...primarily a function of a lack of funding sources devoted to issues surrounding criminology and criminal justice. However, research in criminal justice has dramatically increased. The period between 1960 and 1980, saw the enormous increase in efforts in the federal government to initiate research projects that were designed to understand the extent of criminal behavior, including the etiology of criminal behavior, as well as the reaction of the criminal justice system to criminal behavior. Although still under supported financially, funded research efforts during this time period gathered much information that helped set the stage for the continuation and expansion of criminological research efforts. Since 1980, there has been a substantial increase in the financial resources afforded to criminological research, which has led to a large number of activities within criminology and criminal justice system. Looking at the social factors of criminals, it is possible to see these factors could influence criminal decision and the way they handle situations. Mary Bell was an eleven- year-old girl, who lived in England in a poverty stricken area, known as Scotswood. The criminal grew up the product of a prostitute mother and a thieving father figure. She was often abused, although does not admit to this until later in her life. She was only 11 years old when she became a criminal. According to courts, she was found guilty of manslaughter, because of diminished responsibility...
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...The Psychology of Criminal Behaviour: Theories from Past to Present by editor i Arista B. Dechant, Fort Hays State University, Kansas download this essay: theories-of-criminal-behavior Arista writes: I have been involved in extensive research since undergraduate school surrounding criminals and how they operate. There are many ideas surrounding the cause of antisocial behavior and criminality. Through this independent study class for Fort Hays State University’s Justice Studies (Graduate) Program, I felt I would have the perfect opportunity to explore many of theories which have developed, over time, to explain criminal behavior. It is my hope that this research paper will provide an extensive and educational look at how the psychology of a criminal impacts the activity which is produced. It seems that every year brings new ideas, but I feel that the following is a conclusive look of research compiled from the beginning of criminality to the present. I have also provided a history of criminality and how it has developed into what we now understand as forensic psychology. This field will always remain fluid with discovery, and my greatest pleasure would come from being part of it in the future. [pic] “Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves behind, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him.” Edmund Locard The application of psychology in the criminal and civil justice system is known as forensic...
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...Disparity and Discrimination There are many different situations that occur within the criminal justice system. However, the ones that are being used involve court procedures and law enforcement. The situations that will be discussed are disparity and discrimination existing in the criminal justice system. In certain situations disparity can be a result of discrimination depending on the situation. There will be definitions, examples, comparison, and contrast of disparity and discrimination. The disparity consists of two factors, which are called legal and extralegal and they may not necessarily mean discrimination. The legal factor provides legitimate base explanation for the decisions on the individual’s criminal behavior and criminal record. For example, in the court when deciding on the sentence or the amount of time that the individual will have to serve based on breaking law by murder, burglary, rape, etc. Another example, law enforcement arrest a person for burglary because of the person past criminal history, and the fact that they were not too far away from the scene of the crime. In addition, the extralegal factor includes lifestyle, gender, nationality, and class status, which are not legitimate reasons to base decisions on. For example in the court, deciding whether to sentence the individual or the amount of time that individual will have to be serve will not be based on their nationality, but on statics of that population and community, and appearance...
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...There are many different situations that occur within the criminal justice system. However, the ones that are being used involve court procedures and law enforcement. The situations that will be discussed are disparity and discrimination existing in the criminal justice system. In certain situations disparity can be a result of discrimination depending on the situation. There will be definitions, examples, comparison, and contrast of disparity and discrimination. Disparity consists of two factors, which are called legal and extralegal and they may not necessarily mean discrimination. The legal factor provides legitimate base explanation for the decisions on the individual’s criminal behavior and criminal record. For example, in the court when deciding on the sentence or the amount of time that the individual will have to serve based on breaking law by murder, burglary, rape, etc. Another example, law enforcement arrest a person for burglary because of the person past criminal history, and the fact that they were not too far away from the scene of the crime. In addition, the extralegal factor includes lifestyle, gender, nationality, and class status, which are not legitimate reasons to base decisions on. For example in the court, deciding whether to sentence the individual or the amount of time that individual will have to be serve will not be based on their nationality, but on statics of that population and community, and appearance of the individual. According to Toensing...
