CJ 220 EXAM 1 BOOK MATERIAL

Rational Choice Theory

-Posits that crime is a rational decision to violate any law and is made for a variety of reasons, including greed, revenge, need, anger, lust, jealousy, thrill-seeking, or vanity -Potential offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act -Decision-making is not spontaneous or impulsive

Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Gathering data from a number of previous studies. Collecting the findings from previously conducted scientific studies, and using the collective evidence to address a particular scientific question

Actus Reus and Mens Rea

guilty act and guilty mind (intent) some crimes do not require mens rea, called strict liability crimes

Routine Activities Theory: Hot Spots & Routine Activites and Lifestyle

*Hot Spots*: A place where potentially motivated criminals congregate thereby elevating the chances of victimization *Routine Activities/Lifestyle*: A person's living arrangements can affect victim risk and people who live in unguarded areas are at the mercy of motivated offenders

Persistence or the Continuity of Crime

*Persistence*: idea that those who started their delinquent careers early and who committed serious violent crimes throughout adolescence are the mostly likely to persist as adults *Continuity of Crime*: view that crime begins early in life and continues throughout the life course. Thus, the best predictor of future criminality is past criminality.

Victim Precipitation Theory: Victim Personality & Victim Disability

*Personality*: Some people may invite/precipitate victimization bc there's an element of their personality that incites attacks -Depression & Anxiety linked to victimization -Both male & female victims have an impulsive personality and low self-control *Disability*: criminal seeks out people w/ physical disabilities (more at risk) -Rates of serious victimization 3x higher

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

-FBI collects data on crimes reported to local police depts and number of arrests made by police agencies (annual) -Index or Part 1 crimes: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, arson, and motor vehicle theft

Interactionist View

-Holds that people, institutions, and events are viewed subjectively and labeled either good or evil according to the interpretation of the evaluator -Those with social power are able to impose their values on society as a whole, and these values (morals) then define criminal behavior

Problems associated with collecting the official crime data (UCR) (3)

-Inconsistent reporting- many serious crimes not reported to the police and not counted in the UCR -Law Enfocement Reporting Practices- Police may misrepresent crimes to lower or raise crime rates -Methodological Issues- Hierarchy rule, no fed crimes, reports are voluntary & vary in accuracy, not all depts submit reports, FBI uses estimates, each act=single offense for some crimes but not all, incomplete acts lumped together, & differences in definition of crime between FBI and states

Crime Patterns: Social Class, Socioeconomic Conditions & Crime Instrumental & Expressive Crimes

-Instrumental Crimes: committed by indigent people to compensate for the lack of legitimate economic opportunities -Expressive Crimes: Result out of anger and frustration against society, a condition fueled by alcohol and drug abuse, common in impoverished areas -Evaluating the Class-Crime Association: Serious, official crime more prevalent among lower classes; less serious crimes more evenly spread among social strata

Expected Causes of Chronicity (chronic offenders)

-Kids exposed to a variety of personal and social problems at an early age are most at risk to repeat offending (*"early onset"*) -Chronic offenders often have probs in the home and at school, early involvement in criminal activity (arrested before age 15), relatively low intellectual development, and parental drug involvement -Those who accumulate large debts, use drugs, and resort to violence are more likely to persist -Those who spend time in juvi and later in adult prison = more likely to desist

Factors that influence crime rates/trends (11)

1. Age: more kids, more crime! 2. Number of Immigrants: more immigrants=less crime 3. Economy: ususally not affected by short-term economic conditions 4. Abortion: debate; unwantedness leads to high crime V.S. CR declines bc teen birth rate is in decline 5. Gun Availability: escalate seriousness of crime 6. Gangs: explosive growth of teen gangs (800,000) 7. Drug Use: users routinely commit crimes to feed habits 8. Media: can influence direction of crime rates 9. Medical Technology: level and availability of emergency medical services= fluctuations in murder rate 10. Justice Policy: tough on crime officers and tough laws 11. Social and Cultural Change: single-parent homes, HS drop out rates, racial conflict, prevalence of teen pregnancies

