Unit I. The concept of crime. Classfication of crimes

Key words:

criminal justice process crime /offence

misdemeanor felony

criminal law social harm

social control function violating the law

crime fighting juvenile delinquency

protection of public safety conflict view

state-administered sanctions punishment

social rules of conduct behaviour

values of society prohibited by the existing law

Before you read

Task 1.1. Before reading about the concept of crime think of the subject in general:

1. Why do people commit crime?

2. Is crime a social, psychological, physical, or economical phenomenon?

3. Is it a matter of free will or a reaction to uncontrollable external forces?

4. Do people become victims because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, or do crime victims control their own destiny?

5. Why is crime the main topic or theme of TV news, television series, films, newspapers stories? Does it influence people`s lifestyle and their behaviour?

6. Do younger people commit crime much more often than adults?

Task 1.2. Write down the words and expressions relating to CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS. (Note: you’ve got 5 minutes!) When you’ve finished, compare your list with other members of the class.

Task 1.3 A. Study the synonyms of the word CRIME and clear up the meanings of the following terms using a dictionary:

1) offence;

2) wrongdoing;

3) trespass;

4) felony;

5) misdemeanor;

6) lawbreaking;

7) infraction.

Task 1.3 B. Study the synonyms of the word CRIMINAL and clear up the meanings of the following terms using a dictionary:

1) offender;

2) delinquent;

3) transgressor;

4) felon;

5) perpetrator;

6) lawbreaker;

7) culprit.

Task 1.4 A. Look at the table of various stages of the formal criminal justice process in the USA, through which an offender passes beginning with arrest and concluding with reentry into society and compare with the criminal process stages in Ukraine.

Note: at each of these stages in the USA a determination is made to assign the case to the next stage of the system or to discharge the suspect without further action.

Criminal Justice Process

Initial contact stage (Police actions: patrolling, undercover work, informer, confession, victim, witness) ↓

Investigatory stage (Police actions: to gather enough evidence to identify, arrest, and bring the offender to trial) ↓

Arrest (Police actions: an arrest is considered legal when a police officer believes there is sufficient evidence, referred to as probable cause, that a crime is being or has been committed and the suspect is the person who committed it) ↓

Police custody(Police actions: may search the detained suspect for weapons or contraband, interrogate him/ her in order to gain more information, find out if the person had any accomplices, or even encourage the suspect to confess to the crime; may also enter the sus­pect's home, car, or office to look for further evidence) ↓

Charging (Court process: the prosecutor must decide whether to bring the case forward, or to take no further action) ↓

Preliminary hearing/grand jury (Court process: the grand jury considers the case in a closed hearing in which only the prosecutor presents evidence. If the evidence is sufficient, the grand jury issues a bill of indictment) ↓

Arraignment (Court process: the defendant is read the charges against him/her and is asked how he/she pleads; the accused is also advised of his/her rights) ↓

Bail/detention (Court process: the defendant may put up bail for receiving pretrial freedom to prepare his/her defense or may remain in state custody because of funds insufficiency) ↓

Plea negotiations (Court process: the defense and prosecution discuss a possible guilty plea) ↓

Adjudication (Court process: determination of guilt or innocence by a judge or jury) ↓

Sentencing (Court process: passing sentence or conviction) ↓

Appeal/postconviction remedies (Court process: after conviction the defendant may appeal) ↓

Correctional treatment (Correctional process: the convicted person serves the sentence according the seriousness of the committed crime; he/she may be asked to participate in rehabilitation programs) ↓

Release (Correctional process: return to society) ↓

Postrelease (Correctional process: adjustment to society's rules; he/she may be asked to spend some time in a community correctional center) →?

Task 1.4 B. Draw a similar chart of the stages in Ukrainian criminal process and discuss the information using these key words:

- according to this view the process can be described as;

- the criminal process is seen as;

- each of the stages described above is actually a decision point through which cases flow;

- the stage involves a series of routinized operations;

- pre-arrest investigation (stage);

- arrest (stage);

- post-arrest investigation;

- preparation for trial;

- trial or entry of plea;

- conviction stage;

- to pass the case along to a successful conclusion.

