The three branches of Social Structure Theory are:
Social Disorganization Theory
Strain Theory
Cultural Deviance Theory
The view, according to ROBERT AGNEW, that individuals who feel stress and strain are more likely to commit crimes is called
general strain theory
Poverty-ridden neighborhoods which suffer high rates of population turnover and are incapable of inducing residents to remain are known as
transitional neighborhoods
Cohesion among neighborhood residents (community cohesion) combined with shared expectations for informal social control of public space promotes
collective efficacy
The interactions people have with various organizations, institutions, and processes of society is known as
socialization
is the study of human interactions and relationships that emphasizes such issues as group dynamics and socialization.
Sociological social psychology
An individual's relationship to important social processes, such as education, family life, and peer relations, is the key to understanding
human behavior
Divorce and single parent families increase the chance
of criminal behavior, poor school performance, and deviant behavior or values among peers and family.
Supportive parents who control their children in a non-coercive manner, as well as participation in religious activities
decreases the chance of delinquent behavior
Crime is a product of learning the norms, values, and behaviors associated with criminal activity.
Social Learning Theory
Differential Association Theory
Principles of Differential Association:
a. Criminal behavior is learned.
b. Learning is a by-product of interaction.
c. Learning occurs within intimate groups.
d. Criminal techniques are learned.
e. Perceptions of legal code influence motives and drives.
f. may vary in frequency, duration, prio
an expression of general needs and values, but it is not excused by those general needs and values because noncriminal behavior is also an expression of those same needs and values.
criminal behavior
Also known as direct conditioning - occurs when behavior is reinforced either by being rewarded or punished while interacting with others.
Differential Reinforcement Theory
Whether criminal behavior persists is determined by the degree to which it is
rewarded or punished
The view that everyone is capable of deviant behavior and can drift back and forth between illegitimate and conventional behavior by justifying their deviant behavior is known as
neutralization theory
When behavior is punished, this is known as
negative reinforcement
Testing Differential Reinforcement
a. Those who believed they would be rewarded for deviance by those they respect were the ones most likely to engage in deviance.
b. The learning-deviant behavior link is not static.
are morally tinged influences that have become entrenched in the culture but are publicly condemned
Subterranean values ( neutralization theory)
the movement from one extreme of behavior to another
Drift
Techniques of neutralization - are a set of justifications for law-violating behavior.
a. Denial of responsibility
b. Denial of injury
c. Denial of victim
d. Condemnation of the condemners
e. Appeal to higher loyalties
Social Control Theory
A. Maintains that all people have the potential to violate the law and that modern society presents many opportunities for illegal activity. People obey the law because behavior and passions are being controlled by internal and external forces.
1. Some ha
1. Containment Theory
a. A strong self-image insulates a youth from the pressures and pulls of criminogenic influences in the environment.
Self-Concept and Crime (social control Theory)
Links the onset of criminality to the weakening of the ties that bind people to society
Hirschi's Social Bond Theory
Elements of the social bond: (social Control Theory)
a. Attachment
b. Commitment
c. Involvement
d. Belief
a person's sensitivity to and interest in others
Attachment
the time, energy, and effort expended in conventional lines of action such as getting an education and saving money for the future
Commitment
when individuals are involved in school, recreation and family they are insulated from the lure of criminal behavior.
Involvement
those who live in the same social setting often share common moral beliefs.
Belief
A. Commonly called LABELING THEORY
B. Explains how criminal careers form based on destructive social interactions
and encounters.
C. Roots found in SYMBOLIC INTERACTION THEORY - people communicate via symbols (gestures, signs, words, or images that repres
Social Reaction Theory
1. STIGMA - once labeled, adolescents begin to reassess their self-image (reflected appraisals).
2. promote deviance amplification.
Consequences of Labeling
involves norm violations or crimes that have very little influence on the actor and can be quickly forgotten.
(consequence of laeling)
Primary Deviance
occurs when a deviant event comes to the attention of significant others or social control agents who apply a negative label. involves resocialization into a deviant role.
Secondary Deviance
offenders feel isolated from the mainstream of society and become firmly locked within their deviant role.
