QUESTIONS & ANSWERS(RATED A+)
criminology - ANSWERthe study of criminal behavior
deviance - ANSWERbehavior that violates social norms; may or may not rise to the
level of criminal behavior; includes a broad spectrum of behaviors ranging from the
most socially harmful behavior to the relatively inoffensive
white collar crime: - ANSWERcrimes that are related to business; acts or series of
acts that are designed with the aim to give a business an advantage
organized crime: - ANSWERcrimes committed by illegal organizations which are
usually operated towards committing illegal actions
high-tech crime: - ANSWERemerged as technology has advanced; ex: hacking,
cyber-stalking identity theft, deep web, child pornography
seven things criminologists do: - ANSWERmeasure crime, sociology of
law/sociological studies, develop theories of crime causation, penology, victimology,
calculate the amount and trends of criminal activity, and test theories in crime
penology: - ANSWERthe correction and sentencing of known criminal offenders
when does a deviant become a crime? - ANSWERa deviant becomes a crime when
it is deemed socially harmful or dangerous; it is then specifically defined, prohibited,
and punished under the criminal law
predict - ANSWERcourt system predicts how likely they are to re-offend and that
helps determine the criminal's sentence
six categories that criminal behavior can be grouped into: - ANSWERviolent crime,
property crime, public order crime, white collar crime, organized crime, high-tech
crime
violent crime: - ANSWERcrimes against persons; usually gets a lot of attention in the
news
property crime: - ANSWERtaking something of economic value; includes larceny,
theft, arson, and burglary
public order crime: - ANSWERcrimes hat are often referred to as victimless crimes
because it's questionable whether there truly is a victim; contrary to public values
victimology: - ANSWERconcerned with the role of the victim; using surveys to
measure the nature, extent, and costs of victimization
, criminal justice system: - ANSWERa dynamic model of interrelated, independent
agencies that operate under numerous checks and balances
consensus view: - ANSWERcrimes are behaviors that are essentially harmful to a
majority of citizens and have been controlled or prohibited by the existing criminal
law
conflict view: - ANSWERthe content of law is shaped by the ongoing class struggle
between the rich and poor; upper class that determines what actions are illegal for
the entire society; the law may be used to control the lower classes
interactionist view: - ANSWERcriminal law is structured to reflect the preferences
and opinions of people who hold social power and use their influence to shape the
legal process
defining crime: - ANSWERcrime is a violation of social rules of conduct, interpreted
and expressed by a written criminal code, created by people holding social and
political power
civil law: - ANSWERconcerned with responsibility, the burden of proof is
preponderance of the evidence, the remedy for violations of civil law is compensation
criminal law: - ANSWERcriminal court is concerned with guilt, the burden of proof is
beyond a reasonable doubt, the remedy for violations is some form of punishment
felonies: - ANSWERmore serious or atrocious than misdemeanors
misdemeanors: - ANSWERless serious crimes; punishable by a fine and or
incarceration in a local jail for up to one year
mala in se: - ANSWERacts that are inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are
prohibited by law
mala prohibita: - ANSWERacts that are illegal by criminal statute and are not
necessarily wrong in and of themselves
uniform crime report (UCR): - ANSWERproduced by the FBI, includes data collected
from 17,500 policing agencies each year, including number of arrests and number of
crimes reported
uniform crime report (UCR) strengths: - ANSWERcollected in a careful and
systematic way, allows for analysis of trends and patterns, measurements of crime
rates, factors in indexes calculating quality of life in US cities
uniform crime report (UCR) weaknesses: - ANSWERcrime unreported by citizens,
crime underreported by police, hierarchy rule, variations in the law
youth population: - ANSWERsmaller than it has been in the past
the economy: - ANSWEReconomic instability is making crime go down