| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
A mentally ill individual who suffers from disjointed thinking and possibly from delusions and hallucinations.
scientific jury selection
The use of correlational techniques from the social sciences to gauge the likelihood that potential jurors will vote for conviction or for acquittal.
scientific police management
The application of social science techniques to the study of police administration for the purpose of increasing effectiveness, reducing the frequency of citizen complaints, and enhancing the efficient use of available resources.
search incident to an arrest
A warrantless search of an arrested individual conducted to ensure the safety of the arresting officer. Because individuals placed under arrest may be in possession of weapons, courts have recognized the need for arresting officers to protect themselves by conducting an immediate search of arrestees without obtaining a warrant.
search warrant
A document issued by a judicial officer which directs a law enforcement officer to conduct a search at a specific location, for specified property or person relating to a crime, to seize the property or person if found, and to account for the results of the search to the issuing judicial officer.
security
The restriction of inmate movement within a correctional facility, usually divided into maximum, medium, and minimum levels.
self-defense
The protection of oneself or of one's property from unlawful injury or from the immediate risk of unlawful injury. Also, the justification that the person who committed an act that would otherwise constitute an offense reasonably believed that the act was necessary to protect self or property from immediate danger.
sentence
1. The penalty imposed by a court upon a person convicted of a crime. 2. The court judgment specifying the penalty imposed upon a person convicted of a crime. 3. Any disposition of a defendant resulting from a conviction, including the court decision to suspend execution of a sentence.
sentencing
The imposition of a criminal sanction by a judicial authority.
sentencing disposition
1. A court disposition of a defendant after a judgment of conviction, expressed as a penalty, such as imprisonment or payment of a fine. 2. Any of a number of alternatives to actually executed penalties, such as a suspended sentence, a grant of probation, or an order to perform restitution. 3. Various combinations of the foregoing.
sentencing hearing
In criminal proceedings, a hearing during which the court or jury considers relevant information, such as evidence concerning aggravating or mitigating circumstances, for the purpose of determining a sentencing disposition for a person convicted of an offense.
sequestered jury
A jury that is isolated from the public during the course of a trial and throughout the deliberation process.
service style
A style of policing marked by a concern with helping rather than strict enforcement. Service-oriented police agencies are more likely to take advantage of community resources, such as drug-treatment programs, than are other types of agencies.
sexual battery
Intentional and wrongful physical contact with a person, without his or her consent, that entails a sexual component or purpose.
sex offense
In current statistical usage, any of a broad category of varying offenses, usually consisting of all offenses having a sexual element, except forcible rape and commercial sex offenses. The category includes all unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual contact, and other unlawful behavior intended to result in sexual gratification or profit from sexual activity.
sex offense (UCR)
Any of various "offenses against chastity, common decency, morals, and the like," except forcible rape, prostitution, and commercialized vice.
sheriff
The elected chief officer of a county law enforcement agency. The sheriff is usually responsible for law enforcement in unincorporated areas and for the operation of the county jail.
sheriff's department
A local law enforcement agency, directed by a sheriff, which exercises its law enforcement functions at the county level, usually within unincorporated areas, and which operates the county jail in most jurisdictions.
shock incarceration
A sentencing option that makes use of "boot camp"–type prisons to impress on convicted offenders the realities of prison life.
shock probation
The practice of sentencing offenders to prison, allowing them to apply for probationary release, and enacting such release in surprise fashion. Offenders who receive shock probation may not be aware that they will be released on probation and may expect to spend a much longer time behind bars.
simple assault (UCR)
The unlawful threatening, attempted inflicting, or inflicting of less-than-serious bodily injury, without a deadly weapon.
smart card
A plastic card or similar device, containing a computer chip and other sources of nonalterable information (such as a hologram or a laser-encoded memory strip), that is used to provide highly secure personal identification.
smuggling
The unlawful movement of goods across a national frontier or state boundary or into or out of a correctional facility.
