Criminal Justice Study Guide: Types of Crimes, Personalities, and Legal Concepts - Prof. A, Study notes of Criminal procedure

Download Criminal Justice Study Guide: Types of Crimes, Personalities, and Legal Concepts - Prof. A and more Study notes Criminal procedure in PDF only on Docsity! CRIM100: 1st Exam Study Guide  Mala in se: offenses that are wrong by their very nature (eg. Rape, murder)  Mala prohibita: offenses prohibited by law but not wrong in themselves (eg. Gambling, prostitution, drug)  Felonies and misdemeanors. (criminal justice wedding cake) o Felonies: Serious crimes usually carrying a penalty of death or of incarceration for more than one year.  Layer 2: Serious FeloniesLong criminal records/ unknown victims  Layer 3: Lesser FeloniesNo record/may have prior relationship with victim o Misdemeanors: (~90%)Offenses less serious than felonies and usually punishable by incarceration of no more than a year, probation, or intermediate sanction.  Handled in lower courts, speed=essential  Types of crimes: e.g., o Visible (street, ordinary) crime : against persons of property, primarily by lower class, most upsetting to public, least profitable b/c hardest to hide 1. Violent Crimes: results in death of physical injury (homicide, assault, rape, robbery)-treated as most serious offenses 2. Property Crimes: threaten property held by individuals or by state (theft, larceny, shoplifting, embezzlement, burglary) some amateurs committing crime due to situational factors (eg financial need or peer pressure)//prof criminals make significant portion of their livelihood from this 3. Public Order Crimes: threaten general well-being of society and challenge accepted moral principles (public drinking, aggressive panhandling, vandalism, disorderly conduct)- treated as minor offenses, but scholars argue  fear  more serious crimes, hastens urban decay o Crimes without victims: willing and private exchange of illegal goods or services in strong demand. Participants don’t feel harmed, but prosecuted b/c society = injured (drugs, prostitution) o Organized crime: a framework for the perpetuation of criminal acts-usually in fields such as gambling, drugs, prostitution-providing illegal services that are in great demand  Minimum risk, maximum profit; involve network of activities  Recent: commercial arson, illegal disposal of toxic wastes, money laundering (moving the proceeds of criminal activities through a maze of businesses, banks, & brokerage accounts so as to disguise their origin) o Hate crime: bias-motivated offenses that target ppl for race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability/ gender discrimination o Political crime: for ideological purposesthreat against state (treason, sedition, espionage) by govt or against govt. o Occupational crime: criminal offenses committed through opportunities created in a legal business or occupation imposes huge costs on society o Cybercrime : use of one or more computers; steal info, resources, funds; porn o Who is responsible for sentencing in US courts: Judges- suspended sentence, probation, imprisonment, fines, community service  Theory: particularly what was read and discussed concerning Freud, Jung, Merton, Sutherland and Durkheim. Be familiar with what the text has to say re: biological theory. o Freud: crime caused by unconscious forces and drives ( id- controls sexual drives, ego-relates desire to behavior, superego-conscience)  Criminal behavior results from undeveloped or overdeveloped superego 1 o Jung: all memories and experiences date back to ancestors (cavemen) and are in our collective unconscious; sometimes they seep into the conscious and we become criminals o Merton: social structure theories: blame crime on existence of a powerless lower class that lives with poverty and deprivation and turns to crime in response; anomie (DURKHEIM) – breakdown or disappearance of the rules of social behavior o Social Process Theories: learning, control, and labeling  See criminality as normal behavior; everyone has potential to become criminal based on influences and how one is regarded o Learning theories- criminal behavior is learned  Sutherland: theory of differential association- people become criminal because they encounter more influences that view criminal behavior as normal and acceptable o Control theories- criminal behavior occurs when the bonds that tie an individual to society are broken or weakened (family, church, school, peer groups) o Labeling theories- criminal behavior found not in individual, but in the social process that labels certain people as deviant or criminal o Biological theory- explanation of crimes that emphasize physiological and neurological factors that may predispose a person to commit crime  Some people are criminogenic (born criminals)  Primitive physical traits (strong canine teeth, huge jaws, high cheek)  Traits acquired through heredity or through alcoholism, epilepsy, or syphilis o Sheldon: can determine what crime a person will commit by by somatotypes  Endomorth (obese)- avoid confrontation unless you know you’ll win; bully, cunning, manipulative, jovial, back stabber  Ectomorph (frail, skinny)- avoid confrontation at all costs; manipulative, but not strong, victimizes, scheme, sneaky  Mesomorph (muscular, strong, intimidating)- physical, confrontation) o Strain theory: what the culture tells you to do/how you should act (American dream, need to be rich, successful, educated)  Crime happens when there’s no way of achieving  Conformity-accept means and goals and you keep going even though it won’t happen  Ritualize- give up goals, but keep working at it  Rebel- reject goals and means, but find new ones  Retreat- reject goals and means and you close off from society  Innovate- accept goals, but ignore the means of getting them by committing crimes; finding ways to get around it  ***Three diff. Personalities (Emile Durkheim Theory) o Altruistic-desire to please, conform, suppress individual desires for betterment of group o Egoism-egotistic, satisfy individual desire and they don’t care how it affects anyone o Anowe- not part of a particular group, but they follow who they’re with  The fundamental differences between criminal and civil (tort) law. o Civil (tort) law-Law regulating relationships between or among individuals, usually involving property, contracts, or business disputes o