1.
causation: "One-way traffic"
E.g. genetic influence
Three criteria for a causal relationship
Association between the variables
Time order
Elimination of alternative explanations
2.
civil law: the case concerns the defendant and the government
The victim's role is greatly reduced by the government
The standards of proof in a civil trial (preponderance of evidence) are not as stringent as those in a criminal trial (beyond a reasonable doubt)
3.
classical school of criminology: Age of enlightenment—18th to early 19th century
Rationality—hedonistic psychology—micro level
Social contract—utilitaranism—macro/structural level
"A person surrendered to the authority of the state only the amount of freedom necessary to ensure protection of the rights of other citizens"
Therefore, maximize the overall good of the society
The impact of church has been decreased, and people try to mobilize the power of reason in order to obtain knowledge and reform society
each individual will maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain
Implication for CJ system
Crime is a moral offense against society
Individual responsibility—because your are rational
Deterrence
General and specific
Certainty, celerity (swiftness) and severity
Only impose that amount of punishment that is necessary to counter the benefits of crime
Law must be knowable (better be written) and all people should be treated equally before the law
Judge has very limited discretion
general deterrence
punish person A person B will not do it
specific deterrence
punish person A person A will not do it
4.
clearance rates: Crimes are cleared in two ways
A) when at least one person is arrested, charged, and turned over to the court for prosecution
Or B) by exceptional means, when some element beyond police control precluded the physical arrest of an offender
E.g. the offender leaves the country
Slightly more than 20% of all reported Part I crimes are cleared by arrest each year
At best, it represents 50% of all crimes committed
5.
Code of Hammurabi: The earliest known written laws
It tells us that criminal law has a long and fascinating history
Introducing some type of proportionality
eye for an eye
6.
cohort studies: a researcher examines specific subpopulation, or cohorts, as they change over time
Typically, a cohort is an age group; but it can also be some other time grouping, such as people born during the Vietnam War, people got married in 2001 and so forth
7.
common law: Predictability, reliability, efficiency and equality
Similar cases should be treated in a similar manner
Based on the doctrine of precedent
evolves by decisions made by judges in the courts
Predictability
An outcome fits with reasoning
Reliability
Participants in the legal system expect the court to follow precedent
Efficiency
Participants expect cases to be resolved in a reasonable time
Equality
Similar cases are expected to be treated in similar fashion
The most important function of the concept of precedent
Common law is law developed by JUDGES through decisions of courts rather than through legislative executive branch action. A "common law system" is a legal system that gives great precedential weight to common law,[1] on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different occasions.[2] The body of precedent is called "common law" and it binds future decisions.
If, however, the court finds that the current dispute is fundamentally distinct from all previous cases (called a "matter of first impression"), judges have the authority and duty to make law by creating precedent.[
prcedural law
8.
components of the criminal justice system: legislature
law enforcement
courts
9.
concerns NIBRS: Concerns
The complexity of the reporting and coding procedures—now required skilled civilians to make the program work; before, police administrators did the job
NIBRS on the duties of street-level police officers
A much greater level of detail in the report—interfering with "real" police work
10.
conflict view: Ongoing class struggle between the rich and poor, the haves and have-nots, controls the content of criminal law and thereby shapes the definition of crime
Criminal law is created and enforced by the ruling class as a mechanism for controlling dissatisfied have-not members of society
Crime is a politically defined concept
e.x.drugs laws are developed to ensure that workers will be productive and sober
laws defining violent crimes are created to keep the angry and frustrated lower classes under control
In contrast, perpetrators of business and white-collar crimes receive relatively lenient punishment, considering the extent of the harm and damage they cause
11.
consensus view: The will of the majority shapes the law and defines crimes
Agreement exists on right and wrong
Laws apply to all citizens equally
12.
corrections: Carries out sentences by incapacitating offenders and attempt to rehabilitate them
13.
correlation: As X changes, y should also change—"two-way traffic"
Positive correlation + +
Negative correlation + _
Give me an example relevant to criminology
14.