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...This essay will first attempt to define globalisation and define neo-liberalism. There is a close interconnection between the two concepts, especially on an international level therefore their positive and negative impacts on crime and criminal justice will be discussed together and then a separate analysis of neo-liberalism and its effects on crime will be examined from a local perspective. Globalisation defined Globalisation is not static, but is rather a dynamic process which involves the growing interconnectedness of states and societies that enmesh human communities with each other, easy mobility of goods and services across countries, electronic communications transcending borders and creating independence from territorially confined units of political power (Massari 2003). These key tenets, which encompass the definition of globalisation, will be discussed with regard to their impacts on crime. Neo-liberalism defined Neo-liberalism can be defined as a set of political beliefs which include the idea that the role of the state in crime control should be minimal as the only legitimate purpose of the state is to protect the individual (O’Malley 2008). Neo-liberalism generally includes the belief that the most efficient way to organise all exchanges of goods and services in human society is through freely adopted market mechanisms leading to greater cost effectiveness, individual liberty and moral virtue (Thorsen & Lie 2000). Individuals in society are empowered...
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...Power, however, is not something that should necessarily be looked at negatively. There are justifiable types of power that may be important to criminal justice organizations. The main role of power in criminal justice administration should be to gain compliance from subordinates of all types, and turn that power over time into acceptable forms of authority (Stojkovic et al., 2008). It is for this reason that power is an important attribute in criminal justice agencies. It is important as a criminal justice manager, and agency as a whole, to have legitimate power. Power that is not coercive and works for the good of the organization is beneficial in gathering information, resources, and compliance. Legitimate, expert, and referent power can be effective in the attainment of goals (Stojkovic et al., 2008). Legitimate power operates on the assumption that those in traditional authority positions are the power holder and wield their authority over the power recipient because their internalized norms justify the amount of compliance needed (Stojkovic et al., 2008). Legitimate power is most useful within criminal justice agencies because it takes into account the culture, and social structure, and operates within a hierarchy to promote successful delegation of duties. While political power does have some benefits within a criminal justice agency, it is easily corruptible and leads one to believe legitimate power should be internally focused for a successful organization. There...
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...causes including spread if information communication technology, the global mass media, cheap flights, deregulation of markets and easy movements of businesses. Held et al argues there’s been globalisation of crime; an increasing interconnectedness of crime across national borders. The same process that brought globalisation of legitimate activities has also brought the spread of transnational organised crime. Globalisation creates new opportunities for crime and new means of committing crime, for example cyber crime. Manuel Castells (1998) argues because of globalisation there is a globalised criminal economy worth £1 trillion. This takes a number of forms such as arms dealing, human trafficking, green crime and many others. The global criminal economy has both a demand and supply side. A reason for scale of transnational organised crime is demand from the rich west. However the global criminal economy couldn’t survive without a supply side that provides the source for demands of the west, such as drugs and prostitutes. This supply is linked to the globalisation process. For example third world drug producing countries such as Columbia have large populations of impoverished peasants. For them drug investment is attractive; it’s simple to produce and commands high prices. In Columbia, 20% of peasants rely on cocaine production for their livelihood; cocaine out sells all other exports. Thus to understand drug crime we cannot focus only on countries where drugs are consumed. Globalisation...
