Criminal Justice System - CCJ3024 Notes
Module 1: Course Orientation and Introduction
Assessing the Boundaries Between Criminal Justice and Criminology (2014) Notes:
- Background of the debate
- Criminology and criminal justice both stemmed from sociology, with some influence
from law and political science
- In the 1970s-80s debates arose over their boundaries
- A Joint Commission on Criminology and Criminal Justice Education published
reports but no firm boundaries were established
- Criminology historically viewed as more scientific and theoretical, while criminal justice
was seen as practical and vocational
- Definitions
- Criminology = scientific study of crime, criminal behavior, and etiology (causes of crime)
- Criminal justice = study of government social control through punishment; includes law,
policing, courts, corrections, and justice administration
- Doctoral program findings
- Criminology courses are more represented in criminal justice doctoral programs than
criminal justice courses are in criminology programs
- Suggests criminal is seen as more “prestigious” or central to doctoral education
- Journal publication findings
- From 2007-2011, criminology articles were more common (49%) than criminal justice
articles (40%) in top journals
- When legal-focused journals were excluded, criminology’s dominance increased (56% v.
32%)
- Indicates criminology is emphasized more in research and scholarly work
Compare and contrast criminology v criminal justice
- Criminology
- Focus - theories of crime, causes of criminal behavior, patterns of delinquency, etiology
- Origins - sociology (Chicago School influence)
- Methods - emphasizes scientific research, both quantitative and qualitative
- Prestige - considered more academic/theoretical
- Role in education - more commonly taught in criminal justice doctoral programs than the
reverse
- Publications - dominates scholarly journals (especially when excluding law-focused
outlets)
- Criminal justice
- Focus - institutions of crime control = law, policing, courts, corrections, administration of
justice
- Origins - “college cop movement” and applied criminology programs
- Methods - often practical/applied, though increasingly research based
- Prestige - historically viewed a vocational, fighting for legitimacy
- Role in education - less represented in criminology doctoral programs
, - Publications - less than criminology in top journals, but growing recognition as an
independent scientific field
- Similarities
- Both study crime-related issues
- Both use scientific research methods
- Increasingly intertwined under “CCJ” as a unified field
- Rely on each other: criminology provides theory, criminal justice applies it to
practice/policy
- Differences
- Criminology = “why crime happens”
- Criminal justice = “how society responds to crime”
Chapter 1 Lecture Notes
- The Criminal Justice System
- Three main components (also referred to as sub-systems)
- Law enforcement - police agencies
- Courts - determination of culpability/guilt
- Corrections - supervision of those found guilty of a crime
- Is the criminal justice system actually a system?
- Arguments that the system does exist -
- The three components have one goal: public safety
- Components operate in a systemic way: offenders enter one part of the
system and exit another part
- Interdependent nature of the components illustrate the systemic nature of
the system
- Criminal law connects the system’s components together - the glue that
binds
- The Juvenile Justice System
- What is it?
- A system through which cases involving juvenile offenders are processed
- Juvenile courts, juvenile detention, and juvenile correction agencies exist
and are adjoined to adult corrections agencies
- What is the relationship between the juvenile justice system and the criminal
justice system? Are there many differences?
- Youth under the age of 18 who are accused of committing a delinquent or
criminal act are typically processed through a juvenile justice system
- While similar to that of the adult criminal justice system in many ways -
processes include arrest, detainment, petitions, hearings, adjudications,
dispositions, placement, probation, and reentry - the juvenile justice
process operates according to the premise that youth are fundamentally
different from adults, both in terms of level of responsibility and
potential for rehabilitation
- The primary goals of the juvenile justice system, in addition to
maintaining public safety, are skill development, habilitation,
, rehabilitation, addressing treatment needs, and successful reintegration of
youth into the community
- The Justice Process
- The Criminal Justice Process is composed of various stages:
- Investigation, Arrest, Booking, Initial appearance, Preliminary hearing,
Grand jury indictment or information
- Arraignment, Trial, Sentencing, Appeals, Sanction, Release
- Crime Control and Due Process Models
- The justice process has been described in various ways - the two most commonly
referred to models:
- Crime control → also known as the Assembly Line Model - it
emphasizes efficiency and finality because its focus is on the protection
of the public
- Due process → also known as the Obstacle Course Model - its primary
focus is protecting the Constitutional rights of the
suspects/arrestees/defendants
- Wedding Cake Model of Justice
- Scholars have highlighted the differential processing of cases with an analogy to
the layers in the wedding cake\
- Four “layers” of cases that flow through the criminal justice system:
- Celebrated cases
- Heavy duty felonies
- Lightweight felonies
- Misdemeanors
- Criminal Justice as an Academic Discipline
- First criminology major was offered in 1937
- First school of criminology was created in 1950 at the University of California at
Berkeley
- August Vollmer → Former Chief of Police at Berkeley, California who
led the development of criminology; Vollmer stressed education and
believed that all police officers should have college educations
- Criminal justice has gone through various stages as an area of study
- Three accomplishments of criminal justice higher education:
- Professionalization of criminal justice practices
- Education of students in the area of criminal justice
- Development of new careers
- Criminal justice is interdisciplinary in nature
- Prior to the development of criminal justice departments, scholars were
from other disciplines
- The disciplines and scholars within the discipline have the potential to
change the world
- Activist criminology → criminologists engaging in social and/or
legal justice at individual, organizational, and/or policy levels;
goes beyond typical research, teaching, and service
, - Criminal justice as a Social Science
- Is criminal justice actually a science?
