Introduction to Criminal Justice Models and Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards covering foundational criminal justice terms, theories of law creation, key historical developments, and models of criminal justice from the lecture transcript.

Robbery

A crime that requires a personal interaction during the offense.

Burglary

Entering any building with the intent to commit a felony inside.

Probation

Developed roughly in 1843 as the first diversion from criminal punishment and prisons.

Diversion

Programs that allow offenders to complete rehabilitation or treatment for less serious offenses to avoid getting a criminal record.

Three Strikes Law (California)

A law mandating an automatic sentence of 25 years to life in prison upon a person's third felony conviction of any kind.

Polly Klaas

A 12 or 13-year-old girl whose kidnapping and murder by Richard Davis prompted California lawmakers to pass three strikes laws.

Consensus Model of Criminal Justice

A model stating that society creates laws as a result of common interests and values, which can change over time.

Conflict Model of Criminal Justice

A model stating that powerful groups in a diverse society create laws to protect their own values and interests.

Eighteenth Amendment

The 1920 amendment to the United States Constitution that enacted Prohibition by making alcohol illegal nationwide.

Herbert Packer

The scholar who developed the crime control model and the due process model of criminal justice.

Crime Control Model

A criminal justice perspective that views the system as an assembly line focused on efficiently controlling crime through informal screening by police and prosecutors.

Factual Guilt

A focus within the crime control model centered on the practical assumption that an arrested individual committed the crime.