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Contents
Acknowledgments xiii CHAPTER 2
Preface xiv
Measuring Crime and Crime Theory 18
About the Authors xix
The Uniform Crime Report 18
Reviewer List xx
What Is the UCR? 20
Crimes Cleared by Arrest 20
PA RT 1 Crimes Cleared by Exceptional Means 21
Criticisms of UCR Data 22
Crime and Criminal Justice Recent Developments 22
C HAP TE R 1 National Crime Victimization Survey 24
The American Criminal Criticisms of NCVS Data 25
Acclaim for NCVS Data 25
Justice System 2
Do UCR and NCVS Data Match? 26
Distinguishing Between Crime
Self-Report Studies 26
and Deviance 3
Criticisms of Self-Report Studies 26
Fighting Crime 5
Acclaim for Self-Report Studies 26
The Structure of the Criminal Justice System 7
Crime Statistics in the United States 27
Law Enforcement 9
Courts 10
Criminal Offenders 29
Age and Crime 29
Corrections 11
Sex and Crime 29
The Criminal Justice Process 12
Race and Crime 30
Law Enforcement 12
Social Class and Crime 30
Courts 12
Corrections 14
Crime Victims 31
Children 32
Perspectives on Justice 14
Senior Citizens 32
Crime Control Model 15
Hate Crime Victims 33
Due Process Model 15
Restorative Justice Model 16
Causes of Crime 34
Choice Theory 34
Social Justice Model 16
Trait Theory 36
Wrap Up 17
Sociological Theory 40
Wrap Up 45

CHAPTER 3
Criminal Law: The Foundation
of Criminal Justice 47
Common Law and the Concept
of Stare Decisis 48
Contemporary Sources of Criminal Law 48
Conceptualizing Crime 49
Seriousness of the Crime 49
Elements of a Crime 51
Actus Reus 52
Mens Rea 52
© Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo. Concurrence of Actus Reus and Mens Rea 52

vii

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viii Contents

Defenses and Responsibility 53 Stop and Frisk 93

Justifications 53 Motor Vehicle Searches 93
Excuses 56 Plain View Doctrine 94
Exemptions 61 Open Field Searches 95
Due Process and the Rights of the Accused 62 Consent Searches 95
The Bill of Rights 63 Abandoned Property 96
Incorporation of the Bill of Rights 64 Border Searches 96
Wrap Up 65 Electronic Surveillance 96
Arrest 97
PA RT 2 Arrest Warrant 97
Warrantless Arrests 98
The Police Miranda Warning 98
C HAP TE R 4 Booking 102
Police History and Organization 67 Line-Up 102
Our English Heritage 68 Interrogation and Confession 102
The Kin Police System 68 What Is a Coerced Confession? 103
The Frankpledge Police System 68 Can Delay Constitute Coercion? 103
The Parish-Constable Police System 69 Do Suspects Have a Right to Counsel During
The Uniformed Police System 70 Interrogation? 103
American Policing 72 Wrap Up 104
The Origin of Organized Policing 72
CHAPTER 6
Growth, Brutality, and Corruption 73
Building Organizations and Technology 74 Critical Issues in Policing 106
Specialized Units 76 Police Discretion 107
Testing the Reform Model 77 Legal Factors 108
A Quiet Revolution 78 Nonlegal Factors 109
Police Systems 81 Pros and Cons of Discretion 110
Local Police 82 Controlling Police Discretion 111
State Police 84 Police Corruption 112
Federal Police 84 Investigating Police Corruption 112
International Police: Interpol 85 The Mollen Commission 114
Private Security Officers 86 Corrupt Police Departments 114
Wrap Up 87 Explaining Police Corruption 115
Managing Police Corruption 116
C HAP TE R 5 Police Use of Force 116
Police and the Law 88 Police Brutality 116
Search and Seizure 89 Deadly Force 118
The Exclusionary Rule 90 High-Speed Pursuits 121
“One Arm’s Length” Rule 92 Police Stress 123
Women in Policing 124
African Americans in Policing 125
Latinos in Policing 125
Wrap Up 126

PART 3
Courts
© Hill Street Studios/Blend Images/Getty.

CHAPTER 7
The Criminal Courts: Structure
and Process 129
History of the American Court System 129

© Fuse/Corbis/Getty.
The American Revolution and Creation of
State Courts 130
Creation of the Federal Court System 130
State Court System 130
Limited Jurisdiction 130
General Jurisdiction 131
Appellate Jurisdiction 132
Courts of Last Resort 132
The Federal Court System 132
U.S. Magistrate Judges 132
U.S. District Courts 134
U.S. Courts of Appeals 134
U.S. Supreme Court 134
Court Participants 135
Victims 135
Defendants 135
Court Staff 135
Judges 136
Prosecutors 137
Defense Attorneys 138
Initial Appearance 139
Timing of the Initial Appearance 140
The 48-Hour Rule 140
Pretrial Release 140
The Purpose Behind Bail 140
Bias in Pretrial Release 141
Alternatives to Monetary Bail 142
Preventive Detention 143
The Grand Jury 144
Prosecutor’s Decision to Prosecute 144
Preliminary Hearings 145
Format of Preliminary Hearings
Discovery 145
Entering Pleas 146
Guilty Plea 146
Nolo Contendere Plea 146
Not Guilty Plea 147
Plea of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity 147
Plea Bargaining 147
Contents ix
Types of Plea Bargains 147
Who Wins with Bargained Justice? 148
Who Loses with Bargained Justice? 148
Wrap Up 149
CHAPTER 8
The Trial 150
Pretrial Motions 151
Motion for Dismissal of Charges 152
Motion for Change of Venue 152
Motion for Severance of Defendants 152
Motion for Severance of Charges 152
Motion for Discovery 152
Motion for a Bill of Particulars 152
Motion for Suppression of Evidence 152
Motion of Intention to Provide an Alibi 152
Motion for Determination of Competency 153
Motion for Continuance 153
The Right to a Speedy, Public, and Fair Trial 153
The Right to a Speedy Trial 153
Defining the Limits of a Speedy Trial 153
The Courts, the Public, and the Press 154
Bench Trial Versus Jury Trial 156
Trial by Jury 157
Constitutional Right to a Trial by Jury 157
Size of the Jury 157
Jury Selection 157
The Trial 161
Opening Statements 161
Presentation of Evidence 161
The Prosecution’s Case 163
The Defense’s Case 164
Rebuttal and Surrebuttal 164
Closing Arguments 164
Judicial Instruction 165
Jury Deliberations 165
Judgment or Verdict 168
Appeal of the Verdict 168
Other Postconviction Remedies 169
Wrap Up 170
CHAPTER 9
145 Sentencing 171
Retribution 172
Deterrence 172
Incapacitation 173
Rehabilitation 173
Restoration 174
Determining Fairness in Sentences 175
Proportionality 175
x Contents

Reformation of Penology 197

The Mark System 197
The Irish System 198
The Elmira Model 198
Prisons for Women 198
Reform Efforts 198
Rebirth of the Prison 199
Prison Industry 199
Work Release 200
Conjugal Visits 201
Modern Prisons 201
Prison Security Levels 201
Prison Farms and Camps 203
© bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock.
Boot Camps 203
Types of Sentences 176 Military Prisons 204
Intermediate Sentences 176 Co-correctional Prisons 205
Indeterminate Prison Sentences 176 U.S. Immigration and Customs Detainees 206
Determinate or Structured Prison Sentences 176
The Federal Prison System 206
Presumptive Sentencing 177
Privatization of Correctional Services 206
Mandatory Sentences 178
Jail Systems 208
Habitual Offender Statutes 178
Colonial Jails 208
Truth in Sentencing 179
Modern Jails 208
Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences 179
New-Generation Jails 209
Arriving at an Appropriate Sentence 179
Wrap Up 210
The Presentence Investigation Report 180
The Sentencing Hearing 180
The Role of the Victim in Sentencing 180
CHAPTER 11
Disparity and Discrimination in Prisons 211
Sentencing 181 Prisons and Prisoners 212
Race and Ethnicity 181 Classification of Prisoners 212
Gender 182 The Changing Prison Population 213
Socioeconomic Status 183 Prison Crowding 214
Age 183 Prison Programs 214
Capital Punishment 183 Counseling 215
Supreme Court Decisions 183 Health and Medical Services 216
The Death Penalty Today 186 Academic and Vocational Education 216
Methods of Execution 186 Prison Industries 217
The Capital Punishment Debate 189 Recreation 217
Appeal of Sentences 192
Grounds for Appellate Review of Sentence 192
The Appeal Process 192
Wrap Up 193

PA RT 4
Corrections
C HAP TE R 10
Corrections History and Structure 195
Early American Prisons 196
The Pennsylvania Model 196
The New York Model 196
Criticisms of the Two Models 197
© Don Hammond/age fotostock.

