...Criminal Justice Trend Evaluation Terry Milton CJA/394 June 25, 2012 James Beeks Criminal Justice Trend Evaluation To keep up with the criminal problems in society, functions and components of the criminal justice system has to evolve in order to be able to detect and keep up with growing trends in society. New laws need to be created to help keep up with the evolution and its new trends. In this paper the evaluation of past, present, and future trends that connect to societies and the components of the criminal justice system will be discussed. It will also assess the recent and future contemporary issues that affect the criminal justice system. The purpose of this paper is to show that the criminal justice system has a major role in an ever changing society. Recent and future trends have always and will always affect the criminal justice system. New trends in technology, law, terrorism, gender and diversity will always effect the functions of the criminal justice system. Technology in the 21st century is one of the legal issues that have caused controversy. New technology devices such as hand geometry biometrics and the use of retina and iris devices have the ability to gain information not only on people’s health but also their medical history as well. When it concerns the criminal justice system, many of these new technology devices are being used to detect drugs and concealed weapons that are sneaked into prison facilities. They help prevent illegal activities...
Words: 1723 - Pages: 7
...Women in Policing History, duties, and leadership roles Melissa Carpenter Genesee Community College Author Note This paper was prepared for Administration in Criminal Justice 205, Section 99, taught by Professor Bushen Abstract: The journey of women in policing and police leadership has been long and strewn with obstacles and issues. The aim of this paper is to examine and discuss women in the policing. This paper will attempt to discuss the struggles and problems women face when taking a leadership role. This paper will give a brief history of the roles women played when first being introduced into the criminal justice system along with the roles they obtain now. When thinking of people in the criminal justice field especially that of police officers, chief of police, prosecutor, etc. many people often picture men in those positions. For many decades the criminal justice system was a male-dominated field and although men still hold a majority of these positions, more women are stepping up and taking initiative to lead in these areas. “In most cultures across the globe, males hold more power and privilege—both publicly and privately—than females. Men control more of the wealