Chapter 1
Terms
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- criminlogy
- an academic discipline that uses scientific methods to stidy the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior
- Cesare Beccaria
- (1738-1794) One of the first scholars to develop a systematic understanding of why people committed crime
- utilitaarianism
- In their behavior choices, people want to achieve pleasure and avoid pain
- classical criminology
- The theretical perspective suggesting that (1) people have free will to choose criminal or conventional behaviors; (2) people choose to commit crime for reasons of greed and personal need; and (3) crime can be controlled only by fear of criminal sanctions
- positivism
- The branch of social science that uses the scientific method of the natural sciences and suggests that human behavior is a product of social, biological, psychological, or economic forces.
- Cesare Lombroso
- (1835-1909) known as the father of criminology
- biosocial therory
- believe that social and environmental conditions also influence human behavior. assumed link between physical and social traits and their influence on behavior.
- Socialogical criminology
- approach to criminology, based on the work of Quetelet (1796-1874), and Durkheim (1858-1917), that focuses on the relationship between social factors and crime.
- anomie
- a lack of norms or clear social standards. Because of rapidly shifting moral valves, the individual has few guides to what is socially acceptable.
- Chicago school
- group of urban sociologists who studied the relationship between environmental conditions and crime.
- socialization
- process of human development and enculturation socialization is influenced by key social processes and institutions.
- conflict theory
- the view that human behavior is shaped by interpersonal conflict and that those who maintain social power will use it to further their own ends
- rational choice theory
- that view that crime is a function of a decision making process in which the potential offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act.
- social structure theory
- the view that disadvantaged economic class position is a primary cause of crime.
- valid
- actually measuring what one intends to measure relevant.
- reliable
- producing consistent results from one measurment to another.
- expost facto law
- a law applied retroactively to punish acts that were not crimes before its passage or that were not crimes before its passage or that raises the grade of an offense, or that renders an act punishable in a more severe manner that it was when committed.
- white collar crime
- illegal acts that capitalize on a person's status in the marketplace. White-Collar crimes may include theft, embezzlement, fraud, market manipulation, restraint of trade, and false advertising.
- penology
- subarea of criminology that focuses on the correction and control of criminal offenders.
- rehabilition
- treatment of criminal offenders aimed at preventing future crimainal behavior.
- capital punishment
- the execution of criminal offenders, the death penalty
- mandatory sentences
- a statutory requirement that a certain penalty shall be carried out in all cases of conviction for a specified offense or series of offenses.
- victimology
- the study of the victims role in criminal events.
- deviance
- behavior that departs from the social norm but is not necessarily criminal.
- crime
- an act, deemed socially harmful or dangerous, that is specifically defined, prohibited, and punished under the criminal law.
- consensus view
- the belief that the majority of citizens in a society share common values and agree on what behaviors should be defined as criminal
- criminal law
- the written code that defines crimes and their punishments.
- conflict view
- the belief that criminal behavior is defined by those in a position of power to protect and advance their own self-interest.
- interactionist view
- the belief that those with social power are able to impose their values on society as a whole and these values then define criminal behavior.
- code of Hammurabi
- the first written code, developed in Babylonia about 2000 BC.
- mosaic code
- the laws of the ancient Israelites, found in the Old Testamnent of the Judeo-Christian bible.
- precedent
- a rule derived from previous judical decisions and applied to future cases, the basis of common law.
- common law
- early english law, developed by judges, which became the standardized law of the land in England and eventually formed the basis of the criminal law in the United States
- statutory crimes
- crimes defined by legistlative bodies in response to changing conditions,
- felony
- a serious offense that carries a penalty of imprisonment, usually for one year or more, and may entail loss of political rights.
- misdemeanor
- a minor crime usually punished by a short jail term and/or a fine
- appellate court
- court that reviews trial court procedures to determine whether they have complied with accepted rules and constitutional doctrines.
- sampling
- selecting a limited number of people for study as representative of a larger group.
- population
- all people who share a particular characteristic, such as all high school students or all police officers.
- cross-sectional research
- interviewing or questioning a diverse sample of subjects, representing a cross section of a community, at the same point and time.
- longitudinal research
- tracking the development of the same group of subjects over time.
- cohort
- a group of subjects that is studied over time.
- uniform crime repoort
- large database, compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), of crimes reported and arrests made each year throughout the US.
- experimental research
- manipulating or intervening in the lives of subjects to observe the outcome or effect of a specific intervention.True experiments usually include (1) random selection of subjects, (2) a control or comparison group, and (3) an experimental condition.
- McNaughton rule
- Mental health people deserve special consideration. (1) under defect of reasoning or disease of mind they do not know right from wrong.(2) Irresitable impulse did not know nature of act.
- criminal law
- crime against the state
- cival law
- act against a person or group.
- mala ense
- evil in nature (murder, rape)
- mala prohibitum
- statutory crimes. not intentionally evil (speeding)
- consecutive
- one after another
- concurrent
- at the same time
- Durham rule
- (1871) retread of McNaugthon rule, mental capacity