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Explain the connection between social class and criminal offeses and victimization.
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Offenders: Differences- serious property, violence, white collar, status offenses, general deliquency
Victims: Intraclass(violence and property crimes), Interclass(white collar crimes)
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Group Conflict Vs. Power Conflict theories
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Where does UCR(Uniform Crime Report) data come from?
What must happen in order for a crime to be counted in the UCR?
What is NIBRS? What additional info. does it provide?
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The UCR is collected, compiled, and published by the FBI.
In order for a crime to be counted in the UCR an arrest must be made.
National Incident Based Reporting System. It provides a more through analysis including: demographics, weapons(legal/illegal), circumstance(people, place, relationship).
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How are gangs today similar to and different from the gangs of the past?
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-Increased violence(youth violent crimes)
-Technology
-Migration
-Membership(poverty, unstable family life/parents, access to drugs and alcohol, school, friends)
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What role does opportunity play in the involvement in subcultures?
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unequal distribution of opportunity
-illegitimate opportunity(unequal distribution)
-types of subcultures available
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In what ways do Cloward and Ohlin agree with Cohen's delinquent subculture theory? In what ways do they disagree?
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Agree: blocked access, frustration, culturally transmitted
Disagree: nonutilitarian vs goal oriented( work towards money, etc; crimes they commit work towards goals)
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Matza's Delinquency and Drift (Sykes and Matza)
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Drift: committed to neither subculture or conventional culture, drift between
Situation of apprehension-show contrition
Situation of company- fluid values, begin w/commitment to delinquency, eventually laxes
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How are girl gang members similar to boy gang members? How are they different?
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-Law enforcement underestimates % of female gangs (True)
-Girl gang members more violent than boys not in gangs (True)
-Gang girls commit dif. crimes than boys (False)
-Girl/Boy gangs describe their gangs similarly (True); Co-ed, Co-groups, Partners: leaders,core,hierarchy
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What types of crime do women particiapte in? How is this related to gender socialization?
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Female dominated crimes: prostitution, fruad
-also commit violence and low level of embezzlement
Female gender socialization prompts women to be less aggressive and more likely to seek non-violent solutions; stresses passive sharing/caring behavior
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What is the relationship between age and crime?
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Offenders:
Property crime(13-17)
Violent crime(18-19)
Desitence: slower for violent crimes; aging out phenomenon
Victims:
Intra-age
Property Victimization (youngest heads of households)
Violent Victimization (16-19, lowest for over 65)
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What are the basic assumptions of Positivist Theory? What are the major critiques?
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-focus on the criminal and the causes of crime
-human action as larely deterministic
-human beings are overall good, crime caused by defect
-punishment should fit the criminal
Critiques: labeling theory; Marxist criminology; neo-classicalism
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What is social ecology? How is it related to criminology?
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Social ecology claims that the environmental crisis is a result of the hierarchical organization of power & the authoritarian mentality rooted in the structures of our society.
Social Ecology faculty apply scientific methods to the study of a wide array of recurring social, behavioral, and environmental problems.
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What are the characteristics of a delinquent subculture according to Cohen?
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-nonutilitarian,nevativistic,and malicious(non goal oriented)
-versatility(no one particular crime)
-short run hedonism
-group autonomy(working together as one)
-working class membership
-male
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What are the two types of families discussed in "Code of the Streets?" What are the characteristics of each?
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Descent family: learn decency through church and school
Street family: learn through family and streets
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In what ways does a person's social location shape their views on crime?
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Criminal behavior is learned and thus maintained in an environment which encourages it.
People continue to react even if they are not in the same environment anymore
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What were the major new findings connected to the creation of the NCVS and self-report surveys?
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Less than half of victimizations were reported to the police; crime is on the decline
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Why does Durkheim argue that crime is necessary? How do Marx's views differ from Durkheim's?
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Crime is normal; crime is inevitable; crime is useful to create change and leads to social cohesion
Marx: social conflict theory; Capitalist rule
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What is the difference between criminal law and civil law?
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Criminal law: criminal statutes , the violation of which may subject the accused person to govt prosecution. Those wrongs considered so serious as to threaten the welfare of society.