Managing Prisons 217
Prison Personnel 217
Maintaining Discipline 219
Managing Special Populations 221
Inmates with HIV/AIDS 221
Inmates with Mental Health Problems 222
Elderly Inmates 222
Inmates with Disabilities 223
Juvenile Offenders 223
Female Offenders 223
Mothers in Prison 224
Inmate Subculture 225
Coping in Prison 225
The Inmate Code 225
Prison Gangs 226
Sex in Prison 226
Prison Violence 229
Prison Riots 229
Prisoners’ Rights 230
Freedom of Religion 230
Right to Privacy 231
Mail and Access to the Media 231
Access to Courts and Legal Services 231
Protection Against Cruel and Unusual
Punishment 231
Right to Medical Care 232
Prison Conditions 232
Wrap Up 232
C HAP TE R 12
Corrections in the Community
Probation 235
The Emergence of Probation 235
The Rationale Behind Probation 236
Probation Administration 236
Eligibility for Probation 238
Conditions of Probation 238
Supervision of Probation 239
Revocation of Probation 239
Effectiveness of Probation 240
Intermediate Sanctions 240
Intensive Probation Supervision 241
House Arrest 241
Electronic Monitoring 241
Day Reporting Centers 243
Fines 243
Forfeiture 243
Restitution 244
Community Service 244
Restorative Justice 244
Criticisms of Restorative Justice 245
Contents xi
Parole and Other Prereleases 245
Emergence of Parole 245
Other Types of Release 246
Parole Board 247
Parole Decision Making 247
Release of Sex Offenders 247
Conditions of Parole 248
Parole Supervision 248
Revocation of Parole 249
Effectiveness of Parole 250
Reentry 250
Wrap Up 251
PART 5
Special Issues
CHAPTER 13
The Juvenile Justice System 253
History of Juvenile Justice 254
Origins of Juvenile Crime Control 254
Juvenile Crime Control in 19th-Century America 255
Creation of the Juvenile Justice System 256
The Juvenile Justice Process 258
Law Enforcement 259
Courts 260
Disposition 263
Corrections 265
Juvenile Offenders in the Adult Criminal Justice
System 267
Transfer to Criminal Courts 267
234 Prosecution in Criminal Courts 268
Sentencing the Convicted Juvenile 269
Juvenile Offenders in Prison 269
Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders 270
Abolition of the Death Penalty for Juveniles 271
Wrap Up 271
© shironosov/iStock/Getty.
xii Contents

C HAP TE R 14 Glossary 294

Terrorism and Cybercrime 273 Index 305
Terrorism 274 Notes 315
Timeline of Major Terrorist Events 276
The Global War on Terrorism 279
Police Responses to Terrorism 286
Judicial Responses to Terrorism 286
Cybercrime 287
Cyberterrorism 288
Identity Theft 290
Wrap Up 293
Acknowledgments
Writing does not take place in a vacuum. There are
many individuals who have made this project pos-
sible and who have shared information to create the
new edition. We thank our dedicated team at Jones
& Bartlett Learning for their insights and support in
the development of the Third Edition of Exploring
Criminal Justice: The Essentials. We extend a special
thank you to Marisa Hines and Lori Mortimer for
making the development of the newest edition such an
enjoyable process. We are grateful to all our students
for your feedback. Your comments continue to inspire
us to make changes to the book. We appreciate and
­acknowledge our colleagues who have provided support
during the process. We extend our sincere gratitude
to the reviewers whose advice helped to improve the
manuscript and ensure the most up-to-date topics are
included in the Third Edition. There are many schol-
ars and colleagues whose research and partnerships
have helped us grow and formulate our ideas about
crime and justice. We acknowledge Alissa Ackerman,
Alex Alverez, Craig Anderson, Lee Ayers, Deborah
Barrett, Allison Bayless, Kevin Beaver, Ingrid Bennett,
Frank Cullen, Matt DeLisi, Brendan Dooley, Alan
Drury, Raymond Foster, Lisa Fowler, Rebekah Garrett,
Patrick Gerkin, Lindsay Grall, Michael Gottfredson,
Magnifying Glass: Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com; Texture: © echo3005/Shutterstock.
Amy Harrell, Dao Henry, Andy Hochstetler, Michael
Hogan, James Houston, James Jabbour, Gloria Jones
Johnson, Christopher Kierkus, Brian Kingshott, Georgia
Kinkade, Blair Lachman, Andrea Light, Chad Light, Jean
McGloin, Doug McKenzie, Matt Moore, Edin Mujkic,
Michael Landon Murray, David Peters, Eric Primm,
Adam Regoli, Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, Richard
Rogers, Jennifer Rothchild, Stephanie Bontrager Ryon,
Vinent Sainato, Fred Sams, Eric Schwartz, Madison
Serdinak, Chad Simcox, Wade Smith, Jeremy Spiegel,
Molly Sween, Chad Trulson, Amanda VanHoose,
Michael Vaughn, Jay Watterworth, Henriikka Weir,
Bridget Diamond Welch, and John Wright.
A heartfelt thank you is extended to our families,
who have shared our work in so many ways. They
provided encouragement and patience with us during
the development of this book. We sincerely thank
Adam, Adalinne, Andrea, Beau, Chad, Debbie, Eben,
Georgia, Henry, Hugh, James, Jude, Lindsey, Lynne,
Keith, Maggie, Makenna, Matt, R.J., Sara, and Zoe.
They are appreciated more than they will ever know.
Robert M. Regoli, PhD
John D. Hewitt, PhD
Anna E. Kosloski, PhD
xiii
 Preface
Although the violent crime rate is lower than in previous Chapter 3
decades, the need to understand violence and crime, • Revised discussion of categories of crime
as well as an institutional response, remains strong. • Added discussion of inchoate offenses
Our collective teaching experience reminds us that • Revised box feature on guns on college campuses
students have a variety of backgrounds, e­ xperiences, • New box feature on James Holmes
and expectations, but the common thread is their • Updated and expanded discussion of age as a
desire to learn more about the world around them. legal defense
Our goal with this textbook is to provide a compre-
hensive foundation on which they can begin their Chapter 4
exploration into understanding the criminal justice
• Updated law enforcement agency statistics
system.
• Expanded discussion of requirements for careers
This book covers contemporary issues in crimi-
in law enforcement
nal justice under the three branches, including law
• Updated discussion of the structures and orga-
enforcement, the judicial system, and corrections.
nization of federal law enforcement agencies
Yet, an ever-growing need to understand the role of
• Expanded discussion of privatization of law
media, technology, and victim-services are included
enforcement
throughout the book. Given the ever-changing
policy implications connected to criminal justice,
Chapter 5
this new edition includes an overview of new court
rulings and state and federal laws, new case studies, • New box feature on the Luis Rodriguez case
and updated cultural references. In responding to • Expanded discussion of exceptions to the
the needs of professors and their students, we have ­exclusionary rule
provided a textbook that is engaging and current, • Added discussion of Herring v. United States
and that can be used to foster discussions for an • Additional discussion of stop-and-frisk–related
understanding of contemporary criminal justice court case rulings
issues. To this end, we have made a number of • New discussion of United States v. Antonie Jones
changes, detailed here. • Updated discussion of public transportation
searches
• New box feature on police searching cell phones
Chapter Updates
Chapter 1 Chapter 6
• Updated coverage of mass shootings in the • Updated discussion of police discretion
United States • Expanded discussion of race and police–citizen
• Expanded discussion of deviance and crime interactions
• Updated data on law enforcement agencies and • New box feature on an example of a high-speed
number of sworn officers across the United States chase
• Updated discussion of marijuana laws in the • Expanded discussion of corruption in police
Netherlands departments
• New graphic on the use of force continuum
Chapter 2 • Revised box feature on reducing social inequality
• New coverage of the changes in the UCR Index through mentoring
Offenses • Updated box with highlights of positive interactions
• Expanded discussion of females and crime between citizens and law enforcement officers
• Revised box feature on the media’s influence
on violence from the perspective of the Slender Chapter 7
Man case • Expanded discussion of technology in the
• Expanded discussion and additional examples courtroom
of the theoretical perspectives presented • Updated discussion of pretrial release