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...paper will analyze the current trends and the impact incarceration has on communities of color and how criminal justice policy and practice plays a role in this. According to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of a total population of 1,976,019 incarcerated in adult facilities, 1,239,946 or 63 percent are black or Latino, though these two groups constitute only 25 percent of the national population. Some of the greatest racial disparities in rates of incarceration happen in states in which minorities are massed in urban areas, which tend to have both higher rates of crime and greater law enforcement activity. This paper will also discuss how these incarcerations affect the offenders, public safety, criminal policies and procedures. Racial Disparities in Corrections There are many factors regarding the disproportional rates of incarceration in communities of color. Data generated by the U.S. Department of Justice predicts that if current trends continue, one out of every three black males born today will go to prison in his lifetime, as well as one of every six Latino males. The rates of incarceration for women overall are lower than for men, but similar racial/ethnic disparities still apply. Some law makers are looking at ways to develop policies and practices to reduce insupportable racial disparities in the criminal justice system, it is essential to analyze the factors that have produced the increasing levels of incarceration in...
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...INTRODUCTION As a preface to this assignment I would like to say that it is virtually impossible to inset all the solutions to a nations criminal justice problems in a one page (per county) summary. With the diverse nature of all 4 countries, to be able to “fly” into a foreign land at the request of the leader, and be given “Carte Blanc” to handle their criminal justice problem is about as impossible as implementing all that is needed to fix their criminal justice system issues within the perimeters of this paper. I would actually like to be alive in 2025 and to see this happen (other countries allowing us to handle their criminal justice systems) it might be akin to the forefathers of this country (Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton etc) seeing the implementation of the automobile as a transportation model for the people. I’m sure they could have never imagined people transporting themselves they way we do as people today. This is how I feel about the prospect of the four other nations allowing someone from the U.S State Department handle their individual criminal justice affairs. The problem that we face not only in the United States but worldwide is a highly heated debate. How do we handle this crisis that we are all encountering? It would be simple to only have one nice little problem that when corrected the system worked fine. This would be similar to a car with a flat tire. Nothing is wrong with the main components (engine, transmission, ect) but when the tire is replaced...
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...The year is 3022, individuals travel through the solar system at the speed of light. Every planet in the solar system contains communities governed under the Federation of Space Expedition. Individuals are free to live throughout the galaxy, without the regulations of the past. Does this scenario sounds too good to be true, individuals who inhabited the planet thousands of years ago would disagree probably. Today, however a scientific advantage allows aircrafts to travel back and forth into space, space stations, and the moon. Astronauts are assigned missions that gather materials from space, conduct experiments, and maintain equipment for future use. The methods of understanding research processes, and terminology, begins with a basic understanding of the fields themselves. The quest to fulfill the requirement of research starts with the principles of why the research is need in the first place. Recent studies involving medicine, environmental changes that cause global warming, and earth’s atmosphere, have revealed that drastic changes are need to preserve natural resources, and cure diseases. Research methodology requires an individual dedication to the process, and unwavering commitment toward the accomplishment of the mission. Research methodologists continue to examine aspects of studies, involving theories, fact finding elements, and final resolutions (Hagan, 2010). Research methods in criminal justice are designed to determine what type of data-gathering is...
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...What Justice Means to Me Many words and phrases are used to describe the meaning of justice but everyone has a different definition to describe justice. Moral character, environmental factors, social issues, and many other factors can determine the meaning of justice for each individual. Justice, to me, means that fair and equal treatment for an individual's actions will be evaluated according to the rights set forth in the United States Constitution, previous court cases, and standards commonly known in society no matter an individual's ethnic or moral characteristics. Laws and bills are passed in accordance with the Constitution to be used to benefit society and the citizens of the United States. Every individual has a meaning for justice and what they hold to be true or acceptable behavior in society. According to one definition explaining the meaning of justice is described by The FreeDictionary (2008) in the following quote, "The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law." This meaning could be interpreted in many ways and used in different situations. I found, in previous courses in my associate degree program, that justice can be divided into different categories such as virtue, honor, morality, and ethical thinking. From combining the definition of virtue as stated by Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2008) and ideals of justice I have come up with the following statement: The belief of virtue...