- Principles of science and research
- Objectivity
- Parsimony
- Ethical neutrality
- Determinism
- Skepticism
- Criminal Justice and Controversial Issues
- Issues are frequently magnified in the media
- Examples of controversial issues → death penalty, sex offenders, police
corruption, racial profiling, drug legalization, prostitution, abortion,
torture, prison overcrowding, drunk driving, etc.
- Criminal Justice v. Criminology
- Criminal justice focuses primarily on the justice process - the 3 components (law
enforcements, courts, corrections)
- Criminology focuses primarily on crime and criminals in an effort to understand
and explain behavior
- Criminal Justice as a Collection of Individuals Charged with Formally Controlling
Behavior
- Criminal justice can also be defined by the actions of individuals engaged in the
criminal justice process
- It can be viewed as a collection of individuals charged with making decisions as
part of a formal effort to control behavior
- Decisions impact how the case is processed → discretionary authority plays a
huge role, whether it’s the police officer, the prosecutor, or the judge
- Ethical decision making
- Considering multiple options
- Deciding the appropriateness of each option
- Assessing the consequences
- Chapter 1 Key Terms
- Activist criminology → refers to efforts of criminologists to influence policy within a
social justice framework
- Arraignment → the first stage of the trial process; a defendant appears before the judge to
respond to charges by pleading guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere (no contest)
- Arrest → when a suspect is taken into custody by law enforcement officers under
suspicion that they violated a law
- Booking → the process of formally recording the charges against a person into police
records; often includes a mug shot, finger-prints, and other personal information
- Crime control model → a model characterizing the criminal justice system, in which
cases are processed with a primary focus given to the need to protect the public
- Criminal justice system → a phrase used to describe the three main components of
criminal justice: the police, the courts, and corrections
- Criminology → the academic study of crimes and the circumstances surrounding them
Module 1: Course Orientation and Introduction
Assessing the Boundaries Between Criminal Justice and Criminology (2014) Notes:
- Background of the debate
- Criminology and criminal justice both stemmed from sociology, with some influence
from law and political science
- In the 1970s-80s debates arose over their boundaries
- A Joint Commission on Criminology and Criminal Justice Education published
reports but no firm boundaries were established
- Criminology historically viewed as more scientific and theoretical, while criminal justice
was seen as practical and vocational
- Definitions
- Criminology = scientific study of crime, criminal behavior, and etiology (causes of crime)
- Criminal justice = study of government social control through punishment; includes law,
policing, courts, corrections, and justice administration
- Doctoral program findings
- Criminology courses are more represented in criminal justice doctoral programs than
criminal justice courses are in criminology programs
- Suggests criminal is seen as more “prestigious” or central to doctoral education
- Journal publication findings
- From 2007-2011, criminology articles were more common (49%) than criminal justice
articles (40%) in top journals
- When legal-focused journals were excluded, criminology’s dominance increased (56% v.
32%)
- Indicates criminology is emphasized more in research and scholarly work
Compare and contrast criminology v criminal justice
- Criminology
- Focus - theories of crime, causes of criminal behavior, patterns of delinquency, etiology
- Origins - sociology (Chicago School influence)
- Methods - emphasizes scientific research, both quantitative and qualitative
- Prestige - considered more academic/theoretical
- Role in education - more commonly taught in criminal justice doctoral programs than the
reverse
- Publications - dominates scholarly journals (especially when excluding law-focused
outlets)
- Criminal justice
- Focus - institutions of crime control = law, policing, courts, corrections, administration of
justice
- Origins - “college cop movement” and applied criminology programs
- Methods - often practical/applied, though increasingly research based
- Prestige - historically viewed a vocational, fighting for legitimacy
- Role in education - less represented in criminology doctoral programs
, - Publications - less than criminology in top journals, but growing recognition as an
independent scientific field
- Similarities
- Both study crime-related issues
- Both use scientific research methods
- Increasingly intertwined under “CCJ” as a unified field
- Rely on each other: criminology provides theory, criminal justice applies it to
practice/policy
- Differences
- Criminology = “why crime happens”
- Criminal justice = “how society responds to crime”
Chapter 1 Lecture Notes
- The Criminal Justice System
- Three main components (also referred to as sub-systems)
- Law enforcement - police agencies
- Courts - determination of culpability/guilt
- Corrections - supervision of those found guilty of a crime
- Is the criminal justice system actually a system?
