Crime

These definitions are from the books: "Criminal Justice in Action" & "Criminal Investigation Ninth Edition". And a few definitions are from dictionary.com & medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 1 Vocabulary Assignment

Assault - A threat or an attempt to do violence to another person that causes the other person to fear immediate physical harm.

Battery - The act of physically contracting another person with the intent to do harm, even if the resulting injury is insubstantial.

Civil Rights - The personal rights and protections guaranteed by the Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights.

Conflict Model - A criminal justice model in which the content of criminal law is determined by the groups that hold economic, political, and social power in a community.

Consensus Model - A criminal justice model in which the majority of citizens in a society share the same values and beliefs. Criminal acts are acts that conflict with these values and beliefs and that are deemed harmful to society.

Crime - An act that violates criminal law and is punishable by criminal sanctions.

Crime Control Model - A criminal justice model that places primary emphasis on the right of society to be protected from crime and violent criminals. Crime control values emphasize speed and efficiency in the criminal justice process; the benefits of lower crime rates outweigh any possible costs to individual rights.

Criminal Justice System - The interlocking network of law enforcement agencies, courts, and corrections institutions designed to enforce criminal laws and protect society from criminal behavior.

Deviance - Behavior that is considered to go against the norms established by society.

Discretion - The ability of individuals in the criminal justice system to make operational decisions based on personal judgment instead of formal rules or official information.

Due Process Model - A criminal justice model that places primacy on the right of the individual to be protected from the power of the government . Due Process values hold that the state must prove a person's guilt within the confines of a process designed to safeguard personal liberties as enumerated in the Bill of Rights.

Federalism: A form of government in which a written constitution provides for a division of powers between a central government and several regional governments. In the United States, the division of powers between the federal government and the fifty states is established by the Constitution.

Homeland Security: A concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States and reduce the country's vulnerability to terrorism.

Larceny: The act of taking property from another person without the use of force with the intent of keeping that property.

Organized Crime: Illegal acts carried out by illegal organizations engaged in the market for illegal goods or services, such as illicit drugs or firearms.

Public Order Crime: Behavior that has been labeled criminal because it is contrary to shared social values, customs, and norms.

Murder: The unlawful killing of one human being by another.

Robbery: The act of taking property from another person through force, threat of force, or intimidation.

Sexual Assault: Forced or coerced sexual intercourse (or other sexual act).

Terrorism: The use or threat of violence to achieve political objectives.

"Wedding Cake" Model: A wedding cake- shaped model that explains why different cases receive different treatment in the criminal justice system. The cases at the "top" of the cake receive the most attention, while those cases at the "bottom" are disposed of quickly and virtually ignored by the media.

White-Collar Crime: Nonviolent crimes committed by corporations and individuals to gain a personal or business advantage.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 1 Vocabulary Assignment

Antisocial personality disorder - A mental illness that is characterized by antisocial behavior and other specific criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association.

Biology - The science of living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, and origin.

Choice theory - A school of criminology that holds that wrongdoers act as if they weigh the possible benefits of criminal or delinquent activity against the expected costs of being apprehended. When the benefits are greater than the expected costs, the offender will make a rational choice to commit a crime or delinquent act.

Chronic offender- A delinquent or criminal who commits multiple offenses and is considered part of a small group of wrongdoers who are responsible for a majority of the antisocial activity in any given community.

Criminology - The scientific study of crime and that causes of criminal behavior.

Criminologist - A specialist in the field of crime and the causes of criminal behavior.

Labeling theory - The hypothesis that society creates crime and criminals by labeling certain behavior and certain people as deviant. The stigma that results from this social process excludes a person from the community, thereby increasing the chances that she or he will adopt the label as her or his identity and engage in a pattern of criminal behavior.

Learning theory- The hypothesis that delinquents and criminals must be taught the practical and emotional skills necessary to partake in illegal activities.

Life course theory - The study of crime based on the belief that behavioral patterns developed in childhood can predict delinquent and criminal behavior later in life.

Social conflict theories - A school of criminology that views criminal behavior as the result of class conflict. Certain behavior is labeled illegal not because it is inherently criminal, but because the ruling class has an economic or social interest in restricting such behavior in order to protect the status quo.