xiv

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• Additional examples and discussion of the nolo
contendere plea
Chapter 8
• Updated discussion of defining the limits of the
“speedy trial” provision
• Revised box feature on cellphones in the courtroom
• Updated data on juror compensation
• Expanded discussion of juror deliberations
Chapter 9
• New discussion of the restoration model
• Updated and reorganized discussion of fairness
in sentencing
• Expanded discussion of sentencing guidelines
• Added discussion of California’s Proposition 36
• Updated discussion on demographics (e.g., race,
gender, age) and sentencing
• Updated feature on the utilization of capital
punishment in the United States
• Expanded discussion of the controversy sur-
rounding the administration process for lethal
injections in the United States
• Updated box feature on false convictions
Chapter 10
• Expanded box feature on goods made by inmates
• Updated prevalence and inmate statistics for
prisons in the United States
• Updated discussion of Camp Delta
• Expanded discussion of U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement detainees
• Updated discussion of jails in Indian Country
Chapter 11
• Updated feature on the cost of prisons
• Revised discussion of the changing prison
population
• Updated overview of characteristics of correc-
tional staff
• New box feature on the release of nonviolent
drug offenders to reduce prison overcrowding
Preface xv
• New box feature on the escape of two inmates
from the Clinton Correctional Facility
• Expanded discussion of managing discipline
in prison
• Updated discussion of juvenile offenders and
correctional placement
• Expanded discussion of mothers in prison
• Updated discussions of prison violence and
sexual victimization
Chapter 12
• Updated information on the prevalence and
costs of probation
• Expanded discussion of probation administration
• Revised box feature on probation violations
• Revised discussion of restitution
• Updated information on the use of parole
Chapter 13
• Updated information on the prevalence of ju-
venile delinquency
• New box feature on status offenses
• New box feature on interactions between law
enforcement officers and juveniles
• Updated data on delinquency in the courts
• Updated discussion of juvenile detention
• New case study of a violent juvenile
• New discussion of juveniles sentenced to life
without parole
Chapter 14
• Updated discussion on Gallup data on terrorism
versus mass shootings
• Updated list of terrorism-related incidents from
2011 to 2016
• New box feature on the 2015 San Bernardino attack
• Added discussion of the USA FREEDOM Act
• Expanded and updated box feature on WikiLeaks
• New discussion of cybersecurity breaches
• New box feature on cybercareers in law enforcement
xvi Preface

The Student Experience fully grasping the chapter’s key concepts. This practice
will encourage students to think critically, as well as
Every chapter of Exploring Criminal Justice: The Es-
retain key concepts and objectives.
sentials, Third Edition opens with a succinct list of
Feature boxes abound in all chapters. There are
objectives. Students should review this list before
four types of boxes: Headline Crime, Focus on Criminal
diving into the chapter to help guide their focus. As
Justice, Focus on Crime, and Around the Globe. Each type
they progress through the chapter, they should peri-
of box is identified by a colorful and distinctive logo
odically flip back to the objectives to ensure they are
placed near the box’s title.

Headline Crime features offer a glimpse into headline stories that vividly embody current-day issues.
The chosen cases tap into the pulse of trending news topics, and aim to open the reader’s mind to large-
scale phenomena experienced in today’s society. RT 1 Crim
e and Cr
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 Preface xvii

Focus on Crime features provide the reader with a snapshot of prison life in the United States. They explore
various reform, therapy, and educational programs, and indicate where these are offered across the country.
m
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American Crim
6 CHAPTER 1 The

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Focus on Crim
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Around the Globe features delve into global case studies and news stories that offer a large-scale dissection
of modern events. Case facts are presented in an impartial manner, guiding the reader through difficult
topics without bias or reaching premature conclusions.

PART 1 Crime
Around the G and Criminal Jus
lobe tice 5
Fighting C
Woman Blinde rime
d in Iran Seek
Eye-for-Eye Ju s Even though cr
ime is normal
stice across time an , functional, an
d place, all so d varies
In 2009, an Ira The United St cieties try to pr
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ye” justice ag n woman U.S. Congress ption. Since 19
blinded her wi ainst a male su has passed the 68 the
th acid. Amen itor who pieces of crim following six sig
radio station th eh Bahrami to e-fighting legi nificant
at she was not ld a foreign slation:
but rather so th doing this out
of revenge,
1. Omnibus Cr
at the suffering ime Control
not be repeat she went throug Act of 1968 Bill and Safe
ed. h would Streets
An Iranian co 2. Comprehen
urt ruled that sive Crime Co
blinded Bahram Majid, the m
an who 3. Crime Cont ntrol Act of 19
i after she rejec rol Act of 1990 84
be blinded wi ted him, shou 4. Violent Cr
th acid based ld also ime Control
of qisas, or ey on the Islamic an d Law Enforc
e-for-eye retri law system Act of 1994 ement
Iranian law, Ba bution. Howe
hrami was entit ver, under 5. USA PATRIO
one eye, unles led to blind him T Act of 2001
s she paid mor
e th
in only 6. USA PATRIO
in Iran women an $25,110, be T Improvemen
are not cons cause Act of 2005 20 t and Reauthor
Bahrami was idered equal
to men. ization
told by the Ira
eyes were eq nian court that The purpose
ual to one of her two of each act w
man is worth his, because in particularly as as to prevent
two women. Iran each it spiraled ou crime,
blinded by ha The offender, t of control be
ving several dr Majid, was 1960 and 1991
eye, whereas ops of acid pu (see Figure 1. tween
Bahrami had t into one ing concerns 1) and with
face and othe ac id splashed all about terroris the grow-
r parts of her over her the Septembe m in the years fo
body. r 11, 2001, atta llowing
Center and Pe cks on the Wor
Source: Assoc ntagon. ld Trade
iated Press. (20 In addition to
eye-for-eye jus 09, March 4).
tice in acid cas Blinded Irania passing legisla
.com/story/0,2 e. Retrieved fro
m http://www
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crime, such as ific strategies
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is functional be to progress. force-
cause it may Cr • Seizing the
change. 17 Ther lead to needed ime assets of drug
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xviii Preface
Teaching Tools
To assist you in teaching this course and supplying
your students with the best in teaching aids, Jones
& Bartlett Learning has prepared a complete supple-
mental package available to all adopters. Additional
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About the Authors
Robert M. Regoli is professor emeritus of sociology
at the University of Colorado. In 1975, he received his
PhD in sociology from Washington State University.
Professor Regoli has found himself in an assortment
of roles in the criminal justice system. In addition to
having published more than 100 scholarly papers
and authoring more than 10 books on topics ranging
from police cynicism and causes of delinquency to
unreported rule infractions in prisons, he has been
a crime victim, misdemeanor offender, criminal
complainant and witness, jury member, and legal
consultant. Dr. Regoli is also a past president and
fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences,
former executive editor of The Social Science Journal,
recipient of two William J. Fulbright senior specialist
awards, and member of Phi Beta Kappa. Today, Dr.
Regoli’s research focuses on the social organization
of the fast-growing sport of pickleball, with an eye
toward understanding the evolution of the game’s
norms, roles, hierarchies, and mechanisms of social
control that affect its play.
John D. Hewitt recently retired as professor of
criminal justice at Grand Valley State University. He
was born in Carmel, California, grew up in Indiana,
and completed his undergraduate work at Western
Washington State College and his PhD at Washington
State University. He has taught for more 30 years at
small and large state colleges and universities, as well
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as in small liberal arts colleges in the Midwest and
West. Dr. Hewitt has been a member of the Board
of Directors of the Delaware County Youth Services
Bureau and president of the Board of Directors at
Bethel Place for Boys. In addition, he has testified as
an expert witness in Arizona on the identification of
youth gangs in schools. He has written extensively
about issues of crime, criminal justice, and delin-
quency, including co-authoring Exploring Criminal
Justice; Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials; and
The Impact of Sentencing Reform, as well as numerous
articles on issues ranging from the oppression of
children and adolescent risk taking, to youth gangs
and violence and juvenile justice policy in the People’s
Republic of China.
Anna E. Kosloski is an assistant professor of crim-
inal justice at the University of Colorado Colorado
Springs (UCCS). She received her PhD from Iowa
State University in 2012. She has published scholarly
articles on gender and crime, juvenile offending,
institutional misconduct, and student learning. Her
recent research explores the crime of human traf-
ficking in the United States. She is a member of the
American Society of Criminology and Academy of
Criminal Justice Sciences. She has been recognized
for her commitment to students and awarded the
campus-wide Outstanding Teacher award at the
University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
xix
 Reviewer List
Our colleagues who were selected by Jones & Bartlett Learning to review the text helped improve this Third
Edition in innumerable ways. We extend our sincere gratitude to those reviewers, who are listed here.