Deviance amplification effect
is a process in which one's identity is transformed
Deviance
Major influence on social policy-making since 1950s.
Public Policy Implications of Social Process Theory
designed to remove both juvenile and adult offenders from the normal channels of the criminal justice process by placing them in programs designed for rehabilitation. This avoids labeling.
DIVERSION PROGRAMS
(Public Policy Implications of Social Process Theory)
view crime as a function of social conflict and economic rivalry
Social conflict theorists
The view that the inter-group conflict and class conflict or rivalry that exists in every society causes crime is known as
critical criminology
- Crime as the product of law enforcement policies akin to a labeling process theory
- A connection between criminality and the inequities found in the capitalist system
- Crime as a function of social demoralization
A Marxist Vision of Crime
1. Reject that law is designed to maintain a tranquil, fair society and that
criminals are malevolent people who wish to trample the rights of others.
2. Consider acts of racism, sexism, imperialism, unsafe working conditions,
inadequate child care, subst
critical criminologists
1. The role government plays in creating a crimogenic environment
2. The relationship between personal or group power and the shaping of criminal law
3. The prevalence of bias in justice system operations
4. The relationship between a capitalist free-ente
Critical criminologists are concerned with:
Production has two components:
a. Productive forces
b. Productive relations
Productive forces
technology, energy sources and material resources
Productive relations
the relationships that exist among the people producing goods and services
Most important relations in industrial culture is between:
a. Capitalist bourgeoisie - the owners of production
b. Proletariat - people who do the actual work
c. Lumpen proletariat - the bottom of society - the fringe members who produce nothing and live off the work of others
a. Capitalist bourgeoisie
the owners of production
b. Proletariat
people who do the actual work
c. Lumpen proletariat
the bottom of society - the fringe members who produce nothing and live off the work of others
does not refer to an attribute or characteristic of a person or group; rather, it denotes one's position in relation to others.
a. Not necessary to have wealth or prestige to be part of capitalist class; it is more important to have the power to exploit.
The Marxist view of class
a. The use and misuse of power
b. Critiquing the field of criminology
c. The current state of the American political system and the creation of an American empire abroad
d. The rapid buildup of the prison system and passage of draconian criminal laws
e. G
Contemporary Critical Criminology
Today, critical criminologists devote attention to:
Acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials, both elected or appointed, in pursuit of their jobs as government representatives
State (Organized) Crime
This occurs when government agents listen in on telephone conversations or intercept emails without proper approval in order to stifle dissent and monitor political opponents.
Illegal Domestic Surveillance
(State (Organized) Crime)
a. Some governments deny their citizens basic civil rights
b. Depriving detainees of basic necessities and routinely using hard labor and torture to punish political dissidents
c. Violations directed against migrant workers: having to pay hefty fees with
Human Rights Violations
Committed by individuals who abuse their state authority or who fail to exercise it when working with people and organizations in the private sector (e.g., fail to enforce regulatory laws).
State-Corporate Crime
Government representatives engage in violence to maintain their power over dissident groups.
State Violence
(State-Corporate Crime)
Rather than punishment and prison, peacemaking scholars advocate such policies as
mediation and conflict resolution
a. The offender is asked to recognize the injury caused and to accept responsibility.
b. Involves turning the justice system into a healing process
c. Reconciliation is a big part of the restoration approach.
d. Effectiveness of justice ultimately depends
The restoration process
The restoration process
Concerns:
Must face difficult task of balancing needs victims and offenders
a. Police agencies began to appear.
b. The penitentiary was created.
c. Fledgling agencies rarely worked together in a systematic fashion.
Emergence of criminal gangs and groups in the nineteenth century prompted the development of formal agencies of criminal justice.
Origins of the American Criminal Justice System
a. 1919 - Chicago Crime Commission created
b. 1931 - President Hoover appointed National
Commission of Law Observance and Enforcement, commonly known as the Wickersham Commission.
i. Analyzed the American justice system.
ii. Helped usher in the era of tre
...
What is the Criminal Justice System?
