Intro to Crim Justice Exam

What are the three main components of the CJ system?

Law enforcement, Courts, Corrections

What does law enforcement do?

Investigates crimes, gathers evidence, and arrests suspect

What do the courts do?

Charges, tries, and sentences offenders thru adversarial process

What do corrections do?

Monitors, incarcerates, and rehabilitates individuals convicted by crimes

What is social control?

The rules, habits, and customs a society uses to enforce conformity to its norms

What does the assembly line mean?

The CJ system’s each stage is a decision point through which cases flow

What is the assembly line order?

Contact—investigation—arrest—custody—charging—jury/hearing—arraignment—bail—plea negotiations—adjudication—disposition—appeal—correction—release—post-release

What was the first police agency?

The London Metropolitan Police of 1829

What was the Chicago Crime Commission?

When the CJ system began to be recognized. It was a citizens advocate group and kept track of local justice agencies.

What was the LEAA?

A federal agency that provided tech assistance and millions of $ in aid to state and local justice agencies.

What are the unifying principles evidence-based justice MUST have?

Target audience, randomized experiments, intervening factors, measurement of success, cost effectiveness

What is the courtroom work group?

Made up of the prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, and other court personnel all working together cooperatively to settle cases.

What is the wedding cake model?

1. Celebrated cases: famous people

2. Serious felonies: rape/armed robbery

3. Less serious felonies: drug possession

4. Misdemeanors: traffic violations

What is the crime control perspective?

To prevent/deter crime through swift and harsh punishment

What is the due process perspective?

To protect defendants from arbitrary power, state overreach, and wrongful convictions. It emphasizes individual rights.

What is the Rehabilitation perspective?

Crime is the result of social, psychological, and economic issues. Offenders are not bad and can be successfully treated rather than just punished.

What is decriminalization?

Reducing the penalty for a criminal act without legalizing it.

What is deinstitutionalization?

The removal of nonviolent offenders from the nations correctional system and treating them in the community.

What is the equal justice perspective?

All individuals should receive equal treatment under the law. Evaluated on current behavior, not past.

What is the racial animus model?

White America views the typical as a young inter-city black male who offends with no remorse

What is the restorative justice perspective?

Crime inflicts harm on victims/communities. The goal should be repairing relationships rather than punishments— aim for peacemaking.

What is the Miranda Warning?

Suspects under arrest have no obligation to answer questions and they are entitled to have a lawyer present.

What does Nolle Prosequi mean?

A formal declaration by a prosecutor stating that the case will not be prosecuted further.

What is the true bill of indictment?

The action taken by a grand jury when it votes to indict an accused suspect.

What is the consensus view of crime?

The belief that the majority of citizens in a society share common values and agree on what behaviors should be illegal.

What is the conflict view of crime?

The view that criminal law is created and enforced by political and economic elites to maintain their power and control lower-income groups

What is the interactionist view of crime?

The view that criminal law reflects the preferences and opinions of people who hold social power and use their influence to shape legal standards.

What are moral entrepreneurs?

Individuals or interest groups who hold social power and campaign to imprint their personal moral standards and values onto the legal system.

Although these views of crime differ, what do they generally agree on?

1. Criminal law defines crime

2. The definition of crime constantly evolves

3. Social forces mold the definition of crime

4. Criminal law has a social control function

What is expressive violence?

Violent acts driven by explosive anger, emotions, and frustrations

What is instrumental violence?

Violent acts committed as a means to achieve a specific goal, such as financial gain or obtaining goods.

Mass murderer

An offender who kills 4 or more victims within a single event

Spree killer

An offender who kills multiple people at 2 or more locations with little or no break in between events

Serial killer

An offender who kills 3 or more people over an extended period, with a cooling off period between victims

What are property crimes?

Very common and very costly, outnumbering violent crimes 7:1. Includes theft offenses (larceny) and property damage (arson).

What are public order crimes?

Offenses that run counter to prevailing moral standards or public order, victimless crimes (prostitution)

What are white collar crimes?

Nonviolent crimes committed for financial gain by individuals using business, commercial, or professional positions (embezzlement)

What are corporate crimes?

Illegal acts committed by corporate executives or the corporation itself to benefit the company’s bottom line (price fixing/false advertising)

What is the UCR?

The FBI’s official annual compilation of crime data submitted voluntarily by local law enforcement agencies. High agency participation + reliable info

Part I crimes vs Part II crimes

Part I crimes: serious crime—> murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, arson, larceny

Part II crimes: less serious—> vandalism, fraud, excludes traffic violations

When is a crime cleared?

