CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

CHAPTER 1

CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Learning Objectives

LO1 Define the concept of criminal justice.LO2 Summarize the long history of crime in America.LO3 Discuss the formation of the criminal justice system.LO4 Name the three basic component agencies of criminal justice.LO5 Describe the size and scope of the contemporary justice system.LO6 Describe the formal criminal justice process.LO7 Articulate what is meant by the term criminal justice assembly line.LO8 Discuss the “wedding cake” model of justice.LO9 Explain the various perspectives on criminal justice.LO10 Discuss the ethical issues that arise in criminal justice.

Lesson Plan The public relies on the agencies of the criminal justice system for protection The criminal justice system is a loosely organized collection of agencies The system employs over 2 million people and costs over $200 billion per year The responsibilities of the criminal justice system are to protect the public, maintain order, enforce the laws, identify criminals, bring them to justice, and treat criminal behavior

• Is crime a recent development?

Learning Objective 1: Define the concept of criminal justice

Learning Objective 2: Summarize the long history of crime in America

• Overview
• The image of the past as relatively crime-free is a misconception
• Crime has occurred since the U.S. was first formed

Example: Guerilla activity

Example: American revolutionaries

• Crime in the Old West
• After the Civil War, many soldiers traveled west and some resorted to

crime in their pursuit of wealth

Example: Billy the Kid

Example: Jesse James

• Crime in the cities
• Gang activity flourished
• The Civil War produced widespread business crime
• A sustained increase in crime occurred from 1900 to 1935
• Shows how crime is not a recent phenomenon and has been evolving with

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Example: Bowery Boys

Example: Ma Barker and her sons

Example: Bonnie and Clyde

II. Creating Criminal Justice

Learning Objective 3: Discuss the formation of the criminal justice system.

• Overview
• England created the first police agency in 1829 and the U.S. followed

during the mid-19 th century.

• To keep the peace and identify and apprehend criminal suspects.
• The penitentiary also appeared in the nineteenth century.
• Newly developed agencies rarely worked together in a systematic fashion.
• In 1919, with the Chicago Crime Commission, the work of the criminal

justice system began to be recognized. An era of treatment and rehabilitation began with a report by the Wickersham Commission in 1931.

• Found existing system of justice to be flawed by too many rules and

regulations.

• The modern era of criminal justice can be traced to a series of research

projects.

• 1950s reports by the American Bar Foundation (ABF) revealed that many

justice system procedures were being kept hidden from public view.

• Revealed that the justice professionals had a great deal of discretion
• The term “criminal justice system” began to be used showing the

agencies could be connected

• Federal Involvement

Example: President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of

Justice.

Example: Safe Streets and Crime Control Act of 1968.

Example: National Institute of Justice.

Example: Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.

C. Evidence Based Justice: A Scientific Evolution

• Embracing of research to support public policy initiatives.
• Funding from federal agencies like NIJ, OJJDP, BJS.
• Funding from private foundations like Pew Institute.
• Relying on scientific collection of data to determine what works.
• Programs are now reviewed to ensure they are achieving their stated goals.
• Unifying Principles.
• Target Audience.
• Randomized Experiments.
• Intervening Factors.
• Measuring Success.
• Cost Effectiveness.

III. The Contemporary Criminal Justice System Learning Objective 4: Name the three basic component agencies of criminal justice.Learning Objective 5: Describe the size and scope of the contemporary justice system.

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• Overview
• Society’s instrument of social control.
• Maintains the power to prevent or reduce outlawed behavior.
• Other types of informal social control include parental and school

monitoring.

• The criminal justice system is divided into police, courts, and corrections.
• Criminal justice agencies are political entities whose structure and function

are lodged within the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the government.

• The legislature defines the law by determining what conduct is prohibited

and establishes criminal penalties for those who violate the law.

• The judiciary interprets the existing law and determines whether it meets

constitutional requirements.

• The executive branch is responsible for the day-to-day operation of

government.

• Scope of the System
• The criminal justice system in the United States is huge.
• The criminal justice systems costs approximately $260 billion per

year and employs over 2 million people.

• 18,000 law enforcement agencies.
• 765,000 sworn personnel who have general arrest powers.
• 17,000 courts.
• 1,200 correctional institutions.
• 3,500 probation and parole departments.
• The crime rates have declined substantially in the past several years but still more

than 11 million people are arrested each year.

Media Tool

Have students go to https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr and look

through the reports provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigations concerning crime in the United States.

Discussion: After students look through some of the reports, have them

each discuss one thing that they learned from this website.

What If Scenario You are the mayor and your city is suffering from severe economic hardship due to a decrease in the amount of property taxes received from your residents. You must cut the budget of one of your agencies of

criminal justice. Which budget would you cut first: police, courts, or

corrections? Why?

See Assignments 1 & 2

IV. The Formal Criminal Justice Process

Learning Objective 6: Describe the formal criminal justice process.

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Learning Objective 7: Articulate what is meant by the term criminal justice assembly line.

• Overview
• Criminal justice can be viewed as a process, starting at arrest and concluding

with societal reentry.

• Many key decision makers.
• Both legal and extralegal factors may influence the decision to keep offender

in the system or to discharge.

• Many critics believe that it is the extralegal factors that determine the

direction of a case.

Class Discussion/Activity Is the criminal justice system fair? Support your opinion with one factual case. Consider alternative perspectives as well, and encourage everyone to speak freely.

• In reality, very few cases are formally processed; most are handled

informally.

B. Formal Procedures:

• Initial contact.
• Investigation.
• Arrest.
• Custody.
• Charging.
• Preliminary hearing/grand jury.
• Arraignment.
• Bail/detention.
• Plea bargaining.
• Trial/adjudication.
• Sentencing/disposition.
• Appeal/post-conviction remedies.
• Correctional treatment.
• Release.
• Post release.

See Assignment 3 11

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