Criminology Unit 6 Exam Questions with Verified Solutions Latest Version 2025

Criminology Unit 6 Exam Questions with Verified Solutions Latest Version 2025 Systematic Criminal Justice Process - Answers Did not begin in the U.S. until 1929 when the Wickersham Report began. Wickersham Report - Answers A study of the administration of justice. Criminal Justice System - Answers Includes the police, the courts, and corrections. It provides us with a way of dealing with criminals. General Deterrence - Answers The idea that is people see the punishments given to offenders that they will be less likey to commit crimes themselves. Specific Deterrence - Answers When a specific person is punished harshly for their crimes to hopefully prevent them from repeating the crime. EX: a judge may sentence a drug dealer to the maximum prison sentence hoping that the sentence will convince the person not to deal drugs again in the future. Incapacitation - Answers Offers a sort of societal protection by taking offenders and placing them in a controlled environment where they are not able to harm society. The most extreme form is the death penalty. Morality - Answers The understanding in society of what is right and wrong. Entry into the System - Answers 1. Someone must notice the act. 2. The act has to be defines as breaking a law. 3. The act has to be reported to law enforcement. They will review the case and redefine what happened. 4. If law enforcement feels that a crime has occurred, the act will be recorded as a crime known to police and the criminal case on the act has entered the system. Victims - Answers First "gatekeepers" of the system. This is because victims make the initial decision about whether they think a crime has occurred or not and then make the decision about whether or not to report the criminal act if they believe that is what the act was. In many cases, if the crime is not reported by the victim, it will never enter the system at all. Decisions About the Situation - Answers 1. Whether the police will investigate the crime or not. 2. Whether to make an arrest or to drop the investigation. These may be based on whether or not they have a cooperative witness to the crime who will testify or whether they think the situation should have handled in a way different than an arrest. U.S. Constitution says... - Answers For a person to be taken into custody, probable cause must exist that the person committed a crime. Probable Cause - Answers The person's potential guilt of a crime is high enough to "seize" them. EX: If a person is seen driving a stolen car, the potential for their guilt would be great enough that the police could take the person into custody. Exclusionary Rule - Answers Prohibits the use of evidence in a criminal case that has been gathered illegally. Miranda Warning - Answers Tells a person arrested about their rights. Prosecution and Pretrial - Answers - Prosecutors prepare the charges against a person and the individual may make his or her first appearance before a court in a preliminary hearing. Many people who are initially arrested may not make it to this stage. - They are taken before a magistrate, or a low-level judge, who determines if probable cause does exist. Is probable cause does exist, the judge decides whether to release the person on their own recognizance, put the person into custody of another person, release them on bail, or put them in jail. (Based on whether the person presents a possible danger to the public and the seriousness of the crime that the person is charged with.) Preliminary Hearing - Answers A preview of the trail in front of a judge for the court case to follow. The prosecution must show enough evidence to the judge to convince him or her that the criminal case should go forward. The prosecution has to show that it is reasonable to believe that the person committed the crime. The defense does not have to present any evidence in this hearing and they have the advantage of getting to hear what evidence the prosecution has. Often, the decision on what plea (guilty or not guilty) to make or to participate in plea bargain negotiations is make after hearing what evidence the prosecution has. After this hearing, the prosecutor has to decide whether to charge the individual with the crime and move forward, and also decides whether to put the case before a grand jury and what evidence to present to the grand jury. Grand Jury - Answers A panel of citizens who hear the prosecution's case in secret hearing and decide whether the individual should be formally charges. They can also issue an indictment or an accusation of guilt against the case. Plea Bargain - Answers The defendant pleads guilty to a reduced or modified plea, which eliminate the need for a trail and often gives the defendant a more lenient punishment for the crime. Sentencing - Answers - If a defendant pleads not guilty to the crime, the criminal case will move forward toward a court trial.