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CRIM 303 - Theories of Criminal Justice
Cal State L.A. - Professor Jane Gauthier
96
Criminal Justice
Undergraduate 3
06/05/2014

Additional Criminal Justice Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Learning Theory
Definition
All behavior, including criminal behavior is acquired through our associations with other people and our environment.
Term
Differential Association Theory
Definition
Says people can be trained to adopt to any behavior. The failure to follow prescribed behavior is due to inconsistencies and lack of harmony. Conflict of cultures is the principle of explaining crime
Term
Assumptions of Differential Association Theory
Definition
All people begin as a blank slate, free from good or evil.
Term
Main Proposition of Differential Association Theory
Definition
A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions of unfavorable violations of law.
Term
Social Learning Theory
Definition
An extension of differential association theory, but explains how people learn. The four elements are differential associations, Definitions of behaviors, differential reinforcement, and imitation of behavior.
Term
Differential Associations (Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Priority, Frequency, Duration, and Intensity of these definitions of favorable to law or unfavorable to law.
Term
Neutralizing or Rationalizing Definitions (Definitions of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
People have certain crimes considered as ok, certain other crimes are not ok.
Term
Positive Definitions (Definitions of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Favorable definitions to violate the law
Term
Definitions (Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Attitudes or meanings attached to a particular behavior.
Term
Differential Reinforcement (Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Occurs when you try to get a behavior to continue.
Term
Punishment (Differential Reinforcement of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Refers to anything that discourages a behavior
Term
Positive Reinforcements (Differential Reinforcement of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Adding a liked thing to encourage good behavior
Term
Negative Reinforcements (Differential Reinforcement of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Removal of disliked things to encourage good behavior
Term
Positive Punishments (Differential Reinforcement of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Adding a disliked thing to stop bad behavior
Term
Negative Punishments (Differential Reinforcement of Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Removal of a liked thing to stop bad behavior.
Term
Imitation (Social Learning Theory)
Definition
Engage in behavior after observing a similar behavior in others. Happens when a new behavior is introduce and begins.
Term
Control Theory
Definition
Asks why do people obey rules or society? Why don't people commit more crimes? There is something external to us that keeps us from committing crime.
Term
Assumptions of Control Theory
Definition
All people have the potential and opportunity to commit crime.
Term
Social Bonding Theory
Definition
States that delinquent acts result when an individuals bond to society is weak or broken, where bonds are the attachments to conventional institutions.
Term
Attachment (4 elements of Social Bonding Theory)
Definition
Bonds we have with people in our lives
Term
Commitment (4 elements of Social Bonding Theory)
Definition
Stake in conformity, how invested are we to conforming activities.
Term
Involvement (4 elements of Social Bonding Theory)
Definition
Function of time, where one is doing so much in their life that they have no time to commit crime.
Term
Belief (4 elements of Social Bonding Theory)
Definition
Attitudes of law, asking does the law apply to me? Regards to moral validity of law.
Term
Self Control Theory
Definition
The idea that people differ in the extent to which they are vulnerable to the temptation of the moment.
Term
Characteristics of people with low self control
Definition
Impulsive, insensitive, physical, risk-takers, short-sighted, and non verbal people
Term
4 conditions for adequate child rearing
Definition
Affection for or investment in the child, monitor the child's behavior, ability to recognize deviant behavior when it occurs, punish deviant acts.
Term
Age where the level of self control is set throughout life
Definition
10 years old
Term
Life Course Theories
Definition
Describes the course of criminality and how it changes over time within the individual. Typically focused on the criminal career in regards to time.
Term
Life Course Perspective
Definition
Human development is viewed across the life span, where childhood, adolescent, and adult experiences are in a continuous process of change.
Term
Goal of Life Course Perspective
Definition
Try to account for offender careers – onset, escalation, de-escalation, and desistance.
Term
Life Trajectories
Definition
Describes the life course as a series of paths.
Term
Age Graded Theory (Sampson & Laub)
Definition
Looks at the effect of Hirshci's Social Bonding over time within the individual, looking at their trajectories, continuity of behavior, and turning points in life.
Term
Trajectories (Age Graded Theory)
Definition
The paths of behavior people take.
Term
Continuity & Change (Age Graded Theory)
Definition
Cause that results in either changing behavior or keeping the behavior.
Term
Turning Points (Age Graded Theory)
Definition
The key moments that causes the change to come
Term
Structural Context (Stages of Age Graded Theory)
Definition
1st stage, where it explains delinquency in childhood adolescence through informal family and school bonds.
