Sociology of Crime and Criminal Justice (Ch 5-10)

the three types of offenders

the novice= young burglar who seizes an immediate opportunity when committing the crime, the journeyman=a seasoned thief who searches for vulnerable locations and who creates their own opportunities, the professional= a rational burglar who uses technical and organizational skills to commit crimes

when was the youth criminal justice act created and what did it require police to do?

created april 1st 2003 and requires that police consider the use of extrajudicial measures for less serious offenses before considering a change

what are some extra juditial measures that are encouraged by the YCJA?

taking no further action, informal police warning, referrals to community programs, formal police cautions, crown cautions, other extrajudicial sanctions programs

New sentencing principles

1. sentencing must be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime and the degree of responsibility of the young person

2. the sentence must be the least restrictive alternative and the sentence that is most likely to promote rehabilitation

3. the sentence can’t be more severe than what an adult would receive for the same offense

What are considered status offenses

skipping school, staying out all night without parental permission, running away from home, buying or drinking liquor

what are considered criminal offenses

selling or using drugs, theft under 5 dollars, theft 5-10 dollars, theft over 50 dollars, taking a car without permissions from owner, breaking into property, damaging property, hurting or beating up another person purposefully

operalization of independent variables

delinquent behaviour= any close friends charged during the year prior, belief in law= attitudes and willingness to cooperate with the police, school performance= failed a course in the past 2 years, ses= fathers occupation, age

Major findings in the ontario study

association with delinquent friends affect both sexes, belief in the law reduces involvement in status and criminal offences for both sexes, relationship between delinquency and school performance is non existent for females and significant for males, there isn’t a relationship between ses, age is a predictor for status crimes but not for criminal offenses

school social control model

structural- parents educational achievements, internal state- feelings of stress and malaise in class, bonds- involvement and commitment in school, performance- grades and schooling delays, constraints- belief in school rules, behaviours- school behaviours and self-reported delinquency

since the age of 16, 51% of the respondents in the survey reported at least one incident at the hands of….

spouses of ex spouses 29, boyfriends or dates 16, other known men 23, strangers 23

Battered woman syndrome symptoms

• intrusive recollections of trauma

• anxiety

• avoidance behaviour and emotional numbing

• body image distortion

• sexual intimacy issues

Crime control model

1. CJS as the protection of the public through deterrence and incapacitation of offenders

2. Offenders are responsible for their actions

3. Administration of justice must be swift, sure and efficient

4. A strong presumption of guilt

5. Confidence that an efficient justice system will screen out innocent persons at the police or prosecutorial stages

6. There is an emphasis on compensation for victims

Due-process model

1. Emphasis- procedural fairness and a presumption of innocence

2. Onus is on criminal justice process to prove guilt and agencies and decision makers follow proper procedures

3. An accused person may be fatally guilty but legally innocent, if the proper procedures and rights of the accused have been violated

4. Concern- structure and confine discretionary power of criminal justice decision makers

Canadian Committee on Corrections (CCC)

created in 1969 to…

• prevent crime

• To determine crime, apprehend offenders, gather sufficient evidence to warrant laying charges against a specific individual, and establish their guilt in a court of law.

• to maintain order in the community in accordance with the rule of law

• control of highway traffic

Activities assigned to police forces:

1. crime control= responding to and investigating crimes

2. order maintenance= preventing and controlling behaviour that disturbs the public peace

3. service= provision of a wide range of services to the community such as missing people

four types of personalities

1. idealists, high social order, high due process

2. enforcers, high social order, low due process

3. optimists, low social order, high due process

4. realists, low social order, low due process

Major sources of police stressors

• Stress from the work environment

• Availability of peer support and trust

• Social and family influence

• Bureaucratic characteristics of police organizations

• Accessibility to healthy coping mechanisms

police exercise of discretion

department (prioritizes how resources will be allocated), senior administrators (set and enforce policies), patrol officers (how to respond and gain control over a specific incident), officer (how to dispose of a particular case), police investigators (gather evidence)

measures of police effectiveness

1. Surveys of community perception of the police

2. Satisfaction with police services among those have requested assistance

3. The number of complaints filed against a police department and it’s officers

Crime prevention programs

primary= focused on property related crimes

secondary= focused on areas that produce crime

tertiary= to intervene with youth and adult offenders to reduce the likelihood of committing more crimes

Sentencing options

fines, suspended sentences and probation, imprisonment, declaration of being a dangerous offender, order for compensation, prohibitions and forfeiture

trial VS appellate functions

trial functions- actual trial of criminal cases

appellate functions- hearing of appeals from the decision of courts that are lower in the judiciary hierarchy

court responsibilities

to determining the guilt or innocence of the accused, and imposing an appropriate sentence upon those who are convicted

provincial court system

a) the court of appeal, the superior courts and the provincial courts

Classification of criminal offences

1. summary conviction offenses (the least serious and carry the most lenient penalties)

2. indictable offenses (the most serious and carry the most severe penalties)

3. hybrid offenses (lie somewhere between the summary conviction offenses and the indictable offenses in terms of the scale of seriousness)

summary conviction offenses

1. committing an indecent act

2. causing disturbances in a public place

3. soliciting for the purpose of engaging in prosecution or obtaining sexual services from a prostitute

4. driving a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner

indictable offenses

murder, possession of stolen goods, dangerous driving, sexual assault

justification for punishing

1. deterrence

2. incapacitation

3. rehabilitation

4. retribution

5. Just deserts

6. denunciation

types of deterance

specific= when a convicted offender is deterred from committing more offenses

general= when a threat of legal sanctions deters crimes for people that have not committed them yet

types of incapacitation

Collective = sentencing that applies to everyone who has committed a serious crime

Selective = focuses on more individualized sentences based on predictions that the offender will recommit the crime if not convicted, up to the prosecutors

the 2 forms of denunciation

Educative = sentencing process should be to educate and influence people's behavior knowing that it's wrong and there is a consequence.

Retributive = focuses on the need for sentences to express the seriousness of crimes

arguments in favour of the death penalty

1. the death penalty protects and saves lives

2. there is no statistical evidence that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime

3. the death penalty reinforces conformity to the law

4. opinion polls consistently reveal that the majority of the general public support the death penalty

5. the failure to respond severely to persons who commit to heinous crimes (a) undermines community solidarity, (b) heightens the fear of crime, and (c) discredits the criminal justice system

6. the deterrent threat of punishment is reduced with there is less severe punishment than justice requires

7. there is not biblical prohibition against the use of the death penalty

arguments offered in support of the abolition of the death penalty

1. there is no statistical evidence to indicate that the death penalty deters crimes

2. the deliberate taking of a human life is immoral and is harmful to the social order

3. the death penalty is administered in a discriminatory manner, with the poor and members of racial and ethnic minorities more likely to be subjected to it

4. under the death penalty, innocent people have and will be executed for crimes they didn’t commit

5. the use of the death penalty doesn’t increase respect for the law, it undermines it by placing a low value on human life