Douglas Brown Richard Jones

Southern New Hampshire University-COCE Northeast Texas Community College
Benton, Arkansas Mt. Pleasant, Texas

Kelli Callahan Mohamad A Khatibloo

Park University National University
Mill Creek, Washington San Diego, California

Rebecca Rodriguez Carey Samuel Kohn

The University of Missouri Thomas Edison State College
Columbia, Missouri Teaneck, New Jersey

Karrie Carlson David Kostiak

Murrieta Valley High School McCann Business School
Murrieta, California Dickson City, Pennsylvania

James Cheslek Paul Odems

Brown Mackie College-Albuquerque Kingsborough Community College
Albuquerque, New Mexico New York, New York

David J. Doglietto Kevin B. Shields

Hartnell Community College Jefferson Community & Technical College
Salinas, California Louisville, Kentucky

Aric W. Dutelle Althea Walters

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Capella University
Oshkosh, Wisconsin Brooklyn, New York

Jeffrey S. Golden
Saint Leo University
Monticello, Florida

xx

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 1
PART
Crime and Criminal
Justice

T
he study of criminal justice must begin with the social and historical context of both crime and justice.
This part examines the nature of criminal justice in society, extending beyond merely describing the
components of the U.S. criminal justice system to reviewing their foundations.
Chapter 1 reports on how society defines crime. The chapter provides a brief overview of the structure
and processes of the American criminal justice system. Four perspectives of criminal justice—crime control, due
process, restorative justice, and social justice models—are discussed. Focusing on crime, its criminals, and its
victims, Chapter 2 discusses measuring crime and crime theory. Chapter 3 outlines the foundation of the crim-
inal justice system with particular emphasis placed on how the system defines crime, criminal law, and criminal
responsibility. When taken together, the three chapters in this opening section lay a solid foundation for under-
standing the complexity of the crime problem and police, courts, and corrections systems in the United States.

PART OUTLINE
Chapter 1: The American Criminal Justice System
Chapter 2: Measuring Crime and Crime Theory
Chapter 3: Criminal Law: The Foundation of Criminal Justice

Opener image: © Africa Studio/Shutterstock; Magnifying Glass: Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com.
 1
CHAPTER
CHAPTER

The American
Criminal
Justice System
C rime is a serious social problem.
The United States spends more
than $130 billion on an annual basis
OBJECTIVES to fight crime. Out of this budget, more
than two million people are employed
 Define crime and explain why criminal behavior
within the criminal justice system.1 And
varies over time and place. yet, despite these statistics, each year
 Describe the effectiveness of crime control an average of more than 22 million
legislation on crime prevention. incidents of criminal victimizations
take place in the United States.2
 Explain the structure of the criminal justice How does a nation stand up to such
system, including differentiating among law a massive, ongoing epidemic of crime
enforcement, courts, and corrections. and violence? How does a criminal
 List the steps in the criminal justice process. justice system, considerable in size,
operate at both a proactive and reac-
 Know the four perspectives on criminal justice and tive level to ongoing assaults against
their criminal justice policy implications. its own civilians? In order to answer
these questions, one must first take into
consideration a combination of recent
and historical events that have helped
define the current state of affairs.
On October 1, 2015, an eruption of
violence was witnessed on a national
scale. Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer,
a student at Umpqua Community Col-
lege in Oregon described as “obsessed
with guns,” entered and open fired
upon his English Writing classroom.
Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on October 1st,
local law enforcement officers received
word of shots fired in the classroom
at the Umpqua Community College
campus. Harper-Mercer was armed
with six legally purchased guns, body
armor, and extra ammunition. In less
than 20 minutes, he had killed eight

Opener image: © Everett Historical/Shutterstock; Texture: © echo3005/Shutterstock.

 PART 1 Crime and Criminal Justice 3

classmates and the professor, as well as injured

nine others. The incident ended with a shootout
with sheriff’s deputies responding to the scene and
­Harper-Mercer was pronounced dead while en-route
to the local hospital.3 Later, a medical examiner would
reveal that the cause of death was suicide.4 Through
evidence in online blog posts, a manifesto left at the
scene, and discussions with those who knew him,
Harper-Mercer was characterized by investigators as
quiet, withdrawn, and possibly having mental health
issues.5 These characteristics are similar to other
perpetrators of mass shootings that have taken place
across the United States.
One only needs to look at the attack on the Emanuel
African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina
in June 2015, the violence experienced by the Isla Vista Press conference following the shooting by Harper-Mercer at
community in May 2014, and the death of 27 adults Umpqua Community College in Oregon.
and children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in © Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo.

Newtown, Connecticut in 2012 to recognize that crime

is a social problem that impacts more than simply the
individuals directly involved. Such mass shootings
regularly spark national debates about privacy, mental
health treatment, public safety, gun control, university
preparedness for disasters, criminal justice response to
emergency events, and the relationship between the
news media and the public.
As horrific as the incident at Umpqua Community
College was, it is not only disturbed individuals such
as Harper-Mercer who commit violent acts. Sometimes
criminal justice authorities themselves are involved,
specifically when they act in ways that undermine their
authority with the public or commit behaviors that
endanger the lives of innocent citizens. In December
2015, a jury found former Oklahoma City Police Officer
Daniel Holtzclaw guilty of sexually assaulting 13 African Rodney King was the victim of one of the most notorious
American women over the span of six months while on incidents of police brutality in U.S. history.
duty. Holtzclaw primarily worked in low income areas © Lee Celano/Reuters.
and preyed on vulnerable individuals.6 His actions and
incidents such as this perpetuate distrust of criminal
justice practitioners and strain relations between the
community and police. Americans have faced overwhelming exposure to
Throughout history, there have been people who crime, and they learn every day how to live with it. In
do not “get along” with others. This is where the his study of the histories of societies, the 19th-century
criminal justice system, charged with protecting the French sociologist Émile Durkheim concluded that
public, maintaining order, enforcing laws, identifying crime is normal and cannot be eliminated.10 Even in
offenders, bringing the guilty to justice, and treating a society of saints there will be sinners (deviants).
and punishing convicted persons, steps in. The criminal Societies establish norms or socially expected
justice system investigates potentially criminal conduct, behaviors to which group members are expected to
arrests citizens, collects evidence, brings charges against abide by and conform. However, it always has been
alleged offenders, conducts trials, imposes sentences, the case that the behaviors of some people depart
and carries out punishments to minimize crime. from the group’s norms. Depending on the degree
of departure, a person’s behavior may cross the line

Distinguishing Between Crime

and Deviance

There is crime in all societies. No community, past Key Terms

or present, is exempt from crime.9 Crime is expected norms
just like earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornados. Behavioral expectations of a group.
4 CHAPTER 1 The American Criminal Justice System

acid, was allowed by law to blind him in only one

eye (see the following Around the Globe box).12 It is
difficult for people in the United States to imagine a
scenario in which the notion of “an eye for an eye”
is taken literally, and that this type of punishment
is supported by the state.
It may be possible that Durkheim was wrong
and crime is not normal.14 Rather, the level of
crime becomes normalized as people accept and
become accustomed to a certain amount of crime.
This possibility led sociologist Kai Erickson to the-
orize that crime varies over time and place, reflecting
contemporary concerns. The amount of crime in a
Violence erupted in the streets of Los Angeles soon after four community mirrors the patterns of nonconforming
LAPD officers were acquitted of assault and brutality in the behavior that are most troubling to the public.15
beating of Rodney King. During much of the 18th and 19th centuries,
© a katz/Shutterstock.
alcohol use was widespread in the United States.
Children and adults consumed alcohol on a regular
basis, and street brawls were everyday occurrences.
and be called a crime, which is an intentional act or Even though these practices are much less preva-
omission to act, neither justified nor excused, that lent today, the public continues to perceive them
is in violation of the criminal law and punishable as “problems” in need of control by the criminal
by the state. If a man enters a convenience store and justice system. Similarly, in the 19th century there
casually places a candy bar in his pocket and leaves was very little concern about drug use. Drugs like
without paying, he has committed a crime. In the marijuana, heroin, and cocaine were openly con-
United States, this is considered stealing and would sumed. These drugs were not criminalized until
legally be classified as theft. Criminal behavior can the early 20th century when their use came to be
be formally sanctioned. However, not all behavior viewed as a social problem (see the preceding Focus
that people consider “wrong” is legally sanctioned on Criminal Justice box).16
or even classified as a crime.
Deviant behavior is an academic term used to dis-
tinguish behavior that meets social disapproval by a
group because it is considered a violation of socially
expected behavior. In a Massachusetts high school,
17 young women became pregnant, allegedly as a
response to a “pregnancy pact.”11 Although this behavior
may seem unusual, it is not illegal. ­Deviant behavior
does not need to be illegal to be disapproved of by
others. This does not mean that deviant behavior is
devoid of punishment; rather, informal sanctions
such as gossip or exclusion of those who are consid-
ered deviant may be a direct result of breaking social
norms. Deviance is defined via social expectations,
and therefore what is considered deviant varies over
time and across societies. A good example of how
societies define, criminalize, and punish behavior
differently is an incident in Iran in which an Iranian
woman, blinded in both eyes by her male suitor with