An instrument of social control
the agencies of government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating criminals, and correcting criminal conduct
A series of decision points through which offenders flow
1. Initial Contact
2. Investigation
3. Arrest
The Process of Justice
Police observe a criminal act or respond to a call for service
Initial Contact
Gathering of sufficient evidence to justify an arrest
Investigation
Police take a person into custody for allegedly committing a crime
Arrest
Arrests are legal when:
i. An officer believes there is sufficient evidence (probable cause) that a crime has been committed and that the suspect committed the crime
ii. Officer deprives the individual of freedom.
iii. Suspect believes he or she is in custody of police and canno
Custody
a. Booking - fingerprinted, photographed, and personal information recorded.
b. Lineup - witnesses brought in to view the suspect
c. Interrogation
Complaint/Charging
Prosecutor determines and files charges with court holding jurisdiction
Arraignment
Accused is brought before the court: informed of the charges, informed constitutional rights, bail considered, and trial date set.
Bail or Detention
A money bond set by judicial authority and intended to ensure the presence of suspects at trial while allowing them freedom until that time.
Plea Bargaining
After arraignment, prosecution may offer the defense a plea arrangement. In exchange for a guilty plea, the prosecutor may reduce charges, request a lenient sentence, or grant some other consideration.
Trial/Adjudication
If a plea bargain cannot be arranged, a criminal trial takes place - a full-scale inquiry into the facts of the case before a judge, a jury, or both.
Trial outcomes:
i. Defendant found guilty
ii. Defendant found not guilty
iii. Hung jury - when the jury fails to reach a decision; the case is unresolved and open for possible retrial.
Dispositions (sentences)
a. Guilty defendants sentenced by the presiding judge
b. may include a fine, community service, probation, incarceration, or death.
c. Dispositions are usually made after a presentencing investigation is conducted by the court's probation staff.
Postconviction Remedies
a. Convicted defendants may appeal if they feel they were treated unfairly.
b. An appellate court reviews trial procedures to determine if an error was made.
Correctional Treatment
Convicted offenders come under the jurisdiction of correction authorities
Release
a. At the end of the correctional sentence, offenders are released into society.
b. Most offenders granted parole prior to expiration of their sentences
Postrelease/Aftercare
a. Some offenders released to community correctional centers
b. Offenders find they lose some privileges, such as being able to apply for certain types of jobs
c. Successful completion of the postrelease process
marks the end of the criminal justice proce
Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law
Hands-Off Doctrine
prior to the 1960s, U.S. courts exercised little control over the operations of criminal justice agencies.
Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law
1960s - under Chief Justice Earl Warren
U.S. Supreme Court became more active in the affairs of the justice system.
Procedural laws
control the actions of the agencies of justice and define the rights of criminal defendants.
1. The overriding purpose of the justice system is to protect the public, to deter criminal behavior, and to incapacitate known criminals.
2. Justice system is a barrier between destructive criminal elements and conventional society.
3. Speedy, efficient
Crime Control Model
a. Increase size of police force
b. Maximize the use of discretion
c. Build more prisons and use the death penalty
d. Reduce legal controls on the justice system
Crime control policies
a. Due to rising crime in the 60s and 70s
b. Due to skepticism about the effectiveness of rehabilitation
c. Due to changing social climate during the conservative Ronald Reagan era
d. The result being a prison population of more than 2 million.
The crime control model has become a dominant force in American justice
1. Asserts that all people should receive the same treatment under the law.
2. Efforts to distinguish between criminal offenders and create a system of individualized treatment create a sense of unfairness that undermines the goals of the system.
3. The c
The Equal Justice Perspective
just deserts
Punishment must be equitably administered and based on what people deserve for their crimes
Determinate sentencing
mandatory sentences and truth-in-sentencing laws.
1. Combines elements of liberal/positivist criminology with the legal concept of procedural fairness for the accused
2. Supports individualized justice, treatment, and the rehabilitation of offenders
3. Competent defense counsel, jury trials and other pro
Due Process Model
1. Given proper care and treatment, criminals can be changed into productive, law-abiding citizens.
2. People commit crimes because they are victims of social injustice, poverty, and racism.
3. Dealing effectively with crime requires attacking its root ca
Rehabilitation Model
1. Calls for limiting government intrusion into people's lives, especially minors who run afoul of the law.
2. Advocates for:
a. Deinstitutionalization of nonserious offenders
b. Diversion from formal court processes into informal treatment programs in or
Nonintervention Model
are skeptical about the creation of laws that criminalize acts that were previously legal because expand the reach of the justice system and create new categories of offenders, e.g., curfew laws.
