1 Foundations of Criminology Free Online FlashCards

What does criminology study?

Criminology is the systematic, interdisciplinary study of crime, criminal behavior, people and communities affected by crime, and society’s responses.

How does criminology differ from criminal justice?

Criminology explains crime and social responses; criminal justice focuses more directly on institutions and processes such as policing, courts, and corrections.

What makes conduct a crime in law?

A crime is conduct prohibited by a jurisdiction’s criminal law and subject to formal punishment.

How do crime and deviance differ?

Deviance violates social expectations, while crime violates criminal law. Some deviant acts are legal, and some crimes are not widely viewed as immoral.

What makes a criminological theory useful for research?

A theory organizes observations and offers clear, testable claims that researchers can compare with evidence.

How do police records and victimization surveys differ?

Police records count offenses reported to and recorded by law enforcement; victimization surveys can capture some offenses not reported to police.

Why doesn’t correlation alone prove causation?

Correlation means factors occur together; it does not by itself establish that one factor causes the other.

What distinguishes specific from general deterrence?

Specific deterrence concerns the effect of punishment on the person punished; general deterrence concerns the effect a threatened sanction may have on others.

What is the central idea of social learning approaches?

Social learning approaches propose that people may learn offending techniques and attitudes favorable to crime through interactions with others.

What do strain approaches examine?

Strain approaches examine how obstacles to valued goals or other pressures, together with available coping options, may shape responses. Strain does not make crime inevitable.

What do social disorganization approaches focus on?

Social disorganization approaches examine how community instability, concentrated disadvantage, and weakened social ties can affect collective support and informal social control.

What factors do social control approaches say can encourage conformity?

Social control approaches emphasize bonds to family, school, work, and community, as well as commitments and beliefs that can discourage offending.