Key Terms
crime
An intentional act or omission to act, neither justified
nor excused, that is in violation of criminal law and
punishable by the state.
The 19th-century French sociologist Émile Durkheim believed
deviance crime is normal in society and cannot be eliminated.
A violation of social norms and/or behaviors © British Centre for Durkheim Studies, Oxford.

Around the Globe
Woman Blinded in Iran Seeks
Eye-for-Eye Justice
In 2009, an Iranian court awarded an Iranian woman
her “eye-for-eye” justice against a male suitor who
blinded her with acid. Ameneh Bahrami told a foreign
radio station that she was not doing this out of revenge,
but rather so that the suffering she went through would
not be repeated.
An Iranian court ruled that Majid, the man who
blinded Bahrami after she rejected him, should also
be blinded with acid based on the Islamic law system
of qisas, or eye-for-eye retribution. However, under
Iranian law, Bahrami was entitled to blind him in only
one eye, unless she paid more than $25,110, because
in Iran women are not considered equal to men.
Bahrami was told by the Iranian court that her two
eyes were equal to one of his, because in Iran each
man is worth two women. The offender, Majid, was
blinded by having several drops of acid put into one
eye, whereas Bahrami had acid splashed all over her
face and other parts of her body.
Source: Associated Press. (2009, March 4). Blinded Iranian wants
­eye-for-eye justice in acid case. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews
.com/story/0,2933,504474,00.html.
Crime also helps a society to progress. Crime
is functional because it may lead to needed social
change.17 There is ample evidence that societies
have been transformed by persons who were called
“criminals,” such as Cesar Chavez, Mohandas
Gandhi, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson
Mandela, to name only a few. These men stood in
firm opposition to the practices of their governments
and against powerful people. The ability of crim-
inals, even a mass murderer, to change the world
is still evident today. After the 2007 mass shooting
at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the university
developed policies to more closely monitor troubled
students, installed interior locks on classroom build-
ings, and implemented an Internet-based message
board to alert the campus about emergencies. Other
universities have also been proactive in taking steps
to improve campus safety. The University of New
Hampshire and other colleges have added roof-
mounted loudspeakers that stand ready to shout
out instructions during emergencies.18 In addition,
in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, the U.S.
Department of Education introduced new rules
allowing school administrators to share confidential
information about troubled students. Today, school
medical personnel may disclose information to
security personnel without a student’s consent if
the student is considered a threat.19
PART 1 Crime and Criminal Justice 5
Fighting Crime
Even though crime is normal, functional, and varies
across time and place, all societies try to prevent it.
The United States is no exception. Since 1968 the
U.S. Congress has passed the following six significant
pieces of crime-fighting legislation:
1. Omnibus Crime Control Bill and Safe Streets
Act of 1968
2. Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984
3. Crime Control Act of 1990
4. Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act of 1994
5. USA PATRIOT Act of 2001
6. USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization
Act of 200520
The purpose of each act was to prevent crime,
particularly as it spiraled out of control between
1960 and 1991 (see Figure 1.1) and with the grow-
ing concerns about terrorism in the years following
the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade
Center and Pentagon.
In addition to passing legislative acts, the U.S.
Congress has adopted specific strategies to fight
crime, such as:
• Increasing education and training for law enforce-
ment officers
• Seizing the assets of drug traffickers
• Requiring mandatory minimum sentences for
chronic criminal offenders
• Creating more reform programs for prison inmates
(see the Focus on Crime box)
• Establishing a national victim’s compensation
program
• Providing financial support for community policing
• Permitting federal officials to track and intercept
telephone and other electronic communications
to gather intelligence to combat domestic and
international terrorism21
Some of these pieces of legislation have drawn
political support from both sides of the aisle. In 2001
the U.S. Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, which
expanded the government’s surveillance capability, and
in 2005 it approved the USA PATRIOT Improvement
and Reauthorization Act. Both acts were crafted by
the Bush administration, and sections were reautho-
rized by President Obama in 2011.22 Similarly, both
the Crime Control Act of 1990 and the 1994 Crime
Bill reduced crime.23 Some major cities experienced
significant decreases in their crime rates by adopting
a zero tolerance policy, “getting tough,” and paying
more attention to the importance of petty offenses
such as loitering and urinating in public. However,
the lower crime rate in cities that adopted these strat-
egies may also have been the result of other factors,
6 CHAPTER 1 The American Criminal Justice System

Focus on Criminal Justice

Drug Policy in the Netherlands
In the United States the federal government regulates personal and social harms associated with drug use
illegal drugs. Recently, more than 20 states have passed through education and “user-friendly” treatment pro-
new legislation on marijuana, many decriminalizing or even grams. Thus, in the Netherlands, selling marijuana is
legalizing the substance. Decriminalization of marijuana illegal but not punishable, so the law is not enforced
currently exists in 16 states, including California, Maryland, in establishments called coffeeshops, where citizens
Michigan, Arizona, and North Carolina. By decriminaliz- and tourists alike partake in recreational marijuana use.
ing marijuana, these states indicate they will not enforce Coffeeshops provide a controlled environment, rein-
legislation on the books for possession of small amounts forcing tolerance of soft drug use, while condemning
of the drug. This means law enforcement will not issue the sale or use of harder drugs. As long as coffeeshops
citations or arrest individuals who have small amounts. follow these rules, they will have no problems with law
More than 20 states have legalized the drug for medical enforcement. Coffeeshops that violate a rule may be
purposes. Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington closed for three months or permanently. There are roughly
have gone a step further and legalized the substance 600 coffeeshops in the Netherlands, with about 200 in
for recreational use. In recent years, there has been a Amsterdam alone. More interesting, however, is that in
shift in the perception of marijuana use, moving it from 2015, the Dutch are considering tightening laws around
a stigmatized and deviant act to a more mainstream or coffeeshops. Cannabis with more than 15 percent of THC
even normative act. Thus, the perception of marijuana could be reclassified as a “hard drug,” which may result
use may be viewed as less criminal and deviant than in in stiff penalties. Other restrictions under consideration
previous years. Even President Obama indicated that include coffeeshops becoming member-only clubs, being
the federal government may take steps to decriminalize unable to sell to foreigners, and being required to be more
marijuana use. He made this statement in reference to a than 350 meters from schools.
bill introduced by Senators Cory Booker (N.J.) and Kirsten
Gillibrand (N.Y.) to move marijuana from a Schedule I
drug to a Schedule II drug. The shift in marijuana policies
is not unique to the United States. Around the world, in
places such as the Netherlands, attitudes toward marijuana
have been more liberal.
In the Netherlands, the government regulates drugs
differently. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the Netherlands
quietly decriminalized the personal use of marijuana and
hashish. Dutch drug policies were changed. Believing
that the policies underlying the U.S. “war on drugs”
and their criminalizing impact on individuals were
harmful to society, the Dutch designed their approach
to limit the negative and stigmatizing effects of drug
use on individual users. They did so by drawing a clear
distinction between “hard” drugs, such as opiates, and
“soft” drugs, such as cannabis. They also gave law
enforcement agencies priority over controlling the
production, importation, and trafficking of hard drugs.
Dutch law enforcement also decided to ignore the sale
of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Dutch
officials believed that if marijuana were decriminalized,
thereby separating the soft and hard drug markets, it
would reduce the likelihood that marijuana users would
come into contact with heroin users, and young people
experimenting with marijuana would be less likely to
become involved with more dangerous and addictive
drugs. The Dutch drug policies were also aimed at nor-
malizing the drug problem. That is, the Dutch admitted
that extensive marijuana use had gained a firm foothold
in society, as was the case with alcohol and tobacco,
and that it was far more realistic to try to reduce the © Ingram Publishing/Getty.

