CJ101: Ch.1

Describe how the type of crime routinely presented by the media compares with crime routinely committed

Crime presented by the media is usually more sensational than crime routinely committed

Identify institutions of social control, and explain what makes criminal justice an institution of social control.

Institutions of social control include the family, schools, organized religion, the media, the law, and criminal justice. Such institutions attempt to persuade people to abide by the dominant values of society. Criminal justice is restricted to persuading people to abide by a limited range of social values, the violation of which constitutes crime.

Summarize how the criminal justice system responds to crime.

The typical criminal justice response to the commission of a crime involves the following: investigation, arrest (if the investigation is successful), booking, the formal charging of the suspect, an initial appearance, a preliminary hearing (for a felony), either indictment by a grand jury followed by arraignment or arraignment on an information, either a plea bargain or a trial, sentencing, possible appeal, and punishment (if the defendant is found guilty).

Explain why criminal justice in the United States is sometimes considered a nonsystem

Criminal justice in the United States is sometimes considered a nonsystem for two major reasons. First, there is no single system but, instead, a loose confederation of more than 50,000 agencies on federal, state, and local levels. Second, rather than being a smoothly operating set of arrangements and institutions, the agencies of the criminal justice system interact with one another but generally operate independently, often causing problems for one another.

Point out major differences between Packer’s crime control and due process models

From a political standpoint, the crime control model of criminal justice reflects traditional conservative values, while the due process model embodies traditional liberal values. In the crime control model, the control of criminal behavior is by far the most important function of criminal justice. Consequently, the primary focus of this model is on efficiency in the operation of the criminal justice process. The goal of the due process model, in contrast, is at least as much to protect the innocent as it is to convict the guilty. Fundamentally, the due process model defends the ideal of personal freedom and its protection and rests on the assumption that the prevention of tyranny on the part of government and its agents is the most important function of the criminal justice process.

Describe the costs of criminal justice in the United States, and compare those costs among federal, state, and local governments

An enormous amount of money is spent each year on criminal justice in the United States. In 2016, federal, state, and local governments spent a total of $284 billion on police protection ($138 billion), judicial/legal services ($61 billion), and corrections ($85 billion). The bulk of government spending on criminal justice is at the state and local levels, but the federal government spends money strategically to influence criminal justice policy at the other levels of government.

Explain how myths about crime and criminal justice affect the criminal justice system

The acceptance and perpetuation of myths, or simplistic beliefs based on emotion rather than rigorous analysis, can harm the criminal justice system by contributing to the failure to reduce crime and to the waste of money in the battle against crime