Slide 3- Notes quiz

NCRMP Video

• Less than 1% of people with a history of mental illness reoffend violently.
• Mental illness can lead to various outcomes, including confinement.
• Periodic assessments determine if a person poses a risk.
• This reassessment process differs from the criminal justice system because it focuses on treatment rather than punishment.
• Concerns are seen as a health issue, not a crime.
• Possible outcomes include conditional discharge or absolute discharge.

Shifts Today

• Drug use is now often viewed as a health issue rather than a criminal act.
• Law enforcement is not the best agency for handling complex mental health and drug-related problems.

Chapter 3: Demonic Area

• Historical context: Crime and sin were closely linked during the Middle Ages and beyond.
• Religious notions strongly influenced social order.
• Clergy and religious figures had a significant impact on how mundane crimes were handled.
• Suspected criminals were subjected to ritualized tests to ascertain guilt or innocence (ordeals).
• Divine intervention determined innocence or guilt.
• Ordeals were supervised by clergy who called on God to determine if the accused is guilty or not.
• Methods included water ordeals (sinking meant innocence, floating meant guilt).
• Other factors influencing the ordeal included lack of proof or evidence, and often used as intimidation.

Video: Ordeals

• Suspected criminals faced ritualized tests (ordeals) to determine guilt or innocence.
• The tests were intended to reveal whether God would help the innocent but not the guilty.
• Punishments were applied if the suspect failed the ordeal.

The Social Contract

• Hobbes posited that in the absence of a state, individuals pursue their self-interests.
• Society is formed when individuals agree to give up some freedoms for protection.
• The state protects the social body.
• Locke's view is that humans are born without innate ideas (tabula rasa) and a role of the state exists for the good of everyone.
• He argued that the state has a role in promoting liberty and the common good.
• Enlightenment-era thinking emphasized free will, rational decisions, and inherent rights.

Classical School of Criminology

• Developed by Beccaria and Bentham.
• Criticized the overly harsh and unjust legal systems of their time.
• Stressed the necessity to limit the power of the state.
• Punishment should have a purpose of deterrence and fit the crime (swift and certain).

Justice and Reason

• Rational and reasonable actions are valued.

Limitations of the Classical School

• Punishment is not always swift and certain in reality.
• Humans don't always act rationally.
• Neoclassical theory emerged to acknowledge other factors in crime.
• People are not always motivated to behave in a rational manner.
• Focus on a person's history or context rather than exclusively focused on the act.

Social Learning Theory

• Focuses on individual learning through observation and imitation.
• Individuals model their behavior on what they see.
• Little empirical support.