Criminal Justice Essays

By Megan Lowmaster

Essays written by a college student. Information on the controversial American Eugenics Project. In-depth information on post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsion disorder and hoarding. Biblical laws on homicide and how the United States Used them to Create Criminal Codes. Viewer discretion advised due to details in Eugenics and murder essays.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 20, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304955609

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Criminal Justice Essays

Criminal Justice Essays

Megan Lowmaster

ISBN 978-1-304-95560-9

Copyright 2014

Disclaimer

The following essays were written for college courses for criminal justice or crisis counseling.  The author is not considered an expert in the field of study but was a student.  Some content may be graphic in detail, especially in the Eugenics paper.  These papers are a way to share the author’s work and to help people better understand parts of the criminal justice field.

===Table of Contents

Arson

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Biblical Laws on Homicide and How the United States has Used These Laws to Create Criminal Codes

Restorative Justice

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The American Eugenics Project and Movement

Arson

Thesis

Arson is a complicated crime to investigate.   It requires knowledge of accelerants and the ability to obtain evidence to be used in searching for a cause.  Great importance is required for fire investigation which can be done with the help of a trained fire fighter or someone who knows in depth information about how a fire is extinguished and what items contain the best evidence.  Arson is a time consuming investigative process and must be done with major attention to even the tiniest detail.

Definition of Arson

Arson is defined as the malicious and willful burning of another person’s house; it can be expanded by statute to include acts like burning (or exploding) or the destruction of property other than a dwelling (Gifis, 2008.)  A dwelling is a place where someone lives, like their house or apartment.

Oregon Laws on Arson

The State of Oregon has two separate laws regarding arson (State of Oregon, 2011) § 164.325 is arson in the first degree.

A person commits the crime of arson in the first degree when a fire is started or causes an explosion, the person intentionally damages: protected property of another person, (property of person setting fire or property of another person), the act places another person in physical danger or protected property of another in danger of damage.  Any property (the persons or the property of another person) and recklessly causes serious injury to a firefighter or peace officer acting in the line of duty related to the fire.  By knowingly engaging in the manufacture of methamphetamine a person causes a fire or explosion that damages property described earlier.  Arson in the first degree is a Class A felony.

Oregon law §164.315 is arson in the second degree.  A person commits the crime of arson in the second degree if by starting a fire or causing an explosion, the person intentionally damages any building of another that is not protected property (their own or another person’s property.)  If the damage exceeds $750 or by knowingly engages in the manufacturing of methamphetamine the person causes a fire or an explosion that damages property described above.  Arson in the second degree is a Class C felony.

Arson Investigation   

Arson investigation requires a comprehensive understanding of chemical properties of combustible materials and accelerants (Moore, 2006.)  Evidence must be preserved and retrieved under challenging circumstances.  If a criminal investigator needs to examine a fire scene it is best to take a fire fighter along if their agency does not have an arson investigator.  A fire fighter knows the anatomy of fires and the ways that they are extinguished. 

Arson may be an indicator that another crime has happened in close proximity to the scene or at the scene itself.  Sometimes buildings are burned to collect insurance or to cover up a murder, burglary or a hate crime.  If a person is found dead in a fire there is a way to tell if they were killed by the fire or murdered.  A living person