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Department of Criminal Justice California State University - Bakersfield CRJU 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali The Problem of Social Control. Intro: Herculean Task: order versus preservation of human rights. The controversy
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Department of Criminal Justice California State University - Bakersfield CRJU 100 Introduction to Criminal Justice Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali The Problem of Social Control
Intro: • Herculean Task: order versus preservation of human rights. The controversy • Rousseau: “man is born free and everywhere he is in chains” • CRIME: definition. What is criminal versus non-criminal • Example in book. • Acts that are not necessarily criminal but harmful to society. Rosa Parks • Espionage • The rationality of crime; Herbert Simon on human’s rational minds • An organic/heterogeneous society and the complications that lie within the CJ system. A complex system: crime..> trial…> punishment…> ….. • Example of a pilot
The truth behind CJ. Is it a science? Can it be falsified?. C. Wright Mills “The Sociological Imagination”…..let us step away from our personal experiences and examine issues while being divorced from our social location. • As a result we attempt to look at crime and CJ policy from a more objective position. But what about extralegal factors and their influences on human behavior and judgment. • Fuller: looks at conventional versus non-conventional ways in analyzing views towards CJ. He therefore concludes that what we know about crime is often based on incomplete and inaccurate info because:
We tend to personalize • All crime is local crime • Crime stats do not tell the whole story • Prejudices • What we “label” as serious and criminal versus overlooked acts
Social Control versus Chaotic Societies? • Our institutions of social control • Socialization takes place in different degrees. Socialization in a democratic society and those who deviate to committing extreme acts
DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF CRIME: Sensational crimes. O.J. Simpson Street crimes Corporate crimes White collar crimes Organized crimes
ROLE & RESPONSE OF CJ SYSTEM • Different agencies working in conjunction. But is it really a system? Clear goals (centralized) versus non-clear (decentralized)….more discretion. • How decisions made by prosecutors/attorneys may affect the system?
LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT • Local level: e.g. L.E. • Local jails of 2 types: those awaiting trial and those sentenced to one year or less. The problem? • State level: e.g. state highway patrol unit, crime labs, criminal codes, court action, responsible for inmates in prison • Federal level: e.g. FBI, customs, DEA, ATFE • Also appellate courts handling cases from state or federal, fewer in U.S. Supreme Ct. feds have their own prison, probation and parole agencies
CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS • Scarcity of resources and effectiveness of the process • Levels of discretion • CJ system as a funnel: • Crime • Crimes known to the police • Investigation • Arrests • Charges filed by prosecutors • Grand Jury • Initial appearance, preliminary hearing and arraignment • Bail/bail bonding • Plea bargaining • Trial • Sentencing • Probation • Appeal • Prison • Parole • Capital punishment
CRIMES THAT DO NOT ENTER THE CJ system: • Cost • Discretion • Errors
Problem with the system metaphor? Goals of the CJ system • Deterrence • Incapacitation • Retribution • Rehabilitation • Restoration
1. It all begins with the family • How do we make children conform • Love discipline mirrored with the “get tough on crime” approach 2. Religion 3. Schools
HOW THE MEDIA INFLUENCES MEASURES OF SOCIAL CONTROL THE NEWS HOLLYWOOD INTERNET
SYSTEM OF LAST RESORT Why people commit crimes? The role of the CJ system in dealing with challenges: Offenders Resources Structure Individual versus societal responsibility for crime. Crime as a natural result of a progressive society