CRIM 3658 Quiz: Social and Legal Construction of Suspects
Document Summary
2 forms of suspect discussed : criminal suspects and suspect populations. Criminal suspects individuals suspected of having committed a particular crime are the most familiar kind of suspect. However, there is another broad category of suspect: a suspect group, pool, or population. An objectivist view holds that suspects are in the world and are identified by specific characteristics. E. g. police investigating a crime make a pool of suspected persons based on evidence, however, research shows that evidence is skewed by race, class gender, geographic location, ect A single individual is identified: the prime suspect. Ericson"s work shows how detective produce rather than detect suspects. Innes (2003) divides investigative processes in to focused and unfocused, focused processes are directed by info about a person, whereas unfocused reflect broader trawls for info, such as house to house searchers or media appeals .
