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a technique intended to predict future outcomes, and which builds upon environmental scanning by attempting to assess the likelihood of a variety of possible outcomes once important trends have been identified.
schizophrenics
mentally ill individuals who suffer from disjointed thinking and, possibly, delusions and hallucinations.
second-degree murder
criminal homicide which is unplanned, and which is often described as a "crime of passion."
secondary analysis
the reanalysis of existing data.
secondary deviance
that which results from official labeling and from association with others who have been so labeled.
secondary research
new evaluations of existing information which has already been collected by other researchers.
securities fraud
the theft of money resulting from intentional manipulation of the value of equities, including stocks and bonds. Securities fraud may also include theft from securities accounts and wire fraud.
selective incapacitation
a social policy which seeks to protect society by incarcerating those individuals deemed to be the most dangerous.
serial murder
criminal homicide which involves the killing of several victims in three or more separate events.
simple assault (NCVs)
an attack without a weapon resulting either in minor injury or in undetermined injury requiring less than two days of hospitalization.
situational choice theory
a brand of rational choice theory which views criminal behavior "as a function of choices and decisions made within a context of situational constraints and opportunities."
situational crime prevention
a social policy approach that looks to develop greater understanding of crime and more effective crime prevention strategies through concern with the physical, organizational, and social environments that make crime possible.
social bond
the rather intangible link between individuals and the society of which they are a part. The social bond is created through the process of socialization.
social capital
the degree of positive relationships with other persons and with social institutions, that individuals build up over the course of their lives.
social class
distinctions made between individuals on the basis of important defining social characteristics.
social contract
the Enlightenment-era concept that human beings abandon their natural state of individual freedom to join together and form society. Although, in the process of forming a social contract, individuals surrender some freedoms to society as a whole, government, once formed, is obligated to assume responsibilities toward its citizens and to provide for their protection and welfare.
social control theory
a perspective which predicts that when social constraints on antisocial behavior are weakened or absent, delinquent behavior emerges. Rather than stressing causative factors in criminal behavior, control theory asks why people actually obey rules instead of breaking them.
social disorganization
a condition said to exist when a group is faced with social change, uneven development of culture, maladaptiveness, disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus.
social ecology
an approach to criminological theorizing that attempts to link the structure and organization of human community to interactions with its localized environment.
social epidemiology
the study of social epidemics and diseases of the social order.
social learning theory
a psychological perspective that says people learn how to behave by modeling themselves after others whom they have the opportunity to observe.
social pathology
a concept which compares society to a physical organism and sees criminality as an illness.
social policies
government initiatives, programs, and plans intended to address problems in society. The "War on Crime," for example, is a kind of generic (large-scale) social policy–one consisting of many smaller programs.
social problems perspective
the belief that crime is a manifestation of underlying social problems, such as poverty, discrimination, pervasive family violence, inadequate socialization practices, and the breakdown of traditional social institutions.
social process theories
also known as interactionist perspectives, emphasize the give-and-take which occurs between offender, victim, and society–and specifically between the offender and agents of formal social control such as the police, courts, and correctional organizations.
social relativity
the notion that social events are differently interpreted according to the cultural experiences and personal interests of the initiator, the observer, or the recipient of that behavior.
social responsibility perspective
a viewpoint which holds that individuals are fundamentally responsible for their own behavior, and which maintains that they choose crime over other, more law-abiding, courses of action.
social-structural theories
explain crime by reference to various aspects of the social fabric. They emphasize relationships between social institutions, and describe the types of behavior which tend to characterize groups of people as opposed to individuals.
social structure
the pattern of social organization and the interrelationships between institutions characteristic of a society.
socialization
the lifelong process of social experience whereby individuals acquire the cultural patterns of their society.
sociobiology
"the systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior."
sociopath
see psychopath.
software piracy
the unauthorized and illegal copying of software programs.
somatotyping
the classification of human beings into types according to body build and other physical characteristics.
specific deterrence
a goal of criminal sentencing which seeks to prevent a particular offender from engaging in repeat criminality.
state-organized crime
acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in the pursuit of their job as representatives of the state.
statistical correlation
the simultaneous increase or decrease in value of two numerically valued random variables.
statistical school
a criminological perspective with roots in the early 1800s which seeks to uncover correlations between crime rates and other types of demographic data.
statute
a formal written enactment of a legislative body.
statutory law
law in the form of statutes or formal written strictures, made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make law.
stigmatic shaming
that form of shaming, imposed as a sanction by the criminal justice system, that is thought to destroy the moral bond between the offender and the community.
strain theory or anomie theory
a sociological approach which posits a disjuncture between socially and subculturally sanctioned means and goals as the cause of criminal behavior.
strategic assessment
a technique which assesses the risks and opportunities facing those who plan for the future.
subcultural theory
a sociological perspective which emphasizes the contribution made by variously socialized cultural groups to the phenomenon of crime.
subculture
a collection of values and preferences which is communicated to subcultural participants through a process of socialization.
sublimation
the psychological process whereby one aspect of consciousness comes to be symbolically substituted for another.
substantial capacity test
a standard for judging legal insanity which requires that a person lack "the mental capacity needed to understand the wrongfulness of his act, or to conform his behavior to the requirements of the law."
superego
the moral aspect of the personality; much like the conscience. More formally, the division of the psyche that develops by the incorporation of the perceived moral standards of the community, is mainly unconscious, and includes the conscience.
supermale
a human male displaying the XYY chromosome structure.
superpredators
a new generation of juveniles "who are coming of age in actual and ‘moral poverty' without the benefits of parents, teachers, coaches and clergy to teach them right from wrong and show them 'unconditional love.'" The term is often applied to those inner-city youths who meet the criteria it sets forth.
survey research
a social science data-gathering technique which involves the use of questionnaires.
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