What is crime?
Human conduct that violates the criminal laws.
What are mala in se crimes?
Acts considered inherently evil, immoral in its nature, injurious in its consequence, and without any regaurd of being caught or punished by the law
What are mala prohibita crimes?
crimes that are wrong because it is prohibited, are not inherently immoral, but become immoral because its commission is expressly forbidden by positive law
What is deviant behavior?
Human activity that violates social norms
When is the first time criminology was mentioned?
1885
What is delinquency?
violations of criminal law and other misbehavior committed by young people (under age 16,17,18)
What is criminology?
The scientific study of crime and the reasons why people engage (or dont engage) in criminal behavior
T or F:
Criminology is interdisciplinary- drawing on other disciplines to provide an integrated approach to crime
true
What is a criminologist?
One who studies crime, criminals, and criminal behavior
What is a criminalist?
One who is a specialist in the collection and examination of the physical evidence of crime
What is criminal justice?
the various criminal justice agencies and institutions that are interrelated and work together toward common goals
What are the 3 goals of the CJ system?
control crime, prevent crime, and provide and maintain justice
What are the components of the CJ system?
law enforcement, courts, and corrections
What are the 6 characteristics of a good criminological theory?
parsimony, scope, logical consistency, testability, empirical validity, and policy implications
What is parsimony?
explains a certain phenomenon with the fewest possible propositions or concepts
What is scope?
the range of criminal behavior that a theory attempts to explain
What is logical consistency?
the extent to which concepts and propositions of a theoretical model make sense with what is readily known about crime rates and trends
What is testability?
the extent to which a theoretical model can be empirically or scientifically tested through observation and empirical research
What is empirical validity?
the extent to which a theoretical model is supported by scientific research
What are policy implications?
theory can help inform and guide policies that attempt to reduce crime
T or F :
Criminological theory exists in only abstract concepts
false
it exists in the real world and is grounded in reality
What are the 3 criteria for casual order?
Temporal ordering, covariation or correlation, and accounting for spuriousness
What is temporal ordering?
states that the predictor variable has to occur before the dependent variables. (cause before effect)
What is covariation or correlation?
states that the independent and dependent variables (cause and effect) need to be correlated
What is accounting for spuriousness?
the relationship btwn cause and effect explained by a third variable
What is the consensus perspective?
theories that assume virtually everyone is in agreement on the laws and therefore assume no conflict in attitudes regarding the laws and rules of society
What is the conflict perspective?
theories that assume most people disagree on what the law should be and that law is used as a tool by those in power to keep down other groups
What are the 3 main ways to measure crime?
through crime data from law enforcement agencies(UCR and SHR), crime data from victims (NCVS), and self-report surveys
What is the primary objective of the UCR?
to generate a consistent set of crime statistics that can be used in law enforcement administration, operation, and management
What are part 1 crimes? (8)
more serious crimes:
murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny, burglary, arson, and motor vehicle theft
What are part 2 crimes?
the less serious crimes ranging from sex offenses to parking violations
What are some limitations of the UCR?
it only captures crimes reported to the police, leaves out white collar crimes, clerical and data processing errors, and changes in legal code can make comparisons difficult
What does the NCVS collect data about?
information on the victim (12 years or older), offender, and on the crime, whether or not these crimes were reported to law enforcement.
What are some criticisms of NCVS?
possibly over-reporting crime, the crimes dont correspond to federal or state statue definitions making it difficult to compare, offenders may not be accurate.
Similarities btwn UCR and NCVS?
both collect data on the same type of serious crimes
differences btwn UCR and NCVS?
programs serve different purposes, types of crimes not identical, different methods to collect crime, different bases to calculate rates for certain crimes
What are the 3 major shifts in crime rates in the US?
1933-1959: crime decreased sharply
1960-1989: increase in most forms of crime
1990-present: decreases in the rates of most major crimes
What have we learned with the help of self report surveys
females are involved in a high proportion of crime, race differentials in crime are smaller than traditional data sources indicated, and violent offenders begin lives of crime early in life
What is evidence-based criminology?
A form of contemporary criminology that makes use of rigorous social scientific techniques, especially randomized controlled experiments, and the systematic review of research results
What is translational criminology?
A form of contemporary criminology that seeks to translate research findings into the field of practical and workable policy initiatives