1. (c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
PowerPoint to Accompany Criminal Justice Ninth Edition James Inciardi Chapter 1 “Criminal Justice” in America
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Mass Media’s Impact on the Criminal Justice System Process
The Machinery of Justice
Coverage of celebrity trials has increased awareness of rules of evidence, jury selection methods, and other technical aspects of trials.
Media emphasis on high-profile cases gives the public an unbalanced view of the criminal justice system.
The textbook offers future criminal justice professionals, or responsible lay people, an opportunity to develop an accurate understanding of the workings of the American criminal justice system.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-2

3. The Emergence of “Criminal Justice”
Criminology
Scientific study of the causes of crime, rates of crime, the punishment and rehabilitation of offenders, and the prevention of crime
Criminal Law
Branch of modern jurisprudence that deals with offences committed against the safety and order of the state
Criminal Procedure
Encompasses the series of orderly steps and actions, authorized by law or the courts, used to determine whether a person accused of a crime is guilty or not guilty
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-3

4. (c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Constitutional Law D E F I N T O
The legal rules and principles that define the nature and limits of governmental power, and the duties and rights of individuals in relation to the state.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-4

5. Key Recommendations of Johnson’s Presidential Crime Commission
Society must seek to prevent crime before it happens by assuring all Americans a stake in the benefits and responsibilities of American life.
The criminal justice system should develop a far broader range of techniques with which to deal with individual offenders.
The system must work to eliminate existing injustices.
More and better people need to be recruited and retained to work in the criminal justice system.
There must be much more operational and basic research on the problems of crime and criminal administration.
The police, courts, and correctional agencies need more funding in order to be more effective.
Individual citizens, civic and business organizations, religious institutions, and all levels of government must take responsibility for planning and implementing changes.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-5

6. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
The commission reported that to reduce the fear of crime, there must be a broad and compressive attack on the “root causes” of crime.
However, the “war on crime” envisioned by the report fell short of its promise, because the “root causes” of crime have never been fully understood.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-6

7. Models of Criminal Justice
Due Process
This model stresses the possibility of error in the stages leading to trial. It therefore emphasizes the need to protect procedural rights even if this prevents the legal system from operating with maximum efficiency.
Crime Control
This model emphasizes efficiency and is based on the view that the most important function of the criminal justice process is repression of criminal conduct.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-7

8. Five Key Trends in Criminal Justice
The continuing escalation of the war on drugs.
The increasing rate of criminality among women.
The significance of crime victims in the process of justice.
The criminal justice “nonsystem.”
The impact of terrorism.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-8

9. (c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Percentage of Female Offenders in State and Federal Correctional Institutions
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2006
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-9

10. (c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Key Attitudes Historically Responsible for the Ignoring of Victim’s Rights in the Criminal Justice System
The legal tradition in many cultures has been that it is the state, not the individual, that is officially the victim of crime.
There has been the belief that most victims might “get in the way” during police investigations and judicial proceedings.
There has been the concern that victims are both partial and impatient, and hence are incapable of making an objective contribution to the process of justice.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-10

11. (c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Is Terrorism?
There is little agreement on what terrorism is exactly, but generally terrorism is:
Almost exclusively a political weapon.
Almost always grounded in ideological politics.
A technique of psychological warfare, accomplished primarily through violence directed against innocent, civilian targets.
Involved with victims who are not necessarily the primary targets.
Able to terrorize a large population of people through a relatively small amount of victims.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-11

12. Comparative Criminal JusticeD E F I N T O
Branch of social science which studies justice issues in a cross-national perspective. Such study is rooted in the comparative methods first developed by anthropologists in the late 1800’s.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-12

13. (c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Ethnocentrism D E F I N T O
The belief that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to others.
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-13

14. Critical Thinking in Criminal Justice
Examine how terms are defined
Inspect the evidence
Look for potential biases
Ask whether the conclusions have been oversimplified
Ask whether the conclusions have been over- generalized
Consider other possible interpretations
Consider who is offering the explanation
Think through the topic
(c) 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-14