Crime Control and Criminology Notes

The chapter draws a parallel between the military-industrial complex and the criminal justice industrial complex.
It explains the expansion of the criminal justice system from the 1970s to 2008 and the subsequent rise of the criminal justice industry.
The authors also discuss the changes in law enforcement post-9/11 and the challenges to civil liberties due to the security-industrial complex.

The criminal justice system is influenced by economic factors, forming what is called the criminal justice industrial complex.
The military-industrial complex has a large industry with significant budgets, raising accountability concerns if not properly managed.
Economic factors influence criminal justice policy across its components: law enforcement, courts, and corrections.

The expansion of incarceration in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s led to the development of private prisons and related controversies.
There was a growth in prisons to support mass incarceration without sufficient research to justify the need.
The War on Drugs and mandatory minimum sentences disproportionately affected non-violent drug users, leading to long periods of incarceration.
The military and prison industries coincide with the growth of tactical teams like SWAT in the name of fighting crime.
Politicians exploit the fear of crime to get elected, leading to social compromises that affect minorities.
A minority group is defined as any group that is disadvantaged compared to the dominant social group in society, based on socioeconomic status, race, or gender identity (Healy, Stepnick, and O'Brien).

Globalization and immigration are interconnected, increasing interdependency and inequality between and within countries.
Immigration can create new opportunities for crime in a globalized world, leading to the criminalization of immigration.
Changes in immigration policy can result in underreported crime among immigrant groups due to fear of changes in immigration status.

The criminal justice system includes law enforcement, courts, and corrections, each with subcomponents designed to deliver justice and maintain order.
However, dealing with people in the criminal justice system can make it difficult to deliver justice fairly.
The roles and functions of law enforcement are explained, highlighting obstacles faced by women and minorities in policing.
The roles of judicial workers, such as prosecutors, defense attorneys, public defenders, and judges, are discussed.
The prison bureaucracy and the role of correctional officers are detailed.

The lecture covers three revolutions in criminological theory:
- Pre-Enlightenment period: Demonic perspective.
- Classical School of Criminology.
- Critical Perspective.

The lecture defines criminology and discusses three main schools of thought: classical, positivist, and critical.

Class and criminology are analyzed from a critical perspective, arguing that laws created by the powerful serve the powerful.
Criminal laws often represent systematic inequality, focusing on street crimes committed by the poor rather than white-collar, corporate, or state crimes committed by people in high places.
The neutral crime myth associates crime with behaviors of the poor.
Criminologists expose the myth of neutral criminal law, emphasizing the importance of studying inequality in context with crime.

The lecture identifies the historical debate about biological or genetic predispositions to crime based on race, evolving to an understanding of race as a social construct.
The critical approach reveals that the use of race results in patterns of racism, discrimination, and inequality, contributing to blocked opportunities for minorities and the maintenance of white privilege.

The distinction between sex and gender is clarified.
The lecture explains the growing interest in studying gender and crime and provides examples of how the criminal justice system has criminalized the violation of gender norms.
A historical overview of the study of women and crime provides a basis for understanding the current status and predicting the future of criminological research on gender.

Race, class, and gender intersect as critical factors in determining one's social location.
The importance of all three components is emphasized for a well-rounded examination of crime, while providing an overview of efforts to apply intersectionality.