"sneak and peek" search
A search that occurs in the suspect's absence and without his or her prior knowledge.
social control
The use of sanctions and rewards within a group to influence and shape the behavior of individual members of that group. Social control is a primary concern of social groups and communities, and it is their interest in the exercise of social control that leads to the creation of both criminal and civil statutes.
social debt
A sentencing principle that holds that an offender's criminal history should objectively be taken into account in sentencing decisions.
social development theory
An integrated view of human development that points to the process of interaction among and between individuals and society as the root cause of criminal behavior.
social disorganization
A condition said to exist when a group is faced with social change, uneven development of culture, maladaptiveness, disharmony, conflict, and lack of consensus.
social ecology
A criminological approach that focuses on the misbehavior of lower-class youth and sees delinquency primarily as the result of social disorganization.
social justice
An ideal that embraces all aspects of civilized life and that is linked to fundamental notions of fairness and to cultural beliefs about right and wrong.
social learning theory
A psychological perspective that says that people learn how to behave by modeling themselves after others whom they have the opportunity to observe.
social order
The condition of a society characterized by social integration, consensus, smooth functioning, and lack of interpersonal and institutional conflict. Also, a lack of social disorganization.
social process theory
A perspective on criminological thought that highlights the process of interaction between individuals and society. Most social process theories highlight the role of social learning.
social-psychological theory
A perspective on criminological thought that highlights the role played in crime causation by weakened self-esteem and meaningless social roles. Social-psychological thinkers stress the relationship of the individual to the social group as the underlying cause of behavior.
sociopath
See psychopath.
software piracy
The unauthorized duplication of software or the illegal transfer of data from one storage medium to another. Software piracy is one of the most prevalent computer crimes in the world.
solvability factor
Information about a crime that forms the basis for determining the perpetrator's identity.
somatotyping
The classification of human beings into types according to body build and other physical characteristics.
span of control
The number of police personnel or the number of units supervised by a particular commander.
specific deterrence
A goal of criminal sentencing that seeks to prevent a particular offender from engaging in repeat criminality.
speedy trial
A trial which is held in a timely manner. The right of a defendant to have a prompt trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which begins, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial."
Speedy Trial Act
A 1974 federal law requiring that proceedings against a defendant in a criminal case begin within a specified period of time, such as 70 working days after indictment. Some states also have speedy trial requirements.
split sentence
A sentence explicitly requiring the convicted offender to serve a period of confinement in a local, state, or federal facility, followed by a period of probation.
staff operations
In police organizations, activities (like administration and training) that provide support for line operations.
stalking
Repeated harassing and threatening behavior by one individual against another, aspects of which may be planned or carried out in secret. Stalking might involve following a person, appearing at a person's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person's property. Most stalking laws require that the perpetrator make a credible threat of violence against the victim or members of the victim's immediate family.
stare decisis
A legal principle that requires that in subsequent cases on similar issues of law and fact, courts be bound by their own earlier decisions and by those of higher courts having jurisdiction over them. The term literally means "standing by decided matters."
state-action doctrine
The traditional legal principle that only government officials or their representatives in the criminal justice process can be held accountable for the violation of an individual's constitutional civil rights.
state court administrator
A coordinator who assists with case-flow management, operating funds budgeting, and court docket administration.
state court system
A state judicial structure. Most states have at least three court levels: generally, trial courts, appellate courts, and a state supreme court.
state highway patrol
A state law enforcement agency whose principal functions are preventing, detecting, and investigating motor vehicle offenses and apprehending traffic offenders.
state police
A state law enforcement agency whose principal functions usually include maintaining statewide police communications, aiding local police in criminal investigations, training police, and guarding state property. The state police may include the highway patrol.
state-use system
A form of inmate labor in which items produced by inmates may only be sold by or to state offices. Items that only the state can sell include such things as license plates and hunting licenses, while items sold only to state offices include furniture and cleaning supplies.
status offender
A child who commits an act that is contrary to the law by virtue of the offender's status as a child. Purchasing cigarettes, buying alcohol, and being truant are examples of such behavior.
status offense
An act or conduct that is declared by statute to be an offense, but only when committed by or engaged in by a juvenile, and that can be adjudicated only by a juvenile court.
