Criminology a level unit 2

what is physiological theories/believe in?

• conspiracy theories

• criminal behavior is a result of individual differences in thinking processes. or the person's thoughts and feelings dictate their actions.

• your brain's activity

what is the social construction of criminality?

• something that has been made up by society, rather than occurring naturally. therefore what counts as criminality is simply whichever acts a society defines as criminal

• what janice down the road thinks about crime in the area and her opinions on what is or isn't a crime in her book

• your thoughts on criminality

what is polygamy?

• having no wife/husband/ better half

• having more than one wife or husband/better half at the same time

• having one wife/husband/ better half

what are the 2 forms of polygamy?

• Polygyny- a man has two or more wives

• polygamy

• Polyandry- a woman who has more than two husbands

What are the three defences that may reduce the conviction from murder to manslaughter?

• loss of self control

• diminished responsibility

• insanity

• automatism

what is diminished responsibility?

• sanity

• an unbalanced metal state that is considered to make a person less answerable for a crime and to be grounds for a reduced charge

• loss of self control

what does automatism mean?

• bodily movements that are not consciously controlled like breathing or sleepwalking.

• cars

• washing machine

how did media and campaigns for change contribute to social constructions of criminality/unreported crimes?

• The media can cause crime and deviance through labelling

• Moral entrepreneurs may use the media to put pressure on the authorities to do something about the problem. This can lead to negative labelling of the behaviour and a change in law. Thereby acts that were once legal become illegal.

• by not reporting on them

what is included with the social construction of criminality?

• how laws change over time

• why laws are different according to place, time and culture

• how laws are applied differently according to circumstances in which actions occur

• how laws change from culture to culture

• different types of crime

what is the legal definition of criminality?

• an action that is forbidden by the criminal law.  For a court to consider a defendant’s action to be a crime, the action must normally have two elements: mens Rea/ actus reus

• mens rea