quiz 1 Flashcards
The three major components of the criminal justice system
policing / law enforcement
Courts
Corrections
Crime
an act that is against law and causes punishment
suspect
a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offense
defendent
individual or company or institution sued or accused in a court of law
Components of a criminal act
1.actus reus: evil act(society must decide which acts are wrong
2. Mens rea: evil thought
3. Intent: intent to commit evil harm
4. concurrence : mens + actus
5. Strict liability: certain cases where an individual lacked the mens rea to commit a crime
Ex someone struck someone while driving drunk)
Criminal acts
Assaults: the threat of physical harm
Battery: involves the actual physical harm of another
Burglary: also involves the taking of property but no force or threat is used
Robbery: taking personal property of another by use of force, fear or threat
Issues with media and the criminal justice system
1.large media holders have global reach (very big from west)
2. concentrated and organized around networks of production and distribution: want to get message out there
3. media dominating all aspects of media (tell, film and music)
4. media corporations are intertwined with global networks finance (tech research)
what does the term criminal justice refer to :
system of institutions, policies and practices with the goal of maintaining social control and deterring crime through sanctions and rehabilitation
courts
overseen by judge in civil and criminal cases
policing
protectors of the general public: able to enforce force
major myth makers
Mass media:
Government > all thrive on making money, being in control of what information we consume
Social elite:
Crime myth development:
- Media expands, highlights and brings much coverage to isolated events
- Investigating reporting not always used (time consuming and costly)
- The crime myth making has to have a strong impact on the consumer
The value of myth making:
money, power/ us has a fascination with crime
They are for profit organizations
The truth regarding violent crimes and murder
Men more likely to be a victim because more violent
- 22% of violent crimes committed by intimates/family memebr
- 34% committed by acquanintances
- 36% violent crime committed by strangers
Crime of murder comes to 10% commmitted by stranger
Hierarchy rule
data presented in crime in the us (UCR) reflect this rule, requires that only serious offense in a multiple offense criminal incident be counted
- arson only exception to hierarchy rule
ex. kill someone, rob their car, commit arson
(only reported killing and arson)
ex2. rob kid, kill them, steal clothes (only reporting killing kid)
some issues with measuring crime
- Only as good as info provided by agency
- Possibilities exist to under report or over rate the seriousness of offenses
dark figure of crime
- Crimes that fail to come to the attention of police because were unreported, no one learned that the crime was committed
- Who or what tries to measure dark figure
- Victim survey (National crime survey) NCS
problem : very costly
mythmaking
uncover crime and transmit info (can be good) but then structure reality by selecting and characterizing events thereby cultivating images of crime thus, causing a distortion of reality
FBI internet crime complaint center
fib uses data gathered via the internet crime complaint center
IC3 uses an online internet crime compliant form
a victim of a cybercrime or a third party may file a compliant
Crime multiplier:
the saturated media presentation belief that there is more crime than there actually is. This disproportionate and repetitive coverage leads to enhanced fear of crime among the public.
wobbler
a crime that can be charged and punished as either a felony or misdemeanor in california. In most cases the prosecutor will decide what it classifies under.