Criminology Exam 2
Discreditable group
have hidden their stigma, but are constantly afraid of being exposed, both groups are engaged in a constant struggle of impression management but it is normative behavior
choice and opportunity theories
have their roots in classical criminology and are based upon the works of cesare beccaria and jeremy bentham
neutralization
holds that criminals know on some level that crime is wrong and employ a number of techniques to mitigate the guilt they feel when they commit criminal acts
Deterrence theory
in order to deter crime, classical theorists believed that punishment must be severe but proportional to the crime, posses celerity, and above all posses certainty, the two types of deterrence are specific and general
Matza's drift
in response to the idea that crime during adolescence necessarily leads to crime in adulthood, Matza developed the idea of drift drift was the process of drifting between the constraint of conventional norms and the freedom from them, essentially contending that engagement in delinquency is normative during adolescence adolesnce creates a subculture where delinquency is a product of the pressures associated with the passage to adulthood
Race
Anderson's code of the streets -contends that the inclination for violence springs from circumstances of life among the ghetto poor Hawkins contends that economic inequality and the historical context in which the inequality came about largely accounts for the inordinately high rates of African American homicide, emphasized the extreme role the slavery and the slave trade had in shaping behavior
key observations from Wright and Decker's work
1. motivation to commit a stickup emerged during a period of intense self-indulgence and from a growing sense of frustration and anger because they felt as though they were trapped in a cycle of events 2. delaying gratification has no positive impact on reputation 3. even with money, offenders dislike long term planning and enjoy a more reckless lifestyle
Agnews theory focused on five life domains
1. self- self-control and high irritability increase the likelihood of crime 2. family-poor parenting, negative bonding, family conflict, child abuse, criminal parents or siblings have strong effects on your likelihood of crime 3. school- negative bonding, poor teaching, poor academic performance and low educational goals have strong effects on the likelihood of crime 4. peer- peer delinquency, unstructured socializing, and peer conflict increase the likelihood of crime 5. work-unemployment, poor work performance, poor work conditions, and criminal coworkers increase the likelihood of crime
Wolfgang and Ferracuti proposed 4 conditions for a subculture of violence to emerge
1. subculture must be prominent among young individuals, specifically late adolescence and early adulthood 2. non violence is the counter norm 3. attitudes favorable to violence are learned from existing members of the subculture 4. the use of violence in the subculture is not considered deviant and it is not related to feelings of guilt or remorse
What labeling theory assumes
1. we are all born equal and no one is more or less prone to be criminal 2. the only thing that distinguishes criminals/crimes is labels 3. assumes that labeling can occur and likely occurs even if no criminal act takes place
Maleness and crime
Messerschimdt contends that men are constantly placed in situations in which they must establish their maleness
What were the main findings discussed in the reading from Pager?
Currently there are over 2 million individuals incarcerated and 95% of all inmates will be released back into society eventually, we will have a growing population of individuals with a criminal record. Pager's study investigated the consequences of incarceration for the employment outcomes of black and white men, she wanted to determine the extent to which race effects employability and see if the effects of the criminal record differed by race. Pager found that whites with a criminal record had a twice as much greater chance of being considered than blacks without a criminal record. White men without a criminal record had a 34% chance and white men with a criminal record had a 17% chance. Black men without a criminal record had a 14% chance and black men with a criminal record had a 5% chance.
general theory of crime and deliqeuncy (life course theory 1)
Developed by agnew tried to develop a comprehensive and complete theory that blends the best parts of the most highly validated theories of crime causation this theory boils down to a focus on motivations and constraints
Explain Lemerts two types of deviance
Edwin Lemert was one of the influential theorist in the development of labeling theory. He distinguished between two types of deviance known as primary and secondary. Primary deviance is the criminal action that results in initial contact with the criminal justice system. Secondary deviance results from the societal reaction to primary deviance.
Power control theory
Hagan claimed that patriarchy tends to reproduce typical gender roles and relations in families, boys born into patriarchal families are granted greater freedom and encouraged to take risks, which results in greater participation in crime while girls are subject to more control from their mothers and more closely monitored which results in lower crime participation females recently begun to increase their participation in crime, changes in policing led to rise
What were the contributions of Bonger and Quinney?
