CRJS 240: Test 1

Criminology

The interdisciplinary, scientific study of crime and criminal behavior, including its causes, manifestations, legality, and control

What are some examples of disciplines that can fit into criminology?

Psychology, sociology, biology, history, economics, and chemistry

In the definition for criminology, what does manifestations mean?

How and why crime starts

Consensus Model

Laws reflects society’s shared values about what is right and wrong

Conflict Model

We don’t all agree about what should or shouldn’t be against the law, but lawmakers make laws that benefit themselves

Theoretical Criminology

Rather than simply describing crime and its occurrences, it offers explanations for criminal behavior

Criminologist have developed many ____ to explain and understand crime

Theories

Theory

Made of clearly stated propositions suggesting relationships (often casual) between events and occurrences being studied

What do criminological theories help do?

Come up with potential means of prevention

What does criminology help us do?

Develop a better understanding of the causes of crime, strengthen our ability to solve crimes, and protect people from being victimized and effectively deterring by examining existing laws and policies and practices of law enforcement

Criminologist

Someone trained in the field of criminology who studies crime, criminals, and criminal behavior

Criminologists may be involved in what?

Crime-pattern analysis, study normal/abnormal behaviors, threat assessment, public advocacy, and serving as expert witness

What is a criminalist?

One who is a specialist in the collection and examination of the physical evidence of a crime

What is an example of a criminalist?

Crime Scene Investigators

All criminalists are __________, but not all ________ are criminalists

Criminologists

Are crime and deviance the same thing?

They often overlap, but they’re not the same

Deviant Behavior

Behavior that violates social norms

Crime

An intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without defense or justification, and sanctioned by the state as a misdemeanor or felony

What is an example of an omission in violation of criminal law?

Not paying taxes or negligence of children

Who decides what is considered crime?

Legislatures

What is the area of controversy when deciding what is considered a crime?

Consensus vs. conflict perspectives on crimes like prostitution

The Dark Figure of Crime

We are still missing a lot of criminal activity that goes unreported to the police and is not captured in surveys or other methods of data collection

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

An annua survey of randomly selected American household by the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Justice to determine the extent of criminal victimization - especially unreported victimization in the U.S.

In the NCVS, interviewers ask about what offenses over the last six months?

Rape, personal robbery, aggravated and simple assault, household burglary, personal and household theft, and motor vehicle theft

What are the advantages of the NCVS?

Victims may be more comfortable reporting crime in an anonymous survey than to police and may capture crimes that were never reported to authorities

What are some criticisms of the NCVS?

Victims can’t report crimes they’ve forgotten about or were unaware of, difficult to verify any of the incidents disclosed by survey participants, and crime definitions in NCVS don’t necessarily correspond to other federal/state statutes