Task 1.5. The following events are connected with the criminal process. Check that you understand their meaning (note that some of the phrases may have the same meaning) and put these events in correct possible order:

1. You are charged with an offence.

2. You are sentenced to punishment for an offence.

3. You are suspected of an offence.

4. You are tried for an offence.

5. You are accused of an offence.

6. You are convicted of an offence.

7. You plead guilty or not guilty to an offence.

8. You are arrested for an offence.

9. You are released from prison.

Task 1.6. At what stages of the criminal process is the person involved called:

the defendant • the offender • the criminal • the accused •

• the accused • the suspect • the convicted • the prisoner •

Task 1.7. Read Text 1 and compare the concept of crime given in the text with the following definitions:

a) – from the Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage compiled by Bryan A. Garner; b) – from Criminal Law by Austin W. Scott (St. Paul: West Publishing):

1. Crime is any social harm that the law defines and makes punishable.

2. Crime is a legal wrong prohibited by the criminal law prosecuted by the state in a formal court proceeding in which a criminal sanction or sentence may be imposed.

Text 1. The Concept of Crime

Crime denotes behaviour essentially harmful to a majority of citizens liv­ing in society and has been controlled or prohibited by the existing criminal law. The criminal law is a set of rules, codified by government, that express the norms, goals, and values of a majority of society. Violation of these rules results in state-administered sanctions. Consequently, the criminal law has a social con­trol function – to restrain those who violate the law.

Some scholars believe that the law and therefore the concept of crime is influ­enced by people who hold social power and use it to mold the law to reflect their way of thinking. For example, various groups have tried to influence laws regu­lating the possession of handguns, the use of drugs and alcohol, and the avail­ability of abortions. These moral entrepreneurs use their economic, social, and political influence to impose their definition of right and wrong on the rest of the population. According to this view, the criminal law is a flexible instrument that may change according to the desire of powerful individuals and groups who use it to reflect their views of right and wrong.

Another vision, called the conflict view, is that the criminal law is an instrument of control used by those who hold political and economic power to frustrate the aspirations of the lower classes, to maintain their own wealth, advance their own caus­es, and control the behaviour of those who oppose their ideas and values.

Despite these differences, there is general agreement that the criminal law defines crime, that its definition is constantly changing and evolving, that social forces mold the definition of crimes, and that the criminal law has a social control function. Therefore, the term crime is defined as follows:

Crime is a violation of social rules of conduct, interpreted and expressed by a written criminal code, created by people holding social and political power. Its content may be influenced by prevailing public sentiments, historically developed moral beliefs, and the need to protect public safety. Individuals who violate these rules may be subject to sanc­tions administered by state authority, which include social stigma and loss of status, free­dom, and, on occasion, their life.

Task 1.8. Read and translate Text 2:

Text 2. Classification of Crimes

The decision of how a crime should be classified rests with the individual jurisdiction. Each country has developed its own body of criminal law and consequently determines its own penalties for different crimes.

Over the years, crimes have been grouped by severity, some common categorical terms being felonies and misdemeanors (the USA and previously the UK), indictable [in´daitəbl] offences and summary offences (the UK). Felony denotes one of the two classes of crimes at common law, felonies being serious crimes and misdemeanors being minor crimes. Historically, a felony was any offence that involved either the death penalty or a forfeiture of the felon`s property. The difference between these terms is determined solely by the possible punishments: in most American states today, a felony can be punished by death or by imprisonment for a year or more, while a misdemeanor is punished by less than one year`s imprisonment.

In the UK crimes are classified into summary offences (non-indictable) and indictable offences. The summary offences are also known as minor crimes such as motoring offences and the regulation of behaviour; they are always tried by Magistrates’ courts without a jury.

The indictable or more serious crimes which are triable in the Crown Court by jury may be divided further into several categories, including:

- crimes against the person (murder, manslaughter, assault, battery, homicide, abduction and libel);

- property crimes (theft, robbery, burglary, blackmail, forgery);

- sexual offences (buggery, bigamy, rape, indecency);

- political offences (treason, terrorism, sedition, riot);

- offences against justice (assisting an offender, perjury, contempt of court);

- motoring offences (careless driving, drunken driving, driving without a license or insurance);

- public order offences which lead to the destruction of society: (obstruction to the police, obscenity, nuisance, extortion, bribery).