Criminal Justice Midterm

Criminal Justice System

The police, courts, and correctional departments

Crime Control Model

A model of the criminal justice system that focuses on controlling crime and protecting the public in the most efficient way

Due Process Model

A model of the criminal justice system that focuses on protecting the rights of the accused

Exclusionary Rule

A legal mandate applied when a piece of evidence has been obtained in a manner that violates the rights of the defendant under due process

Misdemeanor

A lesser crime that is punishable by jail time for up to one year and/or a fine

Felony

A crime that is punishable by imprisonment in excess of a year or by death

Department of Justice (DOJ)

A department within the executive branch of the federal government designed to enforce the laws of the United States

Net-Widening

A phenomenon in which the number of offenders within the court system increases as the criminal justice system expands the number of offenders it must supervise

Crime

A legally prohibited action that injures the public welfare or morals or the interests of the state

Norms

Social expectations for appropriate behavior

Consensus Model

The idea that when a group comes together to form a society, they will have mutually shared values and norms and will come to a consensus about what is a crime

Conflict Model

The idea that when a group comes together to form a society there will be differences within the group—i.e., age, race, and socioeconomic differences—that will make it difficult to come to an agreement about what is criminal. The group in power will set the standards.

Decriminalize

To legalize something that used to be a crime.

Policing

Enforcing the law by monitoring suspected criminal activity and apprehending violators of law

Plea Bargain

An agreement between the state and defense on a plea and sentence

Community Corrections

A halfway house, rehab facility, or home detention that helps an individual move from a correctional facility to complete freedom.

Courtroom Workgroup

The judge, courtroom staff , prosecutor, and defense attorney

White-collar crime

Crimes against businesses by people in high-profile positions.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

Established the exclusionary rule was applicable to the states (evidence seized illegally cannot be used in court)

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Supreme Court held that criminal suspects must be informed of their right to consult with an attorney and of their right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police.

Hung Jury

When a jury is unable to agree on a unanimous decision regarding the guilt or innocence of a defendant

Probable Cause

reasonable cause for issuing a search warrant or making an arrest; more than mere suspicion

Deviance

Behaviors considered outside of or inconsistent with normal behavior for a community or group

Criminal Behavior

Behavior defined by legislation, statutes, and codes

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

An official data-reporting tool created in 1930 to provide uniform definitions for crime data so that results could be compared by month, year, state, and jurisdiction.

Crime Index

An index reported by the Uniform Crime Reports. Crimes are divided into Part I and Part II index offenses. The Part I index consists of a total of eight offenses divided into the violent crime index and the property crime index. The Part II index comprises a total of 21 categories of less-serious crimes.

Dark Figure of Crime

Offences that go unreported to the police

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

A national crime
data collection program created and implemented during the 1980s in an effort to enhance the methodology for collecting, analyzing, and publishing crime data.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

A survey conducted on house-holds in the United States that includes detailed descriptions of criminal events, including the victim, potential precipitating factors, consequences of the event, and the offender.

Self-Report Survey

A data collection effort asking partici-pants to report the number of criminal offenses or activities they have committed

Pre-Classical School

A school of thought that held that crime was caused by supernatural forces as opposed to natural forces.

Trial by Battle

A mechanism for privately resolving disputes during the pre-classical time period, in which the victim or a chosen member of the victim's fam-ily would battle with the offender or a chosen member of the offender's family to determine guilt.

Trial by Ordeal

A method of handling conflict privately during the pre-classical time period, in which proving innocence involved the use of extremely painful or life-threatening methods of punishment.

Compurgation

A method of handling offenses during the pre-classical time period, in which individuals who could find a reputable person in their community to speak on their behalf would be found innocent.

Deterrence Theory

A theory of punishment based upon the premise that in order for any punishment to be effective it must be swift, severe, and certain. There are two forms of deterrence: gen-eral and specific.

General Deterrence

A form of deterrence used to deter the populace from committing future criminal acts by ensuring that the principles of punishment are focused on potential criminals as opposed to the individual.

