C H A P T E R 1
SUMMARY
The news media provide a steady flow of stories about crime and how the justice system attempts to cope with it. Many news reports become media events, as evidenced by the recent trial of
Michael Jackson, the 1990s trials of O. J. Simpson and Timothy McVeigh, and even dating back to the 1920s with the trial of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. However, there is uniqueness to the majority of criminal cases that achieve national attention, and much of what is seen and read in the media fails to reflect what is typical in the American system of justice. Within this context, the purpose of this book is to analyze the nature of crime and the processes of justice in the United States, to examine the historical and constitutional foundations of the American system of justice, and to consider its strengths as well as its weaknesses.
Criminal justice refers to the structure, functions, and processes of those agencies that deal with the management of crime —the police, the courts, and corrections. The study of criminal justice as an undergraduate academic enterprise is relatively new, having emerged as an outgrowth of calls for law and order during the 1960s.
The study of criminal justice follows a logical succession of topics: definitions of crime and law, the nature and extent of crime, the constitutional foundations of law and justice, and an examination of policing, the court system, and correctional processes.
A number of major themes appear throughout this book. They are the due process and crime control models of criminal justice, the dramatic and multifaceted ways in which terrorism has changed the criminal justice system, the impact that drug abuse and the war on drugs have on crime and criminal justice processing, the growing role of women in criminal justice, cross-cultural and international perspectives in the administration of justice, the significance of victims in processes of justice, the criminal justice nonsystem, and the importance of critical thinking about criminal justice issues.
CHAPTER TOPIC OUTLINE
1. One of the themes that surfaces periodically in this text, and in discussions of crime elsewhere, is how the media tend to impact on our thinking about crime. But the media offer only a distorted image of crime and criminal justice. The cases of Michael Jackson,
Scott Peterson, O. J. Simpson, and Timothy McVeigh, as well as other similar headline cases, certainly involved real crimes, with real victims, but the media in large part made the cases far more sensational than they would have been otherwise.
2. The Emergence of Criminal Justice a. It is important that students be able to distinguish between criminal justice and criminology, on the one hand, and criminal law, criminal procedure, and constitutional law, on the other. b. Criminal justice refers to the structure, functions, and processes of those agencies that deal with the management of crime: the police, the courts, and corrections. c. Criminology is the scientific study of the causes of crime, the rates of crime, the
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punishment and rehabilitation of offenders, and the prevention of crime. d. Criminal law is that branch of modern jurisprudence that deals with offenses committed against the safety and order of the state. e. Criminal procedure encompasses the series of orderly steps and actions, authorized by law or the courts, used to determine whether a person accused of a crime is guilty or not guilty. f. Constitutional law focuses on the legal rules and principles that define the nature and limits of governmental power and the duties and right of individuals in relation to the state.
3. Law and Order and the War on Crime a. Nationalization of the Bill of Rights b. President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice c. Criminal Justice as a System
4. Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 a. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration b. Exhibit 1.1, Drugs, Crime, and Justice: The Drug Revolution of the 1960s
5. Models of Criminal Justice a. Due process model b. Crime control model
6. Key Factors in Criminal Justice a. The war on drugs (See also Exhibit 1.1
and Exhibit 1.2, A View from the Field:
Meeting Pablo.) b. Women, crime, and criminal justice c. The criminal justice nonsystem d. Victims and justice
7. Terrorism, Criminal Justice, and the Constitution a. Exhibit 1.3, What Is terrorism? b. Security versus the Constitution and due process of law
8. International and Cross-Cultural Perspectives a. The relationship between culture and the administration of justice
Other Topics of Interest:
Careers in Criminal Justice a. What is included in a criminal justice curriculum? b. Why study it? c. What careers are available? (See profiles of various careers throughout the text.) d. See also the end-of-chapter resources: Employment Opportunities in Criminal Justice.
Critical Thinking in Criminal Justice a. Examine how terms are defined. b. Inspect the evidence. c. Look for potential biases. d. Ask whether conclusions have been oversimplified. e. Ask whether conclusions have been overgeneralized. f. Consider other possible interpretations. g. Consider who is offering the explanation. h. Think through the topic.