Advantages and Problems with NCVS Future of NCVS

Advantage: can estimate the total amount of annual crimes, not just those that are reported to the police; can explain why crimes are not reported Disadvantage: methodological problems (overreporting, underreporting, inability to record the personal criminal activity of those interviewed, sampling errors, inadequate question format) Future: No substitute available that provides national info on crime and vicitmization with extensive detail on victims and the social context of the criminal event

Victim's Household

African American, larger, urban and Western states' homes are the most vulnerable to crime Those who own their homes are less vulnerable than renters

Community Organization

Communities organize at the neighborhood level against crime -Block watches and neighborhood patrols are examples Little evidence of effectiveness, esp. in lower-income, high-crime areas

Consensus View

Crimes are behaviors believed to be repugnant to all elements of society and causes *social harm*

Official Crime Trends

Despite increasing population, crime has decreased significantly for 20+ years

Unobtrusive Measures & 3 Types

Doesn't require the researchers to intrude in the research context presumably reduces biases and the degree the researcher has control over the type of data collected 3 types: Indirect Measures, Content Analysis & Secondary Analysis of Data

Observational and Interview Research

Focusing on a relatively low number of subjects, with in depth interviews and observations

Civil Law

Governs relations between private parties including both individuals and organizations Used to resolve, control, and shape such personal interactions as contracts, wills and trusts, property ownership, personal disputes (torts) & commerce

Crime Mapping

Graphic representations of the spatial geography of crime

Self-Report Patterns & Validity

Monitoring the Future (MTF) Study- a national survey involving high school seniors considered the national standard to measure substance abuse trends among American teens Critics suggest that there are flaws in reporting accuracy

Unobtrusive Measures: Indirect Measures

Occurs naturally in a research context Have to be careful about the ethics as you are collecting info w/o the respondent's knowledge

Survey Research

People are asked about their attitudes, beliefs, values, and characteristics, as well as their experiences with crime and victimization

Lifestyle Theory

People may become crime victims because their lifestyle increases their exposure to criminal offenders Teenage males = high victimization risk *College Lifestyle*: Partying, taking recreational drugs makes them victimization prone *Criminal Lifestyle*: A career as a criminal may predispose one to be victimized (direct and indirect influences) *Gang Lifestyle*: Serious crime and delinquency; gang boys = high risk for victimization; experiencing victimization brings on retaliation (cycle); elevated the likelihood of being the target of gun violence

Strengths & Weaknesses: Self-Report Surveys

Strengths: 1. Include unreported crimes 2. Can be used to measure substance abuse 3. Often include questions that can assess an offender's personal history info, values, attitudes & beliefs Weaknesses: 1. Rely on honesty of offenders 2. Omit offenders who refuse or are unable to participate who may be the most deviant

Strengths & Weaknesses: NCVS

Strengths: 1. Includes crimes not reported to the police 2. Uses careful sampling techniques 3. Yearly survey Weaknesses: 1. Relies on victims' memory and honesty 2. Omits substance abuse

Criminal Justice

Study of agencies of social control such as the police, courts, and corrections

The Victim's Role in the Crime Process

There's an association between crime and victimization, but the linkage is a matter of debate, different possibilities: 1. People who are crime victims experience long-term negative consequences that lead them to commit crime (*social problems--developing personal relationships & unemployment*) 2. Victimization may produce anger, stress, and strain that result in their involvement in antisocial behavior 3. Victims may seek revenge against the people who harmed them or whom they believe are at fault for their problems 4. Both criminals and victims tend to have the same lifestyle and live in the same neighborhoods, making it seem they are one and the same

International Crime Trends

US: leading nation in low crime rates among industrialized counterparts Comparisons are difficult for a variety of reasons Crime is generally decreasing globally, but this is far from consistent, and changes according to country and crime type

Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs

Use mediators to facilitate face-to-face encounters between victims and their attackers *Restitution Agreements*: conditions of probation in which the offenders repay society or the victims of crime for the trouble the offenders caused *Victim Impact Statements*: Victims make an impact statement before the sentencing judge (effects are debated)

Victim Characteristics: Age

Younger people face a greater victimization risk than do older people (risk diminished rapidly after 25) Victims of *elder abuse* are more susceptible to a narrow band of crimes such as frauds and scams

Victimology: Individual Costs (5)

*Vicarious Fear*- those who observe or are exposed to violence on a routine basis become fearful; escalated by lurid news accounts of crime and violence *Suffering Stress*- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common problem (psychological reaction to a highly stressful event); men may be particularly susceptible to post-rape PTSD *Adolescent Stress*- younger victims more prone to suffer stress & PTSD; rape and molestation significantly assoc. w/ hallucinations; may lead to despair, depression, and homelessness *Relationship Stress (IPV)*- "transformative effect" (childhood victims highly suscpetible to initimate partner violence); high prevalence of psychological problems (depression, GAD, OCD, panic disorder, PTSD, etc.) *Fear*- those who have experienced crime are most fearful; elderly, poor & minorities esp. fear crime; women are more fearful than men; victims of violent crime most affected; those who experience one crime fear another; those who have been vicitmized and fear its consequences are less likely to engage in crime

Ethical Issues in Criminology

*What to study*- select subjects for study guided by their scholarly interests, social needs, or availability of data; high influx of gov'tl funding has spurred criminological inquiry & has influenced the direction of research *Whom to study*- avoid the tendency to focus on one element of the community while ignoring others; focusing too much on the poor & minorities *How to study*- unbiased and random selection of subjects; protect those subjects chosen for experimental and control groups -Issues arise when info-gathering method appear *biased or exclusionary*

Ecology of Crime: Day, Season, Climate

- Most reported crimes occur during the warm summer months of July and August. (Teenagers are out of school and more time to do stupid things). - Murders and robberies frequently occur in December and January -Large urban areas: highest rates of violent crimes (may be block to block differences) -West & South: higher crime rates than North & Mid-West - Crime rates also may be higher on the first day of the month than at any other time.

Social Ecology of Victimization

-*After 6:00PM*: *More serious violent* crimes, such as rape and aggravated assault -*Less serious* forms of violence = during *daytime* -Living in *central city* = *higher rates* of theft and violence -*Risk of murder* for both men and women = *higher in disorganized inner-city areas* -Robberies occur in *"semi-public" places* were *less likely* to result in injury -Robberies *during the day* = *lower risk* of injury (likelihood of 3rd-party intervention greater during daylight hours)

Development of Classical Criminology (Rational Choice Theory)

-*During the early Middle Ages (1200-1400s)*: superstition and fear of satanic possession dominated thinking (burning at the stake for the possessed) -Almost all felons were punished with death; the law made little distinction between thieves and murderers -*During the Renaissance (1400-1600s)*: the "social contract" emerges to explain human nature and behavior -*During the Enlightenment (1600-1700s)*: Bentham embraced the view that human behavior was result of rational thought and processes (weighing costs and benefits; action will bring an increase in pleasure and decrease in pain)

History of the Law: Code of Hammurabi

-*First written criminal code* developed around 2000 BC -Based on retribution ("an eye for an eye")

Common Law (Early English law/Middle Ages)

-*Judge-made law* that emerged after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 that was *based on precedents* commonly applied in all similar cases -Cases-by-case basis; if a new rule was applied successfully then it would become a precedent -US Legal System: lawmakers have organized common-law crimes into state and fed penal codes

Theory Construction and Testing

-A set of of interrelated statements or principles that explain some aspect of social life -Verifiable social facts -Can be tested by constructing hypotheses and then assessing the hypotheses using empirical research -EX: Social Learning Theory: people learn behavior by observing others