courts: Higher courts
Everyday courts
Specialized courts
15.
crime: against the criminal law
16.
criminal law: the case is between two individuals
17.
cross sectional study: A research design where subjects are assessed at a single time in their lives
You don't have to worry about losing subjects during the course of the study
Relatively cheap
With data at only one time point, you don't know whether the chicken or the egg came first
This study is efficient at identifying association, but may have trouble deciding causation
E.g. a single U.S. Census -aimed at describing the U.S. population at a given time
Identify correlation but not causation
18.
dark figure of crime: Massive amount of crime goes unreported to the police
At best, it represents 50% of all crimes committed
Some reasons why an offense is not reported:
An offense might be too subtle
The offender is a family member of friend
The victim fears reprisal
The victim doesn't trust the police
The victim has broken the law as well
The victim will be embarrassed if reporting—e.g. some rape cases
See Fuller book p.48-49
19.
Deduction (quantitative): "top-down" approach
Theory—hypothesis—empirical study--confirmation
Hypothesis testing
Data are in the form of numbers from precise measurement
Theory is largely causal and deductive
Replication is possible and sometimes required
Analysis proceeds by using statistics, tables, or charts
20.
description: Describe situation or events
U.S. Census, UCR
Computation of crime rates for different cities
Many qualitative studies aim primarily at description
A very famous and outstanding study: Code of the Street by Elijah Anderson—120% recommended
Tell you the life stories of inner-city black youth
21.
deviant behavior: against social expectation or social norms
22.
Double Jeopardy: the prosecution of a defendant for a criminal offense for which he has already been tried
23.
Explain what you have observed: Step two:
E.g. how to explain the age curve of crime
24.
hard science: more predictable, rigorous and accurate
Examples include physics, biology and computer sciences
25.
index crimes (UCR): Violent crimes
Murder and non-negligent manslaughter
Forcible rape
Robbery
Aggravated assault
Property crimes
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
Used by the FBI to gauge fluctuations in the overall volume and rate of crime
26.
Induction (qualitative): "bottom-up" approach
Observation—patterns—theory
No hypothesis
Data are in the form of words and images from documents, observations, and transcripts
Theory non-causal and inductive
Replication is rare
Analysis proceeds by extracting themes or generalizations (although numbers are possible)
27.
Intentional source of error: UCR does not include federal crimes like white collar crimes or crimes happened across states etc.
Law enforcement practices—"the books get cooked"
E.g. more crime=more resources, less crime=good public image
They make decisions on whether or what to record and/or report
Election year example
Thus, UCR data are, more valid indicators of the behavior of the police than of offenders (Barkan, 1999)
28.
Interactionist view: Social crusaders and moral entrepreneurs define crime
Criminal law reflects the preferences and opinions of people who hold SOCIAL POWER in the society and use their influence to impose their own values and moral code on the rest of the population
The definition of crime is subjective, reflecting contemporary values and morals
E.g Fifty years ago a man could not be prosecuted for raping his wife; today, every state criminalizes marital rape
29.
Know that what people think they know about crime is often based on incomplete and inaccurate information and you can understand why: We tend to personalize—when we have experiences that are real and immediate, we expect everyone else to be as concerned as we are
We tend to think all crime is local crime—because of the improved communications, we envision incidents that happen thousands of miles away as being a local danger
Crime statistics do not tell the whole story
Crime is not evenly distributed over time and across jurisdiction
Not all of us are equally susceptible to crime or equally affected by it
Sometimes prejudices affect our thinking
E.g. Social class—political propaganda like "controlling the dangerous class"
We tend to forget (or forgive?) those really big figures.
The barely visible crimes of corporations and governments often are not considered as serious as street crime
Be careful of the Media
Attracting audience is their primary goal
They report some facts, but highlight the sensational aspects and fail to provide a balanced picture of crime
30.
