Criminal Justice Key Terms (Chapters 1–4)

Criminal Justice

The agencies that dispense justice and the process by which justice is carried out.

Evidence-Based Justice

Using the scientific method to determine whether criminal justice programs actually reduce crime rates and offender recidivism.

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration

The federal body that, from 1969 to 1982, gave technical assistance and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to state and local justice agencies.

Social Control

A society's ability to control individual behavior in order to serve the best interests and welfare of society as a whole.

Safe Streets Act (1968)

The law that provided federal funds for state and local crime control efforts.

Extralegal Factors

Characteristics such as race, class, age, and gender that can influence case outcomes even though they are not part of the law.

Recidivism

Repeat offending — returning to crime after being processed or punished by the system.

Consensus View

The view that certain behaviors must be outlawed or controlled and that criminal law is designed to protect citizens from social harm.

Conflict View

The view that law is the instrument that lets the wealthy hold power and control those who oppose their values or might rebel against unequal distribution of wealth.

Interactionist View

The view that criminal law is structured to reflect the preferences and opinions of people who hold social power in a particular jurisdiction.

Expressive Violence

Violence driven by emotion — rage, frustration, jealousy — rather than by a goal.

Instrumental Violence

Violence that is calculated and planned to achieve a specific goal.

Larceny

Taking and carrying away another person's property without force or threat, with intent to keep it.

Grand Theft

Larceny of property valued above the statutory cutoff — in these notes, more than $1,000.

Embezzlement

A financial crime in which a person steals or misuses money or property they were trusted to manage.

Criminal Mischief

Vandalism or deliberate damage to another person's property.

Arson

The willful, malicious burning of a structure, vehicle, or property.

Trespassing

Entering or remaining on property without permission.

Robbery

Taking property from a person by force or the threat of force.

Burglary

Unlawful entry into a structure with the intent to commit a crime inside.

Public Order Crimes

Behaviors that are illegal because they run counter to existing moral standards — prostitution, substance abuse, public indecency, jaywalking.

Economic Crimes

White-collar and corporate offenses committed for financial gain through business or professional position.

Organized Crime

Ongoing criminal enterprise run by a structured group that profits from illegal goods and services.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

The FBI's national survey compiling criminal acts reported to police across the country.

Part 1 Crimes

The UCR's serious index offenses: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft.

Part 2 Crimes

All other offenses reported to the FBI — less serious crimes and misdemeanors.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

A survey that asks victims directly about their experiences with law violation, capturing crime never reported to police.

Self-Report Survey

A survey that asks offenders themselves to describe their own criminal and delinquent behavior.

Monitoring the Future (MTF)

The best-known self-report survey, questioning American secondary students annually about drug use and delinquency.

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

A reporting system requiring police to submit a detailed account of each individual incident and arrest, including victim and offender information.

Early Onset

The beginning of antisocial behavior in early adolescence, after which criminal behavior is more likely to persist across the life span.

Hate Crime (Bias Crime)

A criminal act directed at a person or group because they share a discernible racial, ethnic, religious, or gender characteristic.

Liberal Feminist Theory

The view that women suffer oppression and disadvantage because of their sex, calling for gender equality in pay, opportunity, childcare, and education.

Moral Entrepreneurs

People who wage campaigns to outlaw or control behaviors they view as immoral or wrong.

Racial Threat Hypothesis

The view that young minority males face greater police control, such as formal arrest, as their share of the population increases.

Serial Killer

An offender who kills multiple victims over a long period of time, with cooling-off periods between killings.

Three-Strikes Law

Sentencing codes requiring a life sentence after conviction for a third felony, though some states permit parole after a long stay.

Cleared

Status of an offense when at least one person is arrested or charged and turned over to the court for prosecution, or the case is otherwise solved.

Criminologists

Social scientists who use the scientific method to study the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior.

Rational Choice Theory

The theory that people choose to commit crime after weighing the potential benefits against the consequences of the act.

General Deterrence

Controlling crime by convincing the public that breaking the law is a bad or dangerous choice because punishment will follow.

Specific Deterrence

Punishing a known offender so severely that they will never be tempted to repeat the offense.

Situational Crime Prevention

Reducing crime at the scene by increasing effort and risk and by removing provocation and excuses, rather than