Criminal Defenses

-Can deny actus reus or mens Rea -Defendents can excuse their behavior: Insanity, Intoxication, Ignorance Defendants can claim their behavior was justified: Necessity, Duress, Self-Defense, & Entrapment

Evolution of Criminal Law

-Constantly evolving in an effort to reflect social and economic conditions -Change can be prompted by highly publicized criminal cases -Can be prompted by shifts in culture and social conventions -Future direction remains unclear Ex: Stalking Laws, Prohibiting Assisted Suicide, Registering Sex Offenders, Clarifying Rape, Legalizing Marijuana & Responding to Terrorism

Jeremy Bentham

-Designed the Panopticon -Circular structure with an inspection house in the center to watch the prisoners w/o their knowledge -Real prison never built based on the design idea -*25* prisons internationally inspired by this idea

Criminal Statistics & Crime Measurement

-Devise accurate methods of collecting crime data -Measure the amount and trends of criminal activity -Determine who commits crime and where -Measure the effects of social policy and social trends on crime rate changes -Design crime prevention programs and measure their effectiveness Sum: Calculating the amount of, and trends in, criminal activity

Gender and Crime -Masculinity Hypothesis -Chivalry Hypothesis -Liberal Feminist Theory

-Male crime rates are much higher than those of females, esp. violent crimes -Possible emotional, physical & psychological differences to explain CR differences -*Masculinity Hypothesis*: view that women who commit crimes have biological and psychological traits similar to those of men -*Chivalry Hypothesis*: idea that low female crime and delinquency rates are a reflection of the leniency with which police treat female offenders -Socialization & Development -Cognitive Differences -*Liberal Feminist Theory*: suggests that the traditionally lower crime rate for women can be explained by their second-class economic and social position

Classical Criminology

-People have free will (*human agency*) -Crime is attractive because it they can promise a huge payoff -People make choices based upon perceived rewards and punishments (principle of deterrence) -Punishments must be severe, certain, and swift to convince criminals that "crime does not pay" -By the end of the 19th century, the popularity of the classical approach declined -By the mid-20th century, positivistic views gained mainstream acceptance: Poverty, IQ, education, home life believed to be *true causes* of criminality

Crime Behavior Systems & Crime Typologies

-Researching specific crime types and patterns: violent crime, theft, public order, and organized crime -Crime Typology: the research on the links among different types of crime and criminals

Criminal Behavior is defined primarily by _________. The content of the law is also shaped by _________ _________. All laws must conform to the rules and dictates of the __ ___________.

-Statute -Judicial Discretion -U.S. Constitution

Cesare Beccaria

-The development of rational classical criminology is most closely identified with the *thoughts of Becarria*: 1. People choose all behavior, including criminal behavior 2. People's choices are designed to bring them pleasure and reduce pain 3. Criminal choices can be controlled by fear of punishment 4. The more severe, certain, and swift the punishment, the greater its ability to control criminal behavior -*Punishment must be proportional to the seriousness of the crime; if not, people would commit more serious offenses* (*marginal deterrence*) -Suggested that the *extremely harsh punishments* of the day and routine use of torture were *inappropriate and excessive*

Socio-Legal Studies

-The role social forces play in shaping criminal law and the role of criminal law in shaping society -History of legal thought -How social forces shape the definition and content of the law -Impact of legal change on society -Relationship between law and social control -The effects of criminalization and legalization on behavior

Victimology

-The study of the victim's role in criminal events -Costs of victimization -Measure nature & extent of criminal victimization -Measure factors increasing likelihood of becoming a victim -Recognizing that a victim's behavior is a key determinant of crime -Designing services for victims of crime

Crime Trends: What the Future Holds

-Too early to tell if homicide rates will continue to climb -Given limited economic opportunity, crime may increase globally -Tech and internet e-commerce may continue to create new categories of crime -Tech may affect crimes that have been going down, such as prostitution

Punishment, Penology, and Social Control

-Treatment of known criminal offenders -Criminologists are involved in creating effective crime policies, developing methods of social control, and the correction and control of known criminal offenders

