Class Notes Chapter Four - Part B

Class Notes
Professor Henry Schissler
Chapter 4 – Part B

Criminal Justice System

Crime – violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties; a deviation from formal social norms administered by the state; deviant acts that violate norms enacted into criminal law.

The Crime Control Industry is a multi-goaled multi-billion dollar enterprise with citizens, judges, politicians, lawyers, corrections officers, and many others, as well as layers of administrative and support staff pursuing different agendas.

An Overview of Crime and Criminals

(1) A Professional Criminal (or Career Criminal) pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation, developing skills, earning status among other criminals, and often specializing in one type or category of crime.

Public Labeling is often the key factor in the development of Career Criminal status, and is generally the most crucial step in building a long-term deviant career. The Public Labeling process is as follows.

People tend to respond to the deviant label and not to the individual. This produces changes to the individual’s self-image because his public identity (how others are viewing him) is the label. The label is a generalization and stereotype because it is derived from the deviant label not the individual.

Others (the public) will respond to this public image predictably, reinforcing the deviance and self-fulfilling prophecy and igniting “predictable” behavior. The continuing deviant behavior furthers the reinforcement of the deviant self-image. This becomes the individual’s Master Status or “Priority” Status.

(2) Organized Crime is the work of a group that regulates relations between various criminal enterprises involved in various illegal activities (smuggling & sale of drugs, loan sharking, gambling, prostitution, “protection”); it is a secret, conspiratorial enterprise.

Transnational Organized Crime takes advantage of global electronic communications; crimes include drug & arms smuggling, money laundering, trafficking in illegal immigrant & stolen goods, such as automobiles.

(3) White-Collar Crime refers to illegal acts committed in the course of business activity.

Corporate Crime is any act by a corporation that is punishable by the government. Examples are acts that lead to environmental pollution, tax fraud, stock fraud & manipulation, and worker health & safety violations. Conflict Theory reminds us that when an offender holds a position of status & influence, his or her crime is treated less seriously (the person’s reputation remains intact, fines rather than prison are the norm, or short prison terms in minimum security facilities are given) than crimes typically committed by the poor. The ability of white-collar criminals to employ expensive legal teams also accounts for more lenient sanctions than those handed out to persons who cannot afford seasoned legal representation.

(4) Victimless Crimes describe the willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services. There are advocates of decriminalization for many crimes in this category (prostitution, gambling, drug abuse) because, they believe, the overburdened criminal justice system should devote resources to offenses with obvious victims (robbery, assault, etc). Also, advocates state that a society cannot legislate “moral behavior” among its citizens, and point out many inconsistencies in the law (sanctions for alcohol abuse vs. sanctions for other drugs).

Feminist sociologists and others in criminal justice point out that there are victims in these crimes. A person with a drinking problem might become abusive toward partner and children. Female prostitution and pornography reinforce images of women as “objects”


The Criminal Justice System has six groupings for criminal behavior:

(1) Violent Crime: murder, sexual assault or rape, assault & battery, robbery

(2) Property Crime: theft without use of force: burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft

(3) Public Order Crime: contrary to public values & morals; examples: littering, drunk driving, prostitution, illicit drug use

(4) White-Collar Crime

(5) Organized Crime

(6) High-Tech Crime: cyber crimes directly related to computer & Internet: examples: theft, fraud toward businesses, identity theft


Crime Statistics contain many variables that make them unreliable. Various socio-environmental factors (good economy, new gun control laws) probably contributed to decreasing crime rates in the 1990’s, as well as a consistent increase in incarceration rates. When comparing statistics for violent crime (murders, rapes, robberies), the United States reports much higher rates than Western Europe. There are many theories about the nature of American society as it relates to violence.

Over the past five years, the crimes of inmates have changed:
Violent crimes – from 54.5% of inmates to 47.3%
Property crimes – from 31.0% of inmates to 22.9%
Drug crimes – from 8.65 of inmates to 22.7%
Public Order crimes – from 5.1% of inmates to 6.9%

The median age of the prison population is 29. Persons aged 18 – 24 account for the highest percentage of new admissions, about 30%

Additional Key Concepts

Deterrence – impact of punishment on discouraging crime.

Specific Deterrence – when people commit crimes, they are caught and punished; they will abstain from committing their crimes again because they remember the consequences.

General Deterrence – we see what happens to other people who violate law (punishment); we, therefore, do not commit those acts ourselves.

California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” Law – requires 25 to life prison terms for defendants convicted of any felony who were already convicted of two “serious” or “violent” felonies. The law was upheld by the Supreme Court (5 – 4 vote) in a case where the third felony was shoplifting.

Opponents of the law state that it does not deter crime and, like the Death Penalty, is based on the need for retribution. They advocate reform where the seriousness of the “third strike” is clearly defined (“violent” felony, for example). Others support full repeal and advocate rehabilitation over retribution.

Rehabilitation – resocializing criminals to non-criminal norms and values using Behaviorist theory and practice. Other types of rehabilitation, including education and job training, psychological assessment and counseling, and various types of re-entry strategies are sometimes utilized.

Risk Factors for Deviance – certain groups and individuals are more at risk for developing deviant behavior patterns; the bio-psycho-social perspective can be used to assess risk factors.

Crime Theory

The Consensus Model, Functionalist Theory
(1) assumes society will agree on shared norms and values;
(2) assumes diverse groups, cultures, subcultures maintain similar macro-level ideals of right and wrong, good and bad, moral and immoral behavior;
(3) those who deviate pose a threat to the status quo (macro) and to the individual (micro) and should be punished;
(4) persons who receive appropriate and consistent socialization accept social controls in society and rarely deviate;
(5) laws set boundaries for acceptable behavior within the society;
(6) laws reinforce the significance of values and norms to society’s members;
(7) the “deviant layer” exists for various reasons, one of which is to identify and “contain” those who defy cultural status quo.

The Conflict Model, Conflict Theory
(1) assumes large, democratic societies are composed of “segments;”
(2) different segments have different value systems and norms;
(3) the segments are in a constant struggle for control (power);
(4) the victorious write laws and often vilify the non-victorious;
(5) stereotypes and assumptions fuel prejudice and discrimination;
(6) criminal activity is determined by those in power (example: differences between “crack” cocaine and other forms of the drug; laws for marijuana possession);
(7) interests of groups without power are not served by Crime Control Industry; their dominated status is reinforced;
(8) the victorious segment maintains control of wealth and power, is the “dominant group”, and contains the “power elite;”
(9) status and class are significant in victorious segment, and economic superiority is key motivator.