Introduction to Criminology

Cards · 100

Criminology

The scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, control, and prevention of criminal behavior in individuals and society.

Crime

An act or omission prohibited by criminal law and punishable by the state upon formal conviction.

Deviance

Behavior that violates social norms and expectations, which may or may not be illegal under the penal code.

Actus Reus

The physical, voluntary conduct or omission that constitutes the external element of a criminal offense.

Mens Rea

The wrongful mental state or criminal intent required alongside the physical act to constitute a crime.

Classical Criminology

A school of thought asserting individuals possess free will and rationally calculate the costs and benefits before committing crimes.

Positivist Criminology

An approach using scientific methods to identify biological, psychological, or sociological factors that determine criminal behavior.

Utilitarianism

Philosophical concept advocating for actions that maximize happiness; informs deterrence by setting punishments just outweighing criminal gains.

Deterrence Theory

The hypothesis that crime is prevented when the perceived certainty, severity, and celerity of punishment outweigh criminal rewards.

General Deterrence

Using the punishment of known offenders as a public example to discourage the broader society from committing offenses.

Specific Deterrence

Imposing punishment on a specific individual to discourage that individual from committing future offenses.

Cesare Beccaria

Founding classical criminologist who argued that punishment must be prompt, certain, and proportional to effectively prevent crime.

Cesare Lombroso

Italian physician considered the father of positivist criminology, famous for his biological determinism theory of atavism.

Atavism

The outdated biological idea that criminals are evolutionary throwbacks recognizable by distinct physical stigmata.

Biological Determinism

The theoretical view that criminal behavior is caused primarily by genetic, neurological, or biochemical factors.

Psychopathy

A personality disorder characterized by shallow emotions, lack of empathy, impulsivity, and persistent antisocial behavior.

Social Disorganization Theory

A Chicago School theory asserting that high crime rates stem from the breakdown of community institutions, not individual traits.

Zone in Transition

The urban zone characterized by poverty, population turnover, and institutional decay that typically yields the highest crime rates.

Collective Efficacy

The willingness of community members to intervene for the common good and maintain mutual social trust.

Strain Theory

Merton's theory that crime arises when a society emphasizes cultural goals without equal access to legitimate means to achieve them.

Anomie

A state of normlessness or deregulation in society where standard cultural rules lose their ability to guide behavior.

Conformity

Merton's adaptation where individuals accept both societal goals and the conventional means to achieve them.

Innovation

Merton's adaptation where individuals accept societal goals but use illegitimate or criminal means to attain them.

Ritualism

Merton's adaptation where individuals abandon economic success goals while continuing to compulsively obey routine rules.

Retreatism

Merton's adaptation involving the total rejection of both cultural goals and the institutionalized means of achieving them.

Rebellion

Merton's adaptation where individuals reject existing goals and means, seeking to replace them with revolutionary structures.

General Strain Theory

Agnew's framework identifying strain from failure to achieve goals, loss of positive stimuli, and exposure to negative stimuli.

Differential Association Theory

Sutherland's theory stating that criminal behavior is learned through close interpersonal interaction with excess definitions favorable to law violation.

Definitions Favorable to Crime

Attitudes, rationalizations, and motives acquired through social interactions that justify or encourage law-breaking.

Social Learning Theory

Akers's extension of differential association incorporating behavioral psychology, imitation, and differential reinforcement.

Differential Reinforcement

The balance of actual or anticipated rewards and punishments following a behavior that determines if it will continue.

Techniques of Neutralization

Psychological justifications used by offenders to silence moral conscience before committing delinquent acts.

Denial of Responsibility

A neutralization technique where offenders portray themselves as helpless victims of circumstance.

Denial of Injury

A neutralization technique where offenders claim their illegal conduct caused no real tangible harm or financial loss.

Denial of the Victim

A neutralization technique where the offender asserts that the victim deserved the injury or punishment inflicted.

Condemnation of the Condemners

A neutralization technique where the offender attacks the motives and behaviors of law enforcers and society.

Appeal to Higher Loyalties

A neutralization technique where the offender justifies lawbreaking by citing loyalty to a peer group, gang, or family.

Social Control Theory

Hirschi's theory proposing that people avoid crime because strong social bonds tie them to conventional society.

Attachment

The element of the social bond reflecting sensitivity to the opinions, feelings, and expectations of parents, teachers, and peers.

Commitment

The element of the social bond representing the rational investment of time and energy into conventional pursuits like education.

Involvement

The element of the social bond stating that heavy participation in conventional activities leaves little time for delinquent acts.

Belief

The element of the social bond describing the degree of moral acceptance an individual holds toward societal laws and rules.

Self-Control Theory

Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory asserting low self-control, established in early childhood, is the core cause of all crime.

Labeling Theory

Theoretical perspective focusing on how formal state and social reactions designate individuals as criminal, deepening criminal identity.

Primary Deviance

Initial, isolated acts of rule-breaking that do not significantly alter the actor's self-concept or social status.

Secondary Deviance

Deviant behavior that occurs as a response to the social condemnation, stigma, and labeling of an original act.

Master Status

A social identity label, such as ex-convict, that overrides all other traits in shaping how society perceives an individual.

Stigmatization

The social process of disqualifying or devaluing an individual based on a visible or known negative attribute.

Reintegrative Shaming

Braithwaite's concept of condemning the offense while maintaining respect for the offender, facilitating their social return.

Marxist Criminology

Critical theory asserting that criminal laws and justice systems are tools used by the capitalist class to control the proletariat.

Conflict Theory

The sociological perspective viewing society as shaped by competition between diverse groups with conflicting interests and values.

