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CHAPTER
What is Crime?

Crime:
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Act that violates criminal law
Punishable by criminal sanctions
Determining Criminal Behavior

Not such an easy task to determine what is criminal
behavior
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Different countries have different ideas of criminal
behavior
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There are two common models of how society
decides which acts are criminal
Determining Criminal Behavior
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Consensus Model:
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Conflict Model:
Society, though diverse,
shares the same moral
value system
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Exists because some
people believe moral
attitudes are not constant

Assumes that a
diverse group of
people can have
similar morals

Content of criminal law is
determined by the groups
that hold political power
in a community
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Morals are principles
of right and wrong
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These groups impose
their values on the rest of
the community
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Criminal acts conflict with
these values and beliefs
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Are deemed harmful to
society
An Integrated Definition of Crime
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Using consensus and conflict models we can
construct a useful definition of crime:
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Punishable under criminal law as defined by the
majority or a powerful minority
Considered an offense against society as a whole
and prosecuted by public officials
Punished by statutorily determined sanctions such
as fines, loss of liberty or life

There is a difference between crime and deviance

Deviance is behavior that is considered to go
against the norms established by society; not
necessarily criminal
Discussion Question #1

Are there any criminal statutes in your community
that prohibit behavior that you do not believe is
deviant?

Are there any deviant acts committed in your
community that you believe should be
criminalized?
The Criminal Justice System
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An interlocking network of:
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Law enforcement agencies
Courts
Corrections institutions
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Designed to enforce criminal laws
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Protect society from criminal behavior
The Purpose of the Criminal Justice System
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To protect society from potential future crimes of
the most dangerous offenders
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To determine when an offense has been committed
and provide the appropriate punishment
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To rehabilitate those who have been punished so
that it is safe to return them to the community
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To support crime victims and return them to their
pre-crime status
Structure of the Criminal Justice System
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Important to understand the concept of Federalism:
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Form of government in which a written constitution
provides for a division of powers between a central
government and several regional governments
Three Main Institutions:
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Law enforcement
Courts
Corrections
Law Enforcement
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Local law enforcement
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State
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Split between counties and municipalities
Discussed in detail in chapters 4, 5, and 6
Includes “state police” and “highway patrols”
State law enforcement officers can also include fire
marshals
Federal
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Operates throughout the U.S.
Often work in cooperation with local and state
counterparts
Employees of Criminal Justice
The Courts
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Dual Court System
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Federal
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Must be charged with a federal crime
State
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50 different state court systems and the District of
Columbia
Charged with a violation of state law
The Courts
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The criminal court has a workgroup
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Judges
Prosecutors
Defense Attorneys
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Responsible for determining the innocence or guilt
of a suspect
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Covered in detail in chapters 7, 8, and 9
Discussion Question #2

What are the advantages of moving to a unified
court system and eliminating the dual court
system?
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What are the disadvantages of a unified court
system in the United States?
Corrections
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Only convicted offenders will be relegated to the
correctional system in the jurisdiction they are
convicted (state or federal); covered in detail in
chapters 10, 11, and 12
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Probation
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Incarceration
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Serves sentence in community under supervision of a
probation officer
The most common correctional treatment
Jails hold those convicted of minor crimes with short
sentences
Prisons hold those convicted of more serious crimes
Community-based corrections
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Examples: Halfway houses, residential centers, workrelease programs
The Criminal Justice Process
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President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice (1967)
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An orderly progression of events through a process
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A sports team composed of an indeterminable
number of decisions, relationships, conflicts, and
adjustments
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Herbert Packer compared the idealized criminal
justice process to an assembly line
Formal v. Informal Criminal Justice
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Formal
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Series of routinized operations
Goal of moving defendant from one point to another
Decisions made within the rigid confines of formal
rules and laws
Unrealistic – lacking resources to handle every case
formally
Informal
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Decisions based on personal judgment produces an
informal criminal justice system
Do not operate within the rigid confines of formal
rules and laws
Formal v. Informal Criminal Justice
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Informal criminal justice relies on discretion
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Discretion is the authority to choose between and
among alternative courses of action
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Based on individual judgment and conscience
Discretion in the Criminal Justice System
Discussion Question #3
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Ask students to role play and discuss the following
situations that lend themselves to discretion
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You are on routine patrol and you pursue a car that
is traveling 80mph that runs through a red light. You
pull the car over and discover that the driver is your
boyfriend/girlfriend’s mother. What do you do?
You are a police detective who has just arrested a
person for aggravated domestic violence. You see
your partner punching the suspect in the face when
the suspect is handcuffed and in the back of a patrol
car. What do you do?
Ethics and Justice
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The moral principles that guide individual
perceptions of “right” and “wrong"
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Closely related to the concept of justice
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Influences discretionary decisions made by
criminal justice actors
Ethics and Justice
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Ethics and the Law
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Because ethical standards are not written into
criminal statutes individuals often have to “fill in”
the blank
See “Discretion in Action” section on page 17
Ethics and Critical Thinking
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Critical thinking involves developing analytical skills
and reasoning to address ethical challenges
inherent in the criminal justice system
Criminal Justice Today
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Two models of Criminal Justice
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Crime Control
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Deter crime by arresting and incarcerating criminals
as quickly and efficiently as possible
Due Process
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Protect the individual charged with a crime against the
immense and sometimes possibly unjust power of the
state
Criminal Justice Today
Discussion Question #4
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Ask students to do some research on the criminal
justice system in their city….
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Which model of criminal justice (crime control or
due process) do they believe is utilized today in
their communities?
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Have them explain with specific cases
Criminal Justice Today
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Crime and Law Enforcement: The Bottom Line
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Smarter Policing
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Identifying Criminals
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Proactive
Hot Spot
Biometrics
Continuing Challenges for Law Enforcement
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Street Gangs
Gun Use and Crime
Illegal Drugs Problem
Drug Use in the United States
Criminal Justice Today
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Homeland Security and Domestic Terrorism
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Counterterrorism and Civil Liberties
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The Patriot Act
Homeland Security and Civil Liberties
Domestic Terrorism
Criminal Justice Today
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The Emergence of Victims’ Rights
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Advocacy for Crime Victims
Legislative Efforts
Inmate Population Trends
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Changing Incarceration Policies
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Declining Use of the Death Penalty
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Recidivism
Capital crime
Incarceration and Race
The Social Media Revolution
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Social Media and Law Enforcement
The Dark Side of Social Media