Midterm Synthesis

Chapter 1- Criminal Justice Today

In this chapter I learned about some of the basics of criminal justice. I learned about what
makes a crime a crime, and the different kinds of crime. I also learned many new things about
how the criminal justice system works, and the corrections system. I had no idea how many
different agencies, people, and parts go into the justice system. For example I had no idea that
there were 2 models for the criminal justice system (crime control, and due process). In the
crime control model it is stated that controlling crime is difficult, and probably impossible. I can
see how this idea can be in some people's mind because crime evolves everyday, and crimes
are committed everyday. We may be in a decline of crime, but that doesn’t mean that it is just
going to go away one day. For the due process model the overall idea is that fairness is better
than efficiency. You don’t want to put someone away that is innocent, and the due process type
of criminal justice makes sure of that (almost always). Some of the information in this chapter is
stuff that I had learned somewhere at some point. This chapter was more of an introduction to
the book than anything. I noticed that some of the things that were written in this chapter
crossed over with some things that I have learned about in Sociology (EX: crime is an act
proclaimed by society)

Chapter 2- Cause of Crime

In this chapter the book goes more in depth on crime. Theory plays a big role in the realm of
criminology. A theory here is based off of observations, experiments, and reasoning. From
theses theories criminologists can from a hypothesis, and “test” to see if their hypothesis is true,
which in turn can validate the theory. The book clearly states that theories and facts are not the
same. (have to remember this) There is 2 main theories that this chapter goes over those are
Choice theory, and Positivism and Modern Rational theory. Cesare Beccaria is a choice theorist
and stated that criminal law should reflect 3 truths 1. All decisions, including the decision to
commit a crime are the result of a rational decision. 2. Fear of punishment can be deterrent. 3
the more swift and certain punishment is more effective in controlling crime. Cesare’s friend
Jeremy Bentham believed that punishment for a crime should do 4 things 1. Prevent crime 2.
When not being able to prevent a crime it should make a criminal commit a lesser crime 3. Give
incentive not to commit a crime 4. Prevent crime at the least possible cost to society (not really
sure what he means by this). These things were said about crime in the late 1700’s. This jumps
out to me and tells me that crime is never going to go away, and we as a society today should
try and make sure that when people do commit crimes they get punished justly. I believe in the
ideas that these 2 have stated, and if we can somehow make the punishment for crime effective
less people would commit crime, and when they did it wouldn’t be a “bad” crime like murder. (for
the record all crime is bad). Cesare Lombroso is a positivism theorist he believes that criminal
have specific characteristics (sharp teeth large jaws etc.). He also believes that criminals have
no free choice, and their criminality is determined at birth. This theory lost all credibility when
crime rates started rising in the 1970’s. Criminologists have studied hormones. They have found
that and elevated level of testosterone can lead to to increased aggression. Some criminologists
have started studying the brain and have located 3 main neurotransmitters that may be related
to aggressive behavior: 1. Serotonin, 2. Norepinephrine, 3. Dopamine. Dopamine plays a big
role in drug addiction, and low serotonin levels with high norepinephrine levels lead to more
aggressive behavior. There are some psychological theories. Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory,
Social psychological theory. The sociological theories of crime. These are theories that focus
more on the social environment around the crime. It has a few theories Social Disorganization
theory (deviant behavior is more likely in areas where institutions are not very present such as
school and family), Strain theory (Crime is a result by individuals who cannot reach
financial/personal goals legitimately), Cultural Deviance theory (subcultures reject values of the
dominant culture deviantly), and Social structure theory (Crime is a result of how individuals
interact with their environment). Drugs and crime have a really good relationship. (Makes sense
since a lot of drugs are illegal)

Chapter 3- Defining and Measuring Crime

In this chapter the book starts talking about defining and measuring crime (as you can tell from
the title of the chapter). The book states that there are 3 important distinctions in classifying
crimes. 1. Civil and criminal law 2. Felonies and misdemeanors. 3. Crimes mala in se and mala
prohibita. (1)Civil law and criminal law are almost the same thing but they are different. Civil law
is initiated privately where criminal law is started with someone breaking a law, and the govt. will
punish. This makes sense because when I hear the word civil it brings to me the idea that it’s
going to be between 2 or more parties that can be private, and it isn’t something that is going to
be where someone committed a crime and the police are coming type of deal. Where criminal
law makes me think of something along the lines of police being called and arresting a suspect.
(2)A felony a serious crime, misdemeanor a crime, but not bad enough to be a felony (felonies
little brother).(3)Mala in se is the natural law. Things that are wrong even if no law preventing it
i.e murder. I say murder because sometimes a murder might be committed in a situation where
it is the only viable option so that someone could save their/others life. (shooting an armed
suspect). Mala prohibita is crimes that violate human made laws. I.e prostitution. I had no idea
that there were 3 parts to classifying crimes, but as I learned about the parts it makes sense as
to why there are 3 parts. Some other things from this chapter were UCR (uniform crime report)
this is just a big report about crimes reported to the police that are released every year. NIBRS
created in 80’s to try and improve the UCR. There are victim surveys to try and understand what
happened from the victim's point of view. This chapter was interesting because I feel like I
learned a lot about how crimes are evaluated, and classified, and sort of how crime rate “stats”
are created.
Chapter 4- Inside Criminal Law