Marxist criminology focuses on class struggle and the need for a fair system of governance, socialism and communism were influenced by Marx's work because these systems would reduce crime and conflict in theory. Willem Bonger was a Marx criminologist and he believed that the exploitation and alienation of capitalism were root causes of crime. Individuals had differences with the concern of their own welfare and the welfare of others, conflict was theorized to be a result of these differences. Richard Quinney was also a Marx criminologist and he contended that crime is inevitable under capitalist conditions and that the problem of crime can only be solved by the development of a socialized society.
proving masculinity
Messerschimdt contends that crime is a means of expressing masculinity and flows from poor experiences in school and the experience of poverty, racism, and blocked opportunity
In regards to risk factors, what to the terms clustering and additive effect mean?
Risk factors increase the likelihood of engaging in crime, they tend to cluster, if an individual has one of the risk factors then its likely that they will also have others Risk factors also have additive effects, people with more risk factors have a greater likelihood of crime
social class- covariate 1
Shaw and McKay's theory of social disorganization, they used Burgess's concentric zone model of city development to explain why crime tended to occur in the same areas regardless of the population who resided there
Moffitt's dual pathway model
Terrie Moffitt postulates that while many juveniles engage in antisocial behavior, their delinquency hides two qualitatively different groups of offenders, those whose delinquency is temporary and situational and those whole delinquency is consistent over time and situation
Which type of deviance can labeling theory explain?
The labeling theory explores the process by which labels area applied and the effects of labels once they have been successfully applied, it focuses on the effect that the system and society can have in shaping crime and criminal careers. Secondary deviance falls into the consequences of labeling and is the type of deviance that labeling theory tries to explain since it results from societal reaction to primary deviance.
First marx criminologist
Willem Bonger believed that the exploitation and alienation of capitalism were root causes of crime, conflict was theorized to be a result of differences between individuals with altruism and egoism
routine activites theory
developed by Cohen and Felson, crime results from the interaction of 3 factors - availability of suitable targets -absence of capable guardians -presence of motivated offenders crime only occurs when all 3 components overlap
Deviance Amplification
according to labeling theorist the application of labels and degradation ceremonies necessarily lead to deviance amplification, or an increase in an individual's level of deviance
constraints
against crime include external controls, stakes in conformity, and internal control
Merton
also dabbled into labeling theory, has been credited with developing the idea of the self-fulfilling prophecy, says that individuals will react to any label and try to live up to that label, be it good or bad, characteristics are applied to a person and it doesn't matter if they are accurate or deserved, then the person begins to take on those characteristics that significant others have attributed to them
short term focus
an offender's short term focus is most evident in their earning and buring of money, the pressing need for cash has been identified as a primary motivation for robbery, comes from Wright and Decker
Altruistic people
are concerned with welfare of others
Egoistic people
are only concerned with their own welfare
life span development
assumes that development is a lifelong process, assumes that we can and do make fundamental changes in our life past adolescence and that our development does not stop when we reach adulthood
A constructionist perspective
believes that crime is created by society, concerned with who makes the rules, how the rules are applied and how enforcement of rules affects individuals, we cannot assume that all criminals share the same characteristics but they share the same label criminal is someone who has been successfully labeled as such while non criminal is someone who applies the label or someone who has yet to be caught
Marriage- Sampson and Laub
both happy married and non happy married people commit less crime than unmarried people
Discredited group
cannot hide their stigma or have revealed a character blemish
modern marx criminology
have a tendency to excuse or justify criminals and criminal behavior see appropriate and acceptable behavior arising from the economic relationships that characterize our counter believe class struggle is the only reason, not family, education, etc. Quinney
Max Weber
conflict theory is most associated with him, contended that laws are not the product of consensus, but that those in power shape the context and enforcement of the law, laws are created to favor the upper class and control the lower class, conflict theorist contend that crime is a political concept and not a social concept
seductions
considered pulls, or variables or factors that draw an individual into committing crime
structural conflict theories
contend that criminal law and the criminal justice system are a means of defending and preserving the capitalist system
instrumental conflict theories
contend that criminal law and the criminal justice system are capitalist instruments for controlling the lower class
Masculinization hypothesis
contends that as society increases gender equality, females begin to shed the traditional societal roles for more masculine roles. Females evolve into the role of the breadwinner and motivation to provide can lead females into crime
Emancipation hypothesis
contends that increases in gender equality leads to more women in the workforce and presents these women with more opportunities to commit crime, especially occupational crimes.