UCR: Three Methods to Express Crime Data & Clearance Rates

1. Number of crimes reported and arrests made 2. Crime Rates per 100,000 people 3. Changes in rate of crime over time Cleared in 2 Ways: 1. When at least ONE person is arrested, charged and turned over to courts for prosecution 2. By exceptional means--when some element beyond police control precludes the physical arrest of an offender

Changes in crime trend over time:

1830 to Post-Civil War: increase for 15 years 1880 to Depression: decreased until 1930 1930-1960: Crime rates increased; homicide rates declined 1960-1970: big increase in homicide rates By 1992: crime was exceedingly high; downward trend since mid-1990s (exception: recent increase in murder rate)

NCVS estimated __ _______ theft and violence victimizations occur annually in the US

20 million

Victim Characteristics: Race & Ethnicity

African Americans and ethnic minorities are more likely than whites to be victims of violent crime--attackers also more likely to use weapons (increases chances of injury) Serious violent crime rates have declined in recent years for both blacks and whites

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

An annual survey of selected American households conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics to determine the extent of criminal victimization-especially unreported victimization in the United States

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

An incident-based reporting system that collects detailed data on every single crime occurrence More offense categories included than UCR More details of the offense Indicates links between arrests and clearances Includes all offenses instead of just the most serious

Unobtrusive Measures: Content Analysis

Analysis of text documents Can be quantative, qualitative or both Identify patterns in text Thematic Analysis of Text (field notes, newspaper articles, etc.) Indexing-- key words alphabetized Quantative Descriptive Analysis- words/phrases used most frequently Problems: limitied to info available in text form, have to be extra careful w/ sampling to avoid bias & have to be careful about interpreting results of automated content analyses

Trends in Self-Reporting

Appear to be more stable than the UCR and NCVS data

Government's Response to Victimization: Comprehensive Crime Control Act and Victims of Crime Act I (1984) (4)

Authorized federal funding for state victim compensation and assistance projects Other government victim assistance programs: -*Victim Compensation*: help pay for damages associated with the crime -Victims Advocates- helpful when victims need to interact w/ the agencies of justice; helping child abuse victims -Public Education: teach methods of dealing with conflict w/o resorting to violence -*Crisis Intervention*: emergency counseling for crime victims (Good Samaritan volunteers)

Victimization Trends

Both violent and property crime have decreased over the last 20 years (same pattern seen in NCVS)

Government's Response to Victimization: Omnibus Victim and Witness Protection Act

Required the use of victim impact statements at federal criminal case sentencing, protection for witnesses, stringent bail laws & restitution Estimated 2,000 *victim-witness assistance programs*

Conflict View

Depicts society as a collection of diverse groups who are in constant and continuing conflict *Criminal behavior defined by those in power* to protect and advance their own self-interest

Difference between crime and deviance

Deviance: behaviors that departs from the social norm, values, beliefs and customs (deviant behavior) Crime: an act deemed as socially harmful or dangerous that is specifically defined, prohibited, and punished under criminal law Criminologists concerned with the concept of deviance & its relationship to criminality

Victims' Rights

Every state now has a set of legal rights for crime victims Often called Victims' Bill of Rights *Generally include the right to:* 1. Be notified of proceedings and the status of the defendant 2. To be present at CJ proceedings 3. To make a statement at sentencing and to recieve restitution from a convicted offender 4. To be consulted before a case is dismissed or a plea bargain entered Impact in Europe Controversial elements of movement: development of offender registration laws (measures have not proven effective)

Victim Characteristics: Gender

Except for rape and sexual assault, males are more likely than females to be the victims of violent crime Females are more often victimized by someone they know or live with, while males are more often victimized by strangers Male aggressors = more severe injuries Economic inequality significantly related to female victimization rates