Social disorganization theory - The theory that deviant behavior is more likely in communities where social institutions such as the family, schools, and the criminal justice system fail to exert control over the population.

Social process theory: A school of criminology that considers criminal behavior to be the predictable result of a person's interaction with his or her environment. According to these theories, everybody has the potential for wrongdoing. Those who act on this potential are considered to do so by family or peer groups, or institutions such as the media.

Victimology: A school of criminology that studies why certain people are the victims of crimes and what is the optimal role for victims in the criminal justice system.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Assignment

Beyond a reasonable doubt - The degree of proof required to find the defendant in a criminal trial guilty of committing the crime. The defendant's guilt must be the only reasonable explanation for the criminal act before the court.

Civil law - The branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights, as opposed to criminal matters.

Dark figure of crime - A term used to describe the actual amount of crime that takes place. The "figure" is "dark," or impossible to detect, because a great number of crimes are never reported to the police.

Defendant - In a civil court, the person or institution against whom the action is brought. In a criminal court, the person or entity who has been formally accused of violating a criminal law.

Felony - A serious crime, usually punishable by death or imprisonment for a year or longer.

Liability - In a civil court, legal responsibility for one's own or another's actions.

Mala in se - A descriptive term for acts that are inherently wrong, regardless of whether they are prohibited by law.

Mala prohibita- A descriptive term for acts that are made illegal by criminal statute and are not necessarily wrong in and of themselves.

Misdemeanor - A criminal offense that is not a felony; usually punishable by a fine and/or a jail term of less than one year.

Part I offenses - Crimes reported annually by the FBI in its Uniform Crime Report. Part I offenses include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

Part II offenses - All crimes recorded by the FBI that do not fall into the category of Part I offenses. Include both misdemeanors and felonies.

Plaintiff - The person or institution that initiates a lawsuit in civil court proceedings by filing a complaint. In doing so, this party seeks a legal remedy to the matter in question.

Self-report survey - A method of gathering crime data that relies on participants to reveal and detail their own criminal or delinquent behavior.

Uniform Crime Report (U.C.R.) - An annual report compiled by the FBI to give an indication of criminal activity in the United States. The FBI collects data from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in preparing this report.

Victim survey - A method of gathering crime data that directly surveys participants to determine their experiences as victims of crime.

Voluntary manslaughter - A homicide in which the intent to kill was present in the mind of the offender, but malice was lacking. Most commonly used to describe homicides in which the offender was provoked or otherwise acted in the heat of passion.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 2 Vocabulary Assignment

Pixel - Smallest unit of a digital image, also referred to as a dot.

Megapixel - Pixels are the dots making up a digital image; one megapixel is about a million dots.

Marker (scale) - item included in a photograph to show accurate or relative size. Example: 10ft in real life = 1in on paper

Mug Shot - Photographs of those who have been taken into custody and booked.

Microphotography - Taking pictures through a microscope to help identify minute particles of evidence. Example: Hair or Fiber

Rough Sketch - First, pencil-drawn outline of the crime scene, which shows the location of objects and evidence. Basis for the finished scale drawing.

Rectangular-coordinate methods - Uses two adjacent walls of a room as fixed points from which distances are measured at right angles from each wall.

Baseline method - Establishes a straight line from one fixed point to another from which measurements are taken at right angles.

Triangulation method - Uses straight-line measurements from two fixed objects to the location of the evidence, creating a triangle. The evidence is in the angle formed by the two straight lines.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 5 Vocabulary Assignment

Coroner - The medical examiner of a county, usually elected by popular vote.

Federal Bureau of Investigation - The branch of the Department of Justice responsible for investigating violations of federal law. The bureau also collects national crime statistics and provides training and other forms of aid to local law enforcement agencies.

Patronage system - A form of corruption in which the political party in power hires and promotes police officers, receiving job-related "favors" in return.

Private security - The practice of private corporations or individuals offering services traditionally performed by police officers.

Professional model - A style of policing advocated by August Vollmer and O.W. Wilson that emphasizes centralized police organizations, increased use of technology, and a limitation of police discretion through regulations and guidelines.

Sheriff - The primary law enforcement officer in a county, usually elected to the post by a popular vote.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 6 Vocabulary Assignment

Broken windows theory- Wilson and Kelling's theory that a neighbor in disrepair signals that criminal activity is tolerated in the area. Thus, by cracking down on quality-of-life crimes, police can reclaim the neighborhood and encourage law-abiding citizens to live and work there.

Citizen oversight - The process by which citizens review complaints brought against individual police officers or police departments. The citizens often do not have the power to discipline misconduct, but can recommend the action be taken by police administrators.

Clearance rate - A comparison of the number of crimes cleared by arrest and prosecution to the number of crimes reported during any given time period.

Community policing - A policing philosophy that emphasizes community support for and cooperation with the police in preventing crime. Community policing stresses a police role that is less centralized and more proactive than reform-era policing strategies.

Deadly force - Force applied by a police officer that is likely or intended to cause death.

Delegation of authority - The principles of command on which most police departments are based; personnel take orders from and are responsible to those in positions of power directly above them.

DNA fingerprinting - The identification of a person based on a sample of her or his DNA, the genetic material found in the cells of all living things.

Field training- The segment of a police recruit's training in which he or she is removed from the classroom and placed on the beat, under the supervision of a senior officer.

Forensics - The application of science to establish facts and evidence during the investigation of crimes.

Internal affairs unit - A division within a police department that receives and investigates complaints of wrongdoing by police officers.

Police subculture - The values and perceptions that are shared by members of a police department and, to a certain extent, by all law enforcement agents. These values and perceptions are shaped by the unique and isolated existence of the police officer.

Reasonable force - The degree of force that is appropriate to protect the police officer or other citizens and is not excessive.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 8 Vocabulary Assignment

Homicide- Killing of one person by another.

Murder - The crime of killing another person deliberately and not in self-defense or with any other extenuating circumstance recognized by law.

Premeditation - Considering, planning or preparing for an act, no matter how briefly, before committing it.

Manslaughter - Unlawful killing of another person with no prior malice; can be voluntary or involuntary.

Equivocal death- Situations that are open to interpretation investigations; there may be two or more meanings; the case may be presented as either a homicide or a suicide depending upon the circumstances.

Suicide - Intentionally taking of one's life.

Algor mortis - Postmortem cooling process of the body.

Rigor mortis- Stiffening of the joints of the body after death because of partial skeletal muscle contraction.

Livor mortis - Dark blue or purple discoloration of the body where blood has drained to the lowest level after death. Also called livor mortis or simply lividity.

Cadaveric spasm - occurs in certain muscle groups and can indicate suicide. Usually occurs when the victim is holding something at the time of death and the hand closes tightly around the object due to the stress and tension of dying. Does not disappear as rigor mortis does.

Adipocere - Soapy appearance of a dead body left for weeks in hot, moist location.

Mummification - Complete dehydration of all body tissues that occurs when a cadaver is left in an extremely dry, hot area.

Autopsy - The medical examination of a dead body in order to establish the cause and circumstances of death.

Hesitation wound - Less severe cutting marks caused by an individual's attempts to build up nerve before making a fatal cutting wound; indicates suicide.

Asphyxia - death or unconsciousness resulting from insufficient oxygen to support the red blood cells reaching the body tissues and the brain.

Autoerotic asphyxia - A homicide in which the intent to kill was present in the mind of the offender, but malice was lacking. Most commonly used to describe homicides in which the offender was provoked or otherwise acted in the heat of passion.

Serial murder - Killing of three or more victims with emotional time breaks between the killings.

Lust murder - Sex-related homicide involving involving a sadistic, deviant assault, where the killer depersonalizes the victim, sexually mutilates the body and may displace body parts.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 7 Vocabulary Assignment

Affidavit - A written statement of facts, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it and made before a person having the authority to administer the oath or affirmation.

Arrest - To take into custody a person suspected of criminal activity. Police may use only reasonable levels of force in making an arrest.

Consent search - Searches by police that are made after the subject of the search has agreed to the action. In these situations, consent, if given of free will, validates a warrantless search.

Custodial interrogation - The questioning of a suspect after that person has been taken into custody. In this situation, the suspect must be read his or her Miranda rights before interrogation can begin.

Exclusionary rule- A rule under which any evidence that is obtained in violation of the accused's rights under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, as well as any evidence derived from illegally obtained evidence, will not be admissible in criminal court.

Exigent circumstances - A witness with professional training or substantial experience qualifying her or him to testify on a certain subject.