Staying alive hypothesis
contends that women are less involved in crime because they are more risk averse than men and are biologically driven to be more invested in parenting and being around for their children than men
Economic marginalization hypothesis
contends the gender gap in pay creates a need for women to commit crime because they are at an economic disadvantage
Subculture of violence
criminologists Wolfgang and Ferracuti contended that the culture of poverty led to the creation of a subculture of violence they recognized the role of violence in delinquent subcultures but also recognized that no subculture can be completely removed from the larger mainstream society and that subculture of violence does not require that violence should be expressed in all situations it does require the willingness to use violence in more situations than larger society would
Marxist criminology
critical theories began with marxist criminology, for marx the focus was on class struggle and the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats
hedonic or hedonistic calculus
deciding not to commit a crime results from the potential risks outweighing the potential reward, in terms of criminal behavior the primary potential risks are chance of getting caught, fear of punishment, and risk of losing respect/status
Stigma
defined as undesirable differentness stigma of being labeled a criminal may increase criminal behavior beyond what would have occurred without the label - people may internalize the label put on them by the criminal justice system -the label itself may block opportunities for success, including education and employment
situational crime prevention
designed to adjust the criminal calculator and make engaging in the criminal action more risky than rewarding
Goldstein's Tripartite
developed a tripartite to explain the link between drugs and violent crime, he offered 3 explains for why drugs lead to violence 1. pharmacological explanation- suggests that violence is a product of the pharmacological properties of the drug itself 2. economic compulsive explanation- suggests that violence is done in an effort to obtain money to buy drugs 3. systemic violence explanation- suggests that violence is committed to gain and keep control of drug markets
Integrated Cognitive Antisocial Potential Theory (2)
developed by David Farrington developed ICAP to address a need that he perceived in the theoretical research literature, to find a theory capable of answer key questions that developmental theory should be able to answer there were 13 questions Farringtons theory is all about the potential for antisocial behavior, antisocial potential becomes antisocial behavior when certain cognitive processes are employed that take into account both criminal opportunities and potential victims
culture of poverty
developed by Oscar Lewis thought that poverty was systematic and so harsh that it led to a subculture of attitudes and mores being transmitted across generations that are born into the subculture and will never be exposed to the mainstream cultural values and norms, which perpetuates poverty
Age graded social control theory (4)
developed by Robert Sampson and John Laub contends that discrete factors influence people at different stages of development, which makes criminal propensity or likelihood to commit crime unstable both contend that social bonds are not stable over time, people can acquire more stronger bonds as they age, transition to adulthood brings many turning points
Dual Pathway Developmental Theory (3)
developed by Terrie Moffitt, contends that delinquency is normal, and there exist two types of delinquents delinquents whose delinquency is temporary and situational and those who delinquency is consistent over time and situation
Erving Goffman
developed one of the most widely used and influential theories on related to labeling and social reaction, contended that social life is drama that takes place on stage, focused on stigma
patriarchy perspective
dominant perspective
pulls
enriching oneself in the short term proving manhood demanding respect
Labeling theory or social reaction theory
explores the process by which labels are applied and the effects of labels once they have been successfully applied 2 people most associated -Frank Tannenbaum: identifying someone as a criminal creates a self-fulfilling prophecy for that person, in which the person labeled starts to believe they're a criminal -Edwin Lemert: distinguish between primary and secondary deviance, primary is criminal action that results in initial contact with the criminal justice system, secondary results from societal reaction to primary deviance
Critical theories
focus on how power creates conflict, how those in power use the laws to maintain their power
Critical theory assumptions
focus on power inequality, and creation of crime and law, focused on who makes the law than who breaks the law assume that a normative level of conflict arises from the creation of laws, laws do not represent a complete consensus among the public and they necessarily create tension between individuals who believe in the law and those who don't, tend to be macro-level theories meaning that they are focused on the bigger picture rather than focused on individual differences or individual causes of crime
Life course theories
focus on what happens over the course of the lifetime that may facilitate persistence in and desistance from crime theory recognizes risk factors at various stages and in various domains of life life span development agency time and place timing linked lives