Specific Deterrence

A form of deterrence used to deter an individual from committing future criminal acts by focusing the punish-ment on that individual.

Classical School

A philosophy of crime that placed the responsibility for behavior on the offender.

Routine Activities Theory

A theory of criminal offend-ing positing that crime is a function of opportunity—the convergence of a motivated offender, a suitable target, and a lack of guardianship.

Positivist School

A school of thought on crime arguing that some behavior occurs as a result of factors outside the control of individuals.

Biological Theories

Theoretical propositions that look to the body to identify individuals who are predisposed to criminal offending.

Atavistic Man

An identification of individuals participating in criminal activity as throwbacks from a primitive time.

Personality Theories

Theories of crime that look to explain criminal behavior as an expression of impulsiveness, aggression, or sensation-seeking.

Chicago School

A specialized body of work in urban sociology that made use of the city of Chicago to study alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, psychoses, and poverty

Social Disorganization Theory

A theoretical proposition stating that communities with higher rates of social ills, such as breakdown in family composition, dilapidated buildings, unsupervised teenagers, high rates of poverty, high rates of residential mobility, and ethnic heterogeneity, are most likely to experience high rates of crime and delinquency

Differential Association Theory

A sociological theory positing that crime is a product of the social environment whereby values are gained from those around individuals

Strain Theory

A theoretical proposition contending that crime rates are produced by an individual's inability to conform to cultural values or achieve monetary success through accepted norms.

General Strain Theory

An expansion of strain theory stating that the more strain individuals are exposed to, the more likely they are to participate in delinquent or criminal activity. Types of strain include the failure to achieve positive goals, the removal of positive stimuli, and the presentation of negative stimuli.

Social Control Theory

A theoretical proposition that contends that the more strongly individuals are bonded to their community, the less likely they are to participate in delinquent activity.

General Theory of Crime

A theoretical proposition that crime is not controlled by bonds to society, but rather by an individual's ability to demonstrate self-control. Under this theory, crime in general is not a planned event; rather, offenders act on impulse as a mechanism for gratifying their needs.

Labeling Theory

A theoretical tradition in which criminals become set in their roles as criminals as a result of their stigmatized status.

Reintegrative Shaming

A process whereby offenders are punished, therefore repaying their debt to society, and then forgiven for their transgressions and reintegrated back into society

Conflict Theory

A theory concerned with how power is maintained in a society rather than how individuals function within that continuum. Conflict theory holds that those with the most wealth in society are more likely to create the laws, maintain control, and have power over the lower classes.

Peacemaking Criminology

A theory proposing the use of mediation, love, respect, and forgiveness to resolve societal conflicts and reduce recidivism and crime.

Left Realism

A philosophical approach advocating for more minimal responses or sanctions for street-level crimes and less serious offenses, and more stringent responses and social control for white-collar crimes and crimes against society.

Feminist Theories

Theoretical explanations of crime, justice, and the entire criminal justice system from an androgynous perspective.

Integrated Theories

Theories that identify the most powerful elements of other theories and combine two or more of them into one explanation.

Life Course Theories

The contention that criminal off ending is influenced by an individual's previous experiences as well as traits or characteristics that are not changeable, such as impulsivity, age, etc.

Developmental Pathways

A description of the various paths a youth may take into delinquent or criminal off end-ing. These pathways include the authority conflict pathway, the covert pathway, and the overt pathway.

Part I Offenses

Violent Offenses: Murder, Rape, Robbery, Aggravated Assault Property Offenses: Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson

Part II Offenses

Other Assaults, Forgery & Counterfeiting, Fraud, Embezzlement, Stolen Property: Buying, Receiving, Possessing, Vandalism, Weapons: Carrying, Possessing, etc, Prostitution and Commercialized Vice, Sex Offenses, Drug Abuse Violations, Gambling, Offenses Against the Family and Children, Driving Under the Influence, Liquor Laws, Drunkenness, Disorderly Conduct, Vagrancy, All Other Offenses, Suspicion, Curfew & Loitering Laws (Persons under 18), Runaways (Persons under 18)

Crime is most common during what period of life of an offender?

