Crim and Deliqu Behav

Normative

Does the behavior violate accepted social norms?

Situational

How is the behavior interpreted given the people, place, time, and reaction?

Socially Relative

Something can be deviant in one context but not another

Positivism

Explains behavior using observable, empirical evidence rather than supernatural explanations

Beccaria + Bentham

People have free will and generally pursue pleasure/avoid pain. Deterrence works best when punishment is certain, swift/celeritous, and sufficiently severe/proportionate

Rational Choice

Weighs cost vs. benefits

Situational Choice

Emphasizes the immediate circumstances/opportunities surrounding the choice

Routine Activities

Motivated offender > Suitable target > Absence of capable guardian

Hirschi’s 4 Bonds

Attachment, Commitment, Involvement, and Belief

Primary Deviance

Initial/minor deviance that does not become part of identity

Secondary Deviance

Labeling begins shaping identity, treatment, opportunities, and future behavior

Reintegrative Shaming

Condemns the act but allows the person back into the group

Disintegrative Shaming

Labels the person themselves as bad and excludes them

Sellin

Conflict between different groups’ conduct norms

Turk

Behavior of less powerful groups is more likely to be criminalized/sanctioned

Quinney

People with authority help create/apply definitions of crime reflecting powerful interests

Durkheim: Integration

Connection to society

Durkheim: Regulation

Control/guidance by norms

Egoistic

Too little integration

Altruistic

Too much integration

Anomic

Too little regulation

Fatalistic

Too much regulation

Agnew’s 3 Strain Theory

1. Failure to achieve valued goals

2. Loss/removal of something positively valued

3. Exposure to negative treatment/stimuli

What is Social Disorganization?

Weak shared norms and reduced community informal social control

What happens when social disorganization increases?

A community may have less ability to regulate behavior collectively

What 3 conditions are linked to social disorganization?

Poverty, residential mobility, and ethnic heterogeneity

What does concentrated poverty mean here?

High levels of poverty concentrated within a neighborhood

Why can residential mobility matter?

Frequent moving may weaken lasting community ties

Why can ethnic heterogeneity matter?

It may make shared ties and collective regulation harder to maintain

Who are associated with social disorganization theory?

Shaw and McKay

What did Shaw and McKay study?

Delinquency patterns in Chicago neighborhoods

What did Shaw and McKay find?

Delinquency stayed high in some areas even as residents changed

What did Shaw and McKay finding suggest?

Neighborhood structure mattered more than traits of particular groups

Code of the Street

Toughness/respect can become protective when formal protection seems unreliable

Miller’s 6 focal concerns

Trouble, Toughness, Smartness, Excitement, Fate, and Autonomy

Cohen

Failure under middle-class standards > status frustration > reaction formation

5 Techniques of Neutralization

1. Denial of responsibility

2. Denial of injury

3. Denial of the victim

4. Condemnation of the condemners

5. Appeal to higher loyalties

Differential Association - Sutherland

Criminal behavior is learned through interaction, especially with intimate groups. Offending becomes more likely when definitions favorable to breaking the law outweigh unfavorable definitions

4 Modalities

Frequency, Duration, Priority, and Intensity

Akers’ Social Learning Theory

Differential association > Definitions > Differential reinforcement > Imitation

Positive Reinforcement

Add something desirable > behavior increases

Negative Reinforcement

Remove something unpleasant > behavior increases

Punishment

Consequence intended to reduce behavior

Propinquity

People become friends because they’re physically/socially near each other

Homophily

People become friends because they’re similar

Selection

You choose friends already similar to you

Socialization

Your friends change/influence your behavior

Normative Influence

Friends teach/reward/justify deliquency

Situational Influence

Being together creates opportunities for delinquency

Compliance

Pressure to meet the group’s expectations

Magnification

Peers escalate something that could have stayed minor

Direct Provocation

Status concerns actually motivate the behavior

Witnesses/Status

Having an audience can turn a private conflict into a public status challenge