Cri205 midterm

criminal justice system

criminal justice system

stages through which the offender passes, including police and correction

intimate violence

familiarity (DA)

criminology

scientific study of nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior -- regards crime as a social phenomenon

deviant behavior

differs from social norms, but nor formally criminally sanctioned

decriminalization

reducing the penalty for criminal activity

utilitarianism

view that crime is a rational choice, and punishment should be balanced and fair

Beccaria

Italian aristocrat in 1700s, believed that people wanted to achieve pleasure and avoid pain- people as egotistical and self-centered & needing to be controlled by punishment

classical criminology

1. people freely choose criminal or lawful solutions to meet and settle needs
2. criminal choices may be more attractive because of less work and greater payoff
3. people's choice of criminal solutions may be controlled by their fear of punishment
4. if punishments are severe, they will control criminal behavior

Positivism

late 19th century, Comte, social science that sees behavior as a product of social, biological, psychological, and economic forces, criminal is "different", rise of prisons as a place of punishment

Lombroso

Italian physician, believed that offenders were born criminals who engage in repeat crimes due to the traits they inherit

Atavistic anomalies

traits that resemble primitive times

Lombroso on criminal traits

Argued that criminogenic traits are due to indirect heredity (primarily), like a degenerate family with high degrees of insanity, deafness, syphilis, alcoholism, and epilepsy
secondarily, direct heredity (being born in a family of criminals)

Adolphe Quetelet

Used mathematical techniques to measure the influence of social factors on crime such as season, climate, age, and sex

What Quetelet found

the law-like mechanisms found in nature can also be found in social facts and phenomena

Emile Durkheim

argued that crime is normal because there has never been a time where crime is absent. As long as human differences exist, there will always be crime

What Durkheim thought of crime

crime is useful and healthy for society, allowing for social changes, creativity, and independent thinking
Crime indicates social ill- rising crime rate may signal for social change to relieve the human suffering that caused the crime in the first place

Durheim and the shift from rural to urban

consequences raised from a shift from mechanical society (small, rural) to organic society (large, urban, with division of labor and personal isolation), which results in anomie

anomie

chaos and disarry, disconnection and confusion from norms and values

Chicago school

described natural areas of crime, where social institutions break down- social disorganization reduces the ability for social institutions to control behavior, resulting in high crime rates

Conflict criminology

Marx, crime is a product of economic inequality, proletariat and bourgeois

Classical/choice perspective

depends on situational forces, crime is a function of free will and choice, punishment is a deterrent to crime

Bio/psychological perspective

depends on internal forces, crime is a function of neurological, genetic, personality, intelligence, and mental traits

Structural perspective

depends on ecological forces, crime rates are a function of neighborhood

Process perspective

depends on socialization forces, crime is a function of upbringing, learning, and control -- influenced by peers, parents, and teachers

Conflict perspective

depends on economic and political forces, crime is a function of competition for limited resources and power, class conflict produces crime

Integrated perspective

multiple forces combine to produce crime

criminal statistics

gathering crime data, devising new research methods, and measuring crime patterns and trends

sociology of law

origin of law, forces that can change laws and society

theory construction

predicting individual behavior, understanding cause of crime rates and trends

criminal behavior systems

determine nature and cause of specific crime patters, studying different kinds of crime

Penology

studying the correction and control of criminal behavior

victimology

studying the nature and cause of victimization

Consensus view of crime

definition of crime is applied uniformly to all members of society, society agrees on what behaviors are viewed as criminal, people share views on what is right and wrong-- crime occurs when individuals violate these shared norms

conflict view of crime

depicts society as diverse groups (owners, workers, professionals, students) that are in constant conflict. Those in power create laws that protect their own interests, crime is a tool for maintaining social inequality and control. Crime is designed to protect the power and position of the upper classes at the expense of the poor

Interactionist view of crime

people act according to their own interpretations of reality, they learn the meaning of a thing by how others react to it, they reevaluate their behavior according to the meanings they have learned from others. The definition of crime reflects the preferences of those who impose their opinions of right and wrong on the rest of the population

Labelling theory

How criminality is created and how people come to be defined and understood as criminals through symbolic changes

moral entrepreneurs

people who are in a position to impose their morals and values onto others
they define crime, crimes are illegal because society defines them that way

Common law

relies on previous cases, applies to people without regard for social differences, judges invented new solutions as new cases arose, judge-made law- constantly evolving

Statutory law

replaces common law with written laws passed by government, but keeps the sensibilities of common law

inchoate crime

attempt, incomplete crime

Tort law

the law of personal wrongs and damage, such as negligence, libel, and slander

civil or private wrong, sanction is monetary damages, individual brings the action, both parties can appeal, individual receives compensation for harm done

Criminal law

crime is a public offense, sanction is incarceration or death, right of enforcement belongs to the state, government does not appeal, fines go to the state, standard of proof is 'beyond reasonable doubt'

indictable offense

serious, like murder

summary offense

less serious, like loitering

general deterrence

measures to convince the criminal that the costs outweight the benefits (ex. long prison sentences)

Specific deterrence

aimed to prevent an offender who has already committed a crime from reoffending (making the individual aware of the repercussions of their actions)

actus reus

act of the crime

mens rea

intent of committing a crime

harm principle

John Stewert Mill, only thing that should be criminal is something that harms other people

Consensus vs. Conflict

consensus- we all agree what should be criminal- reflects dominant values of society

conflict- dominant point of view- eurocentric male center, law supports their interests. grey area of what should be criminal

crime funnel

what gets distilled into the statistics is a bunch of decisions

enforcement priority

have to be able to interrogate what that means, what's going on

Law of small numbers

small changes can look much bigger/spike a rate

objectivist legalist approaches

consensus view, study the rule-breakers and ask why? what makes them different? i.e. alienation and strain links to violence- if young people don't have meaningful opportunities for employment (upward mobility) - leads to violence

constructivist approaches

conflict view, how do problems become crimes? how do we talk about criminals? why are we more concerned about some things now than we were before?

factors that influence crime rate trends

- report sensitive crimes
- policing sensitive
- definition sensitive
- media sensitive

UCR

uniform crime report, count based on police reports, basis for research, media reports, and policy

UCR includes

- incidence (police reported crimes)
- founded crimes
- percentage change
- crime ratio

founded crimes

crimes believed to be real (takes away false claims)

percentage change

change in crime over a period of time, indicates whether society is becoming more dangerous

crime ratio

ratio of crimes per 100,000 people

incident based data

data on location offense, offense, and relationship to the victim

CSI

crime severity index, collects data on the seriousness of crimes

cleared crime

at least 1 person has been arrested, or an element beyond police control preludes the physical arrest of the offender (like the suspect dies or leaves the country)

Attrition (AKA crime funnell)

case numbers decrease as they pass through the justice system, from report, to investigation, to charge, to trial, and to conviction

Accuracy of UCR

depends on:
- reporting practices- underreported compensated by victimization surveys
- law enforcement practice
- legal definitions
- media practices- changes perception of what crimes are actually increasing or not

self report surveys

requires participants to reveal their own involvement in crime, usually victimless crime like drug use

factors in crime rates

- age, most crime and victims are 18-25
- ganger, most crime and victims are male
- race, overrepresentation of black and indigenous people in the criminal system
- the economy
- social malaise
- guns
- drugs

meta-analysis

using data from previous studies to provide a more powerful indicator of relationships than a single study

systematic review

research using evidence from previously conducted studies to address a question

data-mining

analysis of large sets of data from different sources, like social media or criminal records

predictive policing

using data mining to predict crimes

crime mapping

using maps as graphic representations of the spatial geography of crime

ecology of crime

- day, season, cimate: mostly in warm summer months
- temp.: crimes increase w temp
- pop density
region: violent crimes higher in Western Canada

instrumental crimes

illegal methods to obtained desired goods, like stealing

expressive crimes

illegal activates done emotionally, like shooting someone during an argument

Aging out (aka desistance)

the older you get, the less involved in crime you are

Masculinity hypothesis (Lobroso)

women who commit crimes have biological and psychological traits similar to men

Chivalry hypothesis (Pollack)

low female crime rates reflect the leniency with which people treat female offenders

Liberal feminist theory

focuses attention on social and economic roles of women and relationship to female crime

carer criminals and chronic offenders

repeat offenders, make up most make up the total of crime and serious crime

cycle of violence

child victims of abuse are more likely to become adult criminals

victimization surveys

include CUVS (Canadian urban victimization survey), part of the GSS- tells us about the social and demographic patterns of victimization- who, where, when

gender

men are more likely to be attacked by a stranger, women by acquaintance

age

youth are more commonly perpetrators, and victims

social status

poorer people are more often victimized in violent and expressive crimes

ethnicity

indigenous people more victimized

relationship

most violent crimes are more likely to be committed by an acquaintance, most crimes against women are very likely to be committed by an acquaintance

repeat victimization

prior victimization is a strong predictor of future victimization. Offenders learn the weaknesses of previous victims which makes them more prone to being further victimized

Victim precipitation theory

the victim's behavior, either active or passive is a catalyst in the event. not blaming the victim but acknowledging their role in the initiation of confrontation and crime

Lifestyle theories

people with more high risk lifestyles are more likely to be victims Ex. teenagers, homeless people, women working on the street

equivalent group hypothesis

victims are exposed to risk when they have similar lifestyle habits to criminals

proximity hypothesis

'wrong place, wrong time' - people more likely to be victims when they live in more high risk/high crime areas

deviant place hypotheis

there are natural areas for crime - poor, densely populated, or high transient neighborhoods

Routine activity theory

crime is a normal function of suitable targets, absence of capable guardians to protect, motivated criminals

Predatory crime

violent, opportunistic crime

Limitations with RAT (routine activity theory)

focuses a lot of the victim, overlooks why the offender commits the crime

victim impact statements

statements of the victim's feelings, financial losses, physical wounds, etc.

victim services include

victim compensation, court services, public education, crisis intervention

objectivist-legalistic approach

crime is distinct from us, values consensus, that we agree what should be criminalized