crjs 215 web site

CRJS 215 Web SiteCRJS 215 Web Site

http://www.odu.edu/al/cpate/index.htm

CRJS 215CRJS 215

Introduction To Criminology

Two Books:Introduction to Criminal Justice, (SS)The Rich Get Richer And The Poor Get

Prison, (JR)

InstructorInstructor

Chris PateMilitaryState GovernmentAcademicPractitioner Perspective

Why Are We Here?Why Are We Here?

What do you want to get from this class?

Why do I want to get from this class?

Succeeding In ClassSucceeding In Class

The Easy Way: Responsibility– Read Assignments Generally Before Classes– Attend Class, Participate, Take Notes– Review Material For Understanding

The Hard Way: Irresponsibility

-Don’t Read Assignments Or Attend Class

-Rely On Someone Else To Carry You

Class ExperienceClass Experience

CJ majors:Seniors?Working part-time?Working full-time?Law enforcement experience?Parents?Athletes, Heroes, Artists?

Pleasure Not PainPleasure Not Pain

Let’s have fun.

Kidding around is okay.

Happy Hours: A form of career counseling

Let me know if I can help you.

Participation Enhances Participation Enhances Positive OutcomesPositive Outcomes

Quizzes:– Midterm and Final OR 4 Quizzes?

Class Length– Entire time OR until cover material?

Written Assignment-One good 4-5 page paper Or a 10 page paper?

Rules For FairnessRules For Fairness

Verification required for excused late papers and missed quizzes.

Be considerate. Be on time for quizzes and written assignments.

Honor Code is absolute.

Extra CreditExtra Credit

1. Options listed in online syllabus.2. Pre-Approved community service

Provide verification by due date– 20 quiz points

Getting StartedGetting Started

1. What is the purpose of our CJ System?

2. What is the purpose of incarceration?

3. What is crime?

4. Who determines what a crime is?

5. Does our CJ system work as it should?

6. Why do police officers act as they do?

7. Are they fair and unbiased?

8. Should offenders who commit similar crimes and who have similar backgrounds receive identical sentences?

9. Who is being punished worse by incarceration: offenders or society?

10. How should society decide who is punished and who is not?

11. Should we be as fair and just with criminals as with one another?

12. What is punishment?

13. What is sufficient punishment?

14. Is prison/jail more punitive than probation or parole?

16. What is the role and function of American courts?

17. Whose responsibility is public safety?

18. Is the Bill of Right still relevant?

19. What does the US Constitution and Bill of Right mean to us in everyday life?

20. Who cares?

What Is Criminology?What Is Criminology?

Criminology

If you would like to save paper, begin printing study guide notes with this slide.

The Criminal Justice System The Criminal Justice System OverviewOverview

Why do we have a Criminal Justice System?

– To provide solutions to the crime problem– To shape the direction of crime policy

The Criminal Justice SystemThe Criminal Justice System

What constitutes the CJ system?

– A loosely organized collection of agencies that:– Protect the public– Maintain order– Enforce the law– Identify transgressors– Bring the guilty to justice– Treat criminal behavior

The American CJ System ConceptThe American CJ System Concept

The CJ System has fairness and justice as goals.

It values informal decision making and use of personal discretion as essential ingredients of the justice process.

How can this be fair for all people?

Some HistorySome History

Were there cultural factors in pre-20th century America that contributed to crime?

Does the fact that crime rates were higher in the 19th century refute the charge that violent entertainment is responsible for the nation’s crime and violence problem?

The Contemporary CJ SystemThe Contemporary CJ System

Three Main Components

– Law Enforcement Agencies Investigate and Apprehend

– Court System Determine Guilt or Innocence and Sentence

– Corrections System Incapacitate, Treat and (maybe) Rehabilitate

CrimeCrime

What makes an act a crime?

Who decides whether something is a crime?

How do they do that? And Why?

Who are their constituents?

Role of the LegislatureRole of the Legislature

What is the primary legislative responsibility in the CJ System?

CJ System ProcessCJ System ProcessOverviewOverview

Think of Decision Points– Arrest– Summons– Trial– Sentence– Release

Considerations– Seriousness of Offense– Available Evidence– Prior Record


Extralegal Factors– Race– Gender– Class– Age


Discretion plays a key role in the CJ System

Is this good or bad?

