CCJS Week 1 02 07 2012 Crime in the US Drugs DUI Larceny Theft Regionally The south has the highest crime rates Northeast has the lowest crime rates Clearance Overall Murder and assault are cleared by arrest more often than rape robbery burglary or theft Crime happens Criminal justice system is designed to repair that damage and It damages our social fabric The US has a lot of crime and an extensive system designed to prevent it combat it Goals of Criminal Justice Provide Justice o Accountable offenders o Protection of rights everyone punished the same for the o Equal but individualized treatment repeat offenders vs First same offenses offenders Control Crime o Detect and punish those who break the law Prevent Crime o Stop crime before it happens Bureaucracy Governed by rules policies and procedures Organized in a hierarchy with clear lines of supervision Requires substantial amounts of paperwork to document activities Requires training of employees Criminal justice agencies behave in a very typical bureaucratic way Tied to politics Requires paperwork documentation that can both support Imposes constraints on professional choices transparency and not lead to chaos Criminal Justice as moral agent Morality behaviors and actions are right and wrong in a given Criminal justice is responsible for shaping and enforcing such Enforces a standard of conduct that we as a society have decided society behaviors and actions are our norms Decisions about policies and laws often involve moral questions o Needle exchange programs o Enacting the death penalty o Discretionary actions of criminal justice agents CCJS Week 2 Theory 02 07 2012 Crime consists of behaviors the government prohibits 2 types o mala in se wrong in themselves murder rape o mala prohibita wrong because government says so gambling prostitution drugs crime is not o universal o fixed example shifting drug policies Types of Crime Typical crime or both since the 1980s possession of 100 grams of powder cocaine carried the same penalty as 1 gram crack cocaine in 2010 the Fair Sentencing Act reduced this disparity to 18 to 1 o One on one harm physical injury loss of something valuable o Victimless offenses against morality Occupational Crime o white collar crime o fraud embezzlement corporate crime o yearly losses are more than 100 000 times the total amount taken in bank robberies and more than 20 times the total amount stolen in thefts Other o Political by or against a government entity o Cyber committed using computers and the internet o Organized framework for criminal enterprise Causes of Crime Historical perspectives o Demonology possessed by evil spirits o Phrenology map head to figure out personality o Atavism inherited traits caused criminal tendencies o Somatotypes height and weight identifies more criminally prone o Eugenics Biological perspectives o Focus on genetics but in the context of inherited traits that are conducive to crime Studies of twins in genetic component for committing intimate violence and juvenile aggression o Focus on genes that influence propensity to commit crime o Genes don t cause crime alone environment too Tendencies can be funneled in different directions Classical school theories o Free will hedonistic pleasure vs pain o Rational choice deterrence theory Strategic thinking process cost vs reward risks o Routine activities theory Motivated offender suitable target lack of capable guardian Psychological perspectives Focus on individuals and their thinking process Learning theories differential association social learning theory o Criminal behavior is learned from others o Through modeling reinforcement conditioning Neutralization neutralize accepted norms so they can drift into Self control impulsive insensitive physical risk taking short criminal behavior sighted nonverbal Sociocultural theories Focus on environmental factors that influence criminal behavior Social control theory Social disorganization theory attachment commitment involvement belief residential mobility poverty racial ethnic heterogeneity lack of community bond Strain theory Labeling theory Other theories failure to achieve success frustration crime self identification of delinquent label Lifecourse theories more of a perspective identifies factors that shape criminal careers ends criminal activity o Laub and Sampson college marriage military service usually Critical criminology more of a perspective justice system is designed by those in power to suppress those that are not in power Integrated theories draw from many different disciplines The Basics of Law Modern Criminal Law From England to America o A mixture of the common law tradition and statutory changes that have been made over the years o Most significant change is Modern Penal Code 1960s 80s Common Elements of Modern Criminal Law o Actus Reus o Mens Rea o Attendant circumstances o Result outcome of actus reus Actus Reus the evil act Act or conduct that is prohibited The thing you are not allowed to do under the criminal law o Example snatching a purse the actus reus Must be the result of o Voluntary act Example punching someone in the face o Qualifying omission not doing something the law says you must do Example not paying your taxes Mens Rea the evil mind Culpable state of mind level of intent There is generally no criminal sanction for doing an actus rea unless it is done with mens rea Levels of mens rea o Purpose specific intent Example point and shoot a gun to kill someone o Knowledge actual and constructive Example Actual breaking into someone s house and know you are breaking the law Constructive getting paid a lot of money to drive truck across the country willfully blind o Recklessness disregarding a known risk Example street racing o Negligence failing to perceive risk Example neglecting a child giving someone prescription drugs and they overdose and die Exception strict liability don t need to have an evil mind and intend to do it o Example motor vehicle laws Attendant Circumstances Circumstances that must surround actus reus for a crime to have occurrs Examples o For burglary to occur one must enter a structure to which they were not invited and that they do not own o For speeding to be punished the drive must be on a public road way not a sanctioned race track Causation of Results That which actually occurred because of actus reus Some crimes require a particular result o Homicide isn t homicide unless someone dies o Must prove actus reus with mens rea
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