Frisk - A pat-down or minimal search by police to discover weapons; conducted for the express purpose of protecting the officer or other citizens, and not to find evidence of illegal substances for use in trial.

Fruit of the poisoned tree - Evidence that is acquired through the use of illegally obtained evidence and is therefore inadmissible in court.

Good faith exception - The legal principle, established through court decisions, that evidence obtained with the use of a technically faulty search warrant is admissible during trial if the police acted in good faith when they sought the warrant from a judge.

Inevitable discovery exception - The legal principle that illegally obtained evidence can be admitted in court if police using lawful means would have "inevitably" discovered it.

Miranda rights - The constitutional rights of accused persons taken into custody by law enforcement officials. Following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Miranda v. Arizona, on taking an accused person into custody, the arresting officer must inform the person of certain constitution rights, such as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel.

Plain view exception - The legal principle that objects in plain view of a law enforcement agent who has the right to be in a position to have that view may be seized without a warrant and introduced as evidence.

Probable cause - Reasonable grounds to believe the existence of facts warranting certain actions, such as the search or arrest of a person.

Search incident to arrest - Searches for weapons and evidence of persons who have just been arrested. The fruit of such searches is admissible if any items found are within the immediate vicinity or control of the suspect.

Stop - A brief detention of a person by law enforcement agents for questioning. The agents must have a reasonable suspicion of the person before making a stop.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 15 Vocabulary Assignment

Vehicle identification number - VIN : Primary nonduplicated, serialized number assigned by the manufacturer to each vehicle manufactured. Formally called serial number or motor vehicle identification number.

Chop shop - Auto body shop that disassembles stolen vehicles and sells the parts.

Motor vehicle - Any self-propelled device for moving persons or property or pulling implements, whether operated on land, water or air. Includes automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, motor scooters, mopeds, snowmobiles, vans, self-propelled watercraft and aircraft.

Dyer Act - Made interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle a federal crime and allowed for federal assistance in prosecuting such cases.

Vehicle cloning- A crime in which stolen vehicles assume the identity of legally owned, or "non-stolen," vehicles of a similar make and model.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 5 Vocabulary Assignment

Physical evidence - Anything real- that has substance- and helps to establish the facts of a case.

Trace Evidence - extremely small physical matter.

Associative evidence - Links a suspect with a crime.

Corpus delicti - Elements of a specific crime; evidence establishing that a specific crime has been committed.

Chain of evidence - Documentation of what has happened to evidence from the time it was discovered until it is needed in court, including every person who has had custody of the evidence and why.

Standard of comparison - Object, measure or model with which evidence is compared to determine whether both originated from the same source.

Cross-contamination - Allowing items of evidence to touch one another and, thus, exchange matter.

Class characteristic- Features that place an item into a specific category; for example, the size and shape of a tool.

Latent fingerprint - Print impressions caused by perspiration on the ridges of the fingers being transferred to a surface or occurring as residues of oil, dirt or grease.

Plastic fingerprint- Impressions left in soft substances such as putty, grease, tar, butter or soft soap.

Elimination fingerprints - Fingerprints taken of every individual whose prints are likely to be found at the crime scene but who are not suspects.

A.F.I.S - Computerized system of reviewing and mapping fingerprints.

Genetic fingerprint - DNA analysis used to positively identify a person.

C.O.D.I.S - Combined DNA Index System.

Ballistics - The study of the dynamics of projectiles, from propulsion through flight to impact; a narrower definition is the study of the functioning of firearms.

Caliber- Diameter of a weapon's bore as measured between lands, as well as the size of bullet intended to be used with a specific weapon.

Forensic anthropology- Uses standard scientific techniques developed by physical anthropologists and archaeologists to identify human skeletal remains as they relate to criminal cases; a relatively new but rapidly expanding field of forensics.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 1 Vocabulary Assignment

Criminalistics - Branch of forensic science involved with the recording, identification and interpretation of the minutiae (minute details) of physical evidence.

Criminalist - A person who searches for, collects and preserves physical evidence in the investigation of crime and suspected criminals. Also called a crime scene technician, examiner or investigator.

Forensic Science - Application of the physical sciences and their technology to examining physical evidence of crimes; includes the branch of criminalistics.