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...Disparity and discrimination paper Jesse Wilkie CJS/221 Frank Merenda 8/21/2015 Disparity and discrimination Within the criminal justice system there are various situations that take place. Nevertheless, the ones that are actually used include court procedures and law administration. Circumstances that will be deliberated on within this paper are disparity situations and discrimination situations. Depending on the situation, disparity can result in discrimination. Further included will be definitions, examples and comparing as well as contrasting of discrimination and disparity. The two factors referred to as legal and extralegal are the factors in which disparity consist of. These factors don’t essentially mean discrimination. Provided by the lawful factor are valid explanations for the judgments made on the person’s unlawful behavior and felonious record. An example of this would be once an individual is in court and the judge is determining the sentence or how much time that the person will have to serve based on the crime which could be murder, burglary, rape, etc. Another example would be an individual being arrested for breaking and entering or burglary based on their past unlawful history, and the fact that they were in the area where the crime took place at the time that...
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...what personality traits they will take on. According to Bandura (1977) learning would be exceedingly laboress not to mention hazardous if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Most behaviors that have been studied resorts back to observation, the behaviors have in turn modeled the basic interepatation of the perceived. Deviation from these behaviors are the choice of the individual but hard for them to change due to only knowing one way of living. The psychological theories prove that early stages of moral and cognitive developments in behaviors down the line. All behaviors we observe are not always learned or carried out, each determines on the rewards of the behaviors. The three core concepts of the Social Learning concept are, the idea that people learn through observation, secondly that the idea that internal mental state are essential part of the process. Finally, this concept recognizes that just because you learn the behaviors you do not necessarily have to change your behaviors. As we study the three concepts, we can break down the steps to figuring out how it all pertains to the human behaviors Observational Learning In Bandura Bobo doll experiment, he demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors they...
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...perception. The patterns and existence of institutionalized discrimination, contextual discrimination, and individual discriminatory behaviors within the criminal justice system carry considerable influence on public perception of police departments. The effects of social class, race, and ethnicity on citizen opinions of how law enforcement agencies operate include instances of corruption, systematic discrimination, and general misunderstandings of cultural diversities. Institutionalized discrimination describes a wider pattern of events regarding discriminatory practices incorporated into processes, procedures, and organizational structure (Walker, Spone, Delone, 2012). An example may include policies that permit judges to consider employment or domestic history in their decision making process.Whether these occurrences are due to prejudice or racism, or are the result of a general lack of consideration for the needs of various social identities, they essentially indicate a problematic system. Pure justice provides restorative justice for victims and their rights, yet attains an unbiased, unprejudiced approach to retribution. Disproportionate numbers of minority group members involved in various stages of the criminal justice system indicate racial disparity, challenging whether this is because there are higher rates of criminal acts or a consequence of discrimination. Racial imbalance is contextual, depending on the specific circumstances of a case, such as the race or ethnicity...
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...personality disorders to treat. People with the disorder rarely seek treatment on their own. Treatment is usually by force for eg. when required to by a court, the threat of termination of employment, impending divorce etc. (Grossmann, 2004 pg. 182). Treatment Even when diagnosed it can be difficult to treat the disorder. This is largely because by definition people with the disorder do not care that they are causing pains and problems, “they are possessed of an absent or defective conscience, restraints must usually be provided by external forces” (Grossman et al. 2004 pg. 182). Incarceration/criminal justice system: Sometimes hospitalization in a mental facility or incarceration during the most active criminal periods in a prison facility are necessary treatment steps. The majority of individuals receiving interventions for APD and associated problems will be in the criminal justice system – with the intervention provided by the probation or prison services. The aim being to reduce the offending behavior (British Psychological Society. (2010) p.g. 2) and reduces their behaviors’ social impact. Most psychological interventions in the prisons are cognitive behavioural and to a great extent based on social learning theory, a development of behavioural learning models which have been adapted to take account of findings from cognitive and developmental psychology (Bandura, 2001 as cited...
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