Expanded Key Terms

As you review these terms, think about how they connect or differ from each other. Try to create your own examples in a way you understand the terms and concepts.

Any violation of the law in which a computer is the target or means of criminal activity.

 

Computer crime, or cybercrime, shares the same violation of norms and mores that general, traditional crime does but occurs online and targets computers, and computer programs, and exists in a digital form. The rise of cybercrime follows suit with the major societal advances in technology and the increase in technological tools used throughout all aspects of human life. Cybercrime is particularly dangerous in modern society due to its difficulty to be identified consistently and traced to the aggressor and its significant underreporting that results in a decreased level of deemed social threat by the general public. Cybercrimes can occur to individual people on personal computers or devices or can be targeted toward large enterprises and companies to gather information and data regarding their customers.

Illegal activities of large business organizations, their executives, and top-level managers acting on their behalf.

 

Corporate crime shares the same violation of norms and mores that general, traditional crime does but exists within areas of industry and large corporations through business interactions, transactions, and finances. Corporate crime largely differentiates itself from other forms of crime in the fact that it is committed within a business setting and by a business professional; therefore, the norms and mores being broken are considered normal and acceptable within the specific business society in which the corporate crime occurs.

Dishonest and/or immoral conduct by those who have power.


Corruption, or corrupt behavior, is any action that is viewed by another individual in society or the entirety of society and deemed in violation of social norms and mores. Additionally, corrupt behavior is generally deemed dishonest through the use of lies, cover-ups, and other tactics to divert the truth from coming to light and continue getting away with the deviant behavior. Corrupt individuals are also generally associated with the collapse of internal social morals and the alignment of actions with harmful, destructive ideological beliefs for the larger society.

Crime is any behavior in society that deviates from the social norms considered acceptable in society. 


Crime and criminal behavior are decided upon by individuals with power who execute and decide laws, regulations, and rules. Morality affects the way laws, regulations, and rules are carried out in efforts to enact morality in society to eradicate crime and deviant behavior. Criminal behavior is seen as more and more deviant and unacceptable or immoral, as the social norms and mores being broken increase in intensity and enter categories of taboo for different cultures.

The system of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes.

 

Criminal justice is the enforcement of morality into action in society to effectively right any wrongs that have occurred due to deviant, criminal behavior. Criminal justice and criminal justice systems are designed to provide corrective consequences to assure society that peace and stability will be upheld. The scale of the consequences in intensity are measured against the intensity of deviance that occurs in each criminal action. Criminal justice systems operate to uphold the social good and enforce behaviors and ideological beliefs that benefit society as a whole.

The unreported crime that goes on in the U.S.


The dark figures of crime are the unknown statistics that represent the criminal actions in the U.S. that go unnoticed, underreported, or not reported at all. Some of the criminal actions that most commonly comprise the dark figures of crime are tax evasion, illegal drug use, illegal gambling, traffic violations, domestic assault, and more. The general concept of these dark figures of crime exists to remind and represent the idea and fact that not all deviant behavior can be identified and/or stopped, and therefore, in society, deviant behavior will continue to exist in quantities that law enforcement officials and even the general public do not recognize and/or report.

A behavior that violates social norms and arouses strong social disapproval.

 

Deviance, or deviant behaviors, are any actions that violate norms and mores within a society that position the individual committing the actions as being socially unacceptable. Deviance is subjective according to the individual and/or culture within a society that is judging an action; however, many actions and ideologies are pre-determined using moral judgment and utilitarianism by government organizations and community leaders and solidified within laws, regulations, and rules. As norms shift in society so does society’s understanding of what is deviant.

A theory of crime that includes gender in its analysis

 

Feminist criminology is the application of gender to criminal analysis and deviant behavior to understand how gender identity intersects and affects each. Feminist criminology is similar in concept to feminist theory in the sense that both apply gender to a larger, more generalized means of analysis to understand how gender as a specific factor changes variables, actions, and ideas.

The killing of one individual by another.


Homicide is a specific form of deviant criminal behavior where an individual kills another individual, whether on purpose or by accident. Homicide aligns itself with the taboo of most societies that surrounds the death of another individual at the hands of a person. Homicide is deemed one of the most extreme violations of social norms.

The conditional release of an offender who, for a specific period and subject to certain conditions, remains under court supervision in the community.

 

Probation reflects the restorative aspect of criminal justice systems. Probation can be issued when individuals show behavioral, ideological, and mental reform and are rewarded with early release from incarceration under specific limitations and conditions. Probation can also be issued without the presence of these behaviors. Probation is a process that involves multiple people working in many different roles to ensure the individual on probation is a beneficial member of society and their community, i.e., acting in alignment with the social norms and mores considered acceptable.

The bond between individuals and the social order that constrains some individuals from violating social norms.

 

A social bond is a connection between two or more individuals that creates an emotional, non-tangible sense of unity and meaning between the two. Social bonds help establish shared senses of identity and meaning that inevitably help shape the acceptable and normalized behaviors and ideologies in a given society. Social bonds can also be formed through alignments with different social norms among individuals, and social bonds are subject to change over time. Social bonds can enforce the following social bonds in society or reinforce the behavior to break social norms in society — all depending on what ideas and actions are being reinforced in that specific social bond. When social bonds are disrupted or ruined, social destabilization can occur, leading to the development of behaviors and ideals that can lead to actions of violence and harm to one’s self and society. Social bonds are vital sources of social stabilization and are often important to resocializing individuals into society after prison.

A form of deviance where individuals perform deviant actions to change the social perception of the action on a larger scale.

 

Tertiary deviance often is stereotyped in rallies, protests, and other public actions where deviant behaviors are enacted. These deviant behaviors are not enacted to cause terror or distress but rather to challenge preconceived notions and norms in society. Tertiary deviance can result in an individual being labeled as deviant, but tertiary deviance is not always rooted in malintent.

A crime event that is not limited to a single country.

Transnational crime shares the same violation of norms and mores that general/traditional crime does but is specifically a crime that occurs in multiple countries. Transnational crime can be any type of specific crime (i.e., traditional crime, corporate crime, etc.) but must take place or occur within more than one country. Therefore, a crime committed in California that also happens in Texas would NOT be considered a transnational crime; however, a crime that occurs in California and Mexico CAN BE considered a transnational crime.

A program that compiles official U.S. data on crime.


The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is an official government program that collects data regarding some criminal behavior and occurrences within the U.S. and has operated since 1930. Issues are noted with the collection of this data as some crimes will go unreported and reporting varies from location to location. The use of data collected through the program is for use by law enforcement officials and studied by criminal justice students. The data is available for both public and private use by researchers and media alike. The UCR is divided into eight categories for crime, including murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Financially motivated, nonviolent crime committed by individuals, businesses, and government professionals.

 

White-collar crime shares the same violation of norms and mores that general, traditional crime does but is specifically motivated by financial desires, is generally non-violent, and can occur in a non-direct manner. White-collar crime is committed by employees while in their occupation and is generally associated with corporate employees. White-collar crime occurs in economic and industry sectors that are more profitable than manual labor and other lower-paying economic sectors. Singular individuals, whether in a public or private business or government entity, as well as entire businesses can be held accountable and charged with committing white-collar crimes. Some white-collar crimes on smaller scales can go unnoticed for years. An example of this is the crimes of Bernie Madoff, who ran a Ponzi scheme for over four decades and accumulated up to $65 billion.