UGC NET Criminology cheat sheet

Teaching aptitude: learner-centred methods (discussion, project, problem-solving) build higher-order skills; teacher-centred methods (lecture, demonstration) suit factual transmission. Maxims of teaching run simple-to-complex, known-to-unknown, concrete-to-abstract, particular-to-general.

Learning theories: Pavlov = classical conditioning (neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus); Skinner = operant conditioning (reinforcement schedules: fixed/variable, interval/ratio); Thorndike = laws of readiness, exercise, effect; Kohler = insight learning; Bandura = social learning (attention, retention, reproduction, motivation); Vygotsky = ZPD and scaffolding; Piaget = four stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational); Bloom's revised taxonomy = remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create.

Learner characteristics: Gardner's multiple intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic); aptitude vs achievement vs interest tests; reliability = consistency, validity = measuring what is intended, and validity is bounded by reliability.

Research types and designs: basic vs applied vs action research; quantitative vs qualitative vs mixed methods; experimental designs use randomisation and control groups, quasi-experimental designs lack random assignment, ex post facto designs examine already-occurring variation, and survey/case-study designs are descriptive.

Sampling: probability methods (simple random, systematic, stratified, cluster, multistage) permit generalisation; non-probability methods (purposive, quota, convenience, snowball) do not. Standard error falls as sample size rises (SE = SD/√n).

Measurement scales: nominal (labels only), ordinal (rank order), interval (equal units, arbitrary zero), ratio (true zero). Mean suits interval/ratio data, median suits ordinal/skewed data, mode suits nominal data.

Hypothesis testing: null hypothesis states no effect; Type I error = rejecting a true null (alpha), Type II error = failing to reject a false null (beta); power = 1 − beta. p < 0.05 means the result would occur by chance less than 5% of the time if the null were true.

Communication and ICT: barriers are physical, semantic, psychological and organisational; effective feedback is specific and timely. ICT tools include LMS, MOOCs, OER, blended and flipped learning; UGC regulations govern plagiarism (similarity thresholds, exclusion of quoted and cited material) and research ethics (informed consent, confidentiality, no fabrication or falsification).

Higher education and evaluation: formative assessment is diagnostic and continuous, summative assessment certifies at the end; norm-referenced compares to a group, criterion-referenced compares to a standard. NEP 2020 targets multidisciplinary education, a 5+3+3+4 school structure, and the Academic Bank of Credits.

Schools of thought: classical school (Beccaria, Bentham) assumes free will, deterrence and proportionate punishment; positivist school (Lombroso, Ferri, Garofalo) seeks causes in biology and environment; sociological school (Durkheim's anomie, Merton's strain, Sutherland's differential association, Shaw and McKay's social disorganisation, Cohen and Cloward-Ohlin's subcultures) locates crime in social structure.

Biological and psychological theories: Lombroso's born criminal, Ferri's law of criminal saturation, Hooton's body types, Sheldon's somatotypes (endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph), Kretschmer's constitutional types, XYY chromosome studies, twin and adoption studies, Lombroso-Ferrero, and the modern neurocriminological view. Psychological explanations include Freud's id-ego-superego and psychopathy checklists.

Control and neutralisation theories: Hirschi's social bond has four elements (attachment, commitment, involvement, belief); Reckless's containment theory separates inner and outer containment; Matza's drift and techniques of neutralisation include denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim, condemnation of condemners and appeal to higher loyalties; Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory treats low self-control plus opportunity as the cause.

Labelling and critical theories: Tannenbaum's dramatisation of evil, Lemert's primary and secondary deviation, Becker's labelling theory, Braithwaite's reintegrative shaming vs disintegrative shaming, and the radical/critical school (Marxist, conflict, feminist criminology) examine power and criminalisation.

Victimology and penology: Mendelsohn and von Hentig founded victimology; von Hentig's victim typology; victim precipitation, repeat victimisation and victim-blaming critiques. Punishment theories are retribution, deterrence, prevention and reformation. Prisons include open, closed, women's and juvenile institutions; probation and parole are community corrections, and restorative justice uses victim-offender mediation and conferencing.

Indian criminal justice and laws: the Indian Penal Code 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023), Indian Evidence Act 1872 (replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023), and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 replacing the IPC. Agencies are police (investigation), prosecution, judiciary (adjudication) and prisons (custody).

Juvenile justice and special legislation: the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 sets age of juvenility at 18, provides children's courts, Child Welfare Committees and Juvenile Justice Boards; the POCSO Act 2012 and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 are key special statutes. Probation of Offenders Act 1958 and the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 (Lok Adalats) are also examinable.

White-collar, organised and cyber crime: Sutherland coined white-collar crime; corporate, occupational and state-corporate crime are subtypes; organised crime features hierarchy, continuity, violence and illegal markets. Cyber crime includes phishing, identity theft, ransomware, cyberstalking and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act 2000; money laundering is addressed by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 and the Financial Action Task Force.

Research methods in criminology: official statistics have a dark figure of unreported crime; self-report and victim surveys (National Crime Records Bureau, National Crime Victimization Survey) supplement them. Crime mapping, hot-spot analysis, criminal profiling and forensic tools (DNA, fingerprints, ballistics) are applied areas; NCRB's Crime in India is the standard Indian data source.