criminology exam 1

Infotainment

A blend of information and entertainment presented in a way that

may appear truthful and complete, even when important context is missing

Broadcasting

Distributing the same content to a broad, general audience

Narrowcasting

Targeting a specific audience with content tailored to that

audience’s interests, beliefs, or viewing habits

Media framing

The process of selecting, emphasizing, and organizing facts so

that audiences interpret an event in a particular way.

Selection rule

The principle used to decide which crimes or details receive

media attention; in infotainment, the main rule is often what will hold the

audience’s attention

Crime wave

A phrase suggesting that crime is rapidly increasing; it can be

misleading if it is not supported by broader crime trends

Social construction of crime

The idea that people’s understanding of crime and

criminals is influenced by law, culture, media, institutions, and social beliefs

Stereotype

An oversimplified belief about a category of people that treats people

in that category as if they are all alike

Presumption of innocence

The legal principle that an accused person should be

treated as innocent until/unless proven guilty

Criminology

The scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and

consequences of crime, including how society defines and responds to crime

Crime

The violation of a law for which punishment is prescribed by the criminal

justice system or another governing authority

Deviance

Behavior that violates social norms or expectations; deviance is not

always illegal

Criminal justice system

The interconnected institutions responsible for

responding to crime: law enforcement, courts, and corrections

Law enforcement

The entry point into the criminal justice system; police receive

reports, investigate offenses, make arrests, and exercise discretion

Courts

The component in which prosecutors file charges, judges make legal

decisions, pleas are entered, trials occur, and sentences are imposed

Corrections

The component responsible for carrying out sentences, including

incarceration, probation, parole, treatment, and community supervision

Community supervision

Correctional supervision of a person in the community

under court-ordered conditions

Probation

A court-ordered sentence that allows a person to remain in the

community while complying with supervision conditions

Discretion

The authority to choose among different possible actions or decisions

within the criminal justice process

Plea bargain

An agreement in which a defendant pleads guilty, often in exchange

for a reduced charge or recommended sentence

Criminal justice funnel

The idea that many offenses occur, fewer are reported,

fewer lead to arrest and prosecution, and only a small portion reach trial or

sentencing

Due process

Constitutional protections intended to ensure fairness and prevent

abuse of government power

Bail

Conditions or payment established by a court to determine whether an

accused person may be released while a case is pending

Formal social control

Rules and sanctions enforced by official institutions, such

as police, courts, and corrections

Informal social control

Social pressure from family, friends, neighbors, shame,

reputation, and community expectations

Social contract

The idea that people give the government limited authority to

make and enforce laws in exchange for protection, order, and security

Capital case

criminal case in which the death penalty may be sought

Bifurcated trial

A trial divided into separate phases, usually one phase to

determine guilt and another to determine punishment

Legalistic approach

Defines crime as an intentional violation of criminal law

committed without a legal defense or excuse and punishable by the state

Positivist approach

Focuses on whether an act causes harm and seeks

scientific explanations for criminal behavior

Consensus model

The view that laws generally reflect values shared by most

members of society

Conflict model

The view that laws often reflect the interests of groups that

possess political, social, or economic power

Mala in se

Acts considered wrong or harmful in themselves, such as murder,

robbery, or arson

Mala prohibita

Acts considered wrong because they are prohibited by law, such

as jaywalking

Status offense

Conduct that is illegal because of the person’s age, such as

truancy, violating curfew, or underage drinking

Charge enhancement

An increase in the seriousness or punishment of a charge

because of factors such as the victim’s age or protected status

Classical theory

The perspective that people possess free will, make rational

choices, and may be deterred when the costs of crime outweigh its benefits

Cesare Beccaria

Classical theorist who argued that punishment should prevent

future crime and should be certain, swift, and proportionate

Deterrence

The use or threat of punishment to discourage criminal behavior

Certainty

The likelihood that punishment will occur; generally considered the

strongest element of deterrence

Celerity

The swiftness or speed with which punishment follows an offense

Severity

The harshness of a punishment

General deterrence

Punishing one person to discourage other members of

society from committing similar crimes

Specific deterrence

Punishing an individual to discourage that same person

from reoffending

Retribution

Punishment based on the belief that an offender deserves

consequences for the harm caused

Rehabilitation

Efforts to change an offender’s behavior through treatment,

education, counseling, or other services

Positivism

The use of scientific observation and measurement to identify factors

that may cause criminal behavior

Cesare Lombroso

Early biological positivist who claimed that criminals could be

identified by inherited physical characteristics

Atavism

Lombroso’s belief that some offenders were evolutionary throwbacks to

an earlier stage of human development

Biological positivism

The perspective that biological characteristics may

contribute to criminal behavior

Dark figure of crime

Crimes that occur but are not reported to police or included

in official crime statistics

Crime rate

The number of reported crimes relative to the size of a population,

commonly expressed per 100,000 residents

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

An FBI crime-reporting program that traditionally

collects summary data voluntarily submitted by law enforcement agencies

Hierarchy rule

The UCR summary-reporting rule that generally counts only the

most serious offense in a single incident; arson is counted separately

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

An incident-based FBI

reporting system that records multiple offenses within the same incident and does

