Deviance and the Criminal Justice System 1.Illegitimate Opportunity Structures and perceptions of crime in our society 2.The Criminal Justice System 3.The Success or Failure of our Corrections System

Illegitimate Opportunity Structures - Street Crimes IOS – opportunities for crimes woven into the texture of life Poor (especially Urban Poor) – have numerous opportunities to benefit from committing crime There is glamour in the “easy” $ and image of success The nature of the crimes committed by the Urban Poor often involves violence – Street Crimes Most who follow the criminal path do not succeed at achieving long term wealth or avoiding prosecution The public nature of street crime makes it a target of law enforcement and a political issue

Illegitimate Opportunity Structures – White Collar Crime WCC - Crimes that people of status commit in the course of their occupations Eg. Embezzlement, stock manipulation, fraud, bribing officials Corporate crime - when high ranking officials commit crimes to benefit their organization Prosecution for white collar crimes is done in a very different manner than street crime

Criminal Justice System The Police, Courts, and Correctional System make up our criminal justice system Police - Prevent crime, investigate crime, arrest offenders Courts – Trials for the accused, sentencing Correctional System – Punish and/or rehabilitate those who are convicted

Traditional and Frequent Forms of Corrections in the USA 7.1 Million Americans are under the supervision of adult corrections in the USA (2010 – Federal, State, and local) Prisons, Jails, Probation, Parole Prisons - Usually for felonies; There are various levels of security Jails – Usually for misdemeanors and those awaiting other sentences Probation – Supervised sentencing where offender is given some freedom (varying levels exist) Can be revoked and lead to harsher sentencing Parole – Early release from sentence – often supervised

Goals and Success of our Corrections System Goals? Retribution, Social Protection, Deterrence, Rehabilitation Based on Recidivism Rate and Crime Population Statistics, our prisons do not appear to be succeeding in any of these goals Prison Population has nearly quadrupled since the 1980’s 51.8 percent of released offenders return to prison within three years