Degradation ceremonies
following a negative label, an individual will undergo a degradation ceremony this ceremony is a formal or informal ritual in which a person's identity is publicly redefined and the person becomes an outcast
Marxist criminology summed up
greatest strength is that it focused attention on the role of power in the construction of laws, lacks empirical research, romanticism of criminals and the inability to recognize differences between marx capitalism and capitalism today
motivations
include reinforcements for criminal activity, exposure to successful criminal models, learning beliefs favorable to crime, and the experience of strain
Restorative justice
involves individuals recognizing the harm they have caused to society and then working with the victim and the community to develop some way to atone for their criminal behavior
specific deterrence
involves scaring existing offenders straight with the threat of punishment specific deterrence has been theorized to be ineffective
general deterrence
is the notion that punishment will deter crime among the population as a whole, most of the research has focused on the death penalty criminological research concludes that the death penalty has no causal effect on crime, researchers have really turned the focus from severity of punishment to the certainty of punishment one of the largest hurdles is the fact that people do a poor job of estimating the likelihood of punishment
Differential Enforcement
labeling theorist are also concerned with the idea of differential enforcement, where the law is applied differentially so that it benefits those who hold economic or social power and penalizes the powerless
Conflict theory
marxist theorist believed that capitalism is the only source of conflict, conflict theorists contend that there exist a multitude of sources of conflict that lead to crime
liberation perspective
masculinization hypothesis emancipation hypothesis economic marginalization hypothesis staying alive hypothesis
Disproportionately greater involvement in crime
minorities do receive harsher sentences than other groups, especially if they're unemployed
mental illness
more than half of jail and prison inmates have mental health problems offenders with mental illness are most likely to offend against people they know rather than strangers
Lemert
most influential theorist in the development of labeling theory, his contribution is most evident in his distinguishing between primary and secondary deviance
Consequences of labeling
negative labels may permanently harm the individual by blocking opportunity, forcing movement into a deviant subculture, developing a deviant identity, and potentially leading to a deviant career
Age
one of the best and most consistent predictors of criminal behavior, crime is most likely to occur during the late teens and early twenties, criminal activity during adolescence has the potential to lead to adult crime
hot spots policing
one of the methods for increasing the certainty of punishment is to increase the likelihood of detection through the use of increased police presence, 10% increase in officers corresponds to a 3% decrease in crime best method is to increase police presence without hiring more officers is to use hot spot policing it involves strategically placing police in the geographic places where the most crime occurs, one of the major concerns is displacement of crime
3 types of stigma
physical blemishes- physical features that make someone stand out as different and may illicit negative reactions from other people character blemishes- refer to faults in personality or behavior, that while not as visible as physical blemishes can be just as detrimental tribal stigma- stigma that someone receives due to being a part of a certain race, country or even religion
Summing up labeling theory
plus side is that labeling theory identifies the harmful and unintended consequences of formal social control as well as being useful in corrections on the minus side labeling theory can be hard to test, and cannot explain primary deviance
Feminist criminology
primarily concerned with the explanation or explanations of female crime
rational choice theory
rational choice theorist do not assume that offenders are perfectly rational all the time, modern rational choice theorist assume that offenders are still acting rational when they choose to commit crime, however they assume that rationality is bound or limited, offenders react selectively toward the characteristics of particular crimes
Primary deviance
refers to the criminal action that results in initial contact with the criminal justice system
covariates
represent pushes to crime, or variables or factors that make an individuals more likely to engage in criminal activity not considered causes but they do contribute to some of the causes of crime
Secondary deviance
results from the societal reaction to the primary deviance, stigma of the criminal record may increase the likelihood of criminal behavior beyond what would have occurred without the label, secondary falls into the consequences of labeling and is the type of deviance that the labeling theory seeks to explain
The rise of critical theories
rise in popularity of critical theories was most obvious and visible during the turbulent 1960's and 70's, rise was due to perceived failure of rehabilitation programs and the war on poverty, radical social movements like civil rights (read section again)
