Criminal Justice Chapters 1-3

Who Enforces the Law

Law enforcement agencies

who convicts people of their crimes

courts

what area of criminal justice punishes people for their crimes

corrections

What is the supreme law of the land

the constitution

Federalism

governmental powers are shared by national government and the states

What is the CJ system composed of

organizations and individuals working together, but with different goals

discretion

the authority to make choices or decisions based on one's judgment within the criminal justice system.

What are the three levels of law enforcement

federal, state, and local enforcement

What does federal law enforcement do

operates throughout the united states that enables police agencies to enforce federal laws and regulations, such as the FBI (federal bureau of investigation), DEA (drug enforcement administration), and ATF (alcohol, tobacco, and firearms). also includes department of homeland security and secret service

what does the state law enforcement do

it has two different types of enforcement which is the state police and highway patrols. state police includes fire marshals, fish, game, and watercraft wardens, while highway patrols is concerned with enforcing highway and freeway laws

what does the local law enforcement do

the “nuts and bolts” of law enforcement, split between counties and municipalities (cities/towns) they deal with all local crimes and are charged with keeping the peace

Criminal cases

offenses against society as a whole (ex missouri vs. smith)

Civil cases

private relations (suing) between members of a community (ex: smith vs. smith)

dual court system

the us has two independent judicial court systems, which is at the federal level and state level

How many judicial systems does the US have

52

Jail

the holding place for criminals at the local level before they are found guilty of their crime

prison

criminals convicted of serious crimes are held here for longer sentences at the state and federal level

probation

the most common correctional treatment that allows the offender to return to the community under the supervision of a probation officer (serving community)

community based corrections

residential centers, halfway houses, and work-release centers that hold criminals which is an alternate from an offender going to jail or prison

parole

an inmate is allowed to serve the rest of their sentence of corrections in the community by serving

terrorism

any dangerous act intended to influence government policy or inteimidate a civilian population by mass destruction, assasination, or kidnapping

domistic terrorism

an act of terrorism that is carried out within ones own country against ones own people

Crowdsourcing terrorism

terrorist organizations seeking to influence others to follow their goals of terrorism

civil liberties

personal freedoms guaranteed by the US constitution

Why is there a decrease in prison populations

economics, reinvestment, diversion, release and reentry, and recidivism

Justice reinvestment

redirecting funds used to lower a state’s inmante population into strategies that improve community safety

recidivism

the act of committing another crime after a person has already been punished for previous criminal behavior

diversion

rerouting offenders from incarceration to the community through special courts that advocate rehabilitation rather than punishment

release and reentry

releasing nonviolent offenders from federal prisions

what common punishment has decreased significantly

death penalty

victim

a person against whom a crime has been committed or who is directly or indirectly harmed by a criminal act

Civil Law

civil court is concerned with civil responsibility, where we owe duties of care to other civilians (contract or spoken form)

In civil law, burden of proof must be

the preponderance of evidence (must have more proof than the other party like 51%)

Criminal law

criminal court is concerned with guilt of a crime

in criminal law, burden of proof must be

beyond a reasonable doubt (overwhelming evidence that proves someone is guilty of a crime) no one is “innocent” they are either guilty or not

misdemenor

crimes that are less serious that are punishable by a fine or incarceration in a local jail for up to one year

felonie

serious crimes that are punishable by death or a prison sentence in a penitentiary (prison) for longer than a year

Mala in se crime

acts that are inherently wrong, regardless of whether or not they are prohibited by law (ex: murder, rape, theft)

Mala prohibita crimes

acts made illegal by criminal statue (laws) and are not necessarily wrong in of themselves (ex: speeding and loitering)

What is the uniform crime report (UCR)

database produced by the FBI to (try to) measure the overall rate of crime in the US

about how many law enforcement agencies report to the UCR?

18,400

What do law enforcement agencies report to the UCR?

number of arrests, crimes reported, and police employees

part one offenses

crimes recorded in the UCR that are serious in nature that include violent crimes and property crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assult, burglary, larceny, vehicle theft, or arson) these have more media coverage (felonies)

part two offenses

include all crimes recorded by the FBI that do not fall into the category of part 1 offenses (misdemeanors that include drug abuse violations, simple assults, DUIs, and disorderly conduct) these are more common than part 1 offenses

What is the national incident based reporting system (NIBRS)

A similar database that expands on the UCR that collects data on each single crime occurrences. This gives more details on crime

What data sets are used in NIBRS

offenses, victims, offenders, and arrestees

Surveys

method of gathering info in which citizens are surveyed directly regarding their criminal victimizations

victim surverys

researchers ask victims of crime directly about their experience to figure out how big the dark figure of crime is

self reported surveys

a person that reports their crime anonymously into a database. there is no penalty for admitting to criminal activities in a self reported survey

What cultural differences are related to crime?

race, class, and ethnicity

who is more likely to commit a crime?