Secondary Analysis of Data

Re-analysis of quantitative data rather than text Most of the info is stored in electronic databases Data available: census bureau data, crime records, standardized testing data, economic data, consumer data (BIG DATABASES) Combing info from multiple databases to examine research questions Advantages: efficient & allows you to extend scope of your study Problems: make assumptions about what data to combine & which variable are appropriately aggregated AND you don't know what problems occurred in the original data collection Most important purpose: replicate prior research findings

Crime and Unemployment (4 Views)

Four views: 1. Bad economy means higher crime rates 2. Good economy means higher crime rates 3. Bad economy means lower crime rates 4. Crime and the economy are unrelated

Victim Characteristics: Marital Status

Never-married people are victimized more than married people Widows and widowers have the lowest victimization risk Those who marry young are much more likely to be the victim of intimate partner violence

Immigration and Crime

Immigrants are far less likely than the average U.S. native to commit crime Significantly lower rates of incarceration and instiutionalization among foreign-born adults

Victim Characteristics: Repeat Victimization Factors that Predict Chronic Victimization (3)

Individuals who have been crime victims have a significantly higher chance of future victimization than people who have not been victims Factors that predict *chronic victimization*: target vulnerability, target gratifiability (attractive possessions) & target antagonism (characteristics increase risk bc they arouse anger, jealousy or destructive impulses in potential offenders) May occur when the victim doesn't take defensive action

School Victimization (Crime in Schools)

Locale of a great deal of victimization bc they're populated by high risk juvenile males Ages 12-18: 1,421,000 nonfatal victimizations at school; 20 students died (15-murder, 5-suicide) Adult supervision is minimal during before and after-school activities Adolescent victimization peaks in the FALL and declines in summer

Race and Crime & Cultural Bias

Minority group members involved in a disproportion share of criminal activity Minorities are arrested and prosecuted far more often than whites Racial Profiling *Racial Threat Hypothesis*: belief that as the % of minorities in the population increases, so too does the amount of social control that police direct at minority group members Cultural Bias: Differences in the crime rate rests on the legacy of racial discrimination based on personality & behavior

Victims and Their Criminals

Most crimes are committed by a single offender over 20 years old Crime tends to be intraracial (blacks victimize blacks, whites victimize whites) Substance abuse is involved in about 1/3 of violent crimes Intimate partners, relatives & acquaintances commit more than 60% of violent crimes (rape or sexual assault)

Use of Firearms

Play a dominant role in criminal activity Escalate criminal situations Most guns used in crime are quite old Most weapons are handguns Personal gun use can be a deterrent

Government's Response to Victimization: President Reagan (5)

President Reagan created a Task Force on Victims of Crime (1982), which recommended: -Balancing victims' rights w/ defendants' due process -Providing victims and witnesses w/ protection from intimidation -Requiring restitution in criminal cases -Developing guidelines for fair treatment of victims and witnesses -Expanding victim compensation programs

Crime Patterns: Economic and Social Disparity

Racial and ethnic differentials in crime rates may also be tied to economic and social disparity Family Dissolution- may be tied to low employment rates among AA males

Criminology in Action

Refers to the efforts of criminologists to use their insight, training and experience to understand human beavior and predict its occurrence Trained in diverse fields Variety of orientations and perspectives (subareas) are now contained within the broad arena of criminology

procedural criminal law

Sets out the basic rules of practice in the criminal justice system Includes: rules of evidence, law of arrest, law of search and seizure, questions of appeal, jury selection & right to counsel

Strengths & Weaknesses: UCR

Strengths: 1. Measures homicides and arrests 2. Consistent, national sample Weaknesses: 1. Omits crimes not reported to the police 2. Omits most drug usage 3. Contains reporting error

Victimology: Economic Costs

Taken together, property & productivity losses run in the hundreds of billions of dollars (tangible and intangible costs) Victims may suffer losses in earning and occupational attainment Annual cost of crime increased to $3 trillion Murder = most costly crime; rape adds $20 billion Intangibles make it most difficult to calculate the true cost of victimization

