CRIM 101 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Victimology, Observational Learning, Prenatal Nutrition
24 Jun 2018
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Midterm Structure:
o 1 hour and 50 minutes
o 60 marks
o Worth 30% (60 divided by 2)
o 20 Multiple Choice
o 10 True/False
o 10 Short Definitions
o 2 Long Answers
Chapter 1:
Key Takeaways
• Criminology is the study of crime. It looks at a broad range of issues including, causes, theories,
the criminal justice system, and the criminalization process.
o Criminal justice system: the various institutions and processes through which an offender
passes, such as the police, the courts, and correctional facilities and programs.
o Criminalization: To define an act as a crime, and thereby subject that act to formal
punishment.
• The emergence of criminology as a social science is relatively recent. Its social backdrop involves
changes in society that motivated a significant increase in crime.
• Criminology is considered a multidisciplinary science because it takes principles, premises,
concepts, and approaches from multiple long-standing disciplines to study crime.
Key Concepts
• Criminology – the study of crime and criminal behaviour
• Crime -
• Multidisciplinary social science
• Hot spot policing
• CPTED – a program of crime prevention of environmental design; originated from C. Ray
Jefferey. It is a multi-disciplinary approach, and almost all of its interventions apply to urban
environment, using, among their initiatives, landscape and lighting design to increase natural
surveillance.
o Seeks to manage crime by decreasing the opportunity and an individual’s motivation for
committing crime, and by increasing the risk to the offender if the crime is committed.
o Critics argue that the environmental design can only displace crime to less-protected
environments, and does not address the root causes of or motivation for criminal
offences.
• SCP
• Sociological approaches
• Psychological approaches
• Biological approaches
• Quantitative methods – relating to the measurement of something – its quantity – rather than its
qualities.
• Qualitative methods – the study of phenomena based not on measurement but an exploration of
the reasons for human behaviour and the qualities of subjective experience.
Chapter 2:
Key Takeaways
• The media portrays crime stories through a problem frame (i.e. a narrative) that attracts
audiences. This depiction is simple to understand and conveys crimes as extraordinary bad acts
that affect a large portion of the population. The solution and who is responsible to find and
implement it are easily identifiable.
• Crime stories may start a moral panic when they portray an exaggerated or inaccurate version of
the facts related to the offence. Moral panics can be explained through 3 theories and involve 5
distinct features.
o Moral panic: occurs when there is a gap between people’s perceptions of a problem and
the “fact” of the problem, and the difference can be explained ideologically.
§ Stanley Cohen is often regarded as the thinker who first coined the term “moral
panic”
§ Moral entrepreneurs are members of society who have wealth, power and
political clout, not to mention time and energy to pursue moral crusade.
§ Unless a certain behaviour was labelled as deviant of criminal by moral
entrepreneurs and became the target of rule-making and rule enforcement, then
the behaviour would likely to be tolerated or ignored by society.
§ Goode & Ben-Yehuda describe three theories or models that attempt to explain
why moral panics emerge:
• The “Grassroots Model” – moral panics begin with genuine public
concern about a problem (real or imagined): politicians and the media
become involved in response to public concern
• The “Elite-Engineered Model” – small, powerful groups deliberately set
out to create moral panics, to divert public attention away from truly
serious social problems, where solutions might negatively impact
interests of the elite groups themselves
• “Interest Group Theory” – most widely used approach to moral panics.
The media, politicians, professional groups, religious organizations may
act independently, may genuinely believe they are acting in the best
interest of society.
§ Goode and Ben-Yehuda also proposed 5 features of moral panics: concern,
hostility, consensus, disproportionality and volatiliy
• The media’s portrayal of offenders, victims, and authorities shape our understanding of them
through the creations and perpetuation of stereotypes and the use of unrealistic depictions.
• Deviance
o Involves a violation of social norms or expectations
o Not usually punished (or sanctioned) by the state
o Usually punished (or sanctioned) through informal social processes
• Crime
o Violations against formal prohibitions codified in the law
o Penalty may by imprisonment or other punishment by law
o Prosecuted by state. Harm to society and threat to public order
• Framing – who should be protected, from whom (folk devils) and by whom.
Key Concepts
• The media effects – the concept that exposure to media has an effect on behaviour. For example,
young people exposed to violent media will behave aggressively
• Critical thinking – the process of evaluating information, claims, or arguments through careful
questioning and the application of reason.
• Cultural criminology – examines links between culture, crime and crime control.
• Active audiences – the concept that audiences are not passive recipients of information or
meanings but are instead active in the process of creating meaning
• Problem frame – a narrative that is easily understood because it focuses on the existence of
something extraordinary and “bad” that affects many people and identifies unambiguous
solutions that can be implemented in the future.
• Moral panics – occurs when there is a gap between people’s perceptions of a problem and the
“fact” of the problem, and the difference can be explained ideologically
• Folk devils – originating in images from folklore, this term refers to people or groups presented in
media as deviant outsiders and the cause of social problems
• Moral entrepreneurs - members of society who have wealth, power and political clout, not to
mention time and energy to pursue moral crusade.
• Stereotyping – the simplistic and often belittling representation of a person or group, using
exaggerations of traits that the larger group supposedly possesses
• Ideal victims – weal, going about routine, blameless, unrelated to offender, submissive position,
power/empathy: victim status
Chapter 3:
Key Takeaways
• In Canada, the behaviors punishable law is described in the Criminal Code.
• There are two types of offences: indictable and summary. Indictable offences are more serious
and follow a more intricate process in the criminal justice system. The majority of offences are
hybrid offences and prosecutors decide to process them as indictable or summary offences.
• To obtain a conviction in criminal court, the prosecution must prove beyond and reasonable doubt
that the accused committed the act (actus reus) and the existence of criminal intent (mens rea).
• Deterrence, denunciation, and retribution are the main drives of criminal law.
• The rule of law assures that everyone, even authorities, abide by the law.
Key Concepts
• Criminal law – the entire set of principles, procedures, and rules established bt governments
through the courts and criminal legislation in order to ensure public safety. It includes definitions
of crimes, criminal responsibility and punishments, and defences to a criminal charge.
• Summary offence – a relatively minor offence, punishable by a fine or a maximum jail sentence of
six months.
• Indicatable offence – a serious offence, such as murder or rape, which carries a severe penalty.
An indictment is the formal process of setting out a criminal charge in a document for serious,
“indictable” offences.
• Indictment – a formal written accusation, usually reserved for more serious crimes
• Actus reus – the criminal act or personal conduct relating to a crime; it may include a failure to
act, but does not include the mental element of a criminal offence
• Mens rea – the mental element of a criminal offence or the state(s) of mind of the offender; it is
the intent to commit a criminal act
