Criminology quiz 1

Criminology is based on…

Theory

Criminology is the process of…

Making laws, breaking laws, and of reacting towards the breaking of laws

Criminology is

The scientific study of crime, causes, and control

What is a theory?

A set of propositions that describe casual relationships between variables

What is an integral part of the research process

A theory

A theory is not___ but___

Deterministic; probabilistic

What is a Macro level theory?

Theories that are broad in scope and explain social structure and its effects

What is a micro level theory?

A theory that focuses on the interactions and behaviors of individuals and small groups, examining how personal relationships and everyday interactions shape social phenomena

What are the seven criteria for a good theory?

Empirical validity, probabilistic concept of causality, legal consistency, scope, parsimony, testability, empirical falsification

What is empirical validity?

The theory can proven with other research

What is the probabilistic of concept of causality?

Correlation doesn’t equal causation

What is legal consistency?

When laws are applied equally and without unjustifiable differentiation

What is the scope?

The extent of relevant information.

What is parsimony?

Use of the simplest theory that fits the data

What is crime as a whole?

Crime occurs over a social construct, occurs over a time a place, contains the elasticity of evil, and is subject to change based on shifting landscapes

What is the elasticity of evil?

What's considered evil today might not be considered evil tomorrow

What are the 4 ways to view crime?

Legalistically, politically, socially, psychologically

What is crime legalistically?

Any act that violates the law committed without defense/excuse and is penalized by the state

What is crime politically?

Any act against someone in a position of power

What is crime socially?

Any antisocial act that is an offense against human relationships

What is crime psychologically?

A problem behavior that makes living in society difficult for norm abiding citizens

What are the drawbacks of defining crime individually (socially, politically, legalistically, psychologically)?

Doesn't recognize the origin of crime/law, can be used unfairly, difficult to maintain order, limited in scope and doesn't reflect harm done

Why do we need theories?

Usefulness (creates our framework for understanding), policy implications (informed decision making)

What are the three questions criminologists want to know?

Why crime occurs, why is it increasing/decreasing, who commits it and why

What are the three major data sources?

Official statistics, victimization survey data, self-reported data

What is an example of an official statistics data source?

The uniform crime report (UCR)

What are the two types of systems in the UCR?

1, summary reporting system (srs), 2. National incident based reporting system (nibrs)

Is the SRS or NIBRs retired?

SRS

Why is NIBRS better than SRS?

1. More specific, 2. Collects more information, 3. Helps give context to crime, 4. More flexible

What is an example of a victimization survey data?

The national crime victimization survey (NCVS)

What does the summary reporting system ( SRS) do?

It only reports the largest crime

What is the national crime victimization survey (NCVS)?

1. The nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization, 2. Only involves crimes of people 12+, 3. Samples 240,000 people in 150,000 houses, 4. Is based on interviews

What is self-reported data?

1. Data provided by individuals about their own offenses/crimes committed, 2. Used for less serious offenses (e.g. drug use)

What is the number of offenses per 100,000 formula?

What is the number of offenses per 100,000 = # of offenses / population of the jurisdiction

What are the two types of theories that explain problems?

1. unit theories, 2. metatheories

What do unit theories do?

They emphasize a particular problem and make testable assertions about that problem

What are metatheories?

Rarely testable theories and are ways of interpreting reality

What are the 5 theories on why crime rates have been declining?

1. Increased incarceration, 2. legalization of abortion, 3. Unleading of gasoline, 4. Improved policing strategies, 5. social and economic factors

What are the origins of modern criminology?

1. Classical school, 2. Positivist school

What was the belief of the classical school of criminology (the enlightenment/1700s)?

Criminality is caused by free will, crime is a choice

Does classical school focus on the actor or the act?

The act

What did the positivist school of criminology think (mid 1800s - 1900)?

Crime is caused by uncontrollable factors, it uses the scientific method to study crime

Does the positivist school focus on the actor or the act?

The actor

______ of punishments is more effective in preventing crime than ____

Certainty; severity

Punishments should be proportional to …

the crime's impact on Society

What is specific deterrence?