Term
Continuity (Stages of Age Graded Theory)
Definition
2nd stage, where sometimes our behavior continues from childhood through adulthood
Term
Informal Social Bonds in Adolescence (Stages of Age Graded Theory)
Definition
3rd stage, where these "bonds" can explain changes in criminality over the life span.
Term
Childhood (Influencing factors in Age Graded Theory)
Definition
Child-rearing factors in the form of social structures. Families showing affection.
Term
Adolescence (Influencing factors in Age Graded Theory)
Definition
Family becomes distant, peers become more important. Biological factors and hormonal changes. More freedom due to lack of responsibility, some people don't go to school.
Term
Young Adulthood (Influencing factors in Age Graded Theory)
Definition
Job, marriage, military, prison. These factors determine if we continue committing crime or stop.
Term
Labeling Theory
Definition
A macro-level theory that challenges the previous theories and their focus on the individual. Describes the idea that labeling after a crime is committed leads to more crime and an acceptance of being a criminal.
Term
Labeling as a Dependent Variable
Definition
Looks to find out what produces the label and determines the way in which it is applied, or asks if certain people are or how people act more likely to be labeled than others?
Term
Labeling as a Independent Variable
Definition
Attempts to explain how audience reactions (the label) increases crime.
Term
Primary Deviance (Labeling Theory)
Definition
Deviance or crime that is committed before a person is caught and labeled. Typically nonviolent and infrequent.
Term
Policy Implications of Labeling Theory
Definition
Diversion (Drug Courts), Decriminalization (No punishment for small crimes), and Deinstitutionalization programs (probation)
Term
Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Definition
The crime committed after the label is placed on the person
Term
Secondary Deviance (Labeling Theory)
Definition
Deviance that occurs after a person is caught and labeled. End up committing more crime than before.
Term
Getting Caught and Labeled (Stages after being caught and labeled)
Definition
Results in formal labels of the criminal justice system or something else given by family, church, friends, etc.
Term
Change in treatment post labeling (Stages after being caught and labeled)
Definition
People start to treat the labeled person differently, such as not being hired, ignorance from family and friends.
Term
Acceptance of the label (Stages after being caught and labeled)
Definition
Person begins to see himself/herself as how the label suggests that he/she is deviant.
Term
Associations with others (Stages after being caught and labeled)
Definition
Begins to associate with others that have the same or similar labels.
Term
Re-integrative Shaming (John Braithwaite)
Definition
As an extension to labeling theory, where shaming leads to preventing crime, rather than continuing criminal behavior. Expressions of disapproval are followed by gestures of reacceptance into the community. Focuses on the behavior, not the identity of the individual.
Term
Shaming (Re-integrative shaming)
Definition
Social disapproval which has the intention or effect of invoking remorse or condemnation by others through making someone feel bad about themselves.
Term
Dis-integrative Shaming (John Braithwaite)
Definition
Stigmatizes the individual because the focus is only on labeling the person. No effort is put towards forgiving the person. Focuses on the person, not the behavior.
Term
Shaming is more effective for some people...
Definition
people who are “emmeshed in multiple relationships of interdependency”. Interdependency can be predicted by age, sex, marital status, employment status, educational and occupational aspirations.
Term
Communitarianism (Re-integrative Shaming)
Definition
the aggregate level of interdependency, a condition of societies, where society is made up of interdependent individuals. Leads to more effective shaming.
Term
Restorative Justice
Definition
Crime is an offense against human relationships. Focuses on victims and the community and putting them in to the justice processes.
Term
Assisting Victims (Priorities of Restorative Justice)
Definition
The first priority of the justice process is to make victims whole again.
Term
Community Restoration (Priorities of Restorative Justice)
Definition
The second priority of the justice process is to restore the community to the degree possible.
Term
Personal Responsibility (Priorities of Restorative Justice)
Definition
The third priority of the justice process is that the offender has personal responsibility to victims and to the community for crimes committed.
Term
Conflict Theory
Definition
Conflict among various groups due to the competition to have a group's interests promoted. Law and criminal justice system exists to serve the powerful.
Term
Marxist Theory
Definition
Focuses on capitalism as a 2 class system based on ownership of the means of production.
Term
Bourgeosie (Marxist Theory)
Definition
Capitalists or the ruling class, monopolizes the means of production and manipulates the political state, the legal and criminal justice system to promote their own interests.
Term
Proletariat (Marxist Theory)
Definition
Workers who sell their labor to the ruling class. Repressed by the system of capitalism, through defined and engrained morality and laws. Can only rise over the ruling class through revolution and overthrow of the government.
