Systems of Justice - Chapters 1, 2, & 3

Crime

an action that is prohibited by law

Criminal Justice System

Comprised of the police, courts, and corrections

Arrest

Police need probable cause for an arrest and an arrest warrant

Booking

an administrative entry into jail

First Appearance

a short hearing in the first 24 hours in front of a magistrate where the charges are heard, determines probable cause for arrest

Preliminary Hearing

to determine if there is sufficient evidence for trial

Grand Jury

a group appointed by an administrative judge hears the evidence determines if there is probable cause for a trial (not in all states)

Arraignment

a hearing where the offender may plead guilt or innocence and has an attorney appointed if they don’t have one

Pretrial Diversion

provides the accused with the opportunity to have the charges dropped if they can fulfill the requirements

Plea Bargaining

an agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor to plead guilty in exchange for a recommended sentence

Pretrial Hearings

when the judge decides procedural issues relevant to the trial such as the admission of evidence or a change of venue

Trials

could be a bench trial with only a judge to determine the outcome or a jury trial with a group of the defendants peers

Sentencing Hearing

a separate proceeding to decide the sentence of the defendant

Voir Dire

a preliminary examination of a witness or juror to ensure their testimony or unbiased decision making

Jail/Prison/Probation

based on the sentencing options for the charges

Parole

after a prison sentence while probation is instead of prison, being supervised after being released into the community

Socialization

Implicit social control through institutions of family, church, and school

Social Contract

the idea that citizens agree to abide by the law in return for the law’s protection

Common Law

Where the American legal code comes from, specifically British common law

Stare Decisis

past decisions are meant to uphold current decisions, “let the decision stand”

Penal Codes

developed by legislatures and set forth the basic structure of government and the law

Police Power

gives state legislatures the power to create new crimes

Ideology

a body of doctrines or beliefs that guides an individual or group

crime control ideology

the basic belief is that controlling crime and punishing the criminal are more important than anything else

due process ideology

supports crime control but in this ideology it is not the most important thing, but rather the enforcement of the law in a just and fair manner

Recidivism

the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend.

Uniform Crime Reports

the most well-known and used source of crime statistics in the US

crime rate (UCR)

(number of crimes/population)x100,000

Index Crimes

murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson

clearance rate

the number of crimes cleared by arrest, considered cleared when an arrest is made

National Crime Victimization Survey

a source of crime statistics not determined through law enforcement

Cohort Study

follows a group of subjects over a long period of time

Dark Crime Figure

A summation of serious and harmful crimes that are never reported

Macro Level Crime Theories

predict crime patterns in particular societies over time

Criminology

the study of crime and criminal motivation

Micro Level Crime Theories

Explains why an individual might commit a crime

Deviance

behavior that is contrary to the norm and that occurs infrequently

Crime Correlate

a factor that is statistically associated with the incidence of crime

Chivalry Theory

proposes the idea that women are less likely to be arrested than men in similar circumstances and if arrested are less likely to be tried and convicted

Gender Differential

the disproportional arrest rates between men and women

Racial Invariance Hypothesis

proposes that crime is stable in a neighborhood regardless of what race/ethnicity predominates

Hedonistic Calculus

Bentham thought the idea of carefully weighing punishment to slightly outweigh the potential pleasure or profit that might be obtained would be sufficient deterrent

Positivism

can be described as “scientific method” or the search for causes using the scientific method

Eugenics

the idea of improvement in the human race through compelled procreation and other forms of control repugnant to democratic ideals

Learning Theory

individuals act and believe the way they do because they have learned to do so

Cultural Deviance Theory

there are some groups in society that teach antisocial behaviors

Opportunity Theory

A lack of opportunity is the cause of crime because some individuals are blocked from means of economic success

Social Disorganization Theory

Community is a prime factor in crime causation because a lack of cohesion and education

Social Process Theory

Focuses on an individual’s interaction with the world around them

Labeling Theory

Assumes that even though almost all of us have engaged in primary deviance only certain individuals are labeled as deviant

Control Theory

Presented by Travis Hirschi presumed that most of us would drift to delinquency but we don’t because of the bonds of society that control us (attachment, commitment, belief and involvement)

General Theory of Crime

Hirschi and Gottfredson propose that individuals are born with or raised to have different levels of self-control

General Strain Theory

Agnew proposed something similar to strain theory into a social process theory that examines how individuals deal with various types of strain including lack of opportunity

Procedural Justice

Noted by Tom Tyler, it’s when people believe that the justice system is fair and just there is more adherence to the law itself

Environmental Criminology

criminology that explores the factors involved in where crime occurs but doesn’t focus much on the offender

Modern Deterrence Theory

recognizes the influence on individual factors that mediate how deterrent messages are recieved

Routine Activities Theory

ignores criminal motivation assuming that a motivated offender always exists, and that there also needs to be suitable target and the absence of guardians to leave an opening for crime

Integrated Theory

combine schools to get a more comprehensive approach, which requires longitudinal research

Critical Criminology

Contests definition of criminal, proposes that the powerholders of society define criminality and we collectively exclude their actions for criminality

Social Schematic Theory

Proposed by Simons and Burt, proposes that individuals who live in social environments characterized by victimization, poverty, lack of opportunity and conflict with authority develop a criminological knowledge structure that encourages criminality