CJCENTRAL: Criminal Justice Brief, 5E: Glossary

parens patriae
A Latin term that refers to the legal basis upon which delinquent children may be removed from the home and supervised by the state. It means, in effect, that the state assumes responsibility for the welfare of problem children.

Parliament
The British legislature; the highest lawmaking body of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

parole
The status of an offender conditionally released from a prison by discretion of a paroling authority prior to expiration of sentence, required to observe conditions of parole, and placed under the supervision of a parole agency.

parole board
A state paroling authority. Most states have parole boards (also called "commissions") that decide when an incarcerated offender is ready for conditional release and that may also function as revocation hearing panels.

parolee
A person who has been conditionally released by a paroling authority from a prison prior to the expiration of his or her sentence, and placed under the supervision of a parole agency, and who is required to observe conditions of parole.

parole revocation
The administrative action of a paroling authority removing a person from parole status in response to a violation of lawfully required conditions of parole including the prohibition against commission of a new offense, and usually resulting in a return to prison.

parole supervision
Guidance, treatment, or regulation of the behavior of a convicted adult who is obliged to fulfill conditions of parole or conditional release. Parole supervision is authorized and required by statute, performed by a parole agency, and occurs after a period of prison confinement.

parole supervisory caseload
The total number of clients registered with a parole agency or officer on a given date, or during a specified time period.

parole violation
An act or a failure to act by a parolee that does not conform to the conditions of parole.

paroling authority
A board or commission which has the authority to release on parole adults committed to prison, to revoke parole or other conditional release, and to discharge from parole or other conditional release status.

Part I offenses
In Uniform Crime Reports terminology, the group of offenses, also called "major offenses," for which UCR publishes counts of reported instances, and which consist of those that meet the following five-part criterion: (1) are most likely to be reported to police, (2) police investigation can easily establish whether a crime has occurred, (3) occur in all geographical areas, (4) occur with sufficient frequency to provide an adequate basis for comparison, (5) are serious crimes by nature and/or volume.

Part II offenses
In Uniform Crime Reports terminology, a set of offense categories used in UCR data concerning arrests.

peacemaking criminology
A perspective which holds that crime control agencies and the citizens they serve should work together to alleviate social problems and human suffering and thus reduce crime.

penal code
The written, organized, and compiled form of the criminal laws of a jurisdiction.

penal law
See criminal law.

penitentiary
A prison. Also see Pennsylvania style.

Pennsylvania style
A form of imprisonment developed by the Pennsylvania Quakers around 1790 as an alternative to corporal punishments. The style made use of solitary confinement and resulted in the nation's first penitentiaries.

peremptory challenge
The right to challenge a juror without assigning a reason for the challenge. In most jurisdictions each party to an action, both civil and criminal, has a specified number of such challenges and after using all his peremptory challenges he is required to furnish a reason for subsequent challenges.

perjury
The intentional making of a false statement as part of testimony by a sworn witness in a judicial proceeding on a matter material to the inquiry.

perpetrator
The chief actor in the commission of a crime, that is, the person who directly commits the criminal act.

petition
A written request made to a court asking for the exercise of its judicial powers or asking for permission to perform some act where the authorization of a court is required.

petit jury
See trial jury.

phenomenological criminology
A perspective on crime causation that holds that the significance of criminal behavior is ultimately knowable only to those who participate in it. Central to this school of thought is the belief that social actors endow their behavior with meaning and purpose. Hence, a crime might mean one thing to the person who commits it, quite another to the victim, and something far different still to professional participants in the justice system.

physical addiction (or physical dependence)
Dependence upon drugs marked by a growing tolerance of a drug's effects so that increased amounts of a drug are needed to obtain a desired effect, and by the onset of withdrawal symptoms over periods of prolonged abstinence. Also, a craving for a specific drug which results from long-term substance abuse. Dependence upon drugs is marked by a growing tolerance of a drug's effects so that increased amounts of a drug are needed to obtain a desired effect and by the onset of withdrawal symptoms over periods of prolonged abstinence.

piracy
See software piracy.

plaintiff
A person who initiates a court action.

plain view
A legal term describing the ready visibility of objects that might be sized as evidence during a search by police in the absence of a search warrant specifying the seizure of those objects. In order for evidence in plain view to be lawfully seized, officers must have a legal right to be in the viewing area, and must have cause to believe that the evidence is somehow associated with criminal activity.

plea
In criminal proceedings, a defendant's formal answer in court to the charge contained in a complaint, information, or indictment, that he or she is guilty or not guilty of the offense charged, or does not contest the charge.

plea bargaining
The negotiated agreement between defendant, prosecutor, and the court as to what an appropriate plea and associated sentence should be in a given case. Plea bargaining circumvents the trial process and dramatically reduces the time required for the resolution of a criminal case.

