Introduction to criminology criminal justice lecture notes exam notes lecture notes lectures

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Introduction To Criminology & Criminal Justice - Lecture notes
- Exam Notes - Lecture notes, lectures 1 - 13

Introduction To Criminology & Criminal Justice (Griffith University)




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Introduction to Crime and
Criminal Justice
Module 1: Introduction

Criminology

 Scientific, multidisciplinary field
- Sociology, psych, geography, law, political science
 Study of;
- Characteristics of criminal law
- Extent of crime
- Effects of crime on victim and community
- Crime prevention
- Attributes of offenders
- Characteristics of CCJ
 Define crime as acts/omissions that cause public harm, forbidden by law or punishable by
law
 Crime is a social construction: varies across time and place

Sources of Crime Knowledge

 Formal
- Official stats, research studies, administrative data
 Informal
- Personal experience, experience of relatives and friends, media
 Inconsistencies between official research and media portrayal

Criminal Justice System

 Function: bring offenders before court for adjudication and sentencing
 Aims of Sentencing:
- Retribution: pay back
- Restitution: compensation
- Deterrence: specific vs general deterrence
- Incapacitation: restrict offenders access to victims
- Rehabilitation: therapeutic programs
 Components:
- Policing
- Courts
- Corrections
 Legitimisation
- CJS control behaviour defined as unlawful and has a power of citizens
- Power is legitimised as the vast majority of citizens approve the power and restrictions in
freedom in return of social stability and regulation
- Maintain balance of civil liberties and social control




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- Formal mechanism of social control only in cases where informal agencies have
inadequately socialised people

Module 2: Perception, Facts and Fallacies

Crime News

 Volume of crime news varies over time and place and is influenced on how crime is defined
- If crime defined narrowly, less crime news
- If crime defined broadly, more crime news
 Media is the primary source of indirect knowledge
- The way crime is reported influences the perception of crime
- Selectivity of media
 Crime news is for profit
- Government media: SBS, ABC
- Community media: channel 31 (funded by government and content by unpaid
volunteers)
- Commercial media: Murdoch (newspapers), Fairfax (newspapers and radio), Kerry Stokes
(channel 7), Packer (Channel 9 and 10) and Gordons (regional TV stations)

Selectivity

 Newsworthiness
 Focus on certain types of crime and portray as a greater threat
 Agenda Setting: presenting crime to increase urgency in policy makers
 Moral Panic: condition, person or group of people emerge as defined threat to societal
values and interest

Newsworthiness

 Prominence: more prominent individuals/organisations, more news worthy (famous
people/organisations)
 Timeliness: recent crimes reported more and present crimes as an isolated event
 Impact: stories with greater impact on audience and greater range of people
 Proximity: geographically and/or emotionally close to the audience
 Novelty: bizarre and unusual events, portrayed as more common
 Conflict: conflict between 2+ parties
 Contemporaneousness: fits in with current events or public interest and links unrelated
stories
 Human interest: highlight positive aspect of human behaviour

Media Influence

 Effects model: people directly influenced by media
- Passive/uncritical consumers
- Unquestionably believe
 Functionalist model: active participants of media consumption
- Consume media for gratification
 Institutionalist model: subjective interpretation mediated by experience and perception




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