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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Ego Identity |
Formed when youths develop a full sense of the self, combining how they see themselves and how they fit in with others. |
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Role Diffusion |
Occurs when people spread themselves too thin, experience personal uncertainty, and place themselves at the mercy of people who promise to give them a sense of identity they cannot develop for themselves. |
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At-Risk Youth |
Young people who are extremely vulnerable to the negative consequences of school failure, substances abuse, and early sexuality. |
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Juvenile Delinquency |
Participation in illegal behavior by a minor who falls under a statutory age limit. |
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Chronic Delinquent Offenders |
Youths who have been arrested four or more times during their minority and perpetuate a striking majority of serious criminal acts. This small group, known as the “chronic 6 percent,” is believed to engage in a significant portion of all delinquent behavior; these youths do not age out of crime but continue their criminal behavior into adulthood. |
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Aging-Out Process (Desistance or Spontaneous Remission) |
The tendency for youths to reduce the frequency of their offending behavior as they age; aging-out is thought to occur among all groups of offenders. |
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Persistence |
The process by which juvenile offenders persist in their delinquent careers rather than aging out of crime |
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Juvenile Justice System |
The segment of the justice system, including law enforcement officers, the courts, and correctional agencies, designed to treat youthful offenders |
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Poor Laws |
English statues that allowed the courts to appoint overseers over destitute and neglected children, allowing placement of these children as servants in the homes of the affluent |
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Chancery Courts |
Court proceedings created in fifteenth-century England to oversee the lives of highborn minors who were orphaned or otherwise could not care for themselves |
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Parens Patraie |
Power of the state to act on behalf of the child and provide care and protection equivalent to that of a parent. |
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Child Savers |
Nineteenth-century reformers who developed programs for troubled youth and influenced legislation creating the juvenile justice system; today some critics view them as being more concerned with control of the poor than with their welfare |
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Best Interest of the Child |
A philosophical viewpoint that encourages the state to take control of wayward children and provide care, custody, and treatment to remedy delinquent behavior |
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Waiver (Bindover or Removal) |
Transferring legal jurisdiction over the most serious and experienced juvenile offenders to the adult court for criminal prosecution |
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Status Offense |
Conduct that is illegal only because the child is under age |
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Wayward Minors |
Early legal designation of youths who violate the law because of their minority status; now referred to as status offenders |
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Age of Onset |
Age at which youths begin their delinquent careers; early onset is believed to be linked with chronic offending patterns |
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Continuity of Crime |
The idea that chronic juvenile offenders are likely to continue violating the law as adults |
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Victimization |
The number of people who are victims of criminal acts; young teens are 15 times more likely than older adults (ages 65 and over) to be victims of crimes |
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Choice Theory |
Holds that youths will engage in delinquent and criminal behavior after weighing the consequences and benefits of their actions |
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Trait Theory |
Holds that youths engage in delinquent or criminal behavior due to aberrant physical or psychological traits that govern behavioral choices |
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Free Will |
View that people are in charge of their own destinies and are free to make personal behavior choices unencumbered by environmental factors. |
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Classical Criminology |
Holds that decisions to violate the law are weighed against possible punishments, and to deter crime, the pain of punishment must outweigh the benefit of illegal gain |
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Predatory Crime |
Violent crimes against people and crimes in which an offender attempts to steal an object directly from its holder. |
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General Deterrence |
Crime control policies that depend on the fear of criminal penalties, such as long prison sentences for violent crimes; the aim is to convince law violators that the pain outweighs the benefit of criminal activity. |
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Specific Deterrence |
Sending convicted offenders to secure incarceration facilities so that punishment is severe enough to convince offenders not to repeat their criminal activity. |
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Situational Crime Prevention |
Crime prevention method that relies on reducing the opportunity to commit criminal acts by (a) making them more difficult to perform, (b) reducing their reward, and (c) increasing their risks |
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Target-Hardening Technique |
Crime prevention technique that makes it more difficult for a would-be delinquent to carry out the illegal act, for example, by installing a security device in a home. |
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Criminal Atavism |
The idea that delinquents manifest physical anomalies that make them biologically and physiologically similar to our primitive ancestors, savage throwbacks to an earlier stage of human evolution |
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Equipotentiality |
View that all people are equal at birth and are thereafter influenced by their environment. |
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Arousal Theorists |
Delinquency experts who believe that aggression is a function of level of an individual’s need for stimulation or arousal from the environment, those who require more stimulation may act in an aggressive manner to meet their needs. |
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Contagion Effect |
Delinquency spreads when kids copy the behavior of peers and siblings. |
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Identity Crisis |
Psychological state, identified by Erikson, in which youth face inner turmoil and uncertainty about life roles |
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Latent Delinquents |
Youths whose troubled family life leads them to seek immediate gratification without consideration or right and wrong or the feelings of others |
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Social Learning Theory (Psychological) |
The view that behavior is modeled through observation, either directly through intimate contact with others or indirectly though media; interactions that are rewarded are copied, whereas those that are punished are avoided |
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Extravert |
A person who behaves impulsively and doesn’t have the ability to examine motives and behavior |