Criminology Exam 1

Crime:

that which violates the law

Mala in se:

acts that are considered inherently evil

Mala prohibita:

acts that are considered crimes primarily because they have been outlawed by the legal codes in that jurisdiction

Deviance:

behaviors that are not normal; includes many illegal acts, as well as activities that are not necessarily criminal but are unusual and often violate social norms

Criminology:

the scientific study of crime and the reasons why people engage (or don't engage) in criminal behavior

Criminal justice:

often refers to the various criminal justice agencies and institutions (police, courts and corrections) that are interrelated

Consensus perspective:

theories that assume that virtually everyone is in agreement on the laws and therefore assume no conflict in attitudes regarding the laws and rules of society

Conflict perspective:

theories of criminal behavior that assume that most people disagree on what the law should be and that law is a means by which those in power maintain their advantage

State police:

agencies with general police powers to enforce state laws as well as to investigate major crimes; they may have intelligence units, drug trafficking units, juvenile units, and crime laboratories

Highway patrol:

one type of model characterizing statewide police departments. The primary focus is to enforce the laws that govern the operation of motor vehicles on public roads and highways

Limited jurisdiction:

the authority of a court to hear and decide cases within an area of the law or a geographic territory

Probation:

essential an arrangement between the sentencing authorities and the offender requiring the offender to comply with certain terms for a specified amount of time

Jail:

often designated for individuals convicted of a minor crime and to house individuals awaiting trial

Prison:

generally for those convicted of more serious crimes with longer sentences, who may be housed in a supermax, maximum, medium, or minimum security prison based on security concerns

Parens patriae:

a philosophical perspective that recognizes that the state has both the right and the obligation to intervene on behalf of its citizens in the case of some impairment or impediment- such as mental incompetence or, in the case of juveniles, age and immaturity

Judicial waiver:

the authority to waive juvenile court jurisdiction and transfer the case to criminal court

Concurrent jurisdiction:

original jurisdiction for certain cases is shared by both criminal and juvenile courts; the prosecutor has discretion to file such cases in either court

Statutory exclusion:

excludes certain juvenile offenders from juvenile court jurisdiction; cases originate in criminal rather than juvenile court

Parsimony:

a characteristic of a good theory, meaning that it explains a certain phenomenon, such as criminal behavior, with the fewest possible propositions or concepts

Scope:

refers to the range of criminal behavior that a theory attempts to explain

Logical consistency:

the extent to which concepts and propositions of a theoretical model make sense in terms of face value and consistency with what is readily known about crime rates and trends

Testability:

the extent to which a theoretical model can be empirically or scientifically tested through observation and empirical research

Empirical validity:

the extent to which a theoretical model is supported by scientific research

Temporal ordering:

the criterion for determining causality; requires that the predictor variable (x) precede the explanatory variable (y) in time

Correlation or covariation:

a criterion of causality that requires a change in predicator variable (x) to be consistently associated with some change in the explanatory variable (y)

Spuriousness:

when other factors (z) are actually causing two variables (x and y) to occur at the same time; it may appear as if x causes y, when in fact they are both being caused by z factors

Victim precipitation:

the increased likelihood of individuals becoming victims of crime due to something they did (or did not do) that put them more at risk (e.g. not locking their car door)

Compensation:

often paid to victims of violent acts; funds are provided to victims through local, state, or federal government agencies

Restitution:

often ordered by the court to be paid to victims by the offenders as part of their sentence

Victim impact statement:

formal statements given by victims in court about the incident in which they were offended, often in person but also in other ways (video or written statement read by the court reporter); these statements may be considered in determining the offender's sentence

Uniform crime reports:

annual reports published by the FBI, intended to estimate most of the major street crimes in the United States

Supplementary homicide reports:

part of the UCR program. These data provide more detailed information on the incident (regarding the offender and the victim)

National incident based reporting system:

an enhanced version of the UCR program that collects more detailed information on incidents (regarding the offenders and the victims)