Deductive Reasoning - A logical process in which a conclusion follows from specific facts; a reconstructive process based on specific pieces of evidence to establish proof that a suspect is guilty of an offence.

Modus Operandi - A characteristic way a criminal commits a specific type of crime.

Inductive Reasoning - Making a generalization and establishing it by gathering specific facts.

Locard's Exchange Principle - A basic forensic theory that objects that come in contact with each other always transfer material, however minute, to each other.

Crime Mapping - Crime mapping focuses on the location of crimes- the hot spots where most crimes occur- rather than on the criminal.

Community Policing - A philosophy that the police must work with the community through partnerships and problem solving to address problems of crime and disorder; a belief that by working together, the police and the community can accomplish what neither can accomplish alone.

INTERPOL - International Criminal Police Organization - INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation.

Exculpatory Evidence - Physical evidence favorable to the accused, that would clear the accused of blame; for example, having a blood type different from that found at a homicide.

CRJ 141: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 4 Vocabulary Assignment

Exclusionary rule - Established that the courts cannot accept evidence obtained by unreasonable searches and seizures, regardless of its relevance to the case (Weeks v. United States).

Probable cause - Warrants a person of reasonable caution to believe that a crime has been committed.

Exigent circumstances - Emergency situations; they do not require a warrant.

Terry stop - Detaining, questioning, and possible frisking of an individual based on an officer's reasonable suspicion of that individual's involvement in criminal activity.

Pat-down/frisk - External search of an individual's clothing. Also called a patdown.

Carroll decision - Established that vehicles may be searched without a warrant if there is probable cause for the search and if the vehicle would be gone before a search warrant could be obtained.

Plain-view - Unconcealed evidence that is seen by an officer engaged in a lawful activity.

Curtilage - Portion of the residence that is not open to the public and is reserved for private owner or family use, in contrast to sidewalks and alleys, which are used by the public and which hold no reasonable expectation of privacy.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Assignment

Chronological order - In time sequence.

Content - What is said in a narrative, as opposed to form, which is how a narrative is written. The content of an effective report is factual, accurate, objective and complete.

Form - How a narrative is written, in contrast to content, which is what is said in a narrative. The form of a well-written report is concise, clear, grammatically and mechanically correct and written in Standard English.

Past tense - Use of verbs that indicate that the action has already occurred, for example, lived rather than lives.

First person- Use of I, me, we and us in speaking and writing; in contrast to the second person (you) and the third person (he or this officer).

Active voice - In which the subject performs the action of the sentence; contrasts with passive voice.

Proofread - Checking a report for mistakes in spelling, punctuation and capitalization.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 9 Vocabulary Assignment

Acquittal - A declaration following a trial that the individual accused of the crime is innocent n the eyes of the law and thus is absolved from the charges.

Appeal - The process of seeking a higher court's review of a lower court's decision for the purpose judgment or decision.

Arraignment - A court proceeding in which the suspect is formally charged with the criminal offense stated in the indictment. The suspect enters a plea (guilty, not guilty, nolo contendere) in response.

Bail - The amount or conditions set by the court to ensure that an individual accused of crime will appear for further criminal proceedings. If the accused person provides bail, whether in cash or by means of a bail bond, then she or he is released from jail.

Bench trial- A trail conducted without a jury, in which a judge makes the determination of the defendant's guilt or innocence.

Closing arguments - Arguments made by each side's attorney after the cases for the plaintiff and defendant have been presented.

Cross-examination - The questioning of an opposing witness during trial.

Discovery - Formal investigation prior to trial. During discovery, the defense uses various methods to obtain information from the prosecution to prepare for trial.

Double-jeopardy - To twice place at risk (jeopardize) a person's life or liberty. The fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits a second prosecution for the same criminal offense.

Grand Jury - The group of citizens called to decide whether probable cause exists to believe that a suspect committed the crime with which she or he has been charged.

Habeas corpus - An order that requires correctional officials to bring an inmate before a court or a judge and explain why he or she is being held in prison.

Indictment - A charge or written accusation, issued by a grand jury, that probable cause exists to believe that a named person has committed a crime.

Initial appearance - An accused's first appearance before a judge or magistrate following arrest; during the appearance, the defendant is informed of the charges, advised of the right to counsel, told the amount of bail, and given a date for the preliminary hearing.

