Criminology

3 components of the CJS?

Law enforcement, Courts, Corrections

Capital Murder

The highest degree of murder, planned and violent/shocking murder, and possible death penalty.

How does media affect crime?

Influencing public fear, shifting political policies, reinforcing social stereotypes and shaping perspectives of crime.

What is the CJS’s “Assembly Line”?

Decisions at one stage influence decisions at the next stage (Ex: police influence courts)

What are victim advocates?

Trained professionals who support crime victims as their case moves through the CJS.

What varies cost of correctional control?

Cost varies by jurisdiction (what states pay for corrections)

What is crime?

Breaking of a law for which the CJS or some other governing authority prescribes punishment, variations by jurisdiction, status of offenders, and dynamic definitions.

What classifications of crime are there?

Misdemeanor- minor crimes, penalty of fine or up to 1 year in jail, simple assault, petty larceny, disturbing the peace

Felony- serious crimes, penalty +1 year in prison, murder, rape, burglary

What types of crime are there?

Violent crimes- common and serious, victim and offender coming together in space and time, murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault

Property crimes- crimes against property, more common than violent crimes, motor vehicle theft, burglary, larceny

Victimless crimes- illegal behavior that does not directly affect another person, prostitution, gambling, drug use

White collar crime- committed by person of respectability and high social status in the course of occupation, bribery, fraud, embezzlement, affects more people than “street crimes”, $250 billion annually

Cybercrime- illegal activity committed by using computer networks as the primary method of commission, relatively new and rapidly growing, identity theft, cyberstalking, phishing

Terrorism- variety of definitions, committed by sub-national/extremist group, premeditated, seek political, social, or economic change

What is Mala Prohibita?

Behavior that is prohibited by law and changes over time

What is Mala in SE?

Behavior that is immoral and inherently wrong by nature, fairly stable

Decriminalization

Removing criminal penalties for an action that was previously illegal like justifiable homicide, adultery, marijuana

Increased Criminalization

Driving under the influence, rape

What is the consensus model?

The majority of people share common values and agree on common behaviors, crime defined by social norms

What is the conflict model?

Criminal behavior is defined by groups in power to protect and advance their own self-interest

What is the difference between criminal justice and criminology?

Criminal Justice- refers to the system and emphasis is on how the system works and crime policy

Criminology- study of the nature, extent, causes of criminal offending and criminal victimization, behavior aspects of offending and victimization

What the castle doctrine?

A legal doctrine that states homeowners are no longer to retreat if threatened by an intruder

What are the 3 measures of crime?

Official data, victimization data, and self-report data

What is the UCR (Uniform Crime Report)?

Data that comes from police departments where the FBI holds the data, oldest way to collect crime

What two categories are in the UCR?

Part 1 (10 major crimes)

Part 2 (all other crimes)

What crimes are included in part 1? (Index Crimes)

Violent crimes: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, human trafficking (commercial sex acts), human trafficking (involuntary servitude)

Property crimes: burglary, latency, motor vehicle theft, arson

What are part 2 crimes in the UCR?

Crimes that only get reported if an arrest was made, more common crimes with bigger value of people

What degrees of murder are there?

1st- premeditated unlawful killing of another human

2nd- unlawful intentional killing of another human without premeditation

3rd- unlawful killing of a human being that occurs because of an unlawful action

What is felony murder?

Unlawful homicide during commission of felony, killing occurs when doing a criminal act

What is the different between robbery and burglary?

Robbery- taking anything of value from a person made fearful or threaten

Burglary- unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft

What is the dark figure of crime?

Crimes that are not reported to police

What is the most common property offense and overall criminal offense?

Larceny

Due process perspective

views the role of the CJS to be ensure that all people accused of crimes that are treated fairly are equally in the system

What is the hierarchy rule?

A rule that ranks crime from least to most serious

What are some UCR criticisms?

Doesn’t capture the “dark figure of crime”, dependent on PD and can be manipulation by them, voluntary

What is the SRS?

Summary Reporting System- the counts/calls of crime

What are some advantages of the UCR?

Easy to collect, examines crime rates and trends, inexpensive, captures 2 crimes almost always (murder and motor vehicle theft)

What is the NIBRS?

National Incident-Based Reporting System- a redesign of the UCR by having more details and # of crimes, managed by the FBI

What does Nolle Prosequi mean?

Latin for “be unwilling to purse” used by prosecutor to show that the charges can not be proven

What groups are there for the NIBRS?

Group A- 24 crime categories, 70+ offenses, more serious crime, detailed info collected (Injury? when and were? weapon? connection?)

