Category: Deviance & Crime

Consider the social process and social reaction theories discussed and think
about your own conformity and/or deviant behavior. Do any of the theories
resonate with you? I think that the biggest theory that has a lot of social control over me is the labeling theory. I have this immense fear of what other people think of me and this can deter me from doing deviant acts. For example, my mom and I have a big trust that we have built up over the years. When my friends wanted to do a risky act I would most likely not go or do it because I don’t know what the consequences of that action would do to that trust. On top of that, she has also labeled me her easy child which I have felt that I need to uphold, I don’t want to get into trouble and have to burden my mom with me not being the “easy child” for her anymore. this could also tie into the social bond theory that fear or work of losing a bond that I have that’s very dear to me. For example, if you are mostly a conformist, do social control theories help to explain why? As a conformist, I think that social control has made a big difference in what deviant acts people may pursue if society is looking at your less likely to commit a crime unless you don’t have any regard for what society thinks then I don’t think that it would stop anyone. I think people would do things of their own free will because they can. If you have engaged in deviant behavior, but have avoided being labeled,
would your current circumstances be different had you been publicly labeled? I think that they would have been different if I wasn’t being labeled I may have continued to do deviant things of my own free will. on the other hand labeling and the judgment of other would have deterred me from doing those kinds of acts and I would be more of a conformist. If you have engaged in criminal or deviant behavior, to what extent was it learned? if I have been involved in criminal behavior it was likely to avoid being labeled by my peers that I’m with, they want to do something deviant and I’ll follow because I don’t want to be labeled lame or scared.

• Rational choice and determinist theorists have very different ideas about what causes people to engage in criminal and deviant behaviors. Describe the main differences between the two. Rational choice theorists believe that people have thought about the consequences of the crime that they’re going to commit. many times it’s because the people about to commit the crime feel that they have nothing to lose if that consequence is put into action. while determinists believe that there could be another underlying cause for someone to make those choices like mental health. What is the goal of the pre-crime unit in Minority Report? They could see the future of crimes which helped them with figuring out crimes and the criminals who had or are going to commit the act. The goal of the pre-crime unit is to arrest people before they commit their crimes. Hoping to save their victims from being murdered. What assumption does the unit make concerning the cause of criminality? Consider how this might relate to deterministic theories of crime. I believe that the assumption that had gone into the unit is that all the crimes were done with a rational choice that the criminals had thought about it and ultimately chose to still commit the crimes even knowing the consequences. As I think about it the deterministic theory there could have been other factors that were causing them to commit those deviant acts like mental illness, and financial burdens, there could have been many biological factors that go into someone committing a violent act. Does ‘free will play any part in the behaviors and actions of the characters in the film? That’s a big question to answer it’s hard to tell in the movie because they’re testing the theory of free will and deterministic theory. In the movie, they’re trying to see if things in the future are set and there is no way of stopping it. It is the fact that people generally have free will when it comes to most things and this can cloud the consequences. In what ways can “pre-crime” prediction be useful/beneficial to society? In what ways can it be harmful? Use examples from the film to explain. The pre-crime prediction can be useful in the fact that I could be saving another life and ultimately stopping someone from committing a violent act. on the other hand, there are some harmful aspects of these predictions. what if there and they arrest the wrong person and there is still wrongdoing? there are mant flaws what about self control how do we know that these perdictions are really going to happen.

Outline the central tenets of classical criminology theory

The central tenets of classical criminology are rationality, hedonism, punishment, human rights, and due process. 

What role does RATIONAL CHOICE play in criminal behavior for classical theorists?

Rational choice is the insist that crime is calculated 

Why is the concept of deterrence so crucial to classical theory?

Because of the severity of the classical theory and the consequence that play along with deterrence people will be likely not to commit a crime because of how drastic the results are. 

Outline the importance of CERTAINTY, SEVERITY, and SPEED to the deterring effect of punishments.

It’s important we have certain evidence that is sure to prove that they’re guilty and have many pieces of information to really supports them. it’s important to work at the face pace to figure out the correct way of punishment.

How rational is choice?

The choice isn’t as rational as we may think. The option is what we as people may gain interest in. how may we define sensible choice does this mean we have to think about the consequences of the choice? Many things could happen to change you if you do something rational. 

Does deterrence work?

I think that deterrence does work for people that have to lose something. deterrence is trying to strike fear in people from committing an act due to harsh punishments that could happen.

Journal Reflection

• Have you been deterred from behaving a certain way because of the threat of formal control?