Statute of Winchester
A law, written in 1285, that created a watch and ward system in English cities and towns and that codified early police practices.
statutory law
Written or codified law; the "law on the books," as enacted by a government body or agency having the power to make laws.
statutory rape
Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the legal age of consent.
stay of execution
The stopping by a court of the implementation of a judgment—that is, of a court order previously issued.
stolen property offense
The unlawful receiving, buying, distributing, selling, transporting, concealing, or possessing of the property of another by a person who knows that the property has been unlawfully obtained from the owner or other lawful possessor.
stop and frisk
The detaining of a person by a law enforcement officer for the purpose of investigation, accompanied by a superficial examination by the officer of the person's body surface or clothing to discover weapons, contraband, or other objects relating to criminal activity.
stranger violence
Seemingly random violence perpetrated by assailants who were previously unknown to their victims. Stranger violence often results from rage, opportunity, or insanity.
strategic policing
A type of policing that retains the traditional police goal of professional crime fighting but enlarges the enforcement target to include nontraditional kinds of criminals, such as serial offenders, gangs and criminal associations, drug-distribution networks, and sophisticated white-collar and computer criminals. Strategic policing generally makes use of innovative enforcement techniques, including intelligence operations, undercover stings, electronic surveillance, and sophisticated forensic methods.
street crime
A class of offenses, sometimes defined with some degree of formality as those which occur in public locations and are visible and assaultive, that are a special risk to the public and a special target of law enforcement preventive efforts and prosecutorial attention.
strict liability
Liability without fault or intention. Strict liability offenses do not require mens rea.
structured sentencing
A model of criminal punishment that includes determinate and commission-created presumptive sentencing schemes, as well as voluntary/advisory sentencing guidelines.
subculture of violence
A cultural setting in which violence is a traditional and often accepted method of dispute resolution.
subpoena
A written order issued by a judicial officer or grand jury requiring an individual to appear in court and to give testimony or to bring material to be used as evidence. Some subpoenas mandate that books, papers, and other items be surrendered to the court.
substantive criminal law
The part of the law that defines crimes and specifies punishments.
supermale
A human male displaying the XYY chromosome structure.
superpredator
A juvenile who is coming of age in actual and "moral poverty" without the benefits of parents, teachers, coaches, and clergy to teach right from wrong47 and who turns to criminal activity. The term is often applied to inner-city youths, socialized in violent settings without the benefit of wholesome life experiences, who hold considerable potential for violence.
supervised probation
Guidance, treatment, or regulation by a probation agency of the behavior of a person who is subject to adjudication or who has been convicted of an offense, resulting from a formal court order or a probation agency decision.
suspect
An adult or a juvenile who has not been arrested or charged but whom a criminal justice agency believes may be the person responsible for a specific criminal offense.
suspended sentence
The court decision to delay imposing or executing a penalty for a specified or unspecified period. Also, a court disposition of a convicted person pronouncing a penalty of a fine or a commitment to confinement but unconditionally discharging the defendant or holding execution of the penalty in abeyance upon good behavior. Also called sentence withheld.
suspicionless search
A search conducted by law enforcement personnel without a warrant and without suspicion. Suspicionless searches are permissible only if based on an overriding concern for public safety.
sworn officer
A law enforcement officer who is trained and empowered to perform full police duties, such as making arrests, conducting investigations, and carrying firearms.48
47. The term superpredator is generally attributed to John J. DiIulio, Jr. See John J. DiIulio, Jr., "The Question of Black Crime," Public Interest (fall 1994), pp. 3-12.
48. Adapted from Darl H. Champion and Michael K. Hooper, Introduction to American Policing (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), p. 166.
Prentice Hall Pearson Education Legal Notice Privacy Policy Permissions |