CJ
Chapter 1
Criminal Justice
Today
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcomes
LO1: Define crime and identify the different
types of crime.
LO2: Outline the three levels of law
enforcement.
LO3: List the essential elements of the
corrections system.
LO4: Explain the difference between the formal
and informal criminal justice processes.
LO5: Contrast the crime control and due process
models.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 1
Define crime and identify
the different types of
crime.
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Learning Outcome 1
• What is crime?
– “a wrong against society proclaimed by
law and, if committed under certain
circumstances, punishable by society.”
• Different societies can have vastly
different ideas of what constitutes a
crime.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• The Consensus Model
– Assumes that a diverse group of people
have similar morals and share an ideal of
what is “right” and “wrong.”
– Crime are acts that violate this shared
value system and are deemed harmful to
society.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• The Conflict Model
– Assumes that society is so diverse that
members do not share moral attitudes.
– The most politically powerful members of
society have the most influence on criminal law
and impose their value system on the rest of the
community.
– Crimes are defined by whichever group holds
power at a given time.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• An Integrated Definition of Crime
– Punishable under criminal law, as determined
by the majority, or in some cases, by a powerful
minority.
– Considered an offense against society as a
whole and prosecuted by public officials, not by
victims and their relatives or friends.
– Punishable by statutorily determined sanctions
that bring about the loss of personal freedom or
life.
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Learning Outcome 1
• Criminal behavior can be grouped
into six categories:
– Violent crime
– Property crime
– Public order crime
– White collar crime
– Organized crime
– High-tech crime
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• Violent Crime
– Crimes against persons.
– D our perspectives on crime.
– Includes:
•
•
•
•
Murder
Sexual assault
Assault and battery
Robbery
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• Property Crime
– The most common form of criminal
activity.
– The goal of the offender is some form of
economic gain or to damage property.
– Includes:
•
•
•
•
Larceny/theft
Burglary
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• Public Order Crimes
– Behavior that is outlawed because it
violates shared social values.
– Also referred to as victimless crime.
– Includes:
•
•
•
•
Public drunkenness
Prostitution
Gambling
Illicit drug use
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• White Collar Crime
– Business related offenses.
– Illegal act(s) committed to obtain
personal or business advantage.
– White collar crime costs U.S. businesses
as much as $994 billion a year.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• Organized Crime
– Illegal acts by illegal organizations (often
violent.
– Usually geared toward satisfying a public
demand for unlawful goods and services.
– Implies a conspiratorial and illegal relationship
among a number of people engaged in unlawful
acts.
– Includes:
• Loan sharking
• Gambling
• Prostitution
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• High-Tech Crime
– Also referred to as cyber crimes.
– Includes:
• Selling pornographic material online
• Cyberstalking
• Hacking
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Learning Outcome 1
The Criminal Justice System
The interlocking network of law
enforcement agencies, courts, and
corrections institutions designed to
enforce criminal laws.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• The Purpose of the Criminal Justice
System
– To control crime
– To prevent crime
– To provide and maintain justice
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The Structure of the Criminal Justice System
Federalism – government powers are shared by the
national government and the states.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 2
Outline the three
levels of law
enforcement.
Learning Outcome 2
• Local and County
– County sheriff – chief law enforcement
officer of most counties.
– Responsible for the “nuts and bolts”:
• Investigations
• Patrol activities
• Keeping the peace
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
• State
–
–
–
–
State police
Highway patrols
Fire marshals
Fish, game, wildcraft wardens
• Federal
– Anti-terrorism
– FBI
– Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives
– Almost every federal agency has some kind of
police power.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
• Courts
– The US has a dual court system – two
independent judicial systems, one at
federal level and one at state level.
– Criminal court responsible for
determining guilt or innocence of
suspects.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 3
List the essential
elements of the
corrections system.
Learning Outcome 3
• The Corrections systems includes:
– Probation
– Jails
– Community-based corrections (halfway
houses, residential centers, workrelease centers).
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 3
• The Corrections systems includes:
– Probation
– Jails
– Community-based corrections (halfway
houses, residential centers, workrelease centers).
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 4
Explain the difference
between the formal
and informal criminal
justice processes.
Learning Outcome 4
• The Formal Criminal Justice Process
– Functions as an assembly-line
– “a series of routinized operations whose
success is gauged primarily by their
tendency to pass the case along to a
successful conclusion.”
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 4
• The informal criminal justice process
– Based on the use of discretion – the authority to choose
between and among alternative courses of action.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
The Wedding Cake
Model
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 5
Contrast the crime
control and due
process models.
Learning Outcome 5
• The crime control model
– Law enforcement is necessary to control
criminal activity.
– Control is difficult and probably
impossible.
– The system must be quick and efficient.
– Police are in a better position than
courts to determine guilt.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
• The due process model
– Strives to make it difficult to prove guilt.
– Ultimate goal – fairness, not efficiency.
– Rejects idea of a criminal justice system
with unlimited powers.
– Criminal justice system should recognize
its own fallibility.
– Relies heavily on courts.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Mastering
Concepts
Crime Control Model
versus Due Process
Model
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Correctional Populations in the United States, 1995
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, June 1997), Table 1.1, page 12; and Bureau of
Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2008 (Washington, D.C.; U.S. Department of Justice, 2009), 2.
© 2011 Cengage Learning