Jury trial - A trial before a judge and a jury.

Nolo contender - Latin for "I will not contest it." A criminal defendant's plea, in which he or she chooses not to challenge, or contest, the charges brought by the government. Although the defendant may still be sentenced or fined, the plea neither admits nor denies guilt.

Plea bargaining - The process by which the accused and the prosecutor work out a mutually satisfactory conclusion to the case, subject to court approval. Usually, plea bargaining involves the defendant's pleading guilty to a lesser offense in return for a lighter sentence.

Statute of limitations - A law limiting the amount of time prosecutors have to bring criminal charges against a suspect after the crime has occurred.

Verdict - A formal decision made by the jury.

Voir dire - The preliminary questions that the trial attorneys ask prospective jurors to determine whether they are biased or have any connection with the defendant or a witness.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 16 Vocabulary Assignment

Natural fire- One set intentionally to destroy refuse, weeds or waste products in industrial processes or to provide warmth.

Accidental fire - Can be accidentally ignited by the heat of the sun's rays, lightning, faulty wiring, leaking gas, a carelessly tossed cigarette, overheated Christmas tree lights, children playing with matches and many other causes.

Criminal fire - (Arson) is ignited intentionally and maliciously to destroy property or buildings. Proof must be obtained that the fire was not natural or accidental.

Unknown origin - One in which there is no evidence to indicate whether the fire was natural, accidental or criminal. The cause is simply not known.

Fire triangle- Three elements necessary for a substance to burn: heat, fuel and air.

Accelerant - Substances that cause fires to burn faster and hotter.

Igniter - Substances or devices used to start a fire.

Alligatoring - Checking of charred wood giving the appearance of alligator skin. Large, rolling blisters indicate rapid, intense heat; small, flat blisters indicate slow, less intense heat.

Crazing - Formation of irregular cracks in glass due to rapid, intense heat; can indicate arson or the use of an accelerant.

Depth of char - How deeply wood is burned.

Line of demarcation- (Fire) boundary between charred and uncharred material.

Spalling - Breaking off of surface pieces of concrete, cement or brick because of intense heat.

Trailer - Path, consisting of paper, hay, flammable compounds or any other substance that burns, that is set down for a fire to follow; indicates arson.

Blue smoke - Results from burning alcohol.

White smoke - Results from burning vegetable compounds, hay or phosphorous.

Yellow/brownish yellow smoke - Results from film, nitric acid, sulfur, hydrochloric acid or smokeless gunpowder.

Black smoke - Results from petroleum or petroleum products.

Point of origin - Area with the deepest char, alligatoring and usually the greatest destruction. More than one point of origin indicates arson.

Burning pattern - Fires normally burn upward, not outward. They are drawn toward ventilation and follow fuel paths.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 10 Vocabulary Assignment

Aggravated circumstances - Any circumstances accompanying the commission of a crime that may justify a harsher sentence.

Capital punishment - The use of the death penalty to punish wrongdoers for certain crimes.

Determinate sentence - A period of incarceration that is fixed by sentencing authority and cannot be reduced by judges or other corrections officials.

Deterrence - The strategy of preventing crime through the threat of punishment. Assumes that potential criminals will weigh the costs of punishment versus the benefits of the criminal act; therefore, punishments should be severe.

Incapacitation - A strategy for preventing crime by detaining wrongdoers in prison, thereby separating them from the community and reducing criminal opportunities.

Indeterminate sentence - An indeterminate term of incarceration in which a judge determines the minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment. When the minimum term is reached, the prisoner becomes eligible to be paroled.

Mitigating circumstances - Any circumstances accompanying the commission of a crime that may justify a lighter sentence.

Presentence investigative report - An investigative report on an offender's background that assists a judge in determining the proper sentence.

Rehabilitation - The philosophy that society is best served when wrongdoers are provided the resources needed to eliminate criminality from their behavioral pattern rather than simply being punished.

Restitution - A sum of money paid in compensation for damages done to the victim by the offender's criminal act.

Retribution - The philosophy that those who commit criminal acts should be punished based on the severity of the crime and that no other factors need be considered.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Investigation

Chapter 11 Vocabulary Assignment

Caseload - The number of individual probationers or parolees under the supervision of a probation or parole officer.