In this chapter the book expanded more on law. There are many different types of laws that are
talked about in this chapter that include: English common law (what we use today),
Constitutional law (federal + state laws), Statutory law (Local, state, city, case law, OSHA),
administrative law (Regulations), and case law (judge made law). All of this is in place to protect
the people who are part of the society from bad things. Precedents are “rules” that judges HAVE
TO follow. The chapter then starts to flow into more things about crime . Elements of a crime:
corpus delicti (proof that a crime was committed by someone), actus reus (act has occurred),
guilty intent, plan of crime, and lastly the crime is committed. A pretty simple thing to understand
since you can apply this to anything. For example say you wanna get a 100 on your math test.
You have the intent to study, and plan to get a 100 this then leads to you getting a 100 because
you had the intentions to do so, and planned out what to do. This chapter touches on insanity,
and basically if you’re insane you go to a psychiatric hospital and not jail (potentially not getting
the charge for the crime, or a lower charge than you would get). Everyone is also innocent until
proven guilty (in front of a jury) something like a traffic ticket would make you guilty until proven
innocent. This chapter touches on due process again (cant be treated unfairly). This chapter
really did open up my eyes to just how many different laws we have, and what they do. I knew
that states had some different laws, and they could make them, but I had no idea the other
types of laws. For example her in utah a bill passed that allowed us to be able to stop and go
through a red light if no one else is present, but not every other state has that. I knew some of
the stuff in this chapter, but I learned a lot

Chapter 5- Law Enforcement Today

The police today have 4 responsibilities 1. Enforce laws 2. Provide services 3. Prevent crime 4.
Preserve the peace. 4 things you would expect a police officer to do because they are a police
officer. In my book there is a quote from James Baldwin that says “He may be a very nice man.
But I haven’t gotten the time to figure that out. All I know is that he has a uniform and a gun and
I have to relate to him that way” This quote made me think about how I see police officers, and
this pretty much sums up how I see them. I never thought about me seeing them this way it sort
of just happens and it’s kind of interesting. To be a police officer you need to pass the basic
requirements: be a U.S citizen, no felonies, eligible drivers license in the state you want to
police, at least 21 years of age, and meet weight/eyesight requirements. You would also need to
pass drug tests, and rigorous background checks. You also need to have a high school diploma,
and for some places you need a 2 year college degree. Once you pass all these tests and such
you can begin your training.which you will do at the academy in a military style environment. (Im
guessing not full on military, they probably won't call you maggot for months on end to strip your
identity like they try to do in the military.) Women and minorities are much less common in law
enforcement because they have “added challegenes”. Basically if you’re not a white male in law
enforcement, be prepared to work hard, and earn your spot. Minorities in law enforcement face
a thing called Double Marginality. Which is a term that was coined about minority police officers
because they are viewed suspicious by both sides. I can totally see double marginality being a
thing because white police officers are going to think that a black police officer will let a black
person off with a warning because they are both black, but the black person who gets in trouble
will see the officer as a traitor to the black community. It really sucks because seeing more
minorities in law enforcement would be nice. Lastly there are a lot of different law enforcement
agencies like; DEA, FBI, ATF etc.
Chapter 6- Challenges to Effective Policing

In this chapter the book talked about some of the things that police officers face when being a
police officer. Police officers have to make split second decisions every time they go to work.
This leads into discretion. Officers are assumed trustworthy, and they are trusted to make the
right choice. As a police officer becomes more experienced on the job he is able to make better
decisions based on experience. (Sounds like every job, have more experience, make better
decisions.) The police officers are also held accountable for their actions in the field. This is one
of the many challenges that come with being a police officer. The chapter then shifts quickly in
police organizations and I don't know why because I feel like it should talk more about the
challenges they face. The size of the jurisdiction dictates the organization of the police
department in that area. All PD’s have a clear ranking system, an strict accountability. This
helps lessen the corruption in a PD. Corruption is a terrible thing, especially in the PD because if
you can trust the police to protect you who can you trust? The book says that the police on
patrol are the backbone of the PD and this makes a lot of sense because the ones on patrol are
the ones giving out tickets, making arrests, going on calls. They do so much for the PD it’s
actually kind of insane. Next up on the list is police investigations. There are 3 types of cases:
Unsolved, solvable, and already solved cases. The names speak for themselves. An
investigation is different thatna patrol because it is something that is looking for questione where
a patrol is more about defusing a situation. Now there is a little shift from investigations by
detectives, and move into forensic investigations. Forensics are a beautiful thing because they
can identify many different things all by the name of SCIENCE! Forensics can determine: the
cause of death, time of death, injury inflicted, type of weapon(s) used, identify victim, and
occasionally the identity of the offender whether that be from a fingerprint left, hair samples, any
type of DNA. Forensics can aid in catching criminals that leave any type of evidence behind,
and it is so great.