CCJ 4004 - Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice Exam 1

Which of these countries had the highest homicide rate in 2024?

Jamaica

Which country do you think had the fairest justice system in the world in 2025? Why?

Denmark

Which regions have the highest homicide rates in general?

South America, South Africa, Central America

Constraints on Government Powers

Government powers are effectively limited by the legislature

Absence of Corruption

Government officials in the executive branch do not use public office for private gain

Open Government

Publicized laws and government data

Fundamental Rights

Equal treatment and absence of discrimination

Order and Security

Crime is effectively controlled

Regulatory Enforcement

Government regulations are effectively enforced

Civil Justice

People can access and afford civil justice

Criminal Justice

Criminal investigation system is effective

Why study the legal system of other countries? Local

Increased understanding of criminal justice systems in other countries allows a particular country to gain ideas for improving its own system

Why study the legal system of other countries? Universal

- Understanding of criminal justice systems in other countries allows those countries to cooperate in fighting crime

- Increases understanding of the relevance of neighbor cooperation and multinational cooperation among law enforcement

Neighbor Cooperation: US + Canada

The Border Enforcement Security Taskforces (BEST) and the Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations ("Shiprider"), which conduct regular patrol and boarding operations in locations along the shared maritime border.

U.S. Coast Guard officers are pursuing a boat suspected of carrying cocaine. The boat crosses into Canadian waters. What happens?

Under Shiprider, a properly designated joint U.S.-Canadian team can continue the operation under the laws and authority of the country whose waters it is in.

Neighbor Cooperation: US + Mexico

- Current attempts at collaborative response are based on the Merida Initiative, which is a bilateral partnership that includes counterdrug and anticrime assistance for Mexico.

- The initiative includes a pledge by the Mexican government to intensify its anticrime efforts and a pledge by the U.S. government to address drug demand in the U.S. and illicit trafficking of firearm and bulk currency to Mexico

International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)

- Agency that collects and disseminates information on international criminals as a way to assist countries in solving crimes and securing the arrest, detention, and extradition of suspects

- Coordinates interactions among police across Interpol member nations

- Does not investigate cases

- Collects and disseminates information on international criminal activity

- Assists in solving criminal cases; Secure arrests, prosecution & extradition of suspects

Red Notice (Interpol)

A request to locate a wanted person and seek their arrest/detention pending extradition or similar legal action.

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol)

Europol has been in full operation since 1999, and much like Interpol does on a larger scale, it serves to facilitate the sharing information among the EU countries about crimes and criminals. Europol also provides expertise and technical support for operations and investigations engaged in by the member nations

European Judicial Network (Eurojust)

Enhances cooperation and coordination of the prosecuting authorities in EU countries. Also facilitates judicial cooperation

Historical Approach to an International Perspective

- Provides information about past successes and failures and prepares us for future change

- Practices of administering justice develop over centuries within countries in response to needs and historical events

Political Approach to an International Perspective

- Helps us understand how politics affect a nation's justice system and how it influences interaction among nations

- Criminal justice agencies are government institutions and reflect political decisions about law and the administration of justice

- Social and economic factors are also important in shaping administration of justice, and they are often tied to both political and historical events

Descriptive Approach to an International Perspective

- Identifies the justice system's main components and actors then describes how they should operate

What is the current trend of homicide globally and in the US?

Decreasing, though uneven across regions

In Europe (and globally), most homicides are connected to?

Family and intimate partner relationships

Which region of the world has the highest share of homicides linked to organized crime and gangs?

Americas

Globally, which weapon type is responsible for the largest share of homicides?

Firearms

Which of the following statements best reflects gender patterns in homicide?

Men are the majority of victims, while women are more likely to be killed at home.

World Health Organization (WHO)

- medical/public health perspective

- primarily uses public health/cause of death data

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

- criminal justice perspective

- primarily collects criminal justice data from police, prosecutors, and other national authorities

Challenges and Implications of Official Data Sources

- Different definitions for specific crime types in different countries

- Different levels of reporting and traditions of policing

- Different social, economic and political contexts

Victimization Surveys

Japan consistently ranks as the lowest victimization rates, while England and Wales are consistently the highest.

