WrapUp and Review

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Wrap-Up and Review
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The Social Construction of Crime and Justice

• Crime is created through criminal law, an
  inherently social, political, and cultural
  process.
• Visions of justice are also inherently social,
  cultural, and political.
• How we define crime and seek justice has broad
  social and political consequences.
• Case study the transformation of the U.S.
  criminal justice system.

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The Wars on Crime Drugs

• Continued emphasis on retributive (rather than
  restorative) justice
• Shift from rehabilitation to
• Deterrence (through severity)
• Incapacitation
• Retribution (or revenge?)
• Re-criminalization of minor street crimes
• A wider range of behaviors have been defined as
  crimes, and enforcement activities related to
  those problems have intensified.
• But harmful behaviors of powerful institutions
  remain relatively immune from criminal sanctions.
• From the due process revolution to the crime
  control model
• More emphasis on efficiency (speed) and securing
  convictions.
• Less emphasis on the rights of accused/due
  process.

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Policy Legal Developments

• Dramatic increase in criminal justice spending
  and expansion of the criminal justice system.
• Law Enforcement
• More emphasis on minor crimesdrug and
  misdemeanor offenses.
• Courts Sentencing
• Determinant sentencing laws mandatory minimums
  in drug cases higher conviction rates power in
  the courtroom has been redistributed.
• Jails and Prisons
• Oriented toward warehousing rather than
  rehabilitation over-crowding violence etc.
• Probation and Parole
• Increasingly oriented toward surveillance and
  rule-enforcement
• Rising caseloads
• Increased recidivism

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Social Issues and Consequences

• What is the impact of mass incarceration on crime
  rates?
• What are the effects of mass incarceration?
• On individuals
• On families
• On communities
• On social inequality

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Assessing the Prospects for Change

• Increasing concern about costs overcrowding.
• Growing opposition to some drug laws.
• Growing awareness that criminal justice spending
  is affecting other areas.
• More and more efforts to explore alternatives,
  especially at local and state levels.