Criminology Test 2 (Vocab Chapter 9) – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Desist
answer
To spontaneously stop commit crime
question
Development Theories
answer
Theories that attempt to explain the "natural history" of a criminal career; its onset, the course it follows and its termination.
question
Life-course Theories
answer
Theories reflecting the view that criminality is a dynamic process, influenced by many characteristics, traits and experiences, and that behavior changes accordantly, for better or worst, over the life course
question
Latent Trait (propensity) Theories
answer
theories reflecting the view that criminal behavior is controlled by a master trait, present at birth or soon after, that remains stable and unchanging throughout a persons lifetime.
question
Problem Behavior Syndrome (PBS)
answer
A cluster of antisocial behaviors that may include family dysfunction, substance abuse, smoking, precocious sexually and early pregnancy, educational underachievement, suicide attempt, sensation seeking, and unemployment, as well as crime.
question
Authority Conflict Theory
answer
Path to a criminal career that begins with early stubborn behavior and defiance of parents.
question
Covert Pathways
answer
Path to a criminal career that begins with a minor underhanded behavior and progresses to fire starting and theft
question
Overt Pathways
answer
Path to a criminal career that begins with minor aggression, leads to physical fighting, and eventually escalates to violent crime.
question
Adolenscence-limited Offender
answer
One who follows the most common criminal trajectory, in which antisocial behavior peaks in adolescence and then diminishes.
question
Life-course Persister
answer
One of the small group of offenders whose criminal careers continue well into adulthood.
question
Integrated Theories
answer
Models of crime causation that weave social and individual variables into a complex explanatory chain
question
Age-Graded Theory
answer
According to Robert Sampson and John Laub, discrete factors influence people t different stages of their development, so the propensity to commit crimes is neither stable nor unyielding. The likelihood of commit crimes is linked to the accumulation (or absence) of social capital, social control, and human decision making.
question
Turning Points
answer
According to Laub and Sampson, the life events that alter the development of a criminal career
question
Social Capital
answer
Positive, life-sustaining relations with individuals and institutions
question
Latent Trait
answer
A stable feature, characteristic, property, or condition, present at birth or soon after, that makes some people crime-prone over the life course.
question
General Theory of Crime (GTC)
answer
Gottfredson and Hirschi's developmental theory, which modifies social control theory by integrating concepts from biosocial, psychological , routine activities and rational choice theories
question
Self-control Theory
answer
Gottfredson and Hirshis view that the cause of delinquent behavior is impulsive personality. Kids who are impulsive may have a weak bond to society.
question
developmental criminology
answer
attempt to provide a more global vision of a criminal career encompassing its onset, continuation, and termination
question
trajectory theory
answer
suggests that there are multiple trajectories in a criminal career
question
cumulative disadvantage
answer
repeat negative experiences
question
state dependence
answer
kids who have the propensity to commit crime will find that this latent trait profoundly and permanently disrupts normal socialization
question
self-control
answer
people with a lack of this are considered impulsive, insensitive to other people's feelings, physical (rather than mental), risk takers, shortsighted, and nonverbal