Term
Willem Bonger Marxist Crime Theory
Definition
Crime is produced by the capitalist organization of society, the profit motive in the capitalistic society includes egoistic tendencies which lead to crime.
Term
Egoistic Tendencies (Bonger's Theory)
Definition
Greed & selfishness, no regard to others, the bourgeoisie creates laws to protect their own _________, while criminalizing the proletariat's_________
Term
Richard Quinney's Marxist Theory
Definition
Crimes are divided in to crimes of the working class and crimes of the ruling class.
Term
Crimes of Accomodation (Quinney's Theory)
Definition
Predatory crimes (burglary, robbery, murder, assault)
Term
Crimes of Resistance (Quinney's Theory)
Definition
Reactions to exploitation (acts of rebellion, political crimes)
Term
Crimes of Domination and Repressions (Quinney's Theory)
Definition
Crimes of the ruling class or corporate crime (fraud, price-fixing, insider trading, white collar crime)
Term
Feminist Theory (in general)
Definition
Aim to draw upon women's experiences and recognize the role of gender in society. Focuses on the victimization of women, the gender differences in crime, the explanations of womens' criminality, and the women's experience and gender discrimination in the criminal justice system.
Term
Criticisms of Traditional CJ Theories (Feminist Theory)
Definition
Failure of criminology to understand the significance of gender and sex roles in society. The belief that patriarchy is as important as class in creating a division of society. Explains criminal justice decisions as reflecting male dominance.
Term
Liberal Feminism
Definition
Inequality and differences in crime rates between men and women is related to difference in socialization.
Term
Liberation Hypothesis (Frida Adler)
Definition
As social change occurs in the contexts of education, occupation, family, politics, economy, etc., they become more similar in their deviant, delinquent, or criminal contexts as well.
Term
Marxist Feminism
Definition
Women's subordination results from a capitalistic system.
Term
Radical Feminism
Definition
Patriarchy exists even in pre-capitalist societies as a result of biology, where women are the weaker sex. Men try to control the sexuality of women. Rape and other violence is a means to extend dominance over women. Women who are criminal is a response to being victimized.
Term
Socialist Feminism
Definition
Class and patriarchy are equally important. Can't understand women's criminality unless we also understand that most female criminals are poor.
Term
Multi-cultural Feminism
Definition
Focus is on the intersection of race, class, & gender. Ex. Black women = higher rates of being criminal and also higher rates of being victimized.
Term
Goal of Integrated Theories
Definition
To come up with the best theories to explain crime.
Term
Importance of Integrated Theories
Definition
To discuss if the theory could have implications for policy and could it be a generalization of knowledge for theory construction and evolution.
Term
Theory Competition (Types of Integrated Theories)
Definition
Put theories against each other and the best theory will rise to the top.
Term
Theory Elaboration (Types of Integrated Theories)
Definition
Building on existing theory. Take a theory that shows promise and work on it until it become better.
Term
Theory Integration (Types of Integrated Theories)
Definition
An explantion of crime that attempts to merge insights from 2 or more theories in to a single model.
Term
Propositional Integration (Theory Integration)
Definition
End to End, identifying and combining concepts from different theories
Term
Up & Down Integration (Theory Integration)
Definition
Theoretical Reduction, new theory subsumes and old theory.
Term
Theoretical synthesis (Theory Integration)
Definition
Bringing new concepts to correct existing theory.
Term
Control Balance Theory (Tittle)
Definition
Says that crime is utilitarian and helps people gain control. People either commit crime to extend the control they already have over others or to regain some measure of control back over their lives.
Term
Assumptions of Control Balance Theory
Definition
All people want autonomy
Term
Control Ratio (Control Balance Theory)
Definition
Affects a person's probability for engaging in crime/deviance and the type of crime/deviance they will engage in. Control experienced/Control exercised
Term
Control Balance (Control Balance Theory)
Definition
Equal Control experienced vs. Control exercised.
Term
Control Deficit (Control Balance Theory)
Definition
More control experienced, less control exercised.
Term
Control Surplus (Control Balance Theory)
Definition
More control exercised, less control experienced.
Term
Situational Provocations (Three Intervening Factors that lead to crime - Control Balance Theory)
Definition
Circumstances or events that reminds people of their control, whether they have control or not.
Term
Constraints (Three Intervening Factors that lead to crime - Control Balance Theory)
Definition
Perception of the ideas of sanctions and punishment.
Term
Opportunity (Three Intervening Factors that lead to crime - Control Balance Theory)
Definition
Circumstances of a crime being available to be committed.
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