SOC 368, Learning Unit 3, Terms and Concepts List #6
Covers These Lectures: Political Crime
Copy and paste this page into the text window on Blackboard (click “Write Submission” to open it).
Define each term or concept using the definitions you learned from the lecture or the textbook. Where
possible, write the definition in your own words - avoid word-for-word copying from these sources.
Do not define by giving an example. Do not use the dictionary or the Internet to find your definitions.
When finished, submit your work by clicking “Submit” at the bottom of the page.
POLITICAL CRIME
1. Political crime - Crime committed for ideological reasons.
2. Intimidation - they try to threaten or intimidate an opponent who does not share their
political views.
3. Revolution - they are trying to overthrow and replace the government that they disapprove
of.
4. Profit - they are committing crimes by selling state secrets with the aim of overthrowing
the government.
5. Conviction - this is the true believer, who thinks they have a just cause; that they are on the
side of right.
6. Pseudo-conviction - this is the manipulator who pretends to be a true believer, but they
actually collect true believers to achieve their goals.
7. List the four cognitive stages of political criminals and define each one briefly
● It's not right - this is when someone feels like there is something wrong with the
government they are opposed to.
● It's not fair - this is when the perspective political criminal decides that the condition that
bothers them in the first stage is a condition of injustice and unfairness on the part of
the government.
● It's your fault - this is where the perspective political criminal finds someone to blame,
and it is usually a person or group within the government that they resent.
● You are evil - this is when the person or group that they hate is demonized so much that
the criminal no longer sees those folks as humans, and that makes them a palatable
and appropriate target.
, 8. Election fraud - is the illegal interference with the process of any election
9. List the types of election fraud discussed in the lecture and define each one briefly
● Intimidation - this is scaring voters away from the polls, threatening them before an
election ow with armed guards at polling places.
● Disruption - when there are bomb threats at the polling area or sabotage of polling
places or ballots, or voting machines, and so forth.
● Misinformation - is when flyers are sent to voters with opposition party misinformation
on them, directing them to new or different polling places, or reporting an incorrect date
to vote after it's over.
● Registration fraud - is registering nonexistent or even dead voters to vote in an election,
etc.
● Vote buying - this is when you bribe people to change their votes
10. Treason - an act of disloyalty to your nation or state.
11. Espionage - Spying; the stealing of secrets.
12. Industrial espionage - Spying in the commercial sector.
13. Foreign industrial espionage - occurs when foreign agents infiltrate U.S. businesses and
steal their secrets.
14. State political crime - the argument that the state often perpetrates criminal acts against its
own citizens in an effort to maintain public order, control dissent, and uphold the inequality in
their cultures.
15. Torture - a form of political crime used to obtain secrets and information.
16. Ticking bomb scenario - this is often used to justify this kind of torture.
17. Waterboarding - simulates drowning. It causes the victim to believe that they will die by
drowning if they do not give information.
18. Terrorism - the purposeful targeting of innocents for political purposes in order to spread
fear and intimidation.
19. International terrorism - terrorism perpetrated by citizens of one country against the
citizens of another country.
20. Domestic terrorism - refers to terror that is carried out by citizens against other citizens
inside their own country.
21. Terror cell - groups that share allegiance to a common cause but operate independently
so that they cannot give one another away if they are caught.
Covers These Lectures: Political Crime
Copy and paste this page into the text window on Blackboard (click “Write Submission” to open it).
Define each term or concept using the definitions you learned from the lecture or the textbook. Where
possible, write the definition in your own words - avoid word-for-word copying from these sources.
Do not define by giving an example. Do not use the dictionary or the Internet to find your definitions.
When finished, submit your work by clicking “Submit” at the bottom of the page.
POLITICAL CRIME
1. Political crime - Crime committed for ideological reasons.
2. Intimidation - they try to threaten or intimidate an opponent who does not share their
political views.
3. Revolution - they are trying to overthrow and replace the government that they disapprove
of.
4. Profit - they are committing crimes by selling state secrets with the aim of overthrowing
the government.
5. Conviction - this is the true believer, who thinks they have a just cause; that they are on the
side of right.
6. Pseudo-conviction - this is the manipulator who pretends to be a true believer, but they
actually collect true believers to achieve their goals.
7. List the four cognitive stages of political criminals and define each one briefly
● It's not right - this is when someone feels like there is something wrong with the
government they are opposed to.
● It's not fair - this is when the perspective political criminal decides that the condition that
bothers them in the first stage is a condition of injustice and unfairness on the part of
the government.
● It's your fault - this is where the perspective political criminal finds someone to blame,
and it is usually a person or group within the government that they resent.
● You are evil - this is when the person or group that they hate is demonized so much that
the criminal no longer sees those folks as humans, and that makes them a palatable
and appropriate target.
, 8. Election fraud - is the illegal interference with the process of any election
9. List the types of election fraud discussed in the lecture and define each one briefly
● Intimidation - this is scaring voters away from the polls, threatening them before an
election ow with armed guards at polling places.
● Disruption - when there are bomb threats at the polling area or sabotage of polling
places or ballots, or voting machines, and so forth.
● Misinformation - is when flyers are sent to voters with opposition party misinformation
on them, directing them to new or different polling places, or reporting an incorrect date
to vote after it's over.
● Registration fraud - is registering nonexistent or even dead voters to vote in an election,
etc.
● Vote buying - this is when you bribe people to change their votes
10. Treason - an act of disloyalty to your nation or state.
11. Espionage - Spying; the stealing of secrets.
12. Industrial espionage - Spying in the commercial sector.
13. Foreign industrial espionage - occurs when foreign agents infiltrate U.S. businesses and
steal their secrets.
14. State political crime - the argument that the state often perpetrates criminal acts against its
own citizens in an effort to maintain public order, control dissent, and uphold the inequality in
their cultures.
15. Torture - a form of political crime used to obtain secrets and information.
16. Ticking bomb scenario - this is often used to justify this kind of torture.
17. Waterboarding - simulates drowning. It causes the victim to believe that they will die by
drowning if they do not give information.
18. Terrorism - the purposeful targeting of innocents for political purposes in order to spread
fear and intimidation.
19. International terrorism - terrorism perpetrated by citizens of one country against the
citizens of another country.
20. Domestic terrorism - refers to terror that is carried out by citizens against other citizens
inside their own country.
21. Terror cell - groups that share allegiance to a common cause but operate independently
so that they cannot give one another away if they are caught.
