Criminology Mid Flashcards

The various subareas included within the scholarly discipline of criminology, which, taken as a whole, define the field of study.

The various subareas included within the scholarly discipline of criminology, which, taken as a whole, define the field of study.

Criminologists devote themselves to measuring, understanding, and controlling crime and deviance, with deviance including a broad spectrum of behaviors that differ from the norm.

<p>Refers to those killings in which the victim is a direct, positive precipitator of the incident.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Subarea of criminology that focuses on the correction and control of criminal offenders.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The study of the victim's role in criminal events.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Group of urban sociologists who studied the relationship between environmental conditions and crime.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The view that crime is a function of a decision-making process where the offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The view that criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Having criminal penalties reduced rather than eliminated.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Serious offense that carries a penalty of imprisonment, usually for one year or more, and may entail loss of political rights.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A minor crime usually punished by a short jail term and/or a fine.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Crime rates peaked in 1991, with significant declines since then.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Data from local law enforcement, FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR), National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Younger people commit crime more often than older people, and this relationship has been stable across time.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Phrase used to express the fact that people commit less crime as they mature.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Victims may influence criminal behavior by playing an active role in a criminal incident.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>People who are crime victims may be more likely to commit crimes themselves, seeking revenge against those who harmed them.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Rational choice theory has its roots in classical criminology, shaped by thinkers like Cesare Beccaria and Gary Becker.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Choosing crime can be seductive and pleasant, helping satisfy personal needs.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Tactics to reduce or eliminate specific crime problems, like improving security and increasing the risks of crime.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Increasing the real or perceived threat of criminal punishment controls crime.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The theory suggests that criminal sanctions should be powerful enough to prevent repeat offenses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The theory originated with Cesare Lombroso and emphasizes the influence of personal traits on criminality.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Biochemical conditions, like diet and hormone levels, can influence antisocial behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Antisocial behavior is viewed as inherited and linked to genetic factors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The id, ego, and superego interact to shape behavior, with crime often arising from imbalance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Theories of nature and nurture debate the relationship between intelligence and criminal behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Debate exists on whether intelligence is inherited or influenced by the environment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A severe disorder marked by hearing nonexistent voices, seeing hallucinations, and exhibiting inappropriate responses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>An emotional disturbance in which moods alternate between periods of wild elation and deep depression.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The primitive part of people's mental makeup, present at birth, that seeks instant gratification.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The part of the personality that helps control the id and keeps actions within social convention.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Incorporation within the personality of the moral standards and values of influential figures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>People grouped according to economic or social class characterized by the unequal distribution of resources.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A lower-class culture characterized by apathy, cynicism, helplessness, and mistrust passed down through generations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Envy, mistrust, and aggression due to perceptions of economic and social inequality.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>A value system adopted by lower-class youths that opposes the larger society's norms.</p> Signup and view all the answers