Criminal Justice Chapter 3 Vocab
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theory
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an assumption that attempts to explain why or how things are related to each other
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criminological theory
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the explanation of criminal behavior as well the behavior of the police attorneys prosecutors judges correctional personnel victims and other actors in the criminal justice process
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classical theory
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a product of the enlightenment based on the assumption that people exercise free will and are thus completely responsible for their actions.In classical theory human behavior including criminal behavior is motivated by a hedonistic rationality in witch actors weight the potential pleasure of an action against the possible pain associated with it
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utility
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the principle that a policy should provide the greatest happiness shared by the greatest number
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social contract
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an imaginary agreement to sacrifice the minimum amount of liberty necessary to prevent anarchy and chaos
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special or specific deterrence
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the prevention of individuals from committing crimes again by punishing them
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general deterrence
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the prevention of people in general or society at large from engaging in crime by punishing specific individuals and making examples of them
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neoclassical theory
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the modification of classical theory in witch it was conceded that certain factors such as insanity might inhibit the exercise of free will
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biological inferiority
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according to biological theory a criminals innate psychological makeup produces certain physical or genetic characteristics that distinguish criminals from non criminals
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criminal anthropology
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the study of criminal human beings
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atavist
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a person who reverts to a savage type
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limbic system
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a structure surrounding the brain stem that in part controls the life functions of heartbeat breathing and sleep it also is believed to moderate expressions of violence such emotions of anger rage fear and sexual response
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psychopaths sociopaths or antisocial personalities
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persons characterized by no sense of guilt non subjective conscience and no sense of right and wrong they have difficulty in forming relationships with other people they cannot emphasize with other people
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anomie for Durkheim
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the dissociation of the individual from the collective conscience
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collective conscience
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the general sense of morality of the times
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Chicago school
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a group of sociologists at the university of Chicago who assumed in their research that delinquent behavior was a product of social disorganization
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social disorganization
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the condition in witch usual controls over delinquency are largely absent delinquent behavior is often approved by parents and neighbors their are many opportunities for delinquent behavior and their is little encouragement training or opportunity for legitimate employment
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anomie for Merton
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the contradiction between the cultural goal of achieving wealth and the social structure's inability to provide legitimate institutional means for achieving the goal
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imitation or modeling
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a means by witch a person can learn new responses by observing others without preforming any overt act or receiving direct enforcement or reward
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different association
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Sutherland's theory that persons who become criminal do so because of contacts with criminal patterns and isolation from anticriminal patterns
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learning theory
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a theory that explains criminal behavior and prevention with the concepts of positive reinforcement negative reinforcement extinction punishment and modeling or imitation
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positive reinforcement
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the presentation of a stimulus that increases or maintains a response
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negative reinforcement
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the removal or reduction of a stimulus who''s removal or reduction increases or maintains a response
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extinction
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the process in witch behavior that previously was positively reinforced was no longer reinforced
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punishment
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the presentation of an aversive stimulus to reduce a response
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social control theory
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a view in witch people are expected to commit crime and delinquency unless they are prevented from doing so
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labeling theory
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a theory that emphasizes the criminalization process as the cause of some crime
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criminalization process
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the way people and actions are defined as criminal
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conflict theory
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a theory that assumes that society in based primarily on conflict between competing interest groups that criminal law and criminal justice system are used to control subordinate groups. crime is caused by relative powerlessness
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power differentials
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the ability of some groups to dominate other groups in a society
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relative powerlessness
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in conflict theory the inability to dominate other groups in society
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radical theories
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theories of crime causation generally based on a Marxist theory of class struggle
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class struggle
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for radical criminologists the competition among wealthy people and among poor people witch causes crime
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left realists
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a group of social scientists who argue that criminal criminologists need to redirect their focus to the fear and the very real victimization experienced by working class people
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relative deprivation
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refers to inequalities that are defined by a person as unfair or unjust
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peacemaking criminology
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an approach that suggest that the solution to all social problems including crime after the transformation of human beings mutual independence reduction of class structure the creation of communities of caring people and universal social justice.
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feminist theory's
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a perspective on criminality that focuses on women's experiences and seeks to abolish men's control over women's labor and sexuality
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patriarchy
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men's control over women's labor and sexuality
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post modernism
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an area of critical thought that among other things attempts to understand the creation of knowledge and how knowledge and language create hierarchy and domination