Civil Law: that part of the law concerned with the rules and enforcement of private or civil rights
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What are the basic assumptions of Classical Theory? What are the major critiques?
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-Human action based on free will and we are all hedonistic; crime is voluntary(psychological and social motivations); rationality
-Concensus in society: protection of individual/property rights
-Punishment should fit the crime
Marxist Critique: Will acheive justice only in an Egaltarian society; Capitilist mode of production is unequal
Feminist Critique: Equality
Race Critique: Equality; law produces status quo
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What is the difference between crime and deviance?
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Crime: breaking the law; govt provides punishment (1. categorized 2. voluntary illegal act or omission 3. criminal responsibility)
Deviance: behavior that violates social norms; rewarded or sanctioned; nothing is inherently deviant
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Hidden Economy
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How does the process of rapid urbanization lead to juvenile delinquency?
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First, delinquency is mainly the consequence of a collapse of institutional, community-based controls. The people who live in these situations are not personally disoriented; instead, they are viewed as responding naturally to disorganized environmental conditions.
Second, the disorganization of community-based institutions is often a result of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and immigrationprocesses that occur primarily in urban areas.
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What is the role of respect in "Code of the Streets?" How is it earned? How is respect related to the economy?
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Whenever you walk the streets you need to know how to interact to prevent getting harmed.
Process of manhood: throw the first punch, commit crime w/o having to be told.
The economy: not enough jobs and not in inner city; zero-sum: limited resource, only so much to go around
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What is criminology?
What do criminologists study?
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The scientific study of crime, criminals, criminal behavior and efforts to regulate crime.
Sociology, psychology, political science, or some other related discipline.
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How is crime socially constructed?
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What may be deviant or criminal in one country, may be acceptable in another, or what may be merely deviant in one place, would be criminal in another.
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What makes a theory a social structural theory?
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Social structure theories focus on varying patterns of criminal behavior within a social structure.
Social structure theory is also concerned with social change and its effect on behavior
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Routine Activities Theory
What causes crime?
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man is a reasoning actor who weighs means and ends, costs and benefits, and makes a rational choice
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How does the economy affect crime?
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-Unemplyment and crime
-Inequality both real and perceived increases crime: a sense of fairness(ex: stealing at the end of bar shift)
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How does Agnew's general strain theory improve upon Merton's concept of strain?
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Agnew goes beyond Merton's theory to include the inability to acheive goals because of one's own inadequacies. Also, notes that the gaps between one's expectations and acheivements may result not only in disappointment but also in resentment or even anger.
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How and why do societies punish?
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Socities punish to keep order and reform.
For the criminal law to deter, they must implement punishment.
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What is the dualistic fallacy? Why is it important to crime research and policy?
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Opportunities and motivations for crime depend on your social location
Lead to deterence of crime and the funding of programs that minimize negative effects
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What are the racial discrepancies for offending and violence? Juvenile offenses? The criminal justice system?
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Offenders: whites commit more total crime; youth- no racial differences; adult- more African-Americans; Interpersonal violence largely due to gangs; white collar crimes
Victims: Intra-racial; African-American males most likely victims, homicide leading cause of death
Race/Crim. Justice system (Mitchell and Mackenzie, 2004)
+African-Americans and Latinos are sentenced more harshly than whites: seriousness of offense; past criminal history
+Structured sentence guidelines: lead to less discrepency
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Why is Criminology largely housed in sociology?
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The discipline of criminology includes the sociology of law, which analyzes why some acts and not others are defined as crimes, and a study of the social responses to crime, which examines why some people are processed through the system while others who commit the same acts are not.
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1. Crime as breaking the law
2. Crime as a violation of conduct norms
3. Crime as human rights violation
How does the definition used affect what a criminologist studies?
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1. categorized(degree/class, felony/misdemeanor, politicized/social factors), voluntary illegal act or omission(taxes, childcare, seatbelt), criminal responsibility(mens rea:guilty mind)
2.too subjective(be more comparative), use laws that constantly change
3. personal rights essential to life
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Why do people join gangs?