not use the hierarchy rule

Clery Act

A federal law requiring colleges and universities to report certain

crimes based primarily on where the incidents occurred

Campus geography

The locations covered by Clery Act reporting requirements

LEOKA

The FBI program that collects information about law enforcement officers

killed or assaulted

Official crime statistics

Crime data collected by government agencies; these

statistics represent a minimum or “floor” because not all crimes are reported or

recorded

Flow

Events measured across a period of time, such as the number of crimes

committed during one year

Stock

A total measured at one point in time, such as the number of people

incarcerated on a particular date

Strain theory

The theory that crime may result when people are pressured by a

gap between culturally approved goals and legitimate opportunities to achieve

them.

Robert Merton

Theorist who connected anomie to five modes of adaptation

Anomie

A condition in which society emphasizes success goals but does not

provide equal access to legitimate means of achieving them.

Modes of adaptation

Merton’s five responses to the relationship between

cultural goals and legitimate means

Conformity

Accepting society’s goals and using legitimate means to pursue

them

Innovation

Accepting society’s goals but using illegitimate means to achieve

them

Ritualism

Rejecting or reducing society’s success goals while continuing to

follow legitimate rules and routines

Retreatism

Rejecting both society’s goals and the approved means of achieving

them

Rebellion

Rejecting existing goals and means and attempting to replace them

with new ones

General strain theory

Robert Agnew’s theory that strain can produce negative

emotions that may increase the likelihood of offending

Negative emotions

Feelings such as anger, frustration, or resentment that may

result from strain

Social disorganization theory

The theory that crime is influenced by

neighborhood conditions that weaken relationships and informal social control

Collective efficacy

A community’s shared ability and willingness to maintain

order and exercise informal social control

Neighborhood conditions

Social and structural characteristics of an area that

may affect crime, community relationships, and social control

Learning theory

The perspective that criminal behavior is learned through

interaction with other people

Social learning theory

The theory that behavior is learned through social

interaction, imitation, reinforcement, and exposure to definitions favorable or

unfavorable to crime

Reinforcement

Rewards or consequences that increase or decrease the

likelihood that a behavior will continue

Imitation

Copying behavior observed in other people

Definitions favorable to crime

Attitudes or beliefs that approve of, excuse, or

justify lawbreaking

Neutralization theory

Sykes and Matza’s theory that people use excuses or

justifications before or during lawbreaking to temporarily set aside conventional

values and reduce anticipated guilt. When these justifications are offered only after

the crime, they are more accurately described as post-crime rationalizations

Denial of responsibility

Claiming that the behavior was caused by forces

outside one’s control: “It wasn’t my fault.”

Denial of injury

Claiming that no one was seriously harmed: “Nobody was really

hurt.”

Denial of the victim

Claiming that the victim deserved what happened: “They

had it coming.”

Condemnation of the condemners

Shifting attention to the alleged wrongdoing

or hypocrisy of those who disapprove of the behavior.

Appeal to higher loyalties

Claiming that the behavior was committed to help or

protect an important group or person: “My loyalty is to my family.”

1. “Infotainment” is best defined as

A blend of entertainment and information presented as if truthful and comprehensive

2.The primary selection rule governing what crimes appear in infotainment programming

is:

What holds audience attention

3.Narrowcasting differs from broadcasting primarily because it

Targets a narrow, specific audience with tailored content

4.According to the lecture, a key social consequence of narrowcasting is that

Shared facts erode and fear tracks your feed rather than your actual risk

5. The lecture links narrowcasting to racial profiling because both

Sort people into categories and treat the category as the person

6. Criminology is best described as the scientific study of crime and society’s response to it,

focused on which set of concerns?

The nature, extent, and causes of crime—and who defines crime

7. After the crime is reported, which sequence correctly represents the major stages

described in the course?

Report → arrest → charge → plea → sentence

8. According to the lecture, approximately what share of criminal cases ends in a plea—and

what does this imply?

About 95%; the process operates as a funnel rather than a system

9. The Highway 6 speeding scenario is used primarily to illustrate which idea?

That people narrate and justify their own behavior differently than they judge

others’—intent versus action

10.The “who comes to mind when I say ‘criminal’” exercise and the closing slide together

make what argument?

Mental images of criminals are socially and media-constructed; real people in the

system look like ordinary neighbors, co-workers, and family

11.According to Rennison & Dodge, crime is the breaking of a law for which punishment is

prescribed by:

The criminal justice system or another governing authority

12.The legalistic approach defines crime as:

An intentional act violating criminal law, without defense or excuse, penalized by the

state

13.A main criticism of the legalistic approach is that it:

Is circular and ignores who writes the law and whose interests it serves

14.The positivist approach asks primarily:

Was harm done?