Know the differences between classical and positivist school of criminology: Know their assumption regarding human nature
Understand their implications for CJ system
Classical school: general and specific deterrence; certain, celerity and severity; the amount of punishment; law must be knowable; treated equally
Positivist school: study the criminal and understand the environment; not criminals, but patients—limited moral responsibility
31.
law enforcement: Investigates potential crimes and arrests suspects
32.
legal definition of crime: crime is any act or omission prohibited by the public law for the protection of the public and made punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding in its own name (Marshall and Clark)
Major advantages
Specify an identifiable category of behaviors
It is consequential—crime can lead to sanctioned punishment
It accepts ruling power as definer of what is crime
Assumes that law is for protection
33.
legislature: Defines the law
Appropriates money to run the system
34.
longitudinal study: A research design where subjects are assessed at several different times in their lives
Why we conduct and not conduct longitudinal study?
It is useful (necessary) to understand how subjects change over time
Good for causation
Ideally, we always want to conduct longitudinal study instead of cross-sectional study
These studies are often expensive, difficult to conduct
A key problem would be retention rate/missing data
They also will require more complex statistical analyses.
Designed to permit observations of a sample of a population over an extended period
subjects are assessed at several different times in their lives
Useful to understand how subjects change over time
Good for causation
Often very expensive and difficult to conduct
Require more complicated analysis
35.
Magna Carta: The first time a king admitted that even he could be compelled to observe a law
citizens were told not to engage in certain behaviors, but at the same time granting them rights and protections
Such as freedom of the church, fair taxation, controls over imprisonment etc.
first time that individuals were getting civil liberties
36.
methods to express crime data in UCR: 1) the number of crimes reported to the police and arrests made are expressed as absolute or raw figures
E.g. "an estimated 16,000 persons were murdered nationwide in 2009"
2) crime rates per 100,000 people are computed
E.g. when the UCR indicates that murder rate was 5.6 in 2009 nationwide, it means that almost 6 people in every 100,000 were murdered between Jan. 1st and Dec. 31st, 2009
The equation for calculating the rate:
(Number of reported crimes/total population )*100, 000=Rate per 100,000
3) the FBI computes changes in the rate of crime over time
E.g. "the number of murders decreased 4 percent between 2008 and 2009"
37.
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): Began in 1973 to deal with the "dark figure" of crime and to avoid the police reporting problems and bias caused by manipulation
Once a year, U.S. Census Bureau personnel interview household members in a nationally reprehensive sample
About 76,000 households and 135,300 individuals aged 12 or older
Household stay in the sample for three years and new household are rotated into the sample
Very detailed (official) information on "Survey Methodology for Criminal Victimization in the United States"
Collects information on crimes suffered by individuals and households, whether or not reported to law enforcement
Estimate the proportion of each crime type reported to law enforcement
Summarize the reason why people report or not
Two major components
A) NCVS Basic Screen Questionnaire
Basically ask you whether you have been victimized regarding different types of crime
B) NCVS Crime Incident Report
Basically ask you more details on the crime incident, if you say yes on any of the screen questions
Provide more detailed information than UCR
Context of crime such as time of day and physical setting in which it occurs
Characteristics of crime victims (gender, race, income, age, extent of injury, and relationship with their offenders)
Characteristics of the offenders
The crime itself (use of weapon or not, nature of injury and economic
Overreporting due to victims' misinterpretation of events
E.g. a lost wallet may be reported as stolen; an open door may be viewed as a burglary attempt
Underreporting due to the embarrassment of reporting crime to interviewers, fear of getting in trouble
Insignificant crimes tend to be forgotten
Victims of several crimes may also forget about all the crimes
They just cannot remember
Not applicable to some types of crime
Such as drug use or gambling—victimless crimes
For obvious reasons, murder cannot be recorded
Sampling error—a group of respondents who do not represent the nation as a whole
38.
