CJ 150 Ophir Sefiha

Consensus Perspective

majority of the population has the same/similar moral views & beliefs leading to new laws being established

Conflict Perspective

no 2 people share the same views/beliefs leading to conflicts escalating, as the majority dont agree the group with the most power has their views/beliefs made into laws

Due Process

seen as an obstacle, people charged seen as innocent till proven guilty, not allowed to violate the accused rights

Crime Control

fast, efficient, system focused on protecting society & eliminating loopholes in laws

Ethics

actions & words that are considered morally correct by a majority of society; worldview of correct actions to take

character

doing the right thing when no one is looking or around (no benefit for actions)

Role of discretion

whether to stop, search, or arrest someone; decide of they act, what response is appropriate, how the community’s attitude toward specific types of criminal act should influence decisions

challenges of discretion

resisting temptation (they are constantly exposed), culture (blue wall of silence), most discretion is at the bottom (opposite of almost every other field) 

goals of CJ system

uphold rights, punish criminals, crime control, maintain order

Can one model of crime be more efficient?

no, process can be more than the other, has to be enforced in equal measure (cant have more of one then the other)

backward law of media

common crimes have small coverage in media, least common crimes has most coverage in media

Explain the perspective of crime and deviance as relative and why researchers must approach the study of crime from a relative or “social constructionist” perspective

Crime is relative: determined by time and place ex: military killing = doing job, civilian killing = arrested & potentially killed, Difference is in context;

Social constructionists: no action is inherently good or bad;

To recognize that human behavior is not absolute, takes out bias from the research process

Portrayal of White Collar Crime (WCC)

old, white, rich men, doesn’t have effect anyone

Portrayal of street offenders

evil, black, rowdy, who are out to hurt people

Identify and explain, according to Surette, some of the social consequences of our contemporary images of crime and criminality

Perpetuates stereotypes as committing more crimes, ex: Mexican drug runners;

More people become scared of group/areas, ex: the “bad” part of town;

o   Housing value decreases

People start to think of criminals as fundamentally different;

o   Easy to dehumanize criminals

origin of American legal system

English common law

criminal law

“beyond all reasonable doubt”, a public wrong, some level of government files charges against an individual, punishment jail/prison/probation/death, person accused of committing some sort of crime

Civil law

“preponderance of evidence”, a private wrong, case is filed by an individual party, punishment in form of monetary compensation no incarceration

substantive law

a written law that defines a criminal act

procedural law

sets the procedures & mechanisms for processing criminal cases

Types of law in the USA

substantive & procedural

Classification of laws in the USA

felonies & misdemeanors

Sources of law int he USA

federal, state, city/county/municipal

categories of law in the USA

person, property, public order (victimless crimes), white collar, organized

2 elements of criminal law

mens rea = guilty mind

actus reus = the criminal act

prosecutor needs both

dark figure of crime

reference that most crime is never reported/come to the attention of the police

why are crimes not reported

fear of retaliation, embarrassment, not know they are a victim, distrust in police/not believing it will help, benefit from the criminal, police willingness to file a report

strengths and limitation of UCR

strength = information comes from PD’s around the country, has over 50 years of information

limitations = only added if crime is reported

strengths & limitations of NCVS

limitation = only gets information with people with houses & phones, doesn’t get WCC

strengths = more accurate portrayal of crime than UCR, gets crime that goes unreported

strengths & limitations of NIBRS

strength = captures 57 data elements related to the offense/offender/victim/property/arrestee, captures information on a broader range of offenses

limitation = take a lot of time and money

strengths & limitations of SRS

strength = uncover “hidden crime”, shows discretion of the CJS

limitation = people don’t take it seriously

pattern of crime related to age

teens-early twenties have higher crime rates, peaks at 18/19, slowly goes down after, age crime curve

pattern of crime related to gender

men commit 80% or more violent crimes

relative ethics

gray area, nothing inherently good/bad

absolute ethics

crime is black and white, no in between

blue wall of silence

Cops won’t tell superiors if they see a fellow officer committing a crime

what does clery act require campus to report?

daily crime log, annua security report, fire and safety log must be available to the public

Campus security authority (CSA)

required by clery act to report any crime that comes to their attention = mandated reporter

what types of crime does clery require be reported?

criminal offenses, arrest & referrals, violence against women, hate crimes, hazing