Opinion Surveys

- general social survey

- European Social Survey

- eurobarometer

- World Values Survey

England/Wales Assault Definition

Only when there is serious harm done or the intent to cause serious harm does it qualify as serious assault

US Assault Definition

A dangerous weapon displayed in a threatening manner can qualify even when no injury occurs

UNODC/ICCS Gun Threat Code

020111 — Serious assault: requires serious physical force resulting in serious bodily injury

020112 — Minor assault: Minor physical force resulting in no injury or minor bodily injury.

20121 — Threat: separately classifies threats to inflict serious bodily injury.

Homicide: England + Wales

- Can be murder

- Intent to kill is not required if intended to cause grievous

bodily harm (really serious injury).

- The victim's death can therefore be legally classified as murder

even without an intent to kill

Homicide: Germany

If lacking the intent required for an intentional killing, the offense can instead be classified as bodily harm resulting in death (§227 StGB).

UNODC/ICCS Code for Homicide

0101 — Intentional homicide: Unlawful death inflicted upon a person with intent to cause death or serious injury.

Modernization Theory

Social processes related to industrial development create conditions conducive to increased criminality, such as loosened family ties, instability of family, and lack of supervision of youthful members of a family

Civilization Theory

- A historical link between crime and civility - suggesting that violent crime in societies decreased as civility transformed violent societies into more peaceful societies

- As civility increases, violence directed against the self (drug use, suicide) will occur more often.

World System Theories

Draws from the Marxist perspective to explain that as capitalism expands, it disrupts indigenous cultures and traditional means of subsistence resulting in inequality and class conflict, resulting in increased crimes, especially economic crime

Opportunity Theories

- Crime is the result of modern economics and social organization that provide increased opportunities to engage in criminal behavior

- Routine Activities Theory

Feminist Theory

Focuses on how indications of gender inequality affect:

- Gender differences in crime rates

- Victimization of women or men

- Differences in rates of gendered crimes (domestic violence)

Merton's Anomie (Strain) Theory

The idea that American society emphasizes common success goals without providing equal access to the means for obtaining them

American Exceptionalism in Crime and Punishment

- High incarceration rates

- The nation's continued use of the death penalty

Which statement best describes the global status of the death penalty?

Most countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Which statement is true?

Fewer countries use it, but executions have recently increased

The US Federal Death Penalty

A state can abolish the death penalty, but a defendant in that state can still potentially receive a federal death sentence if prosecuted for a federal capital offense.

Primary Motive of Organized Crime

Profit/financial gain

Primary Motive of Terrorism

Political, ideological, or religious goals

International Terrorism

involves citizens or territory of more than one country and has an impact that goes beyond a domestic agenda

Domestic Terrorism

involves persons or groups committing a terrorist act or acts in their own country, having some domestic agenda as the goal

Revolutionary Terrorism

use violence to frighten those in power and their supporters in order to replace the existing government with a regime that holds acceptable political or religious views

Political Terrorism

directed at people or groups who oppose the terrorists' political ideology or whom the terrorists define as "outsiders" who must be destroyed

Nationalist Terrorism

promotes the interests of a minority ethnic or religious group that believes it has been persecuted under majority rule and that wishes to carve out its own independent homeland

Retributive Terrorism

Some terrorist groups want to impose their social and religious code on others

State-Sponsored Terrorism

Occurs when a repressive government regime forces its citizens into obedience, oppresses minorities, and stifles political dissent

Lone-Actor Terrorism

While they may admire a particular terrorist group, they do not receive orders, direction, support, or aid from such a group

Human Trafficking

Must be an element of force, fraud, or coercion (actual, perceived, or implicit), unless the victim is under 18 years of age and involved in commercial sex acts

Human Smuggling

The person involved is generally cooperative, and there is no actual or implied coercion