UGC NET Criminology flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Maxim of teaching

A principle guiding sequencing of instruction, such as proceeding from simple to complex, known to unknown, concrete to abstract, or particular to general.

Operant conditioning

Skinner's theory that behaviour is shaped by consequences: reinforcement increases and punishment decreases the likelihood of a response recurring.

Zone of Proximal Development

Vygotsky's term for the gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with guidance, where scaffolding is most effective.

Bloom's revised taxonomy

Six cognitive levels ordered from lower to higher: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate and create, used to frame learning objectives.

Formative assessment

Continuous, diagnostic evaluation during instruction intended to give feedback and improve learning, rather than to certify final achievement.

Summative assessment

Evaluation conducted at the end of a course or unit to judge achievement against a standard or to assign grades and certification.

Validity vs reliability

Reliability is consistency of measurement across occasions or items; validity is whether the instrument measures the intended construct. Reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity.

Stratified random sampling

A probability method in which the population is divided into homogeneous strata and random samples are drawn from each stratum, improving representativeness.

Type I error

Rejecting a true null hypothesis, also called alpha error; its probability is set in advance, conventionally at 0.05.

Ratio scale

A measurement scale with equal intervals and a true zero point, permitting statements of ratio such as twice as much.

Action research

Cyclical inquiry by practitioners to solve a local problem, typically following planning, acting, observing and reflecting stages.

Plagiarism under UGC rules

Presenting another's work, ideas or data as one's own without attribution; similarity is checked after excluding quotations, references and standard phrases.

Classical school

Criminological perspective associated with Beccaria and Bentham holding that offenders exercise free will and that punishment should be certain, swift and proportionate.

Differential association theory

Sutherland's proposition that criminal behaviour is learned through interaction with intimate groups, especially through definitions favourable to law violation.

Anomie and strain

Durkheim linked anomie to normlessness; Merton argued that a mismatch between socially approved goals and legitimate means produces strain and deviance.

Social bond theory

Hirschi's control theory identifying four bonds that restrain crime: attachment, commitment, involvement and belief.

Techniques of neutralisation

Matza and Sykes described justifications offenders use, including denial of responsibility, injury or victim, condemnation of condemners and appeal to higher loyalties.

Primary and secondary deviation

Lemert distinguished initial rule-breaking (primary) from deviance that becomes part of identity after societal reaction and labelling (secondary).

Born criminal

Lombroso's concept of an atavistic offender identifiable by physical stigmata, a theory later discredited but foundational to positivist criminology.

Social disorganisation

Shaw and McKay's finding that crime concentrates in transitional zones with weak community institutions, poverty and residential instability.

Reintegrative shaming

Braithwaite's idea that disapproval of the act, combined with reacceptance of the offender, reduces reoffending more than stigmatising shaming.

White-collar crime

Sutherland's term for crimes committed by respectable persons of high status in the course of their occupation, including fraud and embezzlement.

Victim precipitation

The idea that a victim's behaviour may contribute to the offence, as in von Hentig's and Wolfgang's work; it must not be read as victim-blaming.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023

Indian statute replacing the Indian Penal Code 1860, consolidating substantive criminal law and renumbering offences and punishments.

Juvenile Justice Act 2015

Indian law defining a child as below 18 years and providing Juvenile Justice Boards, Child Welfare Committees and children's courts for care and rehabilitation.

Probation vs parole

Probation suspends sentencing and releases the offender into supervision instead of prison; parole releases a prisoner before sentence completion under conditions.

Restorative justice

An approach focusing on harm, accountability and repair through victim-offender mediation, conferencing and community participation rather than purely punitive responses.

Dark figure of crime

The portion of crime that never appears in official statistics because it is unreported or unrecorded, motivating victim and self-report surveys.

NCRB Crime in India

Annual publication of the National Crime Records Bureau compiling Indian crime statistics by offence, state and agency, widely used in criminological research.

Cyber crime

Offences committed using computers or networks, including phishing, identity theft, ransomware, cyberstalking and data breaches, covered by the IT Act 2000.

Money laundering

Concealing the origin of proceeds of crime through placement, layering and integration; in India governed by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002.

Mendelsohn's victim typology

A victim classification ranging from completely innocent victims to completely responsible ones, based on the degree of the victim's contribution to the offence.

Criminal profiling

Inferring offender characteristics from crime-scene behaviour and victim patterns to narrow suspect pools, an investigative aid rather than direct evidence.