Hate crime data:

the best known hate crime data source is the hate crime statistics, which collect information on traditional offenses, such as murder and vandalism, that have an additional factor of bias

Law enforcement officers killed and assaulted (LEOKA):

part of the UCR program. It collects data on officer line of duty deaths and assaults

National crime victimization survey:

a primary measure of crime in the United States, it is collected by the department of justice and the census bureau and is based on interviews with victims of crime

Monitoring the future:

an annual self report survey that collects information to measure substance and alcohol use patterns among youths

National survey on drug use and health:

since 1971, the NSDUH has been used to collect information annually on the use of illegal drugs by individuals in the United States

National prisoner statistics program:

this program collects information on individuals incarcerated in state and federal prisons

Spatial analyses of crime:

this type of analysis focuses on crime places. One major aspect is mapping crimes, which illustrates the location of crimes, the distance between them, the direction in which the crimes seem to be moving, and other patterns

Deterrence theory:

theory of crime associated with the classical school; proposes that individuals will make rational decisions regarding their behavior

Age of enlightenment:

a period of the late 17th to 18th century in which western philosophers and scholars began to emphasize the rights of individuals in society

Classical school:

a model of crime that assumes that crime occurs after a rational individual mentally weighs the potential consequences of a crime and then makes a decision about whether to do it

Social contract:

an enlightenment ideal or assumption that stipulates an unspecified arrangement among citizens in which they promise the state or government not to commit offenses against other citizens and in turn gain protection from being violated by other citizens

Utilitarianism:

a philosophical concept that relates to the idea of the greatest good for the most people

Mens rea:

a concept regarding whether offenders actually knew what they were doing and meant to do

Actus reus:

in legal terms, whether the offender actually engaged in a given criminal act

Brutalization effect:

the predicted tendency of homicides to increase after an execution, particularly after a high profile execution

Swiftness of punishment:

the assumption that the sooner an offender is punished (for a crime of which he or she is guilty), the more he or she will be deterred from breaking the law

Certainty of punishment:

one of the key elements of deterrence; the assumption is that people perceive a high likelihood of being caught and punished if they commit a crime

Severity of punishment:

the assumption that a given punishment must be serious enough to outweigh any potential benefits gained from a crime

Specific deterrence:

punishments given to individual offenders that are meant to prevent or deter them from committing crime in the future

General deterrence:

punishments given to individual offenders that are meant to prevent or deter others from engaging in similar criminal activity

Neoclassical school:

assumes that aggravating and mitigating circumstances should be taken into account for purposes of sentencing and punishing an offender

Aggregate studies:

collections of studies, generally on a particular topic

Cross sectional study:

a type of research design in which a collection of data is taken at one point in time (often in survey format)

Experiential effect:

the extent to which previous experience affects individuals perceptions of how severe criminal punishment will be when deciding whether to offend again

Scenario research:

studies that involve providing participants with specific hypothetical scenarios and then asking them what they would do in each situation

Vignettes:

short, descriptive sketches or hypothetical narratives

formal/official deterrence:

the deterrent effects of law enforcement, courts, and corrections

Informal deterrence:

crime deterrent factors such as family, church, and friends that do not involve official aspects of criminal justice such as police, courts, and corrections

Rational choice theory:

a modern, classical school based framework for explaining crime that includes traditional formal deterrence aspects and other, informal factors that studies show consistently and strongly influence behavior

Routine activities theory:

an explanation of crime that assumes that crime and victimization are highest in places where three factors come together in time and place: motivated offenders, suitable or attractive targets, and absence of a guardian

Positive school:

a perspective that assumes that individuals have no free will to control their behavior

Eugenics:

the study of and policies related to the improvement of the human race via discriminatory control over reproduction

Craniometry:

a 19th century field of study that emphasized the belief that the size of the brain or skull reflected superiority or inferiority, with larger brains and skulls being considered superior