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS): A more reliable source for crime statistics than the UCR (began in early 1980s)
Information on each incident and arrest for 46 specific offenses in Group A offenses; Group B offenses—only arrest data are reported (p.56)
Precisely identify when and where an offense takes place, its form, and the characteristics of victims and perpetrators
Inclusion of all offenses that occur in an incident—no hierarchy rule
The ability to distinguish between attempted and completed crimes
39.
non index crimes: Non-Index Crimes ("Part II")
All other crimes reported to the FBI
Less serious crimes and misdemeanors, excluding traffic violation (Fuller book--p.52)
Some examples:
Simple assault
Fraud
Embezzlement
Buying, receiving, and possessing stolen property
Carrying/possessing weapons
Prostitution/gambling
40.
observation: Observation is a research technique in which a researcher directly observe the behavior of individuals in their usual social environments, not in a laboratory
Qualitative in nature
Especially effective for studying subtle nuances in attitudes and behaviors and for examining social processes over time
E.g. student demonstration against police violence—you can observe them and are more likely to obtain their true attitudes than asking them to do the questionnaires after the demonstration
Flexibility
Modify your research design at any time
Prepare to engage in field research at any time
Observational study can be labor-intensive and subjective
Relatively small groups can be observed at once
Hard to generalize; exploratory and descriptive in nature
41.
panel studies: Panel Studies
Examines the same set of people each time
Offer the most comprehensive data on changes over time, but also face the problem of "panel attrition".
Some of the respondents studied in the first wave of the survey might not participate in later waves
Why this is a big problem?
Think about why we need a representative sample
Because those who drop out of the study may be atypical
E.g. kids from single parent family are more likely to drop out. If we don't know or consider this pattern of drop out, we will not know our results are biased, because now the factor of "single-parent-family" actually impact our study results
Your sample is no longer a representative sample
42.
parole read the book carefully: ...
43.
plea barganing: The defense and prosecution discuss a possible guilty plea in exchange for reducing or dropping some charges
One point that results in the most attrition of cases
90% of all cases end in a plea bargain
Know the pros and cons of plea bargain
Reduce workload of the police, judge, and correctional officers
ex. probation officers
-standard caseload (80-120 cases) one visit per month
-intensive supervision (30-50 cases) usually one contact every week, more phone calls and searches
PROS
For the prosecution, plea bargaining assures a conviction-think about the OJ Simpson case
-For the defendant, take away the uncertainty of a criminal trial and avoid the maximum setences
CONS
-Innocent defendant may plead guilty to avoid harsher punishment
-lead to poor police investigations and attorneys would not properly prepare their cases
the public-sacrifce
44.
positivist school of criminology: Age of Science—mid 19th century to 20th century
The core idea: the rise of a (positive) philosophy underscored the importance of tested experience rather than pure speculation or metaphysics
There are laws that determine nature
E.g. the development of biology and medicine
Man is part of nature
Thus, human behaviors should be governed by laws—predictable
Only through the application of scientific methods we can know these laws
You are no longer free, you are determined
45.
probation read the book carefully: ...
46.
problems with different types of observers: Problem with "complete participant"
Ethical issue—is is ethical to deceive the people you are studying in the hope that they will confide in you as they will not confide in an identified research?
E.g. Will you stop a gang theft vs. rape case as a researcher?—how to achieve the balance between potential benefits and cost of research?
To some extent, you are always affecting what you are studying
E.g. gang leader may ask your opinion about something
If he accepts you suggestion, definitely you are having some impact
If no, the process whereby the suggestion is rejected may affect what happens next
Problem with complete observer
less likely to develop a full appreciation of what's being studied
also the ethical issue
Problem with participant observer
Researcher might get expelled
Participants modify their language and behaviors
What you observed becomes less reliable and valid
47.
procedural law: HOW TO REACT
Specify how the criminal justice system is allowed to deal with those who break the law
Protects citizens from arbitrary decision-making of criminal justice professionals
Maybe the most famous example— "Miranda Rights"
Form or procedure is a more important definer of law than substance
48.
