This document summarizes key points from Chapter 12 of the textbook "Social Problems, 13e" which discusses crime and justice. It covers three main learning objectives: 1) defining crime and examining crime rates and demographics, 2) how the US justice system is biased against certain groups, and 3) potential solutions to reduce crime like investing in prevention rather than incarceration. Key topics include how crime is defined, crime statistics, those most likely to be arrested, an unjust system with discriminatory laws/policing, high incarceration rates, and breaking the "cradle to prison pipeline".

1. Social Problems, 13e
D. Stanley Eitzen
Maxine Baca Zinn
Kelly Eitzen Smith
Chapter 12
Crime and Justice

2. Crime and Justice
CHAPTER 12

3. Learning Objectives
12.1 Explain the complicated nature of the
definition of crime and how crime rates vary
by sex, age, social class, and race.
12.2 Explain how the United States system of
justice is biased against certain groups in
society.
12.3 Discuss potential solutions to reduce crime in
the U.S.

4. 12.1 - Crime in Society
• What Is crime?
• Crime Rates
• Demographic Characteristics of People
Arrested for Crimes
• Categories of Crime

5. LO 12.1 - What Is Crime?
• Breaking the law
• Crime is defined by the powerful
– Definitions vary

6. LO 12.1 - Crime Rates
• Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
• National Crime Victimization Survey
(NCVS)
• Violent and property crimes
• Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter

7. LO 12.1

8. LO 12.1 - Demographic Characteristics of
People Arrested for Crime
• Sex
• Age
• Social class
• Race

9. LO 12.1
Forty-eight states allow
the shackling of female
inmates while they are
giving birth.

10. LO 12.1

11. LO 12.1 - Categories of Crime
• Traditional Street Crimes
• Crimes Against the Moral Order
• Organized Crime
• White-Collar Crime
• Corporate Crime
• Political Crime

12. LO 12.1
Movies like The Godfather contribute to stereotypes
regarding Italians and organized crime.

13. LO 12.1
Wall Street financier
Bernard Madoff
conned investors
out of approximately
$65 billion.

14. LO 12.1
Based on arrest statistics, who, among the
following, is most likely to be arrested for
committing a crime?
A. middle-aged white female
B. mid-level corporate executive
C. young Hispanic male
D. member of an organized crime
syndicate

15. LO 12.1
Based on arrest statistics, who, among the
following, is most likely to be arrested for
committing a crime?
A. middle-aged white female
B. mid-level corporate executive
C. young Hispanic male
D. member of an organized crime
syndicate

16. LO 12.1
The magnitude of corporate crimes far
surpasses the human and economic costs
from other types of crime.
A. True
B. False

17. LO 12.1
The magnitude of corporate crimes far
surpasses the human and economic costs
from other types of crime.
A. True
B. False

18. 12.2 - Unjust System of Justice
• Laws
• Police
• Judicial Process
• U.S. Correctional System

19. LO 12.2 - Laws
• Discriminatory versus non-discriminatory
laws
– To make laws, you need power

20. LO 12.2 - Police
• Law enforcement starts with the police
• Police have great discretionary power
– Distinct way of observing the world
– Promotion of a particular worldview
– Socially isolated

21. LO 12.2
Protestors march in New York City against racial profiling and
the New York Police Department's “Stop and Frisk” policy.

22. LO 12.2 - Judicial Process
• Magistrate and the Setting of Bail
• Plea Bargaining
• Adversary System
• Trial by Jury
• Judicial Sentencing

23. LO 12.2
Individuals from poor minority groups are typically not
judged by a jury of their own peers.

24. LO 12.2 - U.S. Correctional System
• 7.1 million people in 2010
– Incarcerated, probation, parole
– 1 in 33 adults
• Why are so many people imprisoned?
• Prison-industrial complex
• Recidivism rate

25. LO 12.2

26. LO 12.2 - Explorer Activity: The Justice
System: Funding the Justice System
http://www.socialexplorer.com/pearson/plink.
aspx?dest=http%3a%2f%2fwww.socialexp
lorer.com%2fSpiceMap%2f%3fv%3d0f284
7d409244e22
Please log into MySocLab with your
username and password before accessing
this link.

27. LO 12.2
The __________ of the police and courts
leads to inequality in the U.S. system of
justice.
A. discretionary power
B. communication channels
C. resource allocation
D. administrative backlog

28. LO 12.2
The __________ of the police and courts
leads to inequality in the U.S. system of
justice.
A. discretionary power
B. communication channels
C. resource allocations
D. administrative backlog

29. LO 12.2
The United States has the highest
incarceration rate in the world.
A. True
B. False

30. LO 12.2
The United States has the highest
incarceration rate in the world.
A. True
B. False

31. 12.3 - Stopping the Cradle to Prison
Pipeline
• The pipeline is linked to racial inequality,
poverty, and education.
• High school dropouts are more likely to end up
incarcerated.
• The U.S. must invest in prevention, rather than
spending a disproportionate amount on
corrections and punishment.

32. LO 12.3 - Video: ABC Primetime:
Juvenile Corrections
http://abavtooldev.pearsoncmg.com/sbx_vid
eoplayer_v2/simpleviewer.php?projectID=M
SocL_ABC2008&clipID=Juvenile-
Corrections.flv&ui=2

33. LO 12.3
The United States must invest in
__________ rather than spend billions on
the imprisonment.
A. the prison-industrial complex
B. increasing recidivism
C. the prevention of crime
D. determinant sentencing

34. LO 12.3
The United States must invest in
__________ rather than spend billions on
the imprisonment.
A. the prison-industrial complex
B. increasing recidivism
C. the prevention of crime
D. determinant sentencing

35. LO 12.3
Almost 90 percent of inmates on death row
do not have a high school diploma.
A. True
B. False

36. LO 12.3
Almost 90 percent of inmates on death row
do not have a high school diploma.
A. True
B. False

37. LO 12.3
Question for Discussion
Discuss the relationship between the war on
drugs and the incarceration rates.