Noninterventionists
a. Many examples of nonintervention in practice
b. Little evidence that alternative programs reduce recidivism rates
Support and criticism of the nonintervention model
1. The purpose of the criminal justice system is to promote a peaceful, just society.
2. Advocates peacemaking, not punishment.
3. Violent punishing acts of the state are similar to the violent acts of individuals.
4. Mutual aid rather than coercive punis
Restorative Justice Model
A. Today about 800,000 full-time law enforcement officers in the U.S., employed in almost 18,000 different agencies.
B. Federal Law Enforcement - about 50 different organizations
Law Enforcement Agencies Today
1870 - attorney general hired investigators to enforce the Mann Act (prohibits prostitution across state lines).
Jurisdiction limited to federal laws, including all federal statutes not specifically assigned to other agencies
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Offers services to local law enforcement agencies
(The Federal Bureau of Investigation)
i. Vast fingerprint file.
ii. Crime laboratory
iii. FBI National Crime Information Center - computerized network to link local police departments by terminals
Other federal agencies
a. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) -
b. U.S. Marshals -
c. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) -
d. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) -
County Law Enforcement
Independent agency whose senior officer, the sheriff, is usually elected
State Police
were created due to low public regard for crime-fighting ability of local police and the increasing mobility of criminals.
Metropolitan Police
Comprise the vast majority of law enforcement
Deterring criminal behavior
Visibility of patrol cars and rapid deployment previously viewed as effective methods of crime control
Research does not support either
a. ***Variation in patrol patterns little effect on crime patterns
b. Patrol did not influence citizen's attitudes toward police, their satisfaction with police, or their view of future criminal behavior.
c. As a result of this study, a number of innovati
Kansas City Study
1. Encourage patrol officers to stop motor vehicles to issue citations
2. Aggressively arrest and detain suspicious persons
3. Such are tactics termed proactive policing.
Proactive Patrol
a. Proactive policing may have a deterrent effect.
b. Increases community perception that police arrest many criminals and that most violators get caught.
c. Aggressive, proactive policing results in fewer criminals on the street
tactics termed proactive policing
1. Case outcomes may depend on physical evidence or a suspect's statement taken early in an investigation.
2. A fine line separates legal and illegal police work. A number of critical decisions must take place and each must be answered within the context
Legal Controls Over Police Investigation
The U.S. Supreme Court has taken an active role considering the legality of police investigative operations.
a. Primary concern: balancing law enforcement's need to investigate crimes with citizens' constitutional rights to be free from illegal searches and interrogations
b. In some instances the Supreme Court has expanded police powers.
i. Increasing the occasi
Legal Arrest must meet the following conditions:
a. The officer must have sufficient evidence, called probable cause, that a crime is being or has been committed and intends to restrain the suspect.
b. The officer deprives the suspect of his/her freedom.
c. The suspect believes he/she is in the custody
In the case of a felony, most jurisdictions allow a police officer
to arrest a suspect without a warrant when probable cause exists, even if the officer was not present when the crime was committed.
In the case of a misdemeanor, probable cause and the officer's presence at the time of the offense are required; this is referred to as the
in presence requirement.
Generally, if police make an arrest without a warrant, the arrestee must be
brought before a magistrate, promptly, for a probable cause hearing.
1. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that people have the right to be free from self-incrimination.
a. Law enforcement agents cannot use physical force or psychological coercion while interrogating suspects under their control.
Custodial Interrogation
created objective standards for questioning by police after a defendant has been taken into police custody
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Before police can question a person who has been arrested or taken into custody, they must inform them of their rights.
i. He or she has the right to remain silent.
ii. If he or she makes a statement, it can be used against them in court.
iii. He or she has the right to consult an attorney and to have the attorney present at the time of the interrogation.
iv. If he or she
If the defendant is not given the ( ? ) warning before interrogation, the evidence obtained from the interrogation cannot be admitted at trial.
