Research Outline on Criminal Law

In every community, laws serve the dual purpose of protecting citizens’ rights and regulating how they behave. The Code of Hammurabi, which dates to 1750 BC, is regarded as one of the earliest collections of rules ever found. However, the development of English common law during the Middle Ages is where modern law can be traced back to.

Objectivity of Criminal Law

Intentions of criminal law include the following:

Link the ideas of duty and guilt.

Define a person’s obligation to the community

Establish the criteria needed to choose the right punishment for offenses.

The implementation of aspects of criminal law effectively helps attain certain kinds of social control that include crime deterrence, the punishment

of offenders, maintenance of social order, and protecting societal values. Even though criminal law is not the same as ethical or moral law, it often reflects the prevailing ethical and moral values of those with power within the society.

Divisions of Crime

In the United States, crimes are categorized on the basis of severity. This makes it easier for the court system to set appropriate statements. Crimes are divided as follows:

Felony Offenses- These include serious crimes such as murder and rape. They usually merit imprisonment for periods of one year or longer, and in some cases the death penalty.

Misdemeanors- These include petty crimes such as disturbing the peace and petty theft. Imprisonment is shorter, in this case, and is even substituted with fines at times.

Elements of a Crime

These elements are considered during the prosecution of a crime where the government must prove that a crime was actually committed. They prove criminal liability.

Actus reus-The actus reus of any criminal offense is the act or an omission that the accused engaged in that was against the law.

Mens rea- According to this doctrine, the prosecution must show that the mind is guilty by illustrating that the accused acted with criminal purpose, knowledge of the wrongfulness of the conduct, and evil intent.

The intention of the defendant in a criminal proceeding can be evaluated in three ways:

General Intent- It states that it is reasonable to infer that a person ordinarily intends the natural and probable consequences of his or her acts.

Specific Intent- This refers to an intention to do an act to achieve some further consequences beyond the conduct or result that constitutes the actus reus of the offense.

Transferred Intent- The defendant is still criminally liable if they commit a criminal act but accidentally harms an unintended party.

The Nature and Extent of Crime

Methods Used in Studying and Measuring Crime

Surveys

Surveys, in the context of criminology, may include self-report of crime by criminals, or they may provide information from victims. Surveys as advantageous since they are cost-effective, employ standardized language which helps avoid bias and can be used to study the present and the past or even anticipate the future.

The following tools are essential when it comes to surveys in criminology:

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

Fieldwork

This method involves working in the field and may include observational techniques, interviews, and the review and analysis of statistics gathered from surveys. By connecting with the environment in which a crime occurs, a criminologist can understand crime and its effects better. Fieldwork can focus on offenders, victims, or witnesses. It may also be employed in the determination of the consequences of crime on certain populations.

Crime Trends and Patterns

Crime trends are used by criminologists to track the rates at which crimes are committed over time. Using statistical crime data, one can evaluate increases or decreases in certain crime relative to the overall crime rate. The crime statistics also enable the determination of relationships within and among different kinds of crime. When studying crime trends, a variety of factors are considered. Such include environmental and ecological factors and socio-economic factors. The factors are studied either in isolation or in combination in order to determine whether there are any correlations.

Victimology

Victimology is the study of crime victims. It is concerned with topics such as:

The effects of crime of the victim- could include economic loss, physical and psychological effects, and difficulties with the criminal justice system.

The relationship between the offender and victim

Theories of victimization

The care that should be provided for victims

Revictimization is also an important consideration in victimology. It happens at times when criminal justice professionals seem to blame the victim for suffering the crime.

Victimization

Studies that focus on victimization analyze factors that affect the risks and probability of being a victim of crime. Factors considered, in this case, include:

The individual characteristics of victims

Social circumstances affecting victimization

The relationships between victims and criminals.

Victimization theories explain how and why individuals become the victims of crime with some even analyzing the role of the individual regarding decisions they make.

Environmental factors are always considered in victimization. A common factor that applies to most victims is that they were in situations that increased their opportunity for crime.

The Needs and Rights of Victims

In the United States, the criminal justice system caters to the needs of victims in the following ways:

Increased protective measures for witnesses

The use of victim impact assessments as part of the sentencing process.

More effective measures for the collection of restitution to a victim

State programs such as financial compensation, crisis management, and stress-reduction programs also help cater to the victims’ needs. Non-profit organizations also play a significant role in the fight for the rights of victims through programs such as victim-advocacy initiatives, self-protection programs, and community-based approaches.