Quantitative vs. qualitative methods: The logic of deduction vs. induction
Hypothesis testing is important for quantitative method
Understand the model of the research process
49.
self report studies: Demonstrate the prevalence of offending (the proportion of respondents who have committed a particular offence)
Delinquency is very common
Middle-class youth commit as much crime as working-class youth (Krohn et al., 2010)
More precisely, we should say self-repot (offending) surveys or studies
Participants in self-report surveys are asked to describe, in detail, their recent and lifetime participation in criminal activity
It depends on the study period
In addition to crime-related items, most self-report surveys contain questions about attitudes, values and behaviors
These additional questions may be the most important contribution that self report studies make because they identify the research questions that can be studied
E.g. the relationship between self-control and delinquent behaviors, the relationship between peer delinquency and your own delinquent behaviors or neighborhood characteristics and
50.
self-report study: anonymity: no names recorded; the researcher (and nobody else) cannot link specific answers to specific respondents
Without fear that anyone, researcher or police, will be able to contact them because of self-reported offenses
51.
self-report study: confidentiality: no one else (other than the researcher) will see who answered the questions
52.
social definition of crime: Crime is the behavior that is harmful to the interests of society and or humanity
Assumes consensus about harm
For instance, psychological damage may be viewed as more severe for females than for males
53.
soft science: you can always argue back and forth
General social science is a good example
54.
sources of law: Constitutions
The federal Constitution governs the country
Each state has a constitution that pertains to the citizens and business of that state
State constitutions supplement but do not supersede the federal constitution
States cannot take away freedoms granted by the federal Constitution
55.
stare decisis: In general, courts are bound by the decisions of previous courts by this doctrine of precedent
56.
statuatory law: is written law (as opposed to oral or customary law) set down by a legislature (as opposed to regulatory law promulgated by the executive branch or common law of the judiciary in a typical democracy/republic) or by a legislator (in the case of an absolute monarchy).[1]
Statutes may originate with national, state legislatures or local municipalities. Statutes of lower jurisdictions are subordinate to the law of higher.
57.
Statues: Federal and state legislative bodies have developed the common law into specific statutes
Published in penal codes, better fit the principles of predictability, reliability, efficiency and equality.
new laws issued by various gov agencies
substantative law
58.
steps of research: description
Explain what you have observed
the application of research
59.
substantive law: WHAT IS WRONG
Tells us which behaviors have been defined as criminal offenses
Set the parameters on the punishment for each type of offense
The judge doesn't have unlimited discretion in imposing sentences
60.
the application of research: In general, criminologists are bad at "marketing" their research
Nowadays, criminology has very limited influence on policy making or legislature
To some extent, funding agencies (NIH, NIJ or CDC) drive your research directions
Nowadays, you see a lot of criminological research on drug related issues, because that is where the money is
61.
the criminal justice funnel: Of 1000 serious crimes—500 crimes unreported
Of 500 reported crimes—400 unsolved
Of 100 people arrested—35 are juveniles
Of 35 juveniles—30 put on probation or dismissed
Of 65 adult cases—25 case dropped
Of 40 cases accepted for prosecution—10 jump bail or runaway
Of 30 cases go to trial—1 is acquitted
27 plead guilty and 2 found guilty
Of 29 sentenced—9 placed on probation
62.
the criminal justice process: Initial contact
Investigation
Gather enough evidence to identify a suspect and support a legal arrest
Arrest
Booking
Charges filed by the prosecutor
Grand jury
The grand jury consists of 12 to 23 persons
Evaluate evidence and determine whether it is sufficient
Preliminary hearing
Replace or supplement the grand jury
Arraignment
Formal charges are read
Informed of his constitutional rights
An initial plea (not guilty or guilty) is entered in the case
A trial date is set
Bail issues are considered
Arraignment
Formal charges are read
Informed of his constitutional rights
An initial plea (not guilty or guilty) is entered in the case
A trial date is set
Bail issues are considered
63.
the hierarchy rule: in the UCR only the most serious offense gets reported and the rest are ingnored in the UCR
64.
three different views of how and why some behaviors become illegal and are considered crimes while others remain non-criminal: conflict theory
consensus theory
interactionist view
65.
trend studies: A type of longitudinal study that examines changes within a population over time
"Population" in research design refers to the group of people about whom we want to draw conclusion
Example: a comparison of U.S. Censuses over a period of decades—showing shifts in the makeup of the national population (our study "population" is all US citizens)
66.