Victims and Self-Protection

Taking an active role in community protection and citizen crime control groups *Target hardening* efforts: making one's home or business crime proof through the use of locks, bars, alarms, and other devices Those who protect their homes are less likely to be victimized by property crimes *Fighting back*: some victims fight back when criminals attack (success results are mixed) -Armed victims kill more attackers than police and the risk of collateral injury is relatively rare -Self-Protection reduced the likelihood of property loss and injury

Administrative Law

The branch of law that deals with the gov't and its relationships with individuals or other governments Governs the administration and refulation of city, county, state, and federal government agencies Enforced by governmental agencies such as the IRS or EPA

Deviant Place Theory

The greater their exposure to dangerous places, the more likely people will become victims of crime and violence Deviant Places: Poor, densely populated, highly transient neighborhoods; Commercial and residential buildings side-by-side

Victim Precipitation Theory Active/Passive Precipitation

The idea that the victim's behavior was the spark that ignited the subsequent offense, as when the victim abused the offender verbally or physically. Active Precipitation: when victims act provocatively, use threats or fighting words, or even attack first Passive Precipitation: when the victim exhibits some personal characteristic that unknowingly either threaten or encourages the attacker (e.g., personal conflict & job status/jealous spouse)

The Cycle of Violence

The idea that victims of crime, especially childhood abuse, are more likely to commit crimes themselves Both boys and girls more likely to engage in violent behavior if: 1. they were the target of physical abuse 2. were exposed to violent behavior among the adults they knew 3. or lived with or were exposed to weapons Some may seek revenge against the people who harmed them Abuse-Crime Phenomenon

substantive criminal law & purposes of criminal law (7)

The part of the law that defines crimes and specifies punishments each state and fed gov't have its own code purposes of criminal law: enforcing social control, discouraging revenge, expressing public opinion and morality, deterring criminal behavior, punishing wrongdoing, maintaining social order, & providing restoration

Victim Characteristics: Social Status

The poorest Americans are the most likely victims of violent and property crime The wealthy are more likely to experience personal theft Occurs across all gender, age & racial groups

Aging-Out Process & Co-Offending and Crime

The tendency for youths to reduce the frequency of their offending behavior as they age--changes in biological and social factors help explain the process Crime tends to be a group activity, esp. among youth; co-offending more prevalent in less disadvantaged neighborhoods

Routine Activities Theory

The volume and distribution of predatory crime are closely related to the interaction of *three varaibles* that reflect the routine activities of the typical American lifestyle 1. Availability of *suitable targets* (e.g., homes containing easily salable goods) 2. Absence of *capable guardians* (e.g., police, neighbors, friends, parents, relatives, and homeowners) 3. Presence of *motivated offenders* (e.g., large # of unemployed and unsupervised teens)

Data Mining

Uses multiple advanced computational methods to analyze large data sets from one or more data sources (goal: identify significant and recognizable patterns, trends, and relationships that are not easily detected through analytical techniques alone) behind predictive policing

UCR part 1 offenses

Violent Crimes (4): Murder Rape Aggravated Assault Robbery Property Crimes (4): Larceny/Theft Burglary Motor Vehicle Theft Arson

History of the Law: Mosaic Code

Was the foundation for Judeo-Christian moral teachings and the US legal system

Chronic Offenders and Criminal Careers (Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin)

Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin: 1972 study Delinquency in a Birth Cohort -Chronic 6% of total sample were responsible for 51.9% of all offenses -Arrests and court experience did little to deter the chronic offender -Do not age out of crime

Experimental Research

conducting controlled experiments to collect data on the cause of crime three elements: 1. random selection of subjects 2. control or comparison group 3. an experimental condition

Cohort Research

observing a group of people who share a like characteristic over time, collecting data from educational, family, police and hospital records

Self-Report Surveys

participants are asked to describe, in detail, their recent and lifetime participation in criminal activity

Criminology

the scientific approach to studying criminal behavior uses scientific method to study nature, extent, cause and control of criminal behavior