Diversion - In the context of corrections, a strategy to divert those offenders who qualify away from prison and jail and toward community-based and intermediate sanctions.

Electronic monitoring- A technique of probation supervision in which the offender's whereabouts, though not his or her actions, are kept under surveillance by an electronic device; often used in conjunction with home confinement.

Forfeiture - The process by which the government seizes private property attached to criminal activity.

Intensive supervision - A punishment-oriented form of probation in which the offender is placed under stricter and more frequent surveillance and control than in conventional probation by probation officers with limited caseloads.

Intermediate sanctions - Sanctions that are more restrictive than probation and less restrictive than imprisonment. Intended to alleviate pressure on overcrowded corrections facilities and understaffed probation departments.

Probation - A criminal sanction in which a convict is allowed to remain in the community rather than be imprisoned as long as she or he follows certain conditions set by the court.

Technical violation - An action taken by a probationer that, although not criminal, breaks the terms of probation as designated by the court; can result in the revocation of probation and a return to prison or jail.

CRJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Chapter 12 Vocabulary Assignment

Jail - A facility, usually operated by the county government, used to hold prisoners awaiting trial or those who have been found guilty of misdemeanors.

Maximum security prison - A correctional institution designed and organized to control and discipline dangerous felons, as well as prevent escape, with intense supervision, cement walls, and electronic, barbed wire fences.

Medium security prison - A correctional institution that houses less dangerous inmates and therefore uses les restrictive measures to avoid violence and escapes.

Minimum security prison - A correctional institution designed to allow inmates, most of whom pose low security risks, a great deal of freedom of movement and contact with the outside world.

Penitentiary - An early form of correctional facility that emphasized separating inmates from society and from each other so that they would have an environment in which to reflect on their wrongdoing and ponder their reformation.

Pretrial detainee - An individual who cannot post bail after arrest or who is not released on his or her own recognizance and is therefore forced to spend the time prior to trial incarcerated in jail.

Private prison - Correctional facilities operated by private corporations instead of the government and, therefore, reliant on profits for survival.

Super maximum prison - A correctional facility reserved for those inmates who have extensive records of misconduct in maximum-security prisons; characterized by extremely strict control and supervision over the inmates, including extensive use of solitary confinement.

Warden - The prison official who is ultimately responsible for the organization and performance of a correctional facility.

CRJ 141: Criminal Investigation

Chapter 18 Vocabulary Assignment

Schedule I drug - A category of drugs not considered legitimate for medical use. Included are heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and marijuana.

Schedule II drug - A category of drugs considered to have a strong potential for abuse or addiction but that also have legitimate medical use. Included are opium, morphine, and cocaine.

Crack - Cocaine mixed with baking soda and water, heated in a pan and then dried and split into pellet-size bits or chunks, which are smoked to produce effects reportedly ten times greater than powder cocaine at a fraction of the cost.

Heroin - A commonly abused narcotic, is synthesized from morphine and is as much as 10 times more powerful in its effects. It is physically addictive and relatively expensive.

Marijuana - Is the most widely available and most commonly used illicit drug in the United States, with 14.6 million current users. The most controversial of the illicit drugs, and a wide spectrum of opinion exists regarding its harmfulness. (hemp plant)

Methamphetamine - Is now firmly entrenched as a major U.S. drug problem that is only getting bigger. A highly addictive synthetic stimulant that looks like cocaine but is made from toxic chemicals.

Club drugs - Commonly found at raves (dance parties).

Ecstasy - Derivative of amphetamine or speed, a powerful stimulant; an increasingly popular club drug.

Khat - A natural narcotic whose primary psychoactive ingredients are chemically similar to amphetamines, is a relative newcomer to the U.S. drug scene but is well known in eastern Africa and southern Middle Eastern countries, some of which consider it a legitimate and quite profitable export. (khat tree)

Excited delirium - Describes the manifestations of extreme drug abuse.

Organized crime - Any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities.

Victimless crime - Illegal activity in which the victim is a willing participant; for example, a person who bets.

Loan-sharking - Lending money at exorbitant rates.

If you take education on the associate of criminal justice degree , you take knowledge required to work effectively in a variety of, corrections, probation, government, and private security settings.

okay now what would a job title be for me once i got this degree and i wanted to work with criminal identitty theft?