Miranda
was a turning point in criminal procedure because it introduced attorneys at an early stage of the justice process.
Miranda
If defendants perjure themselves during trial, evidence obtained in violation of the Miranda warning can be used by the government to impeach the defendants' testimony
The Miranda Rule today - guidelines and exceptions:
At trial, the testimony of a witness is permissible even though his or her identity was revealed by the defendant in violation of the
Miranda rule
The Miranda warning applies only to the
right to have an attorney present
Information provided by a suspect that leads to the seizure of incriminating evidence is permissible if the evidence would have been obtained anyway by other sources; referred to as
the inevitable discovery rule
can be obtained without a Miranda warning if the information the police seek is needed to protect public safety.
Admissible evidence
( ? ) by police in getting statements do not automatically make subsequent statements inadmissible.
Initial errors
The admissions of mentally impaired defendants can be admitted in evidence as long as the police acted properly and there is a ( ? ) that the defendants understood the meaning of Miranda
preponderance of the evidence
The erroneous admission of a coerced confession at trial can be ruled a ( ? ) that would not automatically result in overturning a conviction.
harmless error
Under normal circumstances, police must secure a ( ? ), a judicial order, based on probably cause in order to conduct a search in a particular place and to seize evidence and carry it away.
search warrant
The Supreme Court has ruled that warrantless searches may be conducted under the following circumstances:
a. Threshold inquiry (stop-and-frisk) if there is reasonable suspicion
b. Search incident to an arrest
c. Automobile search
d. Motorist and passenger search
e. Consent search (officer not required to give warning)
f. Second party consent
g. Plain view
h.
In recent years, the ( ? ) has granted police wider latitude to search for and seize evidence and has eased restrictions on how police operate
Supreme Court
( ? ) do not have to inform a person that he has the right to refuse when they ask for consent to search
The Police
Court Structure
State Courts
Federal Courts
Prosecutor
Defense Attorney
Judge
1. Most states employ a multitiered court structure.
2. Lower courts try misdemeanors and conduct the preliminary processing of felony cases.
3. Superior trial courts try felony cases.
4. Appellate courts review the criminal procedures of trial courts.
5.
State Courts
Federal Courts
(Three tiers)
U.S. District Courts
Federal Courts of Appeal
Supreme Court
i. The trial courts of the federal court system
ii. Have jurisdiction over cases involving violations of federal law
U.S. District Courts
i. Court of last resort
ii. When the court decides to hear a case it issues a writ of certiorari
iii. Can word a decision so it becomes a precedent - a landmark decision
Supreme Court
a. represents the state in criminal matters that come before the courts.
b. About half of all arrests are dismissed before they reach the trial stage.
c. The relatively few cases that do get to trial are most often settled through pleas/negotiations.
the prosecutor
Prosecutors maintain broad discretion in the exercise of their duties.
i. Choice of acting on information brought by police
ii. Drop a case without further action
iii. Decide to prosecute and then drop a case - a process called nolleprosequi
a. Represents the accused
b. Majority of defendants are indigent
c. Sixth Amendment provides right to legal counsel
Defense Attorney
Three models of indigent defense
i. Public defender system
ii. Assigned counsel system
iii. Contract system
Conflicts of Defense
a. Defensive advocate for the accused
b. An officer of the court
Judge
Senior officer in a court of criminal law
Duties of the judge
a. Rules on appropriateness of conduct
b. Settles questions of evidence and procedure
c. Guides questioning of witnesses
d. Instructs jury members - formally charges the jury
e. If jury trial is waived, decides if the defendant is guilty or innocent
f. De
After an arrest, or if an arrest warrant has been served, a criminal charge is drawn up by the appropriate prosecutor's office.
Pretrial Procedures
represents money or some other security provided to the court to ensure the appearance of the defendant at trial.
bail
The majority of defendants in criminal trials are convicted by their own
guilty pleas
( ? )percent of felonies plead guilty
90
(plea bargaining)
if misdemeanors are included, the percentage jumps to
98 percent.
The first stage of the trial process involves
jury selection
Guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment
Right to a Speedy Trial
Federal Speedy Trial Act of 1974
mandates 30 days from arrest to indictment and
70 days from indictment to trial.