Men

criminology

the study of crime

Correlation

two variables that tend to vary together, but don’t necessarily mean causation

causation

one variable is responsible for the change in the other

Theory

explaination of a happening or circumstance that is based on observation, experimentation, and reasoning

hypothesis

possible explaination for an observed occurence that can be tested by the scientific method

rational choice theory

oldest theory of why crime happens, and that is because people make that choice by will (cesare beccaria 1738-1794) if the potential benefits are better than the potential costs, a person commits crime

thrill offenders

people that choose to commit a crime because of the rush they get leading them to believe that it was the right thing to do (choice)

What can the fear of punishment do

prevent people from committing crimes (according to rational choice theory)

positivism

philosophical system which concludes that rational thinking must rely on scientifically verified or mathematical proof

what is criminal behavior determined by according to positivists and trait theory

biological, psychological, and social forces beyond the control of the individual

who is the father of classical criminology

cesare beccaria (1738-1794)

who is the father of criminology

cesare lombroso

Atavism

a “throwback” or the reoccurrence of traits from an ancestor (lombroso saw criminals as less evolved which is why they did bad things) He saw them less than human because of this, which justified racism at the time

Trait thoery

the theory that criminals commit crime because of biological or psychological factors

genetics

branch of biology that deals with traits that are passed through generations

examples of genes passed that may cause crime

ADHD, warrior gene (MAOA gene), twin studies, levels of testosterone in males

neurocriminology

study of how genetics and brain activity influence criminal behavior

mental illness

disorders in the brain that have correlation to criminal behavior

how many criminals in prison have a mental illness

more than half

psychology

the study of the mind and behavior

how should people practice trait theory

view that antisocial behavior should be identified and treated before it manifests itself into crime

what are the two underlying presumptions for society

knowing what causes criminal behavior and having the ability to fix what causes that behavior

social disorganization theory

people that are in a more disorganized community more likely to commit crimes than people who live in organized communities because they feel they cannot reach their financial and personal goals through legitimate means

who thought of social disorganization theory

shaw and mckay

organized communities

social institutions are in place that create the norms and values of a community, like local churches, good schools, and the traditional family

disorganized communities

social institutions are not in place because the people of the community abandoned those norms and values

strain theory

because many people are unable to attain their life goals and dreams, whether it is due to financial struggles or opportunities, they will do whatever necessary to fulfill their goals which leads to crime

what did sociologist robert merton believe

strain is caused by a social structure in which all citizens have similar goals without equal means to achieve them

social process theory

the potential for criminal behavior is present in everyone

learning theory

criminal activity is a learned behavior due to criminal behavior exhibited in life

control theory

although we have the potential to commit crimes, we do not because of the cultural norms we have in place. the stronger social bonds are with friends and family the less likely someone is to commit a crime

self-control theory

criminal behavior is linked to low self-control which is formed before a child reaches the age of ten. children that learn low self-control are more likely to commit crime because of bad parenting

cultural deviance theory

people adapt to the subculture to which they belong, which can either be good or bad.

who can be a victim of crime

anyone

who is at the highest risk of crime

young african american males in urban settings

victim-offender conection

60% of all crimes are commited by someone known to the victim

who is more likely to be a victim to a known offender

women (77% know the offender)

why are mentally ill people more likely to be victims of crime

poverty (unemployment), homelessness, and decision making

likely offender

a person has to be motivated enough to commit a crime

suitable target

the offender needs something suitable to commit a crime against

absence of a capable guardian

people are less likely to be targets of crime if they are protected (ex: dog) if they aren’t protected they are more likely to be a victim

crime victims’ rights act of 2004

a victim of crime has the right to be informed, present, and know about the crimes done against them

What is crime

an act (omission) that violates criminal law and is punishable by criminal sanctions

consensus model

assumes that as a society is formed, its members will come to an agreement about shared norms and values

conflict model

in large diverse societies, people may not share beliefs about controversial issues, so crime is determined by what the majority of the population believes

natural rights model

each of us have a right from God to defend their life, liberty, and property which are natural rights

integrated definition of crime

an action that is punishable under criminal law, considered an offense society as a whole and prosecuted by public officials, and is punishable by statutorily determined sanctions that bring about a loss of rights to the offender

violent crime

crimes against people that include murder, rape, assault, and robberty

property crime

the goal of the offender is economic gain, which includes larceny (theft) burglary, and arson