police community relations (PCR)
An area of emerging police activity that stresses the need for the community and the police to work together effectively and emphasizes the notion that the police derive their legitimacy from the community they serve. PCR began to be of concern to many police agencies in the 1960s and 1970s.

police culture (also subculture)
A particular set of values, beliefs, and acceptable forms of behavior characteristic of American police, and with which the police profession strives to imbue new recruits. Socialization into the police subculture commences with recruit training, and is ongoing thereafter.

police ethics
The special responsibility for adherence to moral duty and obligation inherent in police work.

police management
The administrative activities of controlling, directing, and coordinating police personnel, resources, and activities in the service of crime prevention, the apprehension of criminals, and the recovery of stolen property, and the performance of a variety of regulatory and helping services.

police professionalism
The increasing formalization of police work, and the rise in public acceptance of the police which accompanies it. Any profession is characterized by a specialized body of knowledge and a set of internal guidelines which hold members of the profession accountable for their actions. A well-focused code of ethics, equitable recruitment and selection practices, and informed promotional strategies among many agencies contribute to the growing level of professionalism among American police agencies today.

police working personality
All aspects of the traditional values and patterns of behavior evidenced by police officers who have been effectively socialized into the police subculture. Characteristics of the police personality often extend to the personal lives of law enforcement personnel.

postconviction remedy
The procedure or set of procedures by which a person who has been convicted of a crime can challenge in court the lawfulness of a judgment of conviction or penalty or of a correctional agency action, and thus obtain relief in situations where this cannot be done by a direct appeal.

postmodern criminology
A brand of criminology which developed following World War II, and which builds upon the tenants inherent in postmodern social thought.

precedent
A legal principle that operates to ensure that previous judicial decisions are authoritatively considered and incorporated into future cases.

preliminary hearing
The proceeding before a judicial officer in which three matters must be decided–whether a crime was committed, whether the crime occurred within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, and whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the defendant committed the crime.

presentence investigation
The examination of a convicted offender's background prior to sentencing. Presentence examinations are generally conducted by probation/parole officers and submitted to sentencing authorities.

presentment
Historically, written notice of an offense taken by a grand jury from their own knowledge or observation; in current usage, any of several presentations of alleged facts and charges to a court or a grand jury by a prosecutor.

presumptive sentencing
A model of criminal punishment that meets the following conditions: (1) the appropriate sentence for an offender in a specific case is presumed to fall within a range of sentences authorized by sentencing guidelines that are adopted by a legislatively created sentencing body, usually a sentencing commission; (2) sentencing judges are expected to sentence within the range or provide written justification for departure; (3) the guidelines provide for some review, usually appellate, of the departure.

pretrial detention
Any period of confinement occurring between arrest or other holding to answer a charge and the conclusion of prosecution.

pretrial discovery
In criminal proceedings, disclosure by the prosecution or the defense prior to trial of evidence or other information which is intended to be used in the trial.

pretrial release
The release of an accused person from custody, for all or part of the time before or during prosecution, upon his or her promise to appear in court when required.

prison
A state or federal confinement facility having custodial authority over adults sentenced to confinement.

prison argot
The slang characteristic of prison subcultures and prison life.

prison capacity
The size of the correctional population an institution can effectively hold.

prison commitment
A sentence of commitment to the jurisdiction of a state or federal confinement facility system for adults, of which the custodial authority extends to persons sentenced to more than a year of confinement, for a term expressed in years or for life, or to await execution of a death sentence.

prisoner
A person in physical custody in a confinement facility, or in the personal physical custody of a criminal justice official while being transported to or between confinement facilities. A person in physical custody in a state or federal confinement facility.

prisonization
The process whereby newly institutionalized individuals come to accept prison lifestyles and criminal values. While many inmates begin their prison experience with only a modicum of values supportive of criminal behavior, the socialization experience they undergo while incarcerated leads to a much wider acceptance of such values.

prison subculture
The values and behavioral patterns characteristic of prison inmates. Prison subculture has been found to have surprising consistencies across the country.

private prisons
Correctional institutions operated by private firms on behalf of local and state governments.

private security
Those self-employed individuals and privately funded business entities and organizations providing security-related services to specific clientele for a fee, for the individual or entity that retains or employs them, or for themselves, in order to protect their persons, private property, or interests from various hazards.

private security agency
An independent or proprietary commercial organization which provides protective services to employers on a contractual basis, and whose activities include employee clearance investigations, maintaining the security of persons or property, and/or performing the functions of detection and investigation of crime and criminals and apprehension of offenders. Also known as private protective services.

privatization
The movement toward the wider use of private prisons.

probable cause
A set of facts and circumstances that would induce a reasonably intelligent and prudent person to believe that a particular person had committed a specific crime; reasonable grounds to make or believe an accusation. Probable cause is needed for a "full blown" search or arrest.

