CJ 201

Marxist

Social structure and capitalism is the root of conflict leading to crime

Instrumental Marxism

Law is used to control the working class to keep the wealthy class dominant

structural marxism

capitalism shapes interests and institutions that influence the political economy and law enforcement

self-control theory

Offenders don’t think about long term consequences for their actions ; low self control leads to higher crime rates as they give into immediate gratification

institutional anomie

says that culture’s emphasis on monetary success and weak institutional controls lead to high crime rates

Strain theory

A person commits a crime when they are blocked from their goal

social bond theory

says that a person is less likely to commit crime if they have a strong bond with society and those in their community

power control theory

delinquency varies based on family structure; if a parent has more control over their children it could reduce delinquency

focal control theory

says that goals and values in communities can influence delinquent behavior in youths

social disorganization theory

says that low control of communities can increase higher crime rates because the lack of societal ties within the community

differential association theory

says that delinquency is learned behavior and being around someone who favors crime over Un favoring crime can influence the chance of committing a crime

Differential opportunity

says that crime happens when someone has the opportunity and availability to commit a crime ; blocked access to opportunity can reduce crime rates

Containment theory

says that people have push factors that pressure them and pull factors that are peer influenced that affect delinquency ; outer containment is parents and school discipline and inner containment is guilt towards crime

Neutralization theory

says that doing a crime because everyone else does it allows people to use that as an excuse justify their delinquent act

Merton’s anomie

says that the disconnection between cultural goals and means lead to crime

Policy : stop and frisk ; theory that supports and theory that goes against it

• rational choice theory supports the policy because if people know that they can be stopped at any time they may think twice before doing something

• labeling theory goes against the policy because the policy targets people mostly minorities who can be labeled and it’ll influence them to keep committing crimes