Criminal Justice 8 29 14 Important Terms and Definitions Criminology the study of crime its nature extent and causes We examine how frequent certain crimes occur What causes a person to commit a crime Biggest crime drop occurred in 1990 1 Theoretical approach understanding of causes theories guide our 2 understanding of the crime Interdisciplinary approach uses multiple categories of professions anthropologists law professions scientists psychologists 3 Scientific approach The most common crime is theft The rarest crimes is murder Criminal Justice System formal process established to apprehend adjudicate sanction and treat criminal offenders the main agencies and components responsible to enforce criminal laws police courts and corrections Beyond a reasonable doubt standard in order to classify a person as a criminal Criminal Justice the study of CJS agencies describe analyze explain and evaluate Is interdisciplinary and scientific but NOT theoretical Deviance the study of behavior that departs from social norms Behavior may or may not be criminal illegal acts Norm violations Statistical average Reactionist Power conflict Status offenses crimes that if juveniles commit they can be arrested for the crime but an adult would not be arrested if they committed the same crime Ex a child running away from home
View Full Document
Unlocking...