20s and 30s

What are the factors that directly precipitate criminal offenses?

Causes

Constable

A local law enforcement officer who was responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing ordinances in the colonial and post-colonial United States, similar to a sheriff ; today, constables are typically law enforcement officers in small towns.

Sheriff

A local law enforcement officer responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing ordinances in the colonial and post-colonial United States, similar to a constable; today, sheriff s serve as law enforcement officers at the county level.

Night Watches

Groups of local, unpaid citizens who would patrol the community at night to deter crime and alert residents of the time, weather, and hazards.

Corruption

Abuse of police authority for personal gain

Slave Patrols

Regulatory groups in the South in the Colonial Era focused on regulating the activities of slaves.

Black Codes

Laws created after the end of slavery designed to regulate the activities of African-American citizens.

Vigilantism

The taking on of law enforcement responsibilities and the dispensing of punishment by private citizens.

Lynch Mob

A group of individuals seeking to punish someone suspected of having committed a social transgression

Posse

A group of residents temporarily enlisted by law enforcement agencies to assist in law enforcement functions.

Texas Rangers

One of the earliest law enforcement agencies in the American West

Extralegal Policing

Policing that is not regulated or sanctioned by law

Pinkertons

A private investigation and security company formed in the 1880s that assisted in protecting goods, tracking down suspects, and breaking strikes.

Law Enforcement Bulletin

A publication of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that includes articles on law enforcement issues as well as information on wanted federal suspects.

Wickersham Commission (National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement)

A commission that published comprehensive reports on the state of the American criminal justice system the 1930s

Third Degree

The infliction of pain by police officers in order to solicit evidence about a crime.

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)

A body created by the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to serve as a federal resource for local law enforcement agencies.

Grass Eaters

Those police officers who engage in relatively passive forms of inappropriate behavior by accepting small favors or money for looking the other way when illegal activities are taking place.

Meat eaters

Police officers who are more aggressive in their illegal behavior and actively search for ways to make money illegally while on duty.

Early Warning Systems

A means used by police leadership to identify a potentially problematic officer before his or her behavior becomes very serious; sometimes called Early Intervention Systems.

Miranda Rights

The obligation of police officers to inform suspects of their right to remain silent and their right to an attorney.

Use of Force Continuum

Level One (Lowest) - Officer Presence
Level Two - Verbal Commands
Level Three - Soft Techniques
Level Four - Hard Techniques
Level Five (Highest) - Deadly Force

Racial Profiling

The use of race or ethnicity as the primary or the only indicator that an individual may be participating in criminal activity.

Community Policing

A method of policing that emphasizes community participation in police decision-making and police officer participation in community activities.

SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team

A paramilitary policing unit originally formed to deal with dangerous confrontations, but increasingly being used in everyday policing.

What is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the United States?

U.S. Marshal

Social Contract

An agreement between the public and government in which the public allows the government to provide safety and security.

Thin Blue Line

The line between the lawful and the lawless and between social order and chaos on the streets.

Role

The position one holds within a social structure.

Role Expectation

The behaviors and activities that people expect from a person in a particular role.

Role Conflict

The conflict between what a person may prefer to do and what the person is expected to do.

Bias-Based Profiling

Selection of individuals based solely on a common trait of a group such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or economic status.

Selective Enforcement

The decision made by police as to which laws they wish to enforce and when they choose to enforce them.

Order Maintenance

A method of policing whereby officers interpret the law and decide on a course of action based on each individual situation when assigning blame and choosing whether or not to arrest.

Operational Styles

The approaches police officers use to perform their duties.

Preventive Patrol

Patrolling the community on an unpredictable and routine or random basis.

Directed Patrol

Spending an allotted amount of time patrolling a specific area of the community that is considered to be a high-crime area.

Aggressive Patrol

Patrolling the community by making frequent and numerous traffic stops and field interrogations of suspicious persons.