The Formal Justice ProcessThe Formal Justice ProcessOverviewOverview

The concept of the formal justice process is important


Arrests– Felony Arrest

– Misdemeanor Arrest


Nearly every step of the CJ process requires that individual cases be disposed of as quickly as possible.

Reality is different.– Limited Resources– Inadequate Facilities– Inefficiency– Nature of Bureaucracy


Effect of Inadequate Resources, Facilities and Bureaucratic Problems– The ultimate goal of a fair and effective justice

system is not achieved.

The Informal CJ ProcessThe Informal CJ ProcessOverviewOverview

Discretion plays a large role.– Arrest– Summons– Substitute Charges– Release– Trial – Sentence

The Informal CJ ProcessThe Informal CJ ProcessOverviewOverview

Adversarial vs Cooperative Endeavors?

Criminal Justice PerspectivesCriminal Justice Perspectives

Crime Control PerspectiveRehabilitation PerspectiveDue Process PerspectiveNonintervention PerspectiveJustice PerspectiveRestorative Justice Perspective

Criminal Justice PerspectivesCriminal Justice Perspectives

What is a CJ perspective?– An individual view of crime causes and control

Why is it important?– It impacts laws.– That impacts your freedom, tax dollars, and

quality of life, schools, etc.

Crime Control PerspectiveCrime Control Perspective

Proponents Believe Most Criminals Are– Greedy– Choose theft/drug dealing for quick/easy profit– Value excitement and thrill of breaking the law– Not stakeholders in conformity– Willing to take greater chances than the average


Professes That– Crime rates rise when punishment is not feared

They try to make punishment severe

– Focus of justice should be on the victim They tend to discount offender rights.


Emphasizes

Rehabilitation PerspectiveRehabilitation Perspective

Proponents Believe– The justice system should be a means of caring

for and treating people who cannot manage themselves.

– They view crime as an expression of frustration and anger created by poverty and social inequality

– Government programs can help reduce crime at the national, state, local and individual level.


The following FACTS support this perspective.– Violence decreases

As legitimate opportunities increase.

– Recidivism decreases as rehabilitation programs develop

Offender interpersonal skills Offender prosocial attitudes Offenders improve cognitive thinking patterns


Rehabilitation Perspective advocates believe society has a choice– Pay now for treatment and education programs– Pay later for incarceration over and over again

Due Process PerspectiveDue Process Perspective

Proponents Believe– The greatest concern of the CJ System should

be providing fair and equitable treatment to defendants.

Impartial Hearings Competent Legal Counsel Equitable Treatment Impartial Jury Reasonable Sanctions


Proponents Argue– The CJ Staten is an adversarial process.

All Powerful State– Trained prosecutor and investigators

Solitary Individual– May have to rely on appointed counsel

• Could be the least experienced attorneys


Proponents Point Out– DNA Testing has proven convicted persons

innocent– 1 in 7 death row inmates have been freed bas on

DNA evidence since 1976


• Play Supreme Court Justice• What should happen when individual rights

interfere with public safety?• Obviously guilty person• Constitutional rights violated at search or arrest

Does it matter that the person may be dangerous?

Nonintervention PerspectiveNonintervention Perspective

Proponents Believe– The CJ System should favor the least intrusive

treatment possible and avoid stigmatizing offenders.

Deinstitutionalization Diversion Decriminalization

Nonintervention PerspectiveNonintervention Perspective

Deinstitutionalization– Removing nonviolent offenders from prison

Diversion– Using community-based TX programs in lieu of the formal

CJ process Decriminalization

– Reducing the penalty for a criminal act without legalizing it Stigma

– An enduring label that taints a person’s identity and changes him in the eyes of others.

Justice PerspectiveJustice Perspective

Proponents Believe– All people should receive the same treatment

under the law.– Punishment should be equitably administered

based on “just desert.”

Justice PerspectiveJustice Perspective

Encourages– Determinate Sentencing– Abolish Parole– Mandatory Sentencing– Truth In Sentencing– Prisons as Punishment

Restorative Justice PerspectiveRestorative Justice Perspective

Proponents Believe– The CJ System should promote peace and

justice and not punish offenders.