In high school, I had a friend that was really social and wanted to go to a party. she often didn’t listen to her parents, but I was not the same way with my mom. my friend had wanted me to come and my mom didn’t want me to go. I was tempted to go and not tell my mom but I never lied to her. if had gone to the party with my friend I was nervous my mom was going to figure out I was at the party. Not only that if I had lied to my mom I was scared I would then lose the trust I had had with her.

Guest speaker Reflection

This week for class we had a guest speaker come into class. He was a criminal sketch artist located in California. He had gone over a lot of really interesting things that I’d like to touch on. At the beginning of his presentation, he spoke about memory and eye whiteness memory. He explained how the mind can change over time. This makes it hard for law enforcement to use eyewitnesses. This is why when a crime is committed and there’s an eye witness post-event information is super important to get. Post-event information is asking lead questions, pictures, and suggestions made. This is how can we get reliable information regularly. The human memory is unstable and not always reliable and the criminal justice system relies on one it to convict people. Getting reliable information is important because if it’s not someone could be wrongfully convicted. Our guest speaker brought up The Innocent’s Project a group that is trying to help people who have been seen to be wrongfully convicted and get them out of prison. The only thing is the innocent’s project can only help if their DNA evidence is in the case. This leaves many people stuck in our prison systems. This is why it’s vital that law enforcement and sketch artist don’t use heuristics (shortcuts) when interviewing. It’s a danger to take shortcuts, take time and gather reliable information. He had urged that it was important how you gather information. The biggest thing in sketch art is that eyewitnesses can use references. Which can mess with the reliability of the information, and can pick up on other information. Our minds are working on making connections all the time and that’s why it’s important to think about your role when asking questions and be mindful when you’re trying to retrieve cognitive evidence.

Part One

Favorite shows/movies  –  The rookie, Criminal Minds, law and order, Dateline, unsolved mysteries

What Ideas about crime are portrayed in these popular depictions? 

• In these shows, crime is depicted as out of control and over-morbid. Some of these shows seem exaggerated. There are usually big depictions of murder and in shows and movies most crimes have been solved; when many cases have not been solved. 

How do they inform your perceptions about crime?

• They give a big insight that there is crime everywhere and it can affect everyone. It helps me to keep in mind my surrounding. These shows have given off the perception 

List 5 facts that seem real from your collective favorites.

1. Anymore can murder you
2. The FBI is solving cases every week 
3. Crime is everywhere (what you classify as crime)
4. Sale of Drugs and its use use
5. Mental disorders

Part Two

• What is a uniform crime report (UCR)?

• Data supplied by local enforcement to the FBI (1930)
• FBI tabulates these data and issues quarterly and annual reports. Typically summarized and circulated by the media
• voluntarily…

The UCR is a program that generated reliable statistics that are collected by law enforcement; it’s given the information to researchers, media, and the general public to use. The police department is not required to do this, but there is 90% compliance. 

• What are index crimes and non-index crimes?
• Criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle. 

An index crime is are “illegal act considered to be particularly serious.” examples of these are criminal homicide; forcible rape; robbery. While on the other hand non-index crimes are also known as violations.

• Status offenses, vandalism, drunkenness. 
• Non-index crimes are only recorded if there is an arrest

• What crimes are excluded from index offenses?

Kidnapping, embezzlement, corporate crime, political crime, computer fraud, and many other white-collar offenses.

• What is the ‘dark figure’ of crime?

A crime that has been unreported or recorded. This is the ‘dark figure’ of crime. This could be many reasons emberssment. 

• What do SRD and NCVS stand for, and how do these approaches address the ‘dark figure’? 

• Self-report studies – primarily done on juvenile delinquency
• The national crime victimization serves
• Ask directly about criminal behavior 

• What examples of major trends are observed in the UCR, SRD, and NCVS data

• Three measures suggest different things about the crime problem
• According to the UCR, crime increased from 1960 to 1990 and had been declining since 1991.
• Both the NCVS and the SRD suggest

What is criminology?

Well, that’s a good question. In my own words when I think of criminology I hear the study of criminals and the science behind their behaviors. Many people didn’t know that criminology is science-based, it is just a social factor. Criminologists use theory and methods when collecting data. The study of criminology is trying to name why crime happens. Why do people commit crimes? This is what criminologists are trying to figure out. I’m not that familiar with a lot yet but I’m excited to learn more about criminology and how I can use theories and apply them to life