The Study Of
The study of crime, criminals, and why crime happens
Criminology
A person wants the expensive clothes and lifestyle they see around them but believes they cannot afford them legally. They begin shoplifting expensive items to get what they want.
PRESSURE
Strain Theory
A person who has committed a crime and has been found guilty
Criminal
An unwritten rule about how people are expected to behave in society
Social Norm
The intent or mindset of a person when committing a crime (guilty mind)
Mens Rea
The study of the mind and human behavior
Psychology
A person considers stealing an expensive phone but notices several employees and security cameras nearby. They decide the risk is too high.
RISK VS. REWARD
Rational Choice Theory
A person harmed by a crime or a harmful act
Victim
Behavior that goes against society’s norms or expectations
Deviance
The physical act of committing a crime (guilty act)
Actus Reus
The scientific study of victims, their relationships with offenders, and how crime affects them
Victimology
A student refuses to help friends commit a burglary because they are worried about disappointing their family and losing their place on the soccer team.
CONNECTIONS
Social Bond/Social Control Theory
An act that breaks the law and can be punished by the government
Crime
Crime, Deviance, Both, or Neither:
A person is talking loudly on the speakerphone in a quiet waiting room.
Deviance
No criminal act:
Delia gets into a fight with her coworker, Jamie. In a fit of rage, she grabs a nearby stapler and throws it at Jamie, intending to hurt her. The stapler hits Jamie’s face and breaks Jamie’s nose.
What is the ACTUS REUS?
Throwing the stapler
The study of society, groups, and how people interact.
Sociology
An expensive bicycle is left unlocked outside a nearly empty train station late at night.
OPPORTUNITY
Routine Activities Theory
A person who has committed a criminal act but has not yet been taken to court or found guilty
Perpetrator
Crime, Deviance, Both, or Neither:
A teenager takes a $60 video game from a store without paying.
Both
Criminal act: theft
Deviant act: goes against social norms
A student, angry at a classmate, decides to send threatening messages through social media, telling the classmate that they’ll “make them pay” for embarrassing them at school.
What is the MENS REA?
The student knew the messages were harmful and intended to scare the classmate
The name of the set of personal or social standards, values, and rules used to evaluate actions, decisions, and character as right or wrong, good or bad.
*Think of the Brain Games episode*
Morality
A 14-year-old’s friends regularly shoplift from stores. They teach the teenager how they avoid getting caught and congratulate them after they successfully do it.
PEOPLE
Social Learning & Differential Association Theory
The process of making a previously legal action illegal and punishable by law
Criminalization
Crime, Deviance, Both, or Neither:
A driver goes 3 mph over the speed limit on an empty road.
Crime
Criminal act: going over the speed limit
Most people would not see this as deviance, because most people go over the speed limit, especially when there is no present danger
A student mistakenly picks up another student's laptop after class, thinking it’s their own. They take it home and realize later it’s not theirs but don’t return it.
What is the ACTUS REUS and the MENS REA?
Actus Reus: Taking the wrong laptop home (the act of taking property).
Mens Rea: Initially, the student did not have the intent to steal (no criminal intent at first), but after realizing their mistake, keeping it instead of returning it could suggest intent to possess stolen property (mens rea develops later).