Criminal Justice

Sanctions

Are prescribed consequences intended to reinforce people's conformity to norms.

Norm

Is a rule that makes clear what behavior is appropriate and expected in a particular situation

Deviance

Is the violation of a norm

Social norms

Specifies how people are expected to behave

Legal norms

Is a rule that governs social relations and is enforced by a state or other governing authority

Criminal justice system

The independent actors and agencies of law enforcement agencies the courts the correctional system and victims services at the local state and federal levels of government that deal with the problem of ceime

Consensus perspective

A view of ceime that sees laws as the product of social agreement about what criminal behavior is

Conflict perspective

A view of crimes as one outcome of a struggle among different groups competing for resources on their society

Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR)

An annual series of US statistical measures of the incidence of suspected crimes reported by police departments and compiled by the FBI

Uniform Crime Reports

A record of crime reported to law enforcement agencies

Hate Crime Convictions

Criminal conviction for a crime that was motivated by a victims race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability

Crime Index

A way to measure the overall crime rate in a specific order

Dark Figure Crime

The group unreported or unrecorded crimes as revealed by crime victims

Secondary Victimisation

The suffering of crimes caused by their subsequent treatment by the police the courts or personal acquaintances

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

A statistical sampling of households and individuals who have been personally victimized by specific crimes

Victim Surveys

Interviews with individuals (including but not limited to actual victims) who have been personally acted by specific crimes

First Degree Murder

Most serious kind of murder. To be convicted offender must have purposely killed the victim and must have planned the killing a short time in advance

Voluntary Manslaughter

Killing in the heat of passion

Homicide

The act of unjustifiable causing the death of another human being

Classical School of Criminology

A body of crime causation that views criminal behavior as the product of the offenders free will. The criminal is choosing to break the law

Rational Choice Theory

A theory of crime causation that assumes that criminals choose to commit crimes because they believe they will derive will outweigh the risks of getting caught

Neoclassical School of Criminology

A theory of crime causation that recognizes differences in circumstances and assumes that some people (like kids, mentally ill, and I tellectually deficient) cannot reason. Criminal justice system must look at the offenders ability to comprehend the consequences of their actions and find a suitable punishment

Atacism

The belief that criminals are evolutionarily or subhuman people characterized by certain “inferior” identifiable physical and mental characteristics

Cesar Lombroso

Founder of the Italian School of Positivity Criminology/Father of Criminology

Testosterone

Primary male sex hormone that is particularly related to violent crime. Higher levels of testosterone in violent crimes

Strain Theory

The theory that extraordinary pressures make people more likely to commit crimes

Anomie

A feeling of alienation of a condition that leaves people feeling hopeless, rootless, cut off, isolated, disillusioned and frustrated

Infraction

A minor violation of a local ordinance or state law that brings potential punishment of fines

Common Law

The legal system created in England after Norman Conquests bill used in the US

Misdemeanor

A criminal offense that is punished by fines or a maximum of a year in a county or city jail

Plaintiff

The party who initiated the lawsuit in a civil case

Damages

Payments that a defnedent must make to a winning plaintiff in a civil lawsuit to compensate the plaintiff for the injuries or cost that the dependents actions have caused

Hammurabis Code

The second earliest known written law. Basic principles were that violators should suffer punishment equal to their offense

Precedent

Previous court decision that have binding authority on subsequent

Civil Law

The system of laws sometimes known as the Roman system. A type of law that concerns disputes between individuals

Felony

A serious criminal offense that brings a potential punishment of a year or more

Inchoate Crimes

Crimes that have begun but are not completed or are crimes that are completed by someone else