( ? ) the guarantee of a jury trial applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment
The Supreme Court made
Defendants are entitled to a jury trial only if they
face the possibility of a prison sentence of more than six months.
( ? ) does not specify the size of the jury
The Sixth Amendment
Trials and the Rule of Law
Right to a Speedy Trial
Right to a Jury Trial
Right to be Free from Double Jeopardy
Right to Legal Counsel
Right to be Competent at Trial
Right to Confront Witnesses
If a single act violates the laws of two states, the offender may be punished for each offense under the dual sovereignty doctrine.
Right to be Free from Double Jeopardy
(Right to Legal Counsel)
The ( ? ) provides the right to be represented by an attorney in criminal trials.
Sixth Amendment
(Double Jeopardy)
a defendant cannot be prosecuted by a jurisdiction more than once for a single offense.
Fifth Amendment
(Right to Legal Counsel)
Gideon v. Wainwright
right to counsel in all felony cases
a. If a defendant is considered mentally incompetent, the trial must be postponed until treatment renders the defendant capable of participating in his or her own defense.
b. Forced treatment so that the defendant can be tried does not violate due process
Right to be Competent at Trial
A number of factors have been found to influence sentencing outcomes, including
general deterrence
specific deterrence
incapacitation
equity
diversion
rehabilitation
desert/retribution
restoration
Imposing Punishment:
In felony cases, except where the law requires a mandatory sentence, sentencing is usually based on a variety of information made available to a judge.
a. Victim impact statements
b. Presentence investigations by the probation department
When the accused is convicted of two or more charges
a. Concurrent sentences - both sentences are served at the same time.
b. Consecutive sentences - upon completion of one sentence, the other term of incarceration begins.
a. Created in the 19th century by penal reformers to encourage inmates to engage in treatment programs by promising early release if they could convince correctional authorities they had been rehabilitated.
b. Short minimum sentence that must be served an
The Indeterminate Sentence
a. Give the criminal a set number of years to be served in prison
b. The first type of sentences used in the U.S.; replaced by indeterminate sentences
The Determinate Sentence
a. Sentencing guidelines - based on the seriousness of the offense and the offender's criminal history
b. Developed to ensure that determinate sentences would be applied in a fair manner
Structured Sentencing
a. Created by appointed sentencing commissions
b. There is a great deal of variation within guidelines.
c. In atypical cases, a judge can depart from the guidelines by stating the reasons for the departure.
The Nature of Guidelines
An effort to limit judicial discretion, mandatory sentences require the incarceration of all offenders convicted of specific crimes
Mandatory Sentences
First enacted in 1984, ( ? ) require offenders to serve a substantial portion of their prison sentences behind bars.
truth in sentencing laws
Legislation that provides lengthy prison terms for any person convicted of three felony offenses, even if the third offense is relatively trivial.
Three Strikes Law
Factors that can legitimately influence the length of sentences:
a. The severity of the offense
b. The offender's prior criminal record
c. Whether the offender used violence
d. Whether the offender used weapons
e. Whether the crime was committed for money
Research shows a strong ( ? ) among legal variables and the type and length of sentence received.
correlation
Extralegal factors such as are suspected of influencing sentencing outcomes
age, race, gender, and economic status
Arguments for the death penalty
a. Executions have always been used and capital punishment is inherent in human nature.
b. The Bible describes methods of executing people.
c. The death penalty seems to be in keeping with the current mode of dispensing punishment.
d. The death penalty is
Arguments against the death penalty
a. The death penalty has little deterrent effect.
b. Executions may actually increase the likelihood of murders being committed, a consequence referred to as the brutalization effect.
c. Capital punishment may be tarnished by gender, racial, ethnic, and o
Most probation orders do seem to be successful.
(?%) of probationers successfully complete probation
Most probation violations are for technical violations - violation of probation rules
60%
Alternative sanctions that allow judges to grant offenders community release only after they have sampled prison life
Split Sentencing and Shock Probation
a combination of probation and incarceration
Split sentencing
resentencing an offender after a short prison stay
Shock probation