Organized crime: Concepts and control : by Denny F. Pace and Jimmie C. Styles Prentice-Hall, Inc. (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey), 1975, 329 pp., hardcover

Abstract

This chapter establishes a criminological framework by examining the concept of criminal law and its creation. The criminal law, and official recognition of “crime” and “criminals,” is entirely relative to time and space. Both the content and origins of criminal laws are important to the criminologist. Whether it is a product of consensus, meeting the needs of larger society, or whether it serves the interests of the elite in conflict with others is a widely debated issue. The content of legal codes varies dramatically across time, as does the law in action. Private wrongs are addressed by civil law, while public wrongs are the subject of criminal law. Criminal procedure is substantially more restrictive. A criminal statute prohibits the commission of acts (for example, robbery, rape, and murder). It may require acts and penalize their omission (for example, filing income tax returns). Such offenses are classified as felonies, misdemeanors, or violations in terms of their perceived seriousness and the range of potential punishments. Justice is administered by a criminal justice system that is charged with pursuing some combination of deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. The system is comprised of police, courts, and corrections agencies. In practice each exercises a great deal of discretion that introduces additional complexities in efforts to understand crime and criminals. Many criminological perspectives require careful scrutiny of activities within the criminal justice system.