Sociology, Chapter 6, Part 2
criminology
the systematic scientific study of crime, criminals, and criminal justice
white collar crime
crime committed by a high-status individual in the course of his occupation
cybercrime
crimes committed via the Internet, including identity theft, embezzlement, fraud, sexual predation, and financial scams
violent crime
crimes in which violence is either the objective or the means to an end, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery
property crime
crimes that did not involve violence, including burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson
stigma
Erving Goffman's term for any physical or social attribute that devalues a person or group's identity and that may exclude those who are devalued from normal social interaction
criminal justice system
a collection of social institutions, such as legislatures, police, courts, and prisons, that create and enforce laws
crime
a violation of a norm that has been codified into law
outsiders
according to Howard Becker, those labeled deviant and subsequently segregated from "normal" society
positive deviance
actions considered deviant within a given context but are later reinterpreted as appropriate or even heroic
deterrence
an approach to punishment that relies on the threat of harsh penalties to discourage people from committing crimes
incapacitation
an approach to punishment that seeks to protect society from criminals by imprisoning or executing them
Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
an official measure of crime in the United States, produced by the FBI's official tabulation of every crime reported by more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies
passing
presenting yourself as a member of a different group than the stigmatized group you belong to
deviance avowal
process by which an individual self-identifies as deviant and initiates her own labeling process
capital punishment
the death penalty
in-group orientation
among stigmatized individuals, the rejection of prevailing judgments or prejudice and the development of new standards that value their group identity
rehabilitation
an approach to punishment that attempts to reform criminals as part of their penalty
retribution
an approach to punishment that emphasizes retaliation or revenge for the crime as the appropriate goal