Triangulation: methods are combined so that the strengths of one method overcome the weakness of another method
67.
Two general conclusion we can draw from all three sources of crime data: As a general conclusion, you should know
1) Although the three different sources of crime data have their own advantages and disadvantages, the crime patterns and trends recorded by the three methods are often quite similar.
2) The problems inherent in each source are consistent over time.
Even if the data sources do not provide an exact, precise and valid count of crime at any given time, they are reliable indicators of changes and fluctuations in yearly crime rates
68.
types of observers: Complete Participant -researcher goes "undercover" and does not tell people being observed that he/she is doing research
Complete Observer -researcher views things from a distance or one-way mirror
Participant Observer - people know that they are observed
69.
UCR Uniform Crime Report: The main source of official data is the UCR
FBI receives data from more than 17, 500 state, county, local-level law enforcement agencies (voluntarily)
In 2006, the UCR represents 94 percent of the U.S. population
Slightly higher coverage in cities than in rural areas
Used by scholars, legislators and the media for research, decision making and to keep citizens informed about the level and seriousness of crime
Represents 94% of the US population
70.
Unconstitutional as applied: Although the law may be valid, it is applied in a way that restricts the exercise of constitutional rights
A law that is unconstitutional as applied requires only changes in the procedures of a criminal justice agency
71.
Unconstitutional per se: Law is unconstitutional under any and all circumstances
A law that is unconstitutional per se must be removed from the criminal code
72.
unintentional source error in UCR: Police in various communities have different understanding and definitions of crimes
Official number of crimes might change artificially
It really depends on citizens' decision on whether to report or not
Example: increased number of reported rapes in the last two decades partly reflect growing awareness by women and police
E.g. in some cases of assault, the victim dies in the hospital weeks after the case
Some jurisdictions are better than others at follow-up reporting of such cases
E.g. One study found that Los Angeles police recorded any attempted or completed sexual assault as rape, while Boston police recorded a sexual assault as a rape only if it involved completed sexual intercourse (
73.
Validity of self-report studies: Again the representativeness of the sample
The concern for "missing cases"
E.g. Even if 90% of a school population voluntarily participate in a self-reported study, researchers can never be sure whether the few who refuse to participate or are absent constitute a significant portion of the school's population of persistent high-rate offenders
Self-reporting biases
E.g. research indicates that offenders with the most extensive prior criminality are also the most likely "to be poor historians of their own crime commission rates"—the quality issue
E.g. research also found that the most serious chronic offenders are the least likely to be willing to cooperate with criminologists administering self-report surveys—the cooperation issue
The same logic applies to institutionalized youth and adults
Therefore, to some extent, self-report studies may measure only non-serious, occasional delinquents, whiling ignoring hard-core serious, chronic offenders.
74.
wedding cake of justice: Level 1
Celebrated cases
E.g. O.J. Simpson; Gilbert Arenas
Level 2
Serious felonies committed by experienced offenders
E.g. rapes, robberies and burglaries
Level 3
Less serious felony—typically first-time or young offenders
Be dealt with by plea bargain, reduction in charges and most typically probationary sentence
Level 4
Millions of misdemeanors
Handled in assembly-line fashion
Level 1
Receive full array of criminal justice procedures
-competent defense attorneys, expert witnesses, jury trials, and elaborate appeals
The media typically focus on level 1 cases
Level 2
Police, prosecutors, and judges all agree that these cases demand the full attention of the justice system