Advocates argue that state efforts to punish and control crime actually encourage it.


Restorative Justice Goals– Offenders appreciate harm they have done– Offenders make amends– Reintegrate offenders into society


Restorative Justice Activities– Conflict resolution between criminal and victim

in the community– Mediation

Crime Control StrategyCrime Control Strategy

Remember:What is a CJ perspective?

– An individual view of crime causes and control It impacts laws. That impacts your freedom, tax dollars, and quality

of life, schools, etc.

– Your CJ perspective dictates your approach to crime control.

Crime Control PerspectiveCrime Control PerspectiveCrime Control StrategyCrime Control Strategy

Source Control– Destroy crops/labs, arrest offenders

Border Control– Interdict supplies: sea, air, land

Police Crackdowns– Hearts and Minds: Viet Nam– Prostitution: Ocean View

Justice PerspectiveJustice PerspectiveCrime Control StrategyCrime Control Strategy

Mandatory Minimum Sentences– Firearm in commission of felony– Sell drugs near school, playground

Abolish ParoleDeterminate Sentencing

Rehabilitation PerspectiveRehabilitation PerspectiveCrime Control StrategyCrime Control Strategy

Reduce Desire For Drugs– DARE– Other Programs

Treatment– Inpatient, Outpatient– Group Counseling, Peer Support– Therapeutic Communities

Nonintervention PerspectiveNonintervention PerspectiveCrime Control StrategyCrime Control Strategy

Legalization– Netherlands

Legalized Drugs: Relatively Low Crime rate

– Thailand Cheap, Available Drugs: High Crime Rate

Popular PerspectivesPopular Perspectives

Most Popular Perspectives Since 1990– Crime Control Perspective– Justice Perspective

Why do you think this is the case?

Simplistic SolutionsSimplistic Solutions

The nation’s approaches to crime have sought simplistic solutions when no such solutions exist.

“A smart person solves problems. A genius prevents them. CJ is filled with wise people and short of geniuses.”

False DichotomyFalse Dichotomy

Arguing for either tough law enforcement or community-based crime prevention is a false dichotomy.

The choice is not one or the other.

Programs can balance public safety, rehabilitation and system costs.

How Did The Mess Occur?How Did The Mess Occur?

1. Individual background & belief system 2. Human Nature and Immediate Gratification

Think of love– Perfection– Fireworks– Promise of Eternal Bliss– Reality Dawns (Usually)

The Panacea PhenomenonThe Panacea Phenomenon

Unrealistic Expectations

Followed By Failure and Dissatisfaction With the Proposed Cure-All

Ultimately a Renewed Search For Another Foolproof Elixir

Prior Panaceas Prior Panaceas The Evolution of CBC The Evolution of CBC

Community Punishments1700’s Quakers, Penitentiaries1870’s Indeterminate Sentence1800’s-1900 Therapeutic Prison1960’s-1970’s Flourishing CBC1980’s-Present Get Tough On Crime1980’s-1990’s Punish and Control

SolutionSolution

Reasoned ApproachConsensus BuildingRealize TX Is Not A Euphemism For

LeniencyRealize Control, Properly Done, Will Not

Corrupt Reform

Corrections SpendingCorrections SpendingPrison and Jail Spending

– Two Cents of Every State and Local Dollar

Probation and Parole- Two Tenths of One Cent

¾ of Correctional Clients Are In Local Communities

They Receive 1/10 Of Corrections Budgets

Cost ComparisonsCost Comparisons

Effective TX Programs– $12,000 to $14,000 per year

Prison– $18,000 to $25,000 per year

Probation– About $1,400 per year

Expanded Prison PolicyExpanded Prison Policy

Politicians Cite Public Opinion As The Reason For Supporting Expanded Prison/Incarceration Policies.

Fundamental Tenet of Democratic Society– Government and its institutions should reflect

the will of the people.

Problem: What Punishes?Problem: What Punishes?

Problem: What Punishes?– Is requiring a runner to run 5 miles

punishment?– Is requiring a lazy person to stay home

punishment?

Reality: The opinion of the person punished is crucial in determining punishment.

BreakBreak

Read assignments.Participate in class discussions.Review notes weekly.

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