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Famous Criminals: Charles Manson
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Burger Court
Criminal justice
Ethnocentrism
Crime control model
Due process model
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice
Terrorism
Law and order
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Warren Court
After a thorough study of Chapter 1, students should be able to answer the following questions:
1. To what extent can the mass media have an impact on the criminal justice process?
2. What are the differences between criminal justice, criminology, criminal law, and criminal procedure?
3. In what ways is the study of criminal justice at the beginning of the 21st century an outgrowth of the 1960s war on crime?
4. What is the importance of, and the difference between, the due process and crime control models of criminal justice?
5. What are some of the key issues affecting contemporary criminal justice policy and procedures?
6. What is terrorism?
7. What is critical thinking in criminal justice?
8. What is the general content of an undergraduate degree program in criminal justice?
SUPPLEMENTARY LECTURE MATERIALS
The purpose of Chapter 1 is to introduce students to some of the general topics that will be covered in the course and to provide some basic definitions. Because it is a relatively short chapter, lengthy lectures may not be necessary. However, this is a good point to start having students think about crime in the media and how the media tends to shape perceptions about crime and criminals. It is also an ideal time to introduce into discussion the topic of terrorism and how it is changing modern- day criminal justice. Ask students to critically analyze how the events of September 11, 2001, have influenced new legislation, law enforcement tactics, and media coverage.
CLASS PROJECTS AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
1. The first lecture of the semester is always a good time to raise students’ consciousness of their own perceptions of crime (and criminals). One way to initiate discussion is to have students list who they think are the five most notorious criminals of the 20th century. The answers tend to be interesting.
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Quite curiously, but not altogether surprising, the names most often mentioned are people recently in the news (mass murderer John Wayne Gacy was a common one a few years ago), individuals of local concern (Richard Speck is sometimes noted by students from
Chicago in spite of the fact that his murder spree took place decades ago), and such historical figures as Jack the Ripper and Jesse James. Some recent entries have been
Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson, and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. But what should qualify someone to be among the most notorious ? It’s a good discussion point. One good answer is persons who changed the course of world or U.S. history. Hitler certainly qualifies, and so does that tyrant who used to be the dictator of Iraq. What was his name? Also, but rarely mentioned, are Lee Harvey Oswald and Sirhan Sirhan. See how many of your students can tell you who Sirhan Sirhan was.
In contrast, Adolf Hitler almost always finds his way onto the list; so does George Bush.
There was a time when Richard Nixon always made the list. (You might repeat here two of
Nixon’s often-quoted statements: “I’m no crook” and “When the President does it, it is not illegal.”) Does Osama bin Laden make the students’ list? This could make for a good segue into a discussion on terrorism’s impact on the criminal justice system.
2. According to your students’ perception, to what extent does terrorism shape the current criminal justice system? What experiences have your students had in the course of their everyday lives in terms of new security measures or law enforcement procedures that have been the direct consequence of September 11? Is anyone in your class because terrorism inspired them to learn more about criminal justice? Conversely, if this is not the case, then why are they there?
3. The criminal justice system has long been the subject of television dramas, but the popularity of this theme in recent years has reached unprecedented levels. Shows like Cops and Law and Order have remained on the air for years, while others like CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation and its spin-offs are new editions that have proven wildly successful with TV audiences. What shows do your students watch and why? Why are so many people so entertained by murder, the criminal mind, detective work, courtroom trials, forensic science, and the like? What perceptions of the criminal justice system have students gleaned from watching these shows? This might lead to an interesting discussion on American pop culture’s conception of criminal justice versus its reality and how this colors the average
A merican’s understanding of the system.
4. The beginning of the semester is also a good time to have students start a clipping file for a paper or project later in the semester. Rather than having all of the students reviewing the local paper, assign some to the New York Times , some to USA Today , and others to Time ,
Newsweek , or U.S. News & World Report . The topics should be general, such as patterns of crime, drug-related crime, terrorism, controversial issues in crime and justice, or whatever.
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