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CCJ 3011 Exam #2 With
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Cesare Beccaria believed that... - ANSWER Beccaria believed that criminals chose to commit crime, and that criminal choices could be controlled by fear of punishment.
Beccaria believed that humans were naturally egotistical and self-centered.
Rational Choice Theory is rooted in... - ANSWER The classical school of criminology developed by Beccaria.
Marginal Deterrence - ANSWER Punishment must be proportional to the seriousness of crime; if not, people would commit more serious offenses.
If petty offenses were subject to the same punishment as more serious crimes, offenders would choose the worst crime: this is referred to as the concept of marginal deterrence.
Suggested that the extremely harsh punishments of the day and routine use of torture were inappropriate and excessive.
Beccaria's beliefs and writings about the proportionality of crime and punishment have been credited as the basis for _______. - ANSWER The elimination of torture.
Before choosing to commit a crime, reasoning criminals evaluate... - ANSWER The risk of apprehension, the seriousness of punishment, the potential value, and the immediate need for criminal gain.
Offender-Specific Offense - ANSWER Criminals are not robots who engage in unthinking, unplanned random acts of antisocial behavior.
A book that argues that there are immediate benefits to criminality - ANSWER Jack Katz's "Seductions of Crime"
Choice of crime may be determined by market conditions. - ANSWER True
Offenders are aware of target vulnerability. - ANSWER True
The place of the offense is carefully chosen. - ANSWER True
Distance is irrelevant to an offender when choosing a location. - ANSWER False
Richard Felson suggested that violence is a matter of choice that serves specific goals: - ANSWER Control
Retribution
Deterrence
Reputation
But not Rationality
Rational Killers - ANSWER While outwardly considered the most irrational of offenders, serial murderers are considered rational killers because they pick their targets with care.
Defensible Space - ANSWER The belief that crime can be reduced by modifying the physical environment to reduce opportunity.
Well-lit housing projects that maximize surveillance reflect Oscar Newman's
Punishment has the potential to discourage all individuals in the population from committing crime.
Specific Deterrence - ANSWER Argues that punishing an offender will prevent that offender from committing the same crime again.
The Domestic Violence Studies - ANSWER These studies indicate that even if punishment can produce a short-term, specific, deterrent effect, it fails to produce longer-term behavioral change.
ONLY SHORT-TERM EFFECTS, NO LONG TERM
Incarceration might not work because... - ANSWER Prison exposes young, impressionable offenders to higher-risk, more experienced inmates who can influence their lifestyle and shape their attitudes.
The Kansas City, Missouri, police department's study of patrol effectiveness convinced criminologists that... - ANSWER The mere presence of patrol officers on the street did not have a deterrent effect.
Crackdowns initially deter crime, but the effect soon wears off after... -
ANSWER The high-intensity police activity ends.
Cesare Lombroso believed that... - ANSWER Criminals could be identified by observing the physical traits of offenders.
Trait Theory - ANSWER The view that criminality is a product of abnormal biological and/or psychological traits.
Human Personality 3 Part Structure - ANSWER Id
Ego
Superego
Id - ANSWER The primitive part of an individual's mental makeup, present at birth.
Ego - ANSWER Part of the personality that compensates for the demands of the id by helping the individual guide his or her actions to remain within the boundaries of social convention.
Cultural Deviance Theory - ANSWER Combines elements of strain and social disorganization.
Focuses on the development of subcultures as a result of disorganization and strain.
Social Disorganization Theory was first popularized by the work of... - ANSWER Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay
According to Shaw and McKay, Individual differences are the root cause of crime. - ANSWER False
According to Shaw and McKay, Crime is a constant fixture in distressed areas regardless of racial or ethnic makeup. - ANSWER True
According to Shaw and McKay, Crime rates are sensitive to the destructive social forces operating in lower-class urban neighborhoods. - ANSWER True
According to Shaw and McKay, Community values, norms, and cohesiveness affect individual behavior choices. - ANSWER True
Transitional Neighborhoods - ANSWER Poverty-ridden neighborhoods that suffer high rates of population turnover and are incapable of inducing residents to remain.
Even though crime rates changed, they found that the highest rates were always in... - ANSWER Zones I and II (central city and a transitional area).
A Socially Disorganized Area - ANSWER An area in which institutions of social control have broken down and can no longer carry out their expected or stated functions.
Cohesion among neighborhood residents (community cohesion) combined with shared expectations for informal social control of public space promotes _____. - ANSWER Collective efficacy.
Institutional Social Control - ANSWER Schools
Public Social Control - ANSWER Police
Street Efficacy - ANSWER In areas where collective efficacy is high, children are less likely to become involved with deviant peers and engage in problem behaviors. Rather, kids use their wits to avoid violent confrontations and to feel safe.
equal access to the means for obtaining them.
Institutional Anomie - ANSWER Argues that the high rate of crime in the United States is due to its overemphasis on economics.
Agnew's General Strain Theory - ANSWER Indicates that criminality is the direct result of blocked social means that come in the wake of destructive social relationships.
Elements of this theory include:
- Removal of positively valued stimuli (death of a parent or grandparent).
- Presentation of negative stimuli (child abuse).
Focal Concerns - ANSWER Unique value system that dominates lower-class culture (trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, fate, and autonomy) BUT NOT ACHIEVEMENT!
The rules that govern day-to-day living conditions within a subculture.
Psychological Sociology - ANSWER The study of human interactions and relationships that emphasizes such issues as group dynamics and socialization.
Social Learning Theory suggests that... - ANSWER Crime is a product of learning the norms, values, and behaviors associated with criminal activity.
Crime is a learned behavior.
Principles of Differential Association Theory was created by _____. - ANSWER Edwin H. Sutherland
Neutralization Theory:
Denying the Victim - ANSWER Criminals sometimes neutralize wrongdoing by maintaining that the victim of crime "had it coming".
Neutralization Theory:
Appeal to Higher Loyalties - ANSWER Novice criminals often argue that they are caught up in the dilemma of being loyal to their own peer group while at the same time attempting to abide by the rules of the larger society.
Excuses
If someone rejects goals but retains means, that is ____. - ANSWER Ritualism
