law and social control Flashcards
- through what form do kids learn to obey the norms ?
- in what way id this form effective on the society ?
Through socialization ( the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society.) children learn to obey the norms.
Effective socialization and social bonding create a more stable society in which social order rests on people’s willingness to obey norms rather on the threat of punishment if they disobey.
Law, Deterrence, and Incapacitation:
-what is the goal of criminal justice ?
-why do people avoid committing crimes ? when avoided what does it mean?
-what can the criminal justice do ? then what is it said to be ?
-what do researcher believe regarding this mater?
-what do people do before initiating an action ?
Law, Deterrence, and Incapacitation
- The goal of a criminal justice is to prevent crime.
- Individuals are discouraged from committing crime because they do not want to risk the many disadvantages incurred by arrest, punishment, and other legal sanctions.
When they are discouraged deterrence is said to have occurred.
- The criminal justice system may also prevent crime by putting convicted offenders in prison, then it is said that incapacitation have occurred.
- Researchers believed that many will be deterred from committing crime by the prospect of arrest and punishment.
- People act after weighing the potential consequences of their actions and calculating whether a given act is more likely to be beneficial or costly.
types of deterrence
marginal deterrence
Marginal deterrence refers to the effect on criminal behavior of increasing criminal sanctions versus not increasing such sanctions.
types of deterrence
general deterrence
General deterrence refers to the ability of law to deter offending in the general population by sending a message that potential offenders will be apprehended and punished if they break a law.
types of deterrence :
specific deterrence
Specific deterrence refers to the ability of law to deter criminal behavior by offenders who have already been arrested and punished because they do not want to incur the risk of additional punishment.
types of deterrence:
absolute deterrence
Absolute deterrence refers to the effect of having some law or having a legal system versus the effect of no law or of no legal system.
Types of Offences
2 types
instrumental offences :
expressive offences :
Certain kinds of crime can be more deterrable than others.
Instrumental offences are ones committed for material gain and with a relatively large amount of planning
Expressive offences are committed for emotional reasons and are relatively spontaneous with little planning preceding them.
Types of Offences
- in what way does the distinction of the type of crime helps with ?
- what type of deterrence is more effective on instrumentalist offenses? ( mention the def of marginal deterrence )
-what defines the amount of deterrence a person can have ?
-what types of crimes are more detectable than others ? - do all sanction have the ability to to deter many type of offences and offenders
- The distinction of the types of crimes helps differentiate crimes that are more or less deterrable by law.
- Marginal deterrence are more effective on instrumentalist offenses.
- The level of commitment to the crime plays a role in how much the criminal behavior of the person can be deterred by the threat of legal sanctions.
- Some crimes tend to occur in public, others tend to occur in private. Public crimes are more detectable and therefore more deterrable by law.
- Not all sanctions may easily deter many types of offences and offenders.
- who are the offenders that cant be deterred from committing their crimes ?
( 2 types )
Other Considerations
- Many offenders do not count for being arrested and others think that they plan their crime so well that they will not be arrested. As a result they are relatively incapable of being deterred by the threat of legal sanctions, and thus relatively insusceptible to marginal deterrence.
- Some offenders are under the influence of drugs or alcohol which made it very difficult and perhaps impossible for them to carefully weigh the possible consequences of the actions they were about to commit. One half of offenders are incapable of being deterred by the threat of legal sanctions because of their substance use at the time of their offense and thus not susceptible to marginal deterrence.
For law to have a deterrent effect it makes sense to think:
- in what ways are laws are implemented ?
- serious crimes = ?
-what do realistic looks on marginal deterrence believe ?
For law to have a deterrent effect it makes sense to think:
Potential offenders must accurately know their chances of getting arrested and harshly punished so that they can weigh these chances against the possible rewards of their criminal behavior.
Arrest and imprisonment are not so common
- Laws are implemented in the way legislators and policy makers would have preferred.
- The arrest and punishment of serious crime are higher.
- A realistic look suggests that marginal deterrence can not really work for many potential offenders despite what rational choice and deterrence theories assume.
The Issue of Incapacitation
Law in general has a strong incapacitation effect that helps prevent crime and thus achieve its goal of social control.
Incapacitation is a complex issue conceptually and one on which several types of research have yielded a large body of evidence.
Crimes is usually committed by groups of offenders:
-if one member of the group is arrested what will happen ? in order to what ?
-is it easy to to achieve incapacitation in crimes with offenders ?
-what is the time limited that is usually seen in an ex-inmate would end up committing another crime after being released ?
-incarceration effect on the long run ?
Crimes is usually committed by groups of offenders.
- If one is arrested the remaining members of the group may recruit a new member or simply continue to commit crime even in the absence of the arrested member.
- It is difficult for several reasons to identify and incarcerate chronic offenders to achieve incapacitation which should have a large effect on the crime rate.
- Not surprisingly, many ex-inmates end up committing more , as about two-thirds of all ex-prisoners are rearrested within three years.
- Incarceration may have a short term incapacitation effect, in the long run it might well be worsening the crime problem rather than improving it.
Law, Morality, and Consensual Crime
-what is a ‘crimes without victims’?
-what is a ‘ public order crime’?
Law, Morality, and Consensual Crime
There are certain crimes that are committed by certain type of people in which there is no victims of the act done. These were called “ crimes without victims”. Such as abortion, homicide …
However some of their participants do suffer in various ways and some of their participants’ friends and family members. For other terms we can call it “public order crimes” these crimes are called consensual crimes because they need the willingness of the participant.
Special Topics in Law and Social Control
-why to favor the death penalty? (3 reasons)
-how are homicide done ?
- what are the two main reasons that play in favor for the abolition of the death penalty?
- The Death Penalty capital punishment remains the most controversial.
- There several reasons for favoring capital punishments:
1 an eye for an eye argument.
2 the death penalty is less expensive tan life imprisonment
3 the death penalty deters homicide.
- Usually homicide are done spontaneously and without measuring the consequences of the act itself. The deterring effect will be at the minimal level.
- Two main reasons plays in favor for the abolition of the death penalty:
The abolition in the civilized world due to the emergence of human rights and in many Christian countries base according to the teaching of the bible.
Arguments Against the Death Penalty
(4 arguments)
Arguments Against the Death Penalty
1 the possibility of wrongful executions
Wrongful convicted defendants can be released from prison if new evidence exonerates them
2 the legal representation in the trials of the defendants are inept.
Many of the defendants are poor they rely for their legal representation on public defenders or on counsel assigned by the State.
3 its application is racially discriminatory.
4 The death penalty use is extremely arbitrary.
