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| The scientific study of the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior. |
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| Involving two or more academic fields. |
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| System made up of the agencies of social control, such as police departments, the courts, and correctional institutions that handle criminal offenders. |
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| Criminological Enterprise |
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| The various subareas included within the scholarly discipline of criminology, which, taken as a whole, define the field of study. |
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| A measure that accurately measures what it purports to measure; a measure that is factual. |
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| A measure that produces consistent results from one measurement to another. |
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| Illegal acts that capitalize on a person's status in the marketplace. May include theft, embezzlement, fraud, market manipulation, restraint of trade, and false advertising. |
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| Subarea of criminology that focuses on the correction and control of criminal offenders. |
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| Treatment of criminal offenders that is aimed at preventing future criminal behavior. |
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| The execution of criminal offenders; the death penalty. |
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| A statutory requirement that a certain penalty shall be carried out in all cases of conviction for a specified offense or series of offenses. |
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| The study of the victim's role in criminal events. |
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| The view that people's behavior is motivated by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. |
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| Theoretical 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 the fear of criminal sanctions. |
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| 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. |
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| The use of verifiable principles and procedures for the systematic acquisition of knowledge. Typically involves formulating a problem, creating hypotheses, and collecting data, through observation and experiment, to verify the hypothesis. |
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| Approach to criminology that focuses on the interaction between biological and social factors as they are related to crime. |
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| Approach to criminology, based on the work of Quetelet and Durkheim, that focuses on the relationship between social factors and crime. |
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| A lack of norms or clear social standards. Because of rapidly shifting moral values, the individual has few guides to what is socially acceptable. |
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| A group of urban sociologists who studied the relationship between environmental conditions and crime. |
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| Process of human development and enculturalization. Socialization is influenced by key social processes and institutions. |
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| 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. |
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| The view that crime is a product of the capitalist system. |
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| The view that criminality is a dynamic process, influenced by social experiences as well as individual characteristics. |
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| The view that crime is a function of a decision-making process in which the would-be offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act. |
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| The view the criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits. |
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| The view that disadvantaged class position is a primary cause of crime. |
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| The view that criminality is a function of people's interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in society. |
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| Behavior that departs from the social norm but is not necessarily criminal. |
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| Members of a branch of criminology that focuses on the oppression of the poor, women, and minorities, thereby linking class conflict, sexism, and racism to crime rates. Critical criminologists examine how those who hold political power shape the law to uphold their self-interests. |
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| An act, deemed socially harmful or dangerous, that is specifically denied, prohibited, and punished under the criminal law. |
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| Having criminal penalties reduced rather than eliminated. |
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| The belief that the majority of citizens in society share common values and agree on what behaviors should be defined as criminal. |
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| The written code that defines crimes and their punishments. |
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| The belief that criminal behavior is defined by those in power in such a way as to protect and advance their own self-interest. |
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| 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. |
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| The first written criminal code, developed in Babylonia about 2000 BC. |
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| The laws of the ancient Israelites, found in the Old Testament of the Judeo-Christian Bible. |
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| A rule derived from previous judicial decisions and applied to future cases; the basis of common law. |
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| 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. |
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| Crimes defined by legislative bodies in response to changing social conditions, public opinion, and custom. |
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| A serious offense that carries a penalty of imprisonment, usually for one year or more, and may entail loss of political rights. |
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| A minor crime usually punished by a short jail term and/or a fine. |
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| Court that reviews trial court procedures to determine whether they have complied with the accepted rules and constitutional doctrines. |
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