probation
A sentence of imprisonment that is suspended. Also, the conditional freedom granted by a judicial officer to an adjudicated or adjudged adult or juvenile offender, as long as the person meets certain conditions of behavior.

probationer
A person who is placed on probation status and required by a court or probation agency to meet certain conditions of behavior, who may or may not be placed under the supervision of a probation agency.

probation revocation
A court order in response to a violation of conditions of probation, taking away a person's probationary status, and usually withdrawing the conditional freedom associated with the status.

probation termination
The ending of the probation status of a given person by routine expiration of probationary period, by special early termination by court, or by revocation of probation.

probation violation
An act or failure to act by a probationer that does not conform to the conditions of his or her probation.

probation work load
The total set of activities required in order to carry out the probation agency functions of intake screening of juveniles cases, referral of cases to other service agencies, investigation of juveniles and adults for the purpose of preparing predisposition or presentence reports, supervision or treatment of juveniles and adults granted probation, assisting in the enforcement of court orders concerning family problems such as abandonment and nonsupport cases, and such other functions as may be assigned by statute or court order.

problem-solving policing (also, problem-oriented policing)
A style of policing which assumes that many crimes are caused by existing social conditions within the community, and that crimes can be controlled by uncovering and effectively addressing underlying social problems. Problem-solving policing makes use of other community resources such as counseling centers, welfare programs, and job training facilities. It also attempts to involve citizens in the job of crime prevention through education, negotiation, and conflict management.

procedural defense
A defense which claims that the defendant was in some significant way discriminated against in the justice process, or that some important aspect of official procedure was not properly followed in the investigation or prosecution of the crime charged.

procedural law
That aspect of the law that specifies the methods to be used in enforcing substantive law.

procuratorate (also procuracy)
A term used in many countries to refer to agencies with powers and responsibilities similar to those of prosecutor's offices in the United States.

professional criminal
See career criminal.

property crime
An offense category that, according to the FBI's UCR program, includes burglary, larceny, auto theft, and arson. Since citizen reports of criminal incidents figure heavily in the compilation of "official statistics," the same critiques apply to tallies of these crimes as to the category of violent crime.

property bond
The setting of bail in the form of land, houses, stocks, or other tangible property. In the event the defendant absconds prior to trial, the bond becomes the property of the court.

proportionality
A sentencing principle which holds that the severity of sanctions should bear a direct relationship to the seriousness of the crime committed.

prosecution agency
A federal, state, or local criminal justice agency or subunit of which the principal function is the prosecution of alleged offenders.

prosecutor
An attorney who is the elected or appointed chief of a prosecution agency, and whose official duty is to conduct criminal proceedings on behalf of the people against persons accused of committing criminal offenses. Also called "district attorney," "DA," "state's attorney," "county attorney," and "U.S. attorney" and any attorney deputized to assist the chief prosecutor.

prosecutorial discretion
The decision-making power of prosecutors based upon the wide range of choices available to them in the handling of criminal defendants, the scheduling of cases for trial, the acceptance of bargained pleas, and so on. The most important form of prosecutorial discretion lies in the power to charge, or not to charge, a person with an offense.

prostitution
Offering or agreeing to engage in, or engaging in, a sex act with another in return for a fee.

psychoactive drug
A chemical substance that affects cognition, feeling, and/or awareness.

psychoanalysis
A theory of human behavior, based upon the writings of Sigmund Freud, that sees personality as a complex composite of interacting mental entities.

psychological addiction (or psychological dependence)
A craving for a specific drug which results from long-term substance abuse. Also, dependence upon drugs marked by the feeling that drugs are needed to achieve a feeling of well-being.

psychological manipulation
Manipulative actions by police interviewers, designed to pressure suspects to divulge information, which are based upon subtle forms of intimidation and control.

psychological school
A perspective on criminological thought that views offensive and deviant behavior as the products of dysfunctional personalities. The conscious, and especially the subconscious, contents of the human psyche are identified by psychological thinkers as major determinants of behavior.

psychopath or sociopath
A person with a personality disorder, especially one manifested in aggressively antisocial behavior, which is often said to be the result of a poorly developed superego.

psychopathology
The study of pathological mental conditions, that is, mental illness.

psychosis
A form of mental illness in which sufferers are said to be out of touch with reality.

public defender
An attorney employed by a government agency or subagency, or by a private organization under contract to a unit of government, for the purpose of providing defense services to indigents; also, occasionally, an attorney who has volunteered such service. The head of a government agency or subunit whose function is the representation in court of persons accused or convicted of a crime who are unable to hire private counsel, and any attorney employed by such an agency or subunit whose official duty is the performance of the indigent defense function.

public defender agency
A federal, state, or local criminal justice agency or subunit of which the principal function is to represent in court persons accused or convicted of a crime(s) who are unable to hire private counsel.

public safety department
An agency organized at the state or local level of government incorporating at a minimum various law enforcement and emergency service functions.

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