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female headed households (looking for male role-model)
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What are the adv./disadv of UCR data? NCVS? Self-report? Participant observation?
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UCR: unreported crime; voluntary participation; federal crimes; most serious is what counts; legally defined categories; determination of Part Iⅈ what are we actually measuring
NCVS: underreporting; race & class; interview process(crime decreases)
Self-report: over/underreport; underusage due to race
Participant observation: danger
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Miller's Lower class focal concerns
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-trouble
-toughness
-smartness
-excitement
-fate
-autonomy
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What was the Panopticon?
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Concept of always being watched
-multiple functions(house criminals,insane,sick,employ idle,training)
-center of criminal justice: visible to citizens and focused on reform
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Techniques of neutralization
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Deny responsibility(it wasn't my fault)
Deny Injury(well no one got hurt)
Deny Victim(they aren't that good they got me to do it)
Condemn the condemners(ex:police are bad guys)
Appeal to higher loyalties
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What is the relationship between victimication and offending?
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Those most likely to commit crime are also most likely to be the victims of crime
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What creates strain according to Merton's theory?
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He thinks there is a poor fit between the socially accepted goals of society and the socially approved means of obtaining those goals.
There is a lack of balance and adjustment in society.
So because some people cant get to the goals set by society through socially approved means they result to crime and deviance.
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What is the difference between primary data and secondary data?
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Primary data: collected by researcher
Adv: accuracy, experience
DisAdv: biased, takes money and time
Secondary data: govt sources; other data previously investigated
Adv: cheaper, faster
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What are the necessary ingredients for crime to occur? What are the supplemental elements?
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you need three elements (motivated offender, suitable target, and lack of a capable guardian),
and those three elements must converge in space and time through routine activities
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What is the Social Contract?
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Unspoken agreement between people and govt. that each agrees to give something up in return for something, for the greater good
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According to left idealism and left realism, why do people commit crime?
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Left Realism: the root causes of crime lie in relative deprivation, although preventative measures and policing are necessary, but these should be democratically controlled.
Left Idealism:
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Merton's 5 adaptions to strain and how each is related to cultural goals and institutionalized means
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-Conformity-the individual continues to try and get to the goals however they realise the unlikeliness of success-Innovation-the individual accepts the goals that society has left for them but uses crime to get there-Ritualism-the means of getting to the gal are correct but the sight of the actual goal is wrong-Retreatism-the individual rejects both goals and the means of getting the goals. Dependant of drugs/alcohol-Rebellion-the goals and means are rejected and different ones substituted
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General deterrence Vs. Individual deterrence
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General deterrence: the impact of the threat of legal punishment on the public at large.
Individual deterrence: the impact of the actual legal punishment on those who are apprehended
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Cohen's Delinquent Subculture
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The institution of the school embodies middle class values for honesty, courtesy, personality, responsibility, and so forth ("middle class measuring rod") Losers in the competition for status experience strong feelings of frustration or deprivation.
According to Cohen's strain theory, there is no abrupt, discontinuous leap from a pressure situation to crime. Instead, action is "tentative, groping, advancing, backtracking, and sounding out."
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What are the basic assumptions of Neo-classical theory?
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-character replaces the extremes of free will and determinism
-punishment should fit the crime(min. sentence)
-imprisonment for punishment, but dif. types of prisons: high risk or not; fed,state,county; gender/age
-treatment of criminal character should be individualized
-punishment should include deterrence
-death penalty should be abolished for nearly all crimes
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How did The Age of Enlightenment change the understanding of crime and punishment?
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-Recognition of Free Will: rationale, not controlled by religion
-Law based in reason and experience, not faith and superstition
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What is the role of "concentric zones" in understanding the distribution of delinquency?
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These social scientists established a direct relation between higher crime incidence, gang organization, and juvenile delinquency and the more impoverished and precarious urban environments.
The group also concluded that higher crime rates were associated to the more central zones, where immigrants, nonwhites, and low-income families lived.
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According to this theory, why are people delinquent?
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The group interpreted the results as showing that delinquency was the result of a defiant rejection of the established cultural norms and social values, which tended to grow through proximity and direct exposition of new individuals to delinquent groups.
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