool developed by Robert Hare that includes $20$ traits and behaviors associated with psychopathy.

Robert Hare

A Canadian researcher who developed a widely used checklist to provide reliable and valid assessments of psychopathy.

Free Will

The Classical School's assumption that individuals have the agency to choose whether or not to commit a crime.

Determinism

The Positivist School's assumption that human behavior is shaped by forces beyond the control of the individual.

Mitigating Circumstances

Individual differences or social environment factors that were ignored by Classical theory but considered by the Neo-classical school.

John Howard

A prison reformer in the late $1700s$ and early $1800s$ who sought to make the prison system more humane.

Elizabeth Fry

A reformer who worked in the early $19^{th}$ century to improve the conditions and treatment of prisoners.

Due Process

A legal safeguard and contribution of the Classical School that ensures the protection of an individual's rights within the justice system.

Institutional Maladjustment

A condition more likely to affect prisoners with mental disorders, alongside higher risks of self-harm, suicide, and victimization.

Equality before the law

A foundational principle of the modern criminal justice system established by the reforms of the Classical School.