Sources: Ross, W. (2015, February 22). Holland’s new marijuana laws are changing old Amsterdam. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek
.com/marijuana-and-old-amsterdam-308218; Ferner, M. (2015, March 17). Obama: If enough states decriminalize marijuana, Congress may change
federal law. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/obama-marijuana-decriminalization_n_6881374.html.
 PART 1 Crime and Criminal Justice 7

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
60
62
64
66
68
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
00
02
04
06
08
10
12
14
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Figure 1.1 Crime Rate in the United States, 1960–2014 (per 100,000 people)
Source: The Disaster Center. (2014). United States crime rates, 1960–2014 Retrieved from http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm.

such as the economy, longer prison sentences, better criminal courts, justice of the peace courts,
policing, and legalized abortion.24 and town courts.
Some of the other legislation did very little to • State level: Each state has a criminal code that
control crime. The 1968 Omnibus Crime Control defines state crimes and provides statutes set-
Bill and the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of ting punishments for offenders. Every state
1984 had a negligible impact on the crime rate.25 also has its own system of law enforcement,
Crime soared during the 1970s and early 1980s. courts, and corrections for both adult and
In this turbulent time, however, the public did not juvenile offenders.
view crime as much of a problem. It was not until • Federal level: The federal criminal code defines
the early 1990s that the public started to express fear federal crimes. Dozens of federal government law
and concern about crime. Once it did, these views enforcement agencies enforce federal laws, such
changed dramatically. By August 1994, shortly before as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and
Congress voted on the Violent Crime Control and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The
Law Enforcement Act, 37% of Americans reported federal government also has a system of courts,
crime as the most important problem facing the including district courts, courts of appeals, and
nation. As of 2010, only about 2% of Americans feel the Supreme Court of the United States, as well
this way (see Figure 1.2).26 as a system of corrections, including the Federal
Bureau of Prisons and federal probation and
parole agencies.
The Structure of the Criminal
Justice System Each agency has its own operating system and
jurisdiction, or territory over which it has authority.
Controlling crime using a criminal justice system dates Sometimes the jurisdictions and activities of these
back to ancient China and has persisted for centuries. many separate organizations overlap. The Virginia Tech
The United States does not have a single, monolithic shootings, for example, were investigated by federal,
criminal justice system that is centralized and con- state, local, and campus law enforcement agencies.27
trolled by the national government. Instead, the U.S. Generally, the different parts of the criminal justice
criminal justice system is a loosely coupled system system work together very well. Prosecutors cooperate
that consists of three major parts—law enforcement, with police to investigate crimes, such as drug trafficking,
courts, and corrections—that operate across local, and often assist officers when evaluating evidence to
state, and federal levels (see Table 1.1).
• Local level: Counties and cities have sheriff’s Key Terms
departments and municipal (city) police agen- jurisdiction
cies, city lock-ups and county jails, community The territory over which a law enforcement agency
corrections programs, and city and county has authority.
8 CHAPTER 1 The American Criminal Justice System

Focus on Crime
U.S. Reform Programs for Prison Inmates
During the 20th century, prisons came to be viewed as • With carpentry, heating, ventilation and air condi-
more than simple containment facilities for inmates due to tioning, and electrical vocational programs, Calipatria
a new emphasis on prisoner reform. Many facilities devel- State Prison in California offers certification through
oped reform programs to meet the needs of both inmates the National Center for Construction Education
and the institution. Today, there are a variety of programs and Research.
for inmates that provide a wide array of opportunities: • The California State Prison-Los Angeles County is
experimenting with the Progressive Programming
• A Lake County, Illinois, program allows inmates to
Facility (PPF), where inmates, many serving life
play with, train, and care for dogs held at the county
sentences without parole, can receive education
animal care and control shelter, to teach them about
and therapy programs that administrators state
compassion and responsibility.
help reduce violence and other disruptive behaviors.
• The oldest prison in Virginia, James River Correctional
Institution, joins former race horses with current With a vast array of reform programs available to i­nmates,
inmates to provide much needed care for the horses the benefits are equally varied. Whether promoting good
and a fresh outlook on life for the inmates. behavior while in prison—a common requirement for par-
• The New Hampshire Department of Corrections ticipation in programs such as those listed here—or enabling
offers vocational education programs that teach life skills that will benefit the inmate upon release, thus
business management skills to inmates; an Accounting reducing the likelihood of recidivism or reoffending after
Technician Certificate can be earned upon successful incarceration, these programs are making an observable
completion of the program. impact on today’s criminal justice system.

Source: Fuller, R. (2009, August 26). Lake County program sends inmates to work with animals. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://articles
.chicagotribune.com/2009-08-26/news/0908240205_1_inmates-jail-animals; Wright, D., & Taylor, A. (2009, June 5). Horses, convicts not out to
pasture. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/WN/AmazingAnimals/story?id=7769344; New Hampshire Department of Corrections.
(n.d.). Offender programs. Retrieved from https://www.nh.gov/nhdoc/divisions/corrrectional/index.html; California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation. (n.d.). Calipatria State Prison. Retrieved from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/CAL.html; California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation. (n.d.). California State Prison, Los Angeles County. Retrieved from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/LAC.html; California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (n.d.). California State Prison, Los Angeles County (LAC). Retrieved from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/
Facilities_Locator/LAC.html.

40
35
30
25
Percent

20
15
10
5
0
1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Figure 1.2 Percentage of Americans Who Believe Crime Is the Nation’s Most Important Problem, 1984–2010
Source: Maguire, K., ed. (2012). Sourcebook of criminal justice statistics, Table 2.1. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t212012.pdf; Pollingreport.com. (n.d.). CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll, October 27–30, 2010. Retrieved
from http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm.

ensure that it will later be admissible in court. Judges to them by police. At trial, law enforcement officers
review and sign search and arrest warrants brought are witnesses for the prosecution. When offenders
are released from prison on parole, they are super-
Key Terms vised by parole officers who work closely with law
parole enforcement to monitor their behavior.
A type of conditional release that is based on good At times, however, when the jurisdictions and
behavior or evidence of some level of rehabilitation. activities overlap, there may be “turf wars.” When

Table 1.1 Criminal Justice System Agencies
Federal
Law enforcement Federal Bureau of
Investigation
Drug Enforcement
AdministrationSecret
Service
U.S. marshals
Courts U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. courts of appeals
U.S. district courts
Federal magistrates
Corrections Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal probation
Federal parole
these occur, the multiple criminal justice agencies do
not cooperate with each other. Conflicts arise from
differences of opinion regarding how to investigate a
crime. Two important functions of law enforcement
are to investigate crime and to take suspects into cus-
tody. It upsets law enforcement officers when other
criminal justice officials interfere with them doing
their job. Sometimes officers see defense attorneys as
working against them, particularly when they obtain
acquittals for defendants. Police may feel that judges
contribute to the crime problem when they hand out
lenient sentences to repeat offenders.
Tensions also exist between the courts and corrections
personnel. Sometimes local and federal prosecutors
draw battle lines after investigating criminal activity
and preparing cases for prosecution because each
party wants to control the investigation and receive
recognition for any success.
In corrections, tensions arise when state prison
administrators believe they, and not the courts, are
best suited to establish rules and policies for jails
and prisons. They resent federal judges stepping in
on behalf of inmates, declaring single institutions or
even entire correctional systems to be in violation
of inmates’ constitutional rights. Also, to be seen
as being tough on crime, local judges may sentence
increasing numbers of convicted offenders to prison,
which only aggravates prison overcrowding and creates
a more dangerous work environment. Within the
walls of jails and prisons, the demands and interests
of correctional officers may also conflict with those
of treatment staff.
Law Enforcement
In the United States there are over 20,000 local, state,
federal, and special law enforcement agencies, such
as campus police on a college campus, that employ
1.1 million people, about 90% of whom work for local
PART 1 Crime and Criminal Justice 9
State Local
State police Municipal police
Highway patrol County police
State bureau of narcotics Town constables
State fish and game
State supreme court Criminal courts
State courts of appeals City or town courts
Justice of the peace courts
Traffic courts
Juvenile courts
State department County jail
of corrections City lock-up
State parole County probation
Community corrections
and state agencies (see Table 1.2).28 Most Americans
recognize their local police and ­sheriff’s personnel
because they see them almost daily patrolling streets,
managing crowds, and making traffic stops. A goal
of the police is to maintain order by enforcing the
law. They gain support from the public when they are
active participants in community programs such as
youth baseball leagues and “Leaders of Tomorrow,”
sponsored by the Memphis Police Department, and,
of course, by solving crimes and arresting criminal
suspects. In addition to many other services local
and state police provide to citizens (which federal
police do not), they also handle domestic distur-
bance calls, settle disputes, calm loud parties, and
remove drunks and transients from city streets, as
well as regulating traffic when necessary. Over the
years the police service function has changed radi-
cally. Early in the 20th century the police provided
shelter for the homeless and tended to the needs
of impoverished people. Since then, police services
now include opening locked car doors, searching
for lost children, p
­ roviding citizens with directions,
assisting the elderly, and more. As part of performing
traffic duties, police can be seen directing vehicles
at construction sites and sporting events, and also
enforcing traffic laws (e.g., speeding, running red
lights, and driving under the influence of alcohol
or drugs).
There are 73 federal law enforcement agencies that
employ more than 120,000 people. Among these
agencies are the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Capitol
Police, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and U.S.
Mint Police.29 Like local and state police, federal law
enforcement agents do more than enforce federal
Key Terms
acquittal
A verdict of not guilty.
10 CHAPTER 1 The American Criminal Justice System