Importance of risk factor changes over time
risk factors can increase or decrease their effect on an individual depending upon the time in the life course when they experience them
risk factors that life course and development theories recognize
risk factors increase the likelihood of engaging in crime, tend to cluster meaning that when an individual has one of the risk factors it is likely that they will also possess others developmental theories also contend that risk factors have additive effects, meaning that people with more risk factors have a greater likelihood of crime
Agency
states that individuals construct their own life course through the choices and actions they take within the opportunities and constraints of history and social circusmtance contends that individuals are not passively acted upon by social influence and structural constraints, individuals have the power to alter their life course
timing
states that the developmental antecedents and consequences of life transitions, events, and behavioral patterns vary according to their timing in a person's life, the same events or experiments may affect individuals in different ways depending on when they occur in the life course
time and place
states that the life course of individuals is embedded and shaped by the historical times and places they experience over their lifetime, individuals are a product of their history and location
Guns
states with higher rates of firearm ownership have significantly higher rates of homicide, greater number of guns leads to a greater number of homicides
linked lives
suggests that lives are lived interdependently and socio-historical influences are expressed through this network of shared relationships this principle is especially relevant to the issue of delinquent peers
peacemaking criminology
takes a rather radical stance with the idea that punitveness begets violence, meaning that the more we as a society punish offenders, the more violence and crime we create the only way to alleviate crime then is to remove suffering and prevent causes of crime John Braithwaite pushed for the use of restorative justice techniques as a method to reduce further offending by individuals that tend to result form incarceration, nearly 2/3 of all incarcerated offenders reoffend within the first 3 years of being released
Importance of testosterone
testosterone levels have been associated with more violent crimes, more complex than just a direct relationship research by Dabbs and Morris found that the effect of testosterone varied by social class, for individuals lower in social class high testosterone was associated with crime, for individuals higher in social class testosterone was not associated with crime
assumptions of choice and opportunity theories
these theories assume that people are rational and have free will, but also assumes that they are holisitic crime comes from rational decision making and is the product of careful thought and planning, within a rational decision, an individual evaluates risks of engaging in a behavior
adolescent limited offenders
those who age out of crime and tend to only engage in minor forms of delinquency thought to engage in crime due to imitation of life course persistent offenders
life course persistent offenders
those who fail to age out of crime and their delinquency persists, thought to be a product of disruptions in normal neutral development, deficits in verbal functions, and deficits in executive functions including inattentiveness and impulsivity
methods
variety of methods associated with situational crime prevention 1. target hardening- increasing the effort required to complete the criminal action 2. method of reducing provocation- attempting to prevent siutations from escalating into criminal behavior 3. increase the chance of getting caught 4. increase penalties- increasing penalties for criminal behavior should in theory reduce the attractiveness of crime as an action 5. guilt and shame- we dislike guilt and shame and go out of our way to not experience it
broken windows theory
was proposed by Wilson and Kelling and contends that crime is caused by disreputable people and the disorder they create, not necessarily the disreputable people engaging in crime themselves but allowing these individuals to create disorder you are sending a message to potential offenders that this neighborhood does not care and won't intervene
positive vs. negative labels and what labeling theory contends
we are all labeled and labels largely define who we are as people, they can be good, bad, or indifferent
Deviance is a perfect storm
whether something or someone is a criminal depends on many variables, things like timing, who, and consequences, crime and deviance is a perfect storm
the likelihood of anyone committing a crime in a certain situation depends upon
whether the crime will occur and the characteristics of the target, offenders are believed to evaluate their skills, motives, needs, and fears before deciding to commit crime
Labeling process
with the negative label comes diminished self esteem and the feeling of stigma, then leads to isolation and withdrawal from social life which leads to lack of confident or skills, and finally restriction of activities and social roles
Gender
within crime males make up a significantly larger proportion of offenders than females