CCJS 105 Introduction to Criminology Final Exam Study Guide cumulative portion The final exam will consist of 100 multiple choice questions Approximately half of these questions will be drawn from the content covered in the first two exams In order to assist your studies a comprehensive list of these items are included below That is only these items appearing below will be drawn from in compiling the cumulative portion of the final exam Please note that some of the terms and concepts listed below are broader than others The dark figure of crime Unreported and unrecorded crimes Strengths and limitations of both the UCR and NCVS UCR o Hierarchy rule only the most serious crime is counted o Sample comes from police departments official reports are drawn from law enforcement agency records If a person commits a crime in a city it does not necessarily mean that they live there but they will influence crime rates ecological fallacy o Most consistent definition of crime across jurisdictions o Can track trends in data o National figures can be broken down these are raw counts represent a census o Subject to political manipulation unfound crime o 8 index crimes included most serious crimes Homicide rape robbery aggravated assault burglary larceny theft motor vehicle theft arson NCVS o Conducted by US census bureau US department of justice o Sample comes from households with telephones o Covers a broader set of crimes does not include homicide or victimless crimes o Eliminates reporting biases o Underreports rapes because of stigma less likely to be discussed o Series victimization a serious of crimes committed by the same person is recorded as a single crime occurring o Excludes institutions like jails businesses o Telescoping memory decay Eliminated by bounding Quantitative and Qualitative data Quantitative statistics Qualitative narrative recount of events provides detail The 3 part definition of criminology Making breaking and reaction to breaking of the law 16 24 year olds are most likely to commit crimes Crime patterns Highest crime rates between 6 pm and 6 am Males commit more crimes than females but since the 1960 s female crime Summer months have more crime South has more homicides rate has been increasing faster than male crime rates Urban areas have more crime Whites commit the most crimes o But are overrepresented in drug abuse white collar crime Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented especially with violent crimes homicides Hispanic households have higher victimization rates than African Americans Lower class is more likely to commit crime Conflict versus consensus theories Conflict power struggle between 2 or more groups that have differing views of the norms of society o Belief that the law disproportionally reflects the interest of a powerful minority within society Consensus society as a whole agrees to what the norms are o Belief that the law reflects the interest of most people in society Mala in se and mala prohibita Mala in se inherently wrong o Rape murder Mala prohibita wrong because it is illegal o Drugs Actus reus and mens rea Actus reus guilty act Mens rea guilty mind Both must be present in order for a crime to have occurred Beccaria Victim offender overlap Typically both the victim and offender have similarities both are males both are in the same social class etc The science of criminology 3 criteria required to establish causal relationship o Correlation o Temporal ordering o Must eliminate spuriousness the potential for a third element The role of ideology and politics o Basic beliefs or values may filter scientific information o Science can be used to advance political claims o Legal or economic pressure can influence the findings of scientific research or the way it is disseminated reported or interpreted Independent and dependent variables Cross sectional and longitudinal data Macro micro Cross sectional data collected at 1 point in time Longitudinal data collected over time Macro groups gangs neighborhoods states nations etc Micro individual background psychological factors etc Relative rates of crimes and crime numbers produced by UCR and NCVS NCVS has double the crime rates of the UCR NCVS violent crime rate is 5 times the rate of UCR NCVS property crime rate is 4 times the rate of UCR Self report data Similar to NCVS but not series victimization Tries to enhance the quantity quality statistical data collected by law enforcement Telescoping memory decay Sampling from general population Based on offender behavior People may be dishonest or not know how to answer NYS National Youth Survey o Sample comes from public school students o More information on deviance rather than crime o Limited because many deviants may not be in school Important figures Emile Durkheim Anomie state of normlessness causes more crimes to occur Sociological criminology o Lack of rules and definitions about what the function of society should be o Tends to occur most often during times of change in societal values Organic mechanical solidarity o Moving from mechanical to organic solidarity causes more crime because the more specific your job is the more you have to rely on others o Mechanical uniformity solidarity based on commonly shared beliefs values o Organic diversity of roles functions division of labor solidarity based on interdependence specialization Sociological theories Functionalism What is it How is deviance defined up and down o Idea that crime is normal serves a purpose o No society has ever existed crime free o Crime is to be regulated controlled not eliminated o Crime deviance are continually refined Defining deviance up more restrictive law Defining deviance down more permissive law o Result Produces social solidarity Normality is defined through a contrast with criminality Benefits society through allowing for innovation adaptation Practical benefit is in managing workload o Otherwise individuals would be pathologically over controlled Cesare Beccaria Deterrence Classical criminology o Swiftness severity certainty o Certainty is most important and most effective o Emphasized less severity General and specific deterrence o General o Specific Deterrence of others regardless of whether the individual criminal is deterred Preventing the criminal from reoffending Focuses on the defendant regardless of any possible offending by others People have free will the ability to make rational decisions they will act in a way that is advantageous to them Book Crime and
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