Phrenology:

the science of determining human dispositions based on distinctions (eg, bumps) in the skull, which is believed to conform to the shape of the brain

Physiognomy:

the study of facial and other bodily aspects to identify developmental problems, such as criminality

Atavism:

the belief that certain characteristics or behaviors of a person are throwbacks to an earlier stage of evolutionary development

Stigmata:

the physical manifestations of atavism (biological inferiority), according to lombroso

Determinism:

the assumption that human behavior is caused by factors outside free will and rational decision-making

Minor physical anomalies:

physical features, such as asymmetrical or low-seated ears, that are believed to indicate developmental problems

Feeble-mindedness:

technical, scientific term in the early 1900s meaning those who had significantly below-average intelligence

Somatotyping:

the area of study, primarily attributed to William Sheldon, that links body type to likelihood of delinquent and criminal behavior. Also, as a methodology, it is a way to ranking body types based on three categories: endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy

Endoderm:

the medical term for the inner layer of tissue in our bodies

Mesoderm:

the medical term for the middle layer of tissue in our bodies

Ectoderm:

the medical term for the outer layer of tissue in our bodies

Endomorphic:

the body type associated with an emphasis on the inner layer of tissue during embryonic development

Mesomorphic:

the body type associated with an emphasis on the middle layer of tissue during embryonic development

Ectomorphic:

the body type associated with an emphasis on the outer layer of tissue during development

Viscerotonic:

according to somatotyping, the type of temperament or personality associated with an endomorphic (obese) body type; these people tend to be jolly, lazy, and happy-go-lucky

Somatotonic:

the type of temperament or personality associated with a mesomorphic (muscular) body type; these people tend to be risk-taking and aggressive

Cerebrotonic:

the type of temperament or personality associated with an ectomorphic (thin) body type; these people tend to be introverted and shy

Family studies:

studies that examine the clustering of criminality in a given family

Twin studies:

studies that examine the relative concordance rates for monozygotic versus dizygotic twins

Monozygotic twins:

pairs of twins who come from a single egg (zygote) and this share 100% of their genetic makeup

Dizygotic twins:

pairs of twins who come from two separate eggs (zygotes) and this share only 50% of the genetic makeup that can vary

Concordance rates:

rates at which twin pairs either share or lack a certain trait (e.g. criminality)

Adoption studies:

studies that examine the criminality of adoptees as compared with the criminality of their biological and adoptive parents

Selective placement:

a policy of placing adoptees in households that resemble those of their biological parents; for example. Adoptees from rich biological parents are placed in rich adoptive households

Cytogenetic studies:

studies of crime that focus on individuals genetic makeup, with a specific focus on chromosomal abnormalities

Neurotransmitters:

nervous-system chemicals in the brain and body that help transmit electric signals from one neuron to another

Dopamine:

a neurotransmitter that is largely responsible for good feelings in the brain; it is increased by many illicit drugs (e.g. cocaine)

Serotonin:

a neurotransmitter this is key in information processing and most consistently linked to criminal behavior in its deficiency; low levels have been linked to depression and other mental illnesses

Frontal lobes:

the frontal region of the brain; most of the executive functions of the brain, such as problem-solving, take place here

Temporal lobes:

a region of the brain (on either side of the head) responsible for a variety of functions and located right above many primary limbic structures that govern our emotional and memory functions

Central nervous system:

the portion of the nervous system that largely consists of the brain and spinal column and is responsible for our voluntary actions and all higher functions

Autonomic nervous system:

the portion of the nervous system that controls our anxiety levels, such as the fight-or-flight response, as well as our involuntary motor activities (e.g. heart rate)

Phenotype:

an observed manifestation of the interaction between an individual's genotypic traits and his or her environment, such as that individual's height

Psychoanalytic perspective:

an individual's behavior is presumed to be due to the three aspects of his or her personality: the id, ego, and superego; anxiety, defense mechanisms, and the unconscious are key principles of the psychoanalytical perspective