Table 1.2 Number of Police Agencies and Number of Full-Time Sworn Officers

Type of Agency Number of Agencies Number of Full-Time Sworn Officers

TOTAL 17,985 765,246

All State and Local 17,989 765,196
Local police 12,501 461,063
Sheriff 3063 182,979
Primary state 50 60,722
Special jurisdiction* 1733 56,968
Constable/marshal 638 3464
Federal 73 120,000
*Special jurisdiction law enforcement agencies include campus, airport, harbor, railroad, and mass transit police.
Source: Reeves, B. A. (2011). Census of state and local law enforcement agencies, 2008. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/csllea08.pdf.

laws. The U.S. Park Police, for instance, in addition to
enforcing the law at each of the nation’s 392 national
parks, has developed a Traffic Safety Unit (TSU) that
coordinates the force’s alcohol and speed enforcement
programs and handles all fatal motor vehicle colli-
sions within its jurisdiction. The TSU also instructs
Park Police personnel, as well as other local, state,
and federal agencies, in various policing operations
including the use of radar and laser, accident inves-
tigation, forensic scene mapping, and standardized
field sobriety testing.30
Courts
The United States has a dual system of courts,
composed of parallel court systems at the federal
and state levels. Every state (plus the District of
Columbia and all U.S. territories) has its own court
system. Each state court interprets and applies state
Key Terms
U.S. Supreme Court
The highest appellate court in the U.S. judicial
system; it reviews cases appealed from federal and
state court systems that deal with constitutional
issues.
initial appearance
A defendant’s first appearance in court to be
informed of the charge(s), to be advised of his or her
rights, and to have bail determined.
bail
A sum of money that the arrested person pays
to guarantee that he or she will appear at future
hearings.
defendant
A person against whom a charge is brought in court.
prosecutor
An individual charged with carrying out a legal
prosecution.
laws, whereas the federal court applies federal
laws. These systems operate largely independently.
Occasionally, however, cases at the state level that
involve constitutional issues are appealed to the
federal courts. Nearly all decisions decided by the
U.S. Supreme Court, the highest appellate court in
the judicial system, originated from cases originally
filed at the state level.
Both federal and state court systems are organized
into three tiers: lower courts, intermediate appel-
late courts, and courts of last resort, also known as
supreme courts. The lower courts are further divided
into courts of limited jurisdiction and general trial
courts, or courts of general jurisdiction. Courts of
limited jurisdiction handle the majority of criminal
cases, dealing with infractions of city ordinances
(e.g., abandoned vehicles, loud music, failure to
remove snow from sidewalks, and dog leash laws)
and misdemeanors (e.g., shoplifting and disorderly
conduct). There are more than 3000 general trial
courts in the United States, plus 94 U.S. district courts
that hear felony cases.31
The lower courts are the first to hear a case. The
process begins with an initial appearance, which
is the first appearance in court of a person who has
been arrested, to be read the charges against him
or her and to be advised of his or her rights; at this
appearance the court will also determine bail, which
is a sum of money paid to the court to guarantee
that the person will appear at future hearings. If it
is decided that the suspect likely committed the
crime, bail is set depending on the seriousness of
the crime, and counsel is assigned to suspects who
cannot afford an attorney. Guilty pleas are accepted
from misdemeanor defendants, persons against
whom the charge is brought in court, who decide to
forfeit their right to a trial. If the defendant pleads
“not guilty,” a trial is held to determine the guilt or
innocence of the alleged offender or a plea agreement
is negotiated with the prosecutor, the individual

Andrea Yates killed her five children by drowning them in the
family bathtub. At her first trial she was convicted of first-degree
murder, but her conviction was overturned on appeal. At her
second trial Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
© Pool/ Getty Images News/Getty.
charged with carrying out the legal prosecution. If
the offender is found guilty at trial, he or she is then
sentenced by the court.
Intermediate appellate courts hear appeals of
cases brought to them from the lower courts. They
do not retry cases, but rather review transcripts
from cases and hear testimony on issues concerning
violations of legal procedure, such as the admission
of illegally obtained evidence, which may form a
basis for overturning or modifying a lower court’s
decision. In 2002, for instance, Andrea Yates was
sentenced to life in prison after being convicted
for murdering three of her five children.32 The jury
rejected the insanity defense, concluding that Yates
knew right from wrong at the time she killed her
children. In 2005, the case was appealed to the
Texas First Court of Appeals, which reversed the
conviction because an expert witness for the state,
Dr. Park Dietz, had presented false testimony when
he said that Yates might have been influenced by a
particular episode of the Law and Order television
program, though no such episode ever aired. Given
that one or more jurors might have been influenced
by this false testimony, a new trial was ordered.
At this second trial, Yates was found not guilty by
reason of insanity and sentenced to a state-run,
maximum-security mental hospital where she still
resides today.33
The U.S. Supreme Court has jurisdiction over
all cases involving federal or constitutional issues.
It reviews federal district court decisions as well as
decisions appealed from state courts focusing on
issues of federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court does
not have jurisdiction over cases involving state law or
PART 1 Crime and Criminal Justice 11
violations of a state’s constitution. In these instances,
each state’s own supreme court is the final arbiter
of justice.
Corrections
Federal, state, and local correctional systems are respon-
sible for the custody, punishment, and rehabilitation
of convicted offenders. In 2014, roughly 6.8 million
people were either on probation (3.8 million), in jail
(0.7 million), in prison (1.5 million), or on parole
(0.8 million). This is about 1 in every 36 adults.34
The Federal Bureau of Prisons was established in
1930. Today it has more than 100 institutions. The
bureau is responsible for the custody of more than
196,000 federal offenders. There are an additional
1800 state-run correctional facilities that house
people convicted of state-level crimes. More than
400,000 people work in state correctional systems,
and more than 39,000 individuals work for the
federal correctional system.35
State and federal correctional systems classify inmates
based on various factors, such as the seriousness of
the offense committed, treatment needs, and per-
ceived dangerousness. Once an inmate is classified,
he or she is assigned to a suitable facility or program.
Offenders who are convicted of felonies are typically
confined in prisons, institutions for those convicted
of serious crimes, although they may be sentenced to
a term in jail, an institution for the confinement of
pretrial detainees and people convicted of less seri-
ous crimes. Persons convicted of misdemeanors are
detained in local jails or minimum-security corrections
facilities. Correctional institutions are categorized as
super-maximum-, maximum-, medium-, minimum-,
or low-security facilities.
The primary functions of correctional institutions
are to provide offenders with treatments, punish
them for their wrongdoings, and shield society from
any harm they might otherwise cause. Sometimes
these institutions offer counseling, job training, and
education to aid in the rehabilitation of offenders.
Community corrections, including probation and
parole services, focus on reintegrating offenders into
society through supervision and participation in coun-
seling that works to resolve job, family, education,
and drug- or alcohol-related problems.
Key Terms
prison
An institution for the confinement of people who
have been convicted of serious crimes.
jail
An institution to hold pretrial detainees and people
convicted of less serious crimes.
12 CHAPTER 1 The American Criminal Justice System

The Criminal Justice Process

The structure of the criminal justice system is

different from the criminal justice process.36 The
criminal justice process involves the procedures
used by the criminal justice system, from someone’s
initial contact with police to his or her possible
arrest, charging, booking, prosecution, conviction,
sentencing, and incarceration or placement on
probation. In the following sections, each stage in
the process is discussed.

