CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS RATIONALISM/LEGALISM

key features

1) criminals are rational;

2) it is a “forced reaction (to crime) theory”: society has to react to crimes;

3) assumes the social contract;

4) incorporates the Utilitarian model: we punish to control for harms to society;

5) assumes unbiased justice;

6) is very black and white/basic: does not explain things/gives a “man at the bar” explanations

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A SYSTEM

key features

1) Uses the CJ system flowchart, which is basic, requiring discretion at every stage;

2) can be very complex, needing operalization;

3) can be “open” or “closed”;

4) is self-regulated;

5) requires discretion;

6) Has “inputs” and “outputs”;

7) had an equilibrium;

8) consists of inner-relationships

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A SYSTEM

policies

• Problem Oriented Policing

• (emphasizing the ABF studies and the President’s Crime Commission 1967b systems approach);

• Two Strikes Legislation for Sex Offenders (Jenkins, 1998)

• Intensive Supervision Probation and Parole (Jenkins, 1998)

• Specialized Courts (Community, Mental Health, Drug)

Mandatory DNA Testing (Junkin, 2004)

CRIME CONTROL AND DUE PROCESS

AKA

the “Packer Model”

key concepts

1) realism vs idealism;

2) presumption of guilt vs innocence;

3) over time the pendulum swings from one side to the other;

4) Divergence between individual rights vs. public safety/repressing crime

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS RATIONALISM/LEGALISM

Policy examples

• Mandatory Sentensing: mandatory minimums & 3-strikes (Banks, 2013)
• Imprisonment

CRIME CONTROL AND DUE PROCESS

AKA

the “Packer Model”

Policies

1) CA legislation requiring informant testimony to be corroborated before it can be heard by a jury.

2) The use of actuarial tests that claim to predict dangerousness in parole decision-making

(Harcourt, 2007)

3) Civil commitment of sexually violent predators

(Jenkins, 1998)

4) The US Patriot Act

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS POLITICS

key features

 1) dichotomous: right vs left perspectives = at the right: it’s the individuals fault vs at the left: it’s the environments fault;

2) Ideology drives CJ practice;

3) Conflict creates stability;

4) Campaigns are symbolic;

5) CJ is used by politicians as a tool

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS POLITICS

policies

Junkin, 2004

• 3-strikes
• Mass incarceration
• War on drugs

CRIMINAL JUSTICE FROM THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE

key features

1) “crime”, as a word, is a social construction;

2) pits the US vs. marjinalized groups;

3) it is subjective, overstates crime;

4) myths, media, fear, culture

CRIMINAL JUSTICE FROM THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE

policies

Racial profiling

(Alexander, 2010)

(Harcourt, 2007)

Sex offender registration

(Garland, 2001)

(Jenkins, 2004)

Capital punishment

(Junkin, 2004)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A GROWTH COMPLEX

key features

1) our most basic instinct is to survive; \

2) money drives

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS A GROWTH COMPLEX

policies

1) Proliferation of Alternative Sanctions such as GPS tracking and Electronic Home Detention.

2) The increase in student enrollment in criminal justice undergraduate and graduate programs.

3) Policies and legislation requiring prisoners to copay for medical and other services.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS LATE MODERNITY THEORY

key features

1) Actuarial Justice: Risk, Safety, and Control;

2) Neo-liberal and Neo-conservative Politics;

3) Contradiction and Incoherence in CJ Policy;

4) The decline of state sovereignty;

5) The socially exclusive society

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AS LATE MODERNITY THEORY

policies

1) The expansion of the use of prisons and the notion that prisons are an indispensable part of social life.

2) Restorative Justice Initiatives

3) The Use of actuarial tools to predict dangerousness/assess risk: using stats & analysis to measure crime

(Harcourt, 2007)

4) Prisoner Reentry Initiatives

Criminal Justice as Oppression

Key points

• CJ provides a mean to control those who are deemed to be a "threat/danger" based on class, race or gender
• Conflict model: the intellectual foundation of the oppression lens - can be

1) "Pluralist": different groups struggle for power - which stems conflict; groups that attain the most power guide the legal apparatus's behavior

2) "Radical": the privilaged "elite" group and marginalized group are both created by a free-market and capitalist economic market

• Describes discrimination and bias

Criminal Justice as Oppression

policies

• TV shows like COPS
• Mass incarceration of black men disguised as a War on drugs (Alexander, 2010)
• Banishment laws - homeless and poor can be banished from public areas (Beckett & Herbert, 2009)