- Arguments that the system does exist -
- The three components have one goal: public safety
- Components operate in a systemic way: offenders enter one part of the
system and exit another part
- Interdependent nature of the components illustrate the systemic nature of
the system
- Criminal law connects the system’s components together - the glue that
binds
- The Juvenile Justice System
- What is it?
- A system through which cases involving juvenile offenders are processed
- Juvenile courts, juvenile detention, and juvenile correction agencies exist
and are adjoined to adult corrections agencies
- What is the relationship between the juvenile justice system and the criminal
justice system? Are there many differences?
- Youth under the age of 18 who are accused of committing a delinquent or
criminal act are typically processed through a juvenile justice system
- While similar to that of the adult criminal justice system in many ways -
processes include arrest, detainment, petitions, hearings, adjudications,
dispositions, placement, probation, and reentry - the juvenile justice
process operates according to the premise that youth are fundamentally
different from adults, both in terms of level of responsibility and
potential for rehabilitation
- The primary goals of the juvenile justice system, in addition to
maintaining public safety, are skill development, habilitation,
, rehabilitation, addressing treatment needs, and successful reintegration of
youth into the community
- The Justice Process
- The Criminal Justice Process is composed of various stages:
- Investigation, Arrest, Booking, Initial appearance, Preliminary hearing,
Grand jury indictment or information
- Arraignment, Trial, Sentencing, Appeals, Sanction, Release
- Crime Control and Due Process Models
- The justice process has been described in various ways - the two most commonly
referred to models:
- Crime control → also known as the Assembly Line Model - it
emphasizes efficiency and finality because its focus is on the protection
of the public
- Due process → also known as the Obstacle Course Model - its primary
focus is protecting the Constitutional rights of the
suspects/arrestees/defendants
- Wedding Cake Model of Justice
- Scholars have highlighted the differential processing of cases with an analogy to
the layers in the wedding cake\
- Four “layers” of cases that flow through the criminal justice system:
- Celebrated cases
- Heavy duty felonies
- Lightweight felonies
- Misdemeanors
- Criminal Justice as an Academic Discipline
- First criminology major was offered in 1937
- First school of criminology was created in 1950 at the University of California at
Berkeley
- August Vollmer → Former Chief of Police at Berkeley, California who
led the development of criminology; Vollmer stressed education and
believed that all police officers should have college educations
- Criminal justice has gone through various stages as an area of study
- Three accomplishments of criminal justice higher education:
- Professionalization of criminal justice practices
- Education of students in the area of criminal justice
- Development of new careers
- Criminal justice is interdisciplinary in nature
- Prior to the development of criminal justice departments, scholars were
from other disciplines
- The disciplines and scholars within the discipline have the potential to
change the world
- Activist criminology → criminologists engaging in social and/or
legal justice at individual, organizational, and/or policy levels;
goes beyond typical research, teaching, and service
, - Criminal justice as a Social Science
- Is criminal justice actually a science?
- Principles of science and research
- Objectivity
- Parsimony
- Ethical neutrality
- Determinism
- Skepticism
- Criminal Justice and Controversial Issues
- Issues are frequently magnified in the media
- Examples of controversial issues → death penalty, sex offenders, police
corruption, racial profiling, drug legalization, prostitution, abortion,
torture, prison overcrowding, drunk driving, etc.
- Criminal Justice v. Criminology
- Criminal justice focuses primarily on the justice process - the 3 components (law
enforcements, courts, corrections)
- Criminology focuses primarily on crime and criminals in an effort to understand
and explain behavior
- Criminal Justice as a Collection of Individuals Charged with Formally Controlling
Behavior
- Criminal justice can also be defined by the actions of individuals engaged in the
criminal justice process
- It can be viewed as a collection of individuals charged with making decisions as
part of a formal effort to control behavior
- Decisions impact how the case is processed → discretionary authority plays a
huge role, whether it’s the police officer, the prosecutor, or the judge
- Ethical decision making
- Considering multiple options
- Deciding the appropriateness of each option
- Assessing the consequences
- Chapter 1 Key Terms
- Activist criminology → refers to efforts of criminologists to influence policy within a
social justice framework
- Arraignment → the first stage of the trial process; a defendant appears before the judge to
respond to charges by pleading guilty, not guilty, or nolo contendere (no contest)
- Arrest → when a suspect is taken into custody by law enforcement officers under
suspicion that they violated a law
- Booking → the process of formally recording the charges against a person into police
records; often includes a mug shot, finger-prints, and other personal information
- Crime control model → a model characterizing the criminal justice system, in which
cases are processed with a primary focus given to the need to protect the public
- Criminal justice system → a phrase used to describe the three main components of
criminal justice: the police, the courts, and corrections
- Criminology → the academic study of crimes and the circumstances surrounding them