Feminist Criminology

The theoretical paradigm emphasizing the gendered nature of crime, victimization, and unequal treatment in criminal justice.

Left Realism

A critical criminological perspective that treats street crime as a genuine threat to the working class requiring practical social policy.

Peace-making Criminology

A perspective advocating for non-violent dispute resolution, mutual respect, and transformative justice instead of punitive vengeance.

Routine Activity Theory

Cohen and Felson's theory stating crime requires a motivated offender, suitable target, and absence of capable guardianship in space and time.

Capable Guardian

Any person or technological measure, such as a bystander or security camera, that discourages a potential offender.

Rational Choice Theory

An economic framework positing that offenders rationally weigh expected utility, risks, and immediate efforts before committing offenses.

Situational Crime Prevention

A practical strategy reducing crime opportunities by altering the immediate physical environment to raise risks and reduce rewards.

Defensible Space

Newman's design concept proposing that urban environments can be physically organized to encourage natural surveillance and territoriality.

Target Hardening

Strengthening the physical security of a target or property to make committing a criminal act more difficult.

Environmental Criminology

The study of how the physical environment, spatial layout, and geographic mobility affect patterns of criminal events.

Crime Pattern Theory

Framework explaining how regular human travel between home, work, and recreation creates awareness spaces where crimes concentrate.

Hot Spots

Small geographic areas or specific addresses that produce a disproportionately high volume of criminal calls and events.

Life-Course Criminology

The study of the onset, persistence, escalation, and desistance of criminal behavior across an individual's entire lifespan.

Desistance

The developmental process through which habitual criminal offenders progressively cease all illegal activity.

Turning Point

A major life event, such as marriage or steady employment, that redirects an individual's behavioral trajectory away from crime.

Cumulative Disadvantage

Sampson and Laub's concept that childhood deficits and juvenile sanctions compound, severely limiting future legitimate opportunities.

Dual Taxonomy

Moffitt's developmental model distinguishing between adolescent-limited offenders and persistent life-course offenders.

Life-Course Persistent Offenders

A small group whose antisocial behavior begins in early childhood due to neurodevelopmental issues and continues through adulthood.

Adolescent-Limited Offenders

Youths who engage in criminal acts temporarily during adolescence due to peer influence and a maturity gap.

Maturity Gap

The developmental tension between physical and social maturity, driving adolescents toward delinquency for adult status.

Dark Figure of Crime

The unknown amount of committed crimes that go unreported to authorities and do not appear in official statistics.

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)

A historic national FBI data program that compiled official crime offenses and arrests reported by law enforcement agencies.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

An FBI database that captures comprehensive incident-level details for every offense within a single criminal event.

Victimization Surveys

Surveys, such as the NCVS, measuring crime by directly questioning representative population samples about their personal victim experiences.

Self-Report Surveys

Research instruments asking anonymous participants to reveal their own past participation in illegal or delinquent behaviors.

Age-Crime Curve

The universal empirical observation that criminal offending peaks steeply in late adolescence and sharply declines with age.

Victimology

The scientific discipline studying the patterns, causes, and consequences of victimization, alongside victim-offender relationships.

Victim Precipitation Theory

The concept that a victim's active actions or passive traits can initiate or escalate the confrontation leading to crime.

Secondary Victimization

Additional psychological or institutional trauma inflicted on a crime victim by callous criminal justice processes.

Retributive Justice

A punitive penal philosophy holding that punishment must be proportionate and inflicted simply because the offender deserves it.

Restorative Justice

A conflict model that repairs harm through structured dialogue involving the victim, the offender, and the affected community.

Incapacitation

A penal strategy that prevents future crimes by physically removing the offender from society via incarceration.

Rehabilitation

The therapeutic reform of an offender through counseling, education, or vocational training to ensure law-abiding reintegration.

Recidivism

The relapse into criminal behavior by an individual who was previously convicted, sanctioned, or released from prison.

Broken Windows Theory

Wilson and Kelling's theory that unaddressed minor neighborhood disorder signals lack of control, inviting serious criminal activity.

Community Policing

A policing philosophy emphasizing organizational decentralization, community partnerships, and proactive problem solving.

Problem-Oriented Policing

Goldstein's policing model targeting the specific root conditions and patterns generating repeated service calls and neighborhood problems.

Zero-Tolerance Policing

A strict law enforcement model that rigorously punishes minor street offenses and disorder to deter major crimes.

Procedural Justice

The idea that citizens view authorities as legitimate when processes are perceived as transparent, fair, respectful, and neutral.

Police Legitimacy

The collective public belief that police officers are trustworthy and hold the rightful authority to enforce legal rules.

White-Collar Crime

Sutherland's term for nonviolent financially motivated offenses committed by high-status individuals within their occupations.

Corporate Crime

Illegal acts committed by executives or corporate entities to enhance institutional profits, market share, or corporate power.

Organized Crime

Unlawful activities of structured, hierarchical enterprises operating illicit enterprises to obtain economic profit.

Hate Crime

A criminal offense motivated by bias or prejudice against the victim's race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.

Cybercrime

Unlawful acts committed using computers, digital networks, or electronic devices as the instrument or target of the offense.

Moral Panic

Cohen's concept of an exaggerated, disproportionate social and media reaction treating an issue or group as a threat to society.

Folk Devils

Individuals or social groups publicly stereotyped and demonized as the primary embodiment of an active moral panic.

Indeterminate Sentencing

A sentencing structure where a judge sets a flexible range of years, leaving final release decisions to parole boards.

Determinate Sentencing

A fixed-term prison sentence established by statute or court, eliminating discretionary release decisions by parole boards.