Law Enforcement
Initial Contact
For most people, their initial contact with the crim-
inal justice system begins with the police. Usually,
it entails an officer observing a crime in progress, a
victim or a witness reporting a crime, or an ongoing
investigation providing law enforcement officials with
As part of her community service for drunken driving and
enough evidence to take action.
possession of cocaine, a Los Angeles court ordered Lindsay
Lohan to spend two days working in a morgue to show her
Criminal Investigation graphic evidence of dead bodies.
Once the police determine that a crime has been © Handout/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty.

committed, they will gather evidence and may

identify a suspect. Occasionally a suspect is appre-
hended at the crime scene, but most often he or
she is identified later through information obtained
from victims and witnesses, physical evidence (e.g.,
blood or hair samples, fingerprints, and tire marks),
or informants.
Arrest and Booking
If police believe that a suspect committed a crime,
they arrest him or her. Arresting a criminal suspect
is a complex process. When a suspect is arrested,
the law enforcement officer must not violate the
suspect’s constitutional rights. If the officer does,
either intentionally or by accident, the case may be
dismissed and the suspect set free. Once an arrest is
made, authorities will book the individual, which
involves recording the name of the person arrested,
the place and time of the arrest, the reason for
the arrest, and the name of the arresting author-
ity. At booking, suspects also are fingerprinted,
photographed, and placed in holding cells, where
they await further interrogation (see the following
Headline Crime box).
Courts
Charging
After making an arrest, police turn over the infor-
mation they have gathered about the crime to the
prosecutor. The prosecutor decides what charges
(if any) will be filed with the court. The prosecutor
may decide either to dismiss the case or to proceed
with the case.

Initial Appearance, Preliminary Hearing,

Key Term
criminal justice process
The procedures that occur in the criminal justice
system, from a citizen’s initial contact with police
to his or her potential arrest, charging, booking,
prosecution, conviction, sentencing, incarceration,
and receiving probation, to being paroled.
probable cause
A preliminary hearing scheduled by a judge to decide
whether there is sufficient evidence to prove that a
crime was committed and that the accused person
likely committed it.
or Arraignment
If the case proceeds, the defendant next makes his
or her initial appearance in court, where the charges
are read, bail is set, and the defendant is informed
of his or her rights. If the defendant is charged with
a misdemeanor, he or she may enter a plea. If this
plea is “guilty,” the judge may impose a sentence
immediately.
If the defendant is charged with a felony, he or
she may choose not to enter a plea at the initial
appearance. Instead, a judge may schedule a pre-
liminary hearing to determine probable cause
(i.e., to determine that there is sufficient evidence

Headline Crime
The False Confession of John Mark Karr
In 2006, John Mark Karr voluntarily confessed to
police that he had killed, drugged, and had sex with
10-year-old JonBenet Ramsey. Karr was arrested and
charged with criminal offenses related to the murder.
Before Karr’s first scheduled appearance in a courtroom,
however, Boulder (Colorado) District Attorney Mary
Lacy dropped the charges against Karr. DNA tests failed
to tie him to the crime in spite of his own statements
of involvement. This case demonstrated that when
a prosecutor thinks there is insufficient evidence to
proceed with a prosecution, he or she will likely dismiss
the charges, which Lacy did.
Source: Kenworthy, T. (2006, August 29). Ramsey suspect’s DNA not a match. USA Today, pp. 1A, 3A.
that a crime was committed and that the accused
person likely committed it).
In cases where a defendant has been indicted by a
grand jury and probable cause has been established
through the grand jury investigation, the defendant’s
first appearance in court is at an arraignment, where
the trial date is set.
Bail and Detention
Following the initial appearance, many defendants
post bail. As an alternative to posting bail, most
jurisdictions allow “good risk” defendants to make
a personal promise to appear in court, called release
on recognizance (ROR).
Defendants who cannot post bail or who do not
qualify for ROR will be transferred to the city or
county jail, where they are likely to remain until
their arraignment date. Some defendants are not
eligible for bail because they are viewed by the
court as posing a serious threat to the community
(including victims or witnesses who may testify
against the defendant) or because they are likely to
abscond (run away). These defendants are held in
preventive detention.
Plea Bargaining
Very few cases go to trial. About 95% of all cases
resulting in felony convictions never reach a jury.
They are settled through plea bargains in which a
defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for
some consideration, such as prosecutors dropping a
charge or count or making a recommendation for a
reduced sentence.37
PART 1 Crime and Criminal Justice 13
John Mark Karr
© RJ Sangosti/Denver Post/Getty.
Trial
Defendants who choose to go to trial are guaranteed
the right to a trial by jury, although they may request
a bench trial, in which the judge alone determines
guilt or innocence. In either situation, the trial con-
cludes with one of three possible verdicts: not guilty
(acquittal), guilty (convicted), or a mistrial (hung
jury, jury-tampering, etc). A mistrial may result in a
retrial for a defendant. In a bench trial, there are only
two possible outcomes: guilty or not guilty. When a
trial ends in a hung jury, the prosecutor may refile the
charges and prosecute the defendant again.
Sentencing and Appeals
Following a guilty plea or a guilty verdict, a sentenc-
ing hearing is set. The judge decides the appropriate
sentence by considering the characteristics of the
offense and the characteristics of the offender that
might increase or decrease the severity of the sentence
(known as aggravating or mitigating factors) as well
as other relevant material. The judge, in addition, will
review the presentence investigation report prepared
by the probation officer, which includes information
about the crime, the offender’s background, and his
or her prior criminal record. The judge also reads or
hears any victim impact statements, which are oral
Key Term
victim impact statements
Oral or written statements by the family or friends
of the victim that explain the crime’s impact on the
victim and/or his or her family and friends.
14 CHAPTER 1 The American Criminal Justice System
or written statements by the victim and his or her
family and friends that explain the nature and extent
of the impact of the crime on them.
If defendants believe they were unfairly convicted
or sentenced, they may appeal their verdicts or sen-
tences to an appellate court. This court reviews the
lower court’s transcripts solely for procedural errors,
such as admission of illegally obtained evidence.
If an appellate court determines significant errors
were made at trial, it may overturn the conviction and
order a new trial or vacate the sentence and order a
new sentencing hearing.
Corrections
Probation
A convicted offender may be placed on probation,
a sentencing option typically involving a suspended
prison sentence and supervision in the community.
The conditions of probation might include paying a
fine, participating in psychological counseling, taking
part in a drug or alcohol treatment program, obtaining
a job, or regularly reporting to a probation officer.
If the offender violates any of these conditions, the
court may revoke his or her probation and return the
probationer to prison.
A Las Vegas judge sentenced O.J. Simpson to at least 15 years
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sports memorabilia. Simpson will be eligible for parole in 2017.
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Quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months at a
federal minimum-security prison after pleading guilty to dog
fighting charges. Vick served his sentence and returned to
the NFL.
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Incarceration
If the court decides that probation is not an appro-
priate sentence, the offender may be incarcerated in
jail (for misdemeanor convictions and some felony
convictions) or placed in prison (for longer term
imprisonment). While incarcerated, some offenders
will have the opportunity to participate in rehabil-
itation programs. Not all prisons provide inmates
with the same programs. The greatest disparities in
programs offered are found in men’s versus women’s
correctional institutions.
Release and Parole
Few offenders serve their full prison sentences. Most
prisoners become eligible to receive parole, a type
of conditional release, based on good behavior or
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early, the offender is supervised in the community by
a parole officer and must follow a set of clearly stated
conditions. If any of the conditions are violated, the
offender may be returned to prison.
Perspectives on Justice
Since its inception, the precise meaning of the term
criminal justice has sparked debate. Criminologists
continuously argue about the best way to prevent
crime. Criminal justice is not a unified field of study.
There are conflicts and irreconcilable differences
among academicians and practitioners. Different
opinions exist when answering questions concerning
criminal justice, for example: Should there be the
death penalty? Should illegal immigrants be returned
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN