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