Punishing offenders for their crimes deters those specific offenders from further crime

What is general deterrence?

Punishing some offenders deters people in the general population from crime

Fill in the blanks:

What 4 types of experiences affects people's perceptions of the certainty of punishment and thereby influences crime?

1. Direct experience with punishment (specific deterrence)

2. Indirect experience with punishment (generaI deterrence)

3. Direct experience with punishment avoidance

4. Indirect experience with punishment avoidance

How was criminal justice in medieval times (400 AD -1500 AD)?

1. Localized (operating under lords/nobles), 2. Punishment for revenge

What are the 4 goals of punishment?

• retribution

• incapacitation

• rehabilitation

• deterrence

What is retribution?

Revenge

What is incapacitation?

Rendering an individual incapable of committing future crimes

What is rehabilitation?

Changing the criminal's behavior

What is deterrence?

Stopping others from committing the same crime

What was the age enlightenment (1700s) about?

1. Moved away from supernatural explanations of crime , 2. Proposed that people are rational and choose to commit crimes when benefits>costs 3. The classical school of criminology

What is the model of man?

It humans have these 3 qualities, then crime is the freely chosen result of the rational decision that the benefits of the crime outweigh the costs

What are the 3 qualities of the model of man?

1. Free will

2. Hedonistic

3. Rational

Define hedonistic:

People persue things that give them pleasure

What did Cesar beccaria advocate for in "on crimes and punishment (1764)”?

• for punishment to deter crime, rather than be for retribution

• punishment protects the social contract and must fit the crime

• he focused on the guilty act (actus reus)

What is the social contract?

Mutual respect and dignity among citizens and between the individual and the state

In order to deter crime, punishment should be…

1. Swift

2. Certain

3. Severe / fair

What is a certain punishment?

How often people were people were sent to prison for a specific crime

What is a severe crime?

The average number of months they served for the crime

What are the limits of deterrence?

1. Penalties learned after arrest (can't be weighted against benefits before )

2. Punishment is far from certain

3. Rationality

4. Some people have little to lose

What happened to deterrence theory over the years?

1. Experienced a resurgence in the 1970s and had a major influence on criminal justice policies

2. Many states implemented "three strikes and you're out" laws

3. The prison population soared during this period

What is the "three strikes and your law?

At/after your third offense you would go to jail for 25 - life

What is recidivism?

A tendendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend

What was happening in the 60s?

• increase in crime and civil disobedience

• the "war on drugs"

• "nothing works" in rehabilitation by Robert martinson

What is rational choice theory?

• an extension of deterrence theory

• developed by Clarke and Cornish in 1986

• builds on classical Criminology

• different crimes require different decision-making models

What 3 things cause bounded/ limited rationality which leads to a sub-optimal decision to commit crime?

Cognitive limitation, information imperfection, and time constraint

Why do people continue to commit crimes?

1. Increased professionalism

2. Changes in life style and values( adapting to a life of crime)

3. Changes in peer groups (friends with more criminals)

4. No perceived "way out" of criminal behavior

Why do people stop committing crimes?

1. Big life events (e.g. Child, marriage, injury, job offer)

2. Something goes wrong while committing a crime

3. Maturity

4. External support

What is routine theory?

Certain changes in the modern world have provided motivated offenders more opportunities to commit crime

What are the three parts of the crime triangle in rational theory?

What are police talking about when they examine a "motivated offender'?

how societal structures create conditions for motivations to be acted upon

What makes suitable targets?

• vulnerability, attractiveness

• • value, visibility, accessibility, and inertia

What is situational crime prevention?

a police strategy That focuses on reducing opportunities for crime

What were the effects of MartinSon's report?

Politics and social tides shifted

More focus on deterrence

Less focus on rehabilitation

What did Cesar Beccarua do?

He wrote on crime and punishment, was against torture/death penalty

What did Martin son write?

Nothing works (about rehabilitalion)

Classical school of criminology focuses on_____ but rational choice theory focuses on_____.

Law; economic theory