Theoretical perspectives criminal justice Chap 1 and 2

The primary purpose of law and the CJ system is what

deterrence

In deterrence theory, punishment must meet 3 criteria

Must be Certain, Swift, and Severe

Certain

Punishment occurs every time a crime is committed (camera lights at intersection, dui checkpoints)

Swift

occur immediately after the crime is committed

Severe

just enough to overcome the possible benefits of the criminal act

Two types of deterrence

specific and general deterrence

specific deterrence

punishment given to a specific individual to deter that individual (punishing jeff to deter jeff)

general deterrence

punishing one individual to send message to general audience)

Classical criminology assumes that

individuals exercise free will and act rationally

free will ->

behavior is the result of a choice/decision

acting rationally ->

weighing the pleasure possibly received from an act against the possible pain from an act (pros and cons)

Theory

a framework that allows us to assign meaning to behavior

Theories do what

state a relationship between two or more concepts (such as crime and punishment)

Independent variable

the cause or pre-cursor, comes first

Dependant variable

the outcome, or what is being predicted

Crime is almost always the ______ variable

dependent variable

9 steps of evaluating theories

Logicial Consistency, Scope, Parsimony, Testability, Empirical Viability, Causality vs. Soft Determinism, Quality of Empirical Tests, Usefulness, Policy Implications

Deterrence theory: Empirical viability

Initially studied using the death penalty -> no effect, but by the 1970s, deterrence theory started to be applied to more general crimes

Any criminal justice policy based on punishment is based on what

it is based on deterrence

cross-sectional research

compares multiple segments of a population at a single time

cross-sectional research and deterrence

perceived risk and self reported offending are measured at the same time

longitudinal research

A research design in which the same individuals are followed over time and their development is repeatedly assessed.

longitudinal research and deterrence

finds support for an experiential effect not a deterrent effect

experiential effect

extent to which previous experience affects individuals' perceptions of how severe criminal punishment will be when deciding whether or not to offend again

emboldening effect

prior punishment is positively related to future offending

Inductive modifications

studies consistently find very weak, if any support for deterrence

Most important thing in criteria for crime reduction according to deterrence theory

Certainty, not severity

Rational Choice theory

An economic form of deterrence theory (people make rational calculations of cost/benefit

Rational choice theory applies to both ____ and _____

individual acts and criminal careers

rational choice theory can include

efforts and rewards v.s. likelihood and severity of punishment

Examples of severity used in deterrence theory

longer sentences, 3 strike rule, juvenile transfer, capital punishment, abolishing parole, boot camp

Routine activities theory

The view that victimization results from the interaction of three everyday factors: the availability of suitable targets, the lack of capable guardians, and the presence of motivated offenders

routine activities and empirical viability

research has primarily only examined targets and guardianship, limited support for theory

Policy implications for routine activities theory (real world application)

curfews, supervision, locks, lighting, alarms, visibility, guard dog (all attempt to create capable guardianship) CPTED

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)

Building environments that naturally reduce the possibility of crime often through architecture (increasing visibility, secure doors, 7/11 example)

Three obstacles to theory development

1. Lacks a focus/core questions and thus cannot be a distinct discipline

2. Criminal Justice is an applied vocation; thus inherently atheoretical

3. Criminal Justice is an offshoot of established disciplines

a theory’s ___ increases with empirical testing and subsequent refinement

Relevance

Theories ____ empirical findings into assumptions about criminality

Organize

____ theories provide the justification for generalizing across situations

Relevant