Seven Principles of Criminal Law:  Legality 2  The concept of exchange: A mutual transfer of resources: a balance of benefits and deficits that flow from behavior based on decisions about the values and costs of alternatives o Each needs to gain the cooperation and assistance of other individuals by helping them achieve their own goals. The concept of exchange allows interpersonal behavior to be seen as the result of individual decisions about the costs and benefi ts of different courses of action. o Ex. Plea bargaining  What it is that distinguishes between murder and manslaughter. o Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter: deliberate, premeditated and willful; willful killing of one human by another o Manslaughter by negligence: killing of another by gross negligence  Mitigating circumstances, such as “the heat of passion” or extreme provocation  Frankpledge, tithing, “hue and cry,” the watch system, and justice of the peace. o Frankpledge: system required that groups of ten families, called tithings, agree to uphold the law, keep order, and bring violators to a court o When a man became aware that a crime had occurred, he was obliged to raise a “hue and cry” and to join others in his tithing to track down offender o Watch system: warn of dangers ranging from fired to crime  Originally operated at night, but later cities had daytime watches o Justice of peace:  Quality of life crimes. o Crimes against property and some “victimless crimes” (graffiti and vandalism, loiterers, harassing, etc.)  The process of socialization and the establishment of subcultures. o Socialization: the process by which the rules, symbols, and values of a group or subculture are learned by its members o Subculture: symbols, beliefs, values, and attitudes, shared by member of a subgroup of the larger society  The police “working personality,” as noted in your text. o Set of emotional and behavioral characteristics developed by members of an occupational group in response to the work situation and environmental influences (threat of danger and need to establish and maintain one’s authority define personality)  The police functions of law enforcement, order maintenance, and service provision o Order maintenance: police function of preventing behavior that disturbs or threatens to disturb the public peace or that involves face-to-face conflict between two or more people. In such situations, police exercise discretion in deciding whether a law has been broken o Law enforcement: police function of controlling crime by intervening in situations in which the law has clearly been violated and the police need to identify and apprehend the guilty person o Service provision: police function of providing assistance to the public, usually in matters unrelated to crime  Community crime prevention: citizens must take necessary steps to protect themselves and their property (lock doors, use alarm systems, etc.)  The Classical and Positivist schools of criminology. o Baccaria- CLASSICAL- stem from free will, demands responsibility and accountability of all perpetrators, and stresses the need for punishments severe enough to deter others 1. Criminal behavior is rational, and most people have the potential to engage in such behavior. 2. People may choose to commit a crime after weighing the costs and benefits of their actions. 5 3. Fear of punishment is what keeps most people in check. Therefore, the severity,certainty, and speed of punishment affects the level of crime. 4. The punishment should fit the crime rather than the person who committed it. 5. The criminal justice system must be predictable, with laws and punishments known to the public.  POSITIVIST: stem from social, biological, psychological factors. Argues that punishment be tailored to individual needs of the offender 1. Human behavior is controlled by physical, mental, and social factors, not by free will. 2. Criminals are different from noncriminals. 3. Science can be used to discover the causes of crime and to treat deviants. Inherently good, but we do things to get what we want  “Dark figure” of crime: Metaphor that emphasizes the dangerous dimension of crimes that are never reported to the police  Herbert Packer’s Crime Control and Due Process models. o Crime Control Model: (ORDER=VALUE) A model of the criminal justice system that assumes freedom is so important that every effort must be made to repress crime; it emphasizes efficiency, speed, finality, and the capacity to apprehend, try, convict, and dispose of a high proportion of offenders.  Assembly-line process- quick, efficient decisions by actors at fixed stations that turn out the intended product-guilty pleas and closed cases  Goal: control crime; less emphasis on protecting individual’s rights  Police and prosecutors decide early on how likely the suspect is to be found guilty. If a case is unlikely to end in conviction, the prosecutor may drop the charges.  State vs. The Accused  Typically end with defendant pleading guilty o Due Process Model: (LAW=VALUE) A model of the criminal justice system that assumes freedom is so important that every effort must be made to ensure that criminal justice decisions are based on reliable info; it emphasizes the adversarial process, the rights of defendants, and formal decision-making procedures. (Obstacle course)  To reduce error, the government must be forced to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the crime.  Gives the defense every opportunity to show that the evidence is not conclusive, and the outcome must be decided by an impartial judge and jury.  Innocent until proved guilty- respect for defendants’ constitutional rights  State must prove that the person is guilty of the crime as chargedprotect citizens from wrongful convictions  Protects the rights of individuals and reserves punishment for those who unquestionably deserve it. But some guilty defendants may go free if evidence against them is not conclusive enough. By contrast, the crime control model values efficient case processing and punishment over the possibility that innocent people might be swept up in the process. Goal Value Process Major Decision Point Basis of Decision Making Due Process Model Preserve individual liberties Reliability Adversarial Courtroom Law Crime Control Model Repress crime Efficiency Administrative Police pretrial processes Discretion 6