Chapter 7 - Crime, Violence & Criminal Justice Terms

Norms

Rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of it members

laws

a norm formally created through a society’s political systems

civil and criminal law

civil; cases between individuals and businesses

criminal: public order, started with a charger being brought and soemone being arrested

crime

the vilation of a criminal law enacted by federal state or local govt

misdemeanors vs felonies

Misdemeanor: a less serious crime punishable by less than 1 year in prison

Felony: more serious crime punishable by more than1 year

UCR - Uniform crime reports

statistical effort of law enforcement agencies that collects and publishes data on crimes brought to their attentionvi

street crime

crimes committed by average people

juvenile crome

violation of law by young people

hate crimes

criminal offense against a person, property or scoiety motivated by someones identity.

white collar crimes

illegal activities conduced by high social position during course of emplyment or regular business activities

corporate crimes

illegal act committed by a corp or by persons acting on its behalf

organized crime

a business operation that supplies illegal goods and services

RICO

Rackateer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act ( 1970)

This law allows police to seize any property used in crimes involving gambling, prostitution, loan sharking or illegal drugs

victimless crimes

offenses that directly harm only the person who commits them

due process

the system must operate within the bounds of the law

plea bargaining

a negotiation in which the state reduces a defendants charge in exchange for a guilty plea

retribution

moral vengeance by which society inflicts on the offender suffering comparable to that caused by the offenseu

deterrence

using punishment to discourage further crime

rehabilitation

reforming an offender to prevent future offenses

community based correction

correctional programs that take place in local communities rather than behind prison walls

probation

type of community based program, allows the offender to stay in the community under supervision

shock probation

mixture of prison and probation, sometimes the prison sentence takes place in a military style bootcamp

parole

after serving some time, inmates are released to the community for the reaminder of thier sentence

youth gangs

societal protection

protecting the public by using incarceration or execution to prevent an offender from committing further offenses

differential association theory

we learn our behavior from those we associate with

labeling theory

the idea that crime and all other forms of rule breaking results from what people do as from how others respond to those actions