Group B- 10 offenses, less serious, only collects arrest data (due, loitering)

What are some criticisms of the NIBRS?

Many of the same issues as the UCR, voluntary, doesn’t capture the dark figure of crime, can be manipulated by PD, limited geographic coverage

What are some advantages of the NIBRS?

Provides incident-level data(details from crimes), no hierarchy rule for most crimes, distinguishes between attempted and completed crimes

What is the NCVS?

National Crime Victimization Survey- survey of household members 12+, reports 3x the crime compared to the UCR, held by BJS and US Census Bureau

What are some of the NCVS offenses?

Rape, robbery, simple and aggravated assault, larceny, motor vehicle theft

What is self-report data?

Data that provides information based on the offenders reports, asks individuals about their own offending, use of questionnaires and interviews, assurance of being anonymous

What are criticisms and advantages of self reporting data?

Criticisms- based samples, inaccurate reporting like from memory, expensive

Advantages- captures dark figure of crime, best method to examine casual factors

What is an aged crime curve?

When a generation hits teen years(aging) and crime tends to increase

What are some murder patterns?

Higher rates of victimization and offending (males & blacks), most murdered by an acquaintance, generally intra-racial (victim and offender are same race), firearms most used weapon

What are some nonfatal violence patterns?

Male victims are more likely to report violence, assault is the most common form of the pattern

What are some property crime patterns?

Property theft (larceny) most common, burglary second common, motor vehicle theft is least common

What are some crime patterns?

Region, hot spots, time of day, season

What are the 4 correlates of crime?

Sex, race, age, social class

What are the three major premises?

Free will, logic, rationality

Deterrence

Prevention better than punishment

What two types of deterrence are there?

General deterrence- punishment prevents crime from the general public

Specific deterrence- punishment prevents future crime from a sanctioned offender

What is the code of Hammurabi?

Oldest known legal code, lex talionis (an eye for an eye)

What is the deterrence doctrine?

A legal doctrine in order to prevent crime punishment has to be shifted, certain, and severe

What are the goals of the law?

Retribution- an eye for an eye

Restitution- repayment (offender covers cost/damages for victim)

Deterrence- prevention thru fear of punishment

Rehabilitation- treatment

Incapacitation- remove opportunity

What is the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X)

A collaborative effort between the BJS and FBI (and other organizations) that will produce nationally representative incident-based statistics on crimes using both data reported to law enforcement agencies and a sample.

What are Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR)

Supplemental reports to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports that gather details about homicides in the United States, including information about offenders, victims, and incidents.

Worldwide Incident Tracking System

An FBI database containing information on completed terrorist attacks since 1996.

What is criminal law and civil law?

Criminal Law- an individual is accused of breaking the law (based on the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt

Civil Law- two individuals or groups can’t come to an agreement (based on a preponderance of evidence/more than 50%)

What is actus reus?

Means the guilty act and establishes physical act of a crime

What is mens rea?

Means the guilty mind and establishes intent (elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt

What does wobblers mean?

Felonies that can be reduced to a misdemeanor

What are excuses and justifications in the CJS?

Excuses- examine defendants mental state/belief at time of crime

Justifications- examine circumstances at time of crime to see if crime was warranted

What is double jeopardy and automatism?

Double jeopardy- offender can’t be charged with same crime twice

Automatism- offender acted with out consciousness unavoidable (sleep-walking)

What are some victim rights?

Notification (events in case), participation and consultation, speedy trial (trial free from unreasonable pauses), protection, restitution (return of property/money given back to victim, but offender has to be charged), compensation (state acts on victim to give money)

Who helped build the school of criminology?

Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham

What was the great American crime decline?

Peaked in the 1980s with the baby boomer generation, declined in early 80s, rose again in the late 80s/early 90s, dramatic decrease in 1994 for the next decade

What types of burglary are there?

Residential- structure related to ones home

Commerical- place of business

What types of larceny are there?

Petit- property is worth less money

Grand- felony with high value of property

What is the Age of Enlightenment?

Reason, intellect, free will and social contract (unwritten agreement that citizens enter into the government so they can protect you)

Cole memo

Named after former deputy attorney general James Cole, it outlined guidelines for states related to marijuana, including use by minors, driving under the influence, and out-of-state trafficking.

What is the Durham Test and M’Naghten Test?

Durham- mental disease/defect

M’Naghten- right/wrong test

What is the Brawner Rule?

Understand conduct/control actions (lack knowing they did wrong)

What is entrapment and duress?

Entrapment- law enforcement trick suspect into crime (doesn’t mean someone if fully innocent

Duress- forced

What is Felicitous or hedonistic calculus?

A measure indicating how much pleasure an individual gains from a specific act.