Criminal Justice System: Key Concepts (Wickersham Commission, UCR, Victimization, and Theoretical Perspectives)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering major topics from the lecture notes.

Wickersham Commission

A 1929–1931 national commission on law enforcement that studied the U.S. criminal justice system and recommended reforms.

Three main components of the criminal justice system

Law enforcement, courts, and corrections.

Police discretion in the early stages

The freedom of police to decide how to proceed during the first four stages of the criminal justice process (investigation, arrest, charging, arraignment).

Indictment (true bill)

A formal accusation by a grand jury that there is enough evidence to bring a defendant to trial.

Information

A formal charging document filed by a prosecutor in court, used instead of a grand jury indictment in some jurisdictions.

True bill of indictment

A finding by a grand jury that there is sufficient evidence to indict a person.

Arraignment

A court proceeding where the defendant is informed of the charges and enters a plea.

Appellate courts

Courts that review the decisions of lower courts for legal errors or procedures.

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

FBI data collection of crimes reported to police; used to measure crime trends but has limitations (voluntary reporting, only the most serious offense counted).

Limitations of the UCR

Not all jurisdictions report; reporting is voluntary; multiple offenses may be collapsed to the most serious one; undercounts of crime.

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) / Victimization survey

A national survey of households asking about victimization to measure crimes that go unreported to police.

Self-report study

Surveys asking individuals to report their own involvement in illegal activities to study crime patterns.

Most common measure of unreported crime

National crime victimization surveys (NCVS); they assess crimes not captured by police reports.

Rehabilitation perspective

Criminological view that focuses on reforming offenders to reduce recidivism via treatment and social factors.

Crime control perspective

Criminal justice approach emphasizing deterrence, incapacitation, and swift punishment to reduce crime.

Consensus perspective

The view that laws reflect broad societal agreement on norms and values.

Conflict theory (in criminology)

The view that laws and law enforcement reflect power and inequality, shaping which groups are criminalized.

Young males and crime rate

A higher proportion of young males in the population is associated with higher crime rates and more persistent offenders; aging reduces risk.

Due process

Principles ensuring fair treatment and legal rights throughout the judicial process.