When at least one person is arrested/charged and turned over to the court or when exceptional circumstances prevent an arrest.

What is NIBRS?

An FBI program collects incident-level data on each reported crime, eliminates hierarchy rule + captures more details. All offenses are reported but is more time consuming for law enforcement agencies. Replaced the UCR

What is NCVS?

A survey that measures crime victimization, both reported or unreported crimes and victims and non victims

What is SRS?

Subjects (often High school) anonymously reveal participation in criminal acts- downside, people tend to lie

Liberal feminist theory

Women’s social roles and economic opportunities become more equal to mens—> female crime rates will increase

Racial threat hypothesis

As minority populations grow, the majority group perceives an economic/political threat and responds by increasing police controls and legal sanctions

When does crime occur most?

During the day, more people=more crime

When and who commits crime the most?

Young males (especially poor or belonging to minority groups) and during the summer when kids are out of school

Career criminals

Individuals who engage in persistent criminal activity over an extended period of time

Chronic criminals

A small % of persistent offenders who commit a disproportionate amount of all serious crime—> 6%

What is early onset?

Kids who begin engaging in antisocial/delinquent behavior at a young age are far more likely to persist in criminal careers as adults

What is the 3 strikes law?

Mandatory sentencing statutes requiring long prison sentences for individuals convicted of 3 severe felony offenses

What is the truth-in-sentencing law?

Policies requiring offenders to serve a substantial portion of their court-imposed prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole/release

What happens when certain neurotransmitters are imbalanced/have low levels?

They can cause heightened aggression, impulsivity, and sensation-seeking disorder

What are the biochemical influences on behavior?

Environmental contaminants(chemicals), food/diet, hypoglycemia, hormones

What is the psychodynamic theory?

Some people encounter problems during their early development that cause an imbalance in their personality

What are the disorders linked to antisocial behavior?

ODD, Conduct disorder, Clinical depression, Alexithymia( prevents people from being aware of their feelings.

What is ODD?

A childhood mental health disorder that causes rebellious/aggressive behavior towards authority figures.

What is antisocial personality?

Common traits: egocentrism, lack of empathy, callousness, deceit, impulsivity, and disregard for social norms—> associated with chronic offending

Anomie

The absence/weakness of rules, norms, and guidelines on what is socially or morally acceptable

Culture of poverty

People in the lower class of society form a separate culture with its own values/norms that are in conflict with those of conventional society.

Collective Efficacy

Mutual trust, a willingness to intervene in the supervision of children, and the maintenance of public order

Parental efficacy

Parents who are able to be supportive and effectively control their children in a non-threatening fashion—> delinquency reduced

Social learning theory

Criminal behavior is learned through social interaction, observation, modeling from peers and intimate personal groups

Differential association theory

Criminal acts are related to a persons exposure to antisocial attitudes and values

Social control theory

Strong social bonds (family, peers, religion) to conventional institutions prevent individuals from committing crime

Social reaction theory

Society provides criminals by stigmatizing certain individuals as deviants, a label they come to accept as their identity.

Critical criminology

Crime results because the rich and powerful impose their moral standards/economic interests on the rest of society

State-organized crime

Criminal acts committed by the state officials in pursuit of their jobs as government representatives

Early onset

People antisocial in childhood are likely to remain criminals

Latent trait theories

Human behavior is controlled by a master trait( this trait remains stable/unchangable) present at birth or soon after, that influences and directs behavior

Criminal propensity

A natural inclination toward criminality, present at birth or soon after

Life course theories

Criminality is influenced by a continuous sequence of age-graded experiences, transitions, and environmental events throughout life

State dependance

Committing a crime physically alters life circumstances which intern increases the probability of future offending

Social capital

Positive relations with individuals and institutions that build social support and trust, helping individuals desist from crime as they age

Adolescent-Limited offenders

Kids who get into trouble as youths but whose misbehavior ends when they enter adulthood

Life-course persisters

Delinquents who begin their offending career at a very early age and continue to offend well into adulthood

Victim precipitation

The role of the victim in provoking/encouraging criminal behavior

Deterrent effect

The drop in crime rates or reduction in criminal behavior resulting from the threat/imposition of legal penalties

General deterrence

Crime prevention policies aimed at convincing the general public not to commit crimes by making examples of convicted offenders through severe, swift, and certain punishment

Specific deterrence

Punishment inflicted on a specific offender to discourage that exact individual from repeating their acts in the future

Routine Activities theory

The view that crime is a product of 3 everyday activities: motivated offenders, suitable targets, and a lack of capable guardians.