Juvenile Delinquency Exam #2
Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Micro Level Theories - ✔✔- focus on characteristics of the individual
- critiqued because people often believe they can be too general and they don't consider
the unique experiences of youth
Normative Theories - ✔✔standard norm; we all agree on what delinquency is
Classical School - ✔✔- came out of the Enlightenment questioning how punishment
effects behavior
- looked at everyone as autonomous actors making their own decisions
Who were the leading figures of the classical school? - ✔✔Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy
Bentham
General Deterrence - ✔✔everyone else is less likely to do what the accused did, after
witnessing the punishment they went through
Specific Deterrence - ✔✔as a result of punishment, the accused is specifically deterred
after receiving their sentence
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,What are the components of deterrence? - ✔✔Certainty, swiftness, and severity
Rational Choice Theory - ✔✔focuses on people that weigh their costs and benefits
- a classical school theory assuming offenders act deliberately
Routine Activities Theory - ✔✔- each of us encounter instances where crime might be
more easily committed
- there must be the presence of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and a lack of a
guardian/supervision
Who is more likely to commit a crime according to RAT? - ✔✔Boys
Classical School Impact - ✔✔- Deterrence is highly ineffective when compared to other
methods
- Doesn't take into account why juveniles commit crime
- Falls short because it doesn't discuss what happens after punishment
Shock Deterrence - ✔✔when juveniles are thrown into an environment that shocks
them to their core; shakes up everyday life and serves to give them a wakeup call
- ex. shock incarceration, scared straight programs
Positivist School - ✔✔- Looks at factors other than free will and assumes that people are
easily susceptible to what's going on around them
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, - First to use the scientific method
- Focuses on the offender rather than the offense; criminal but not the crime
- Divided into three categories: sociological, psychological, and biological
Cesare Lombroso - ✔✔A positivist theorist and the father of modern criminology
- believes people are not rational beings and some have more free will than others
- highly influential in looking at how biology impacts our behavior
- idea that a criminal is not as evolved and is more similar to a subhuman species
Born Criminal Concept - ✔✔Lombroso's theory that rather than acting on free will, we
are simply pre-determined and already born as criminals
- based on physical defects that supposedly led to an inability to learn, therefore making
it harder to follow the legal rules of society
Criticisms of Lombroso's Approach - ✔✔- overlooked smart/handsome criminals
- can't explain white collar crime
- also overlooks those with physical disabilities that fit his narrative, but led crime-free
lives
- didn't take lack of nutrition, sickness attributed to these defects into account
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Questions and Answers 100% Pass
Micro Level Theories - ✔✔- focus on characteristics of the individual
- critiqued because people often believe they can be too general and they don't consider
the unique experiences of youth
Normative Theories - ✔✔standard norm; we all agree on what delinquency is
Classical School - ✔✔- came out of the Enlightenment questioning how punishment
effects behavior
- looked at everyone as autonomous actors making their own decisions
Who were the leading figures of the classical school? - ✔✔Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy
Bentham
General Deterrence - ✔✔everyone else is less likely to do what the accused did, after
witnessing the punishment they went through
Specific Deterrence - ✔✔as a result of punishment, the accused is specifically deterred
after receiving their sentence
100% Pass Guarantee Olivia West, All Rights Reserved © 2025 1
,What are the components of deterrence? - ✔✔Certainty, swiftness, and severity
Rational Choice Theory - ✔✔focuses on people that weigh their costs and benefits
- a classical school theory assuming offenders act deliberately
Routine Activities Theory - ✔✔- each of us encounter instances where crime might be
more easily committed
- there must be the presence of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and a lack of a
guardian/supervision
Who is more likely to commit a crime according to RAT? - ✔✔Boys
Classical School Impact - ✔✔- Deterrence is highly ineffective when compared to other
methods
- Doesn't take into account why juveniles commit crime
- Falls short because it doesn't discuss what happens after punishment
Shock Deterrence - ✔✔when juveniles are thrown into an environment that shocks
them to their core; shakes up everyday life and serves to give them a wakeup call
- ex. shock incarceration, scared straight programs
Positivist School - ✔✔- Looks at factors other than free will and assumes that people are
easily susceptible to what's going on around them
100% Pass Guarantee Olivia West, All Rights Reserved © 2025 2
, - First to use the scientific method
- Focuses on the offender rather than the offense; criminal but not the crime
- Divided into three categories: sociological, psychological, and biological
Cesare Lombroso - ✔✔A positivist theorist and the father of modern criminology
- believes people are not rational beings and some have more free will than others
- highly influential in looking at how biology impacts our behavior
- idea that a criminal is not as evolved and is more similar to a subhuman species
Born Criminal Concept - ✔✔Lombroso's theory that rather than acting on free will, we
are simply pre-determined and already born as criminals
- based on physical defects that supposedly led to an inability to learn, therefore making
it harder to follow the legal rules of society
Criticisms of Lombroso's Approach - ✔✔- overlooked smart/handsome criminals
- can't explain white collar crime
- also overlooks those with physical disabilities that fit his narrative, but led crime-free
lives
- didn't take lack of nutrition, sickness attributed to these defects into account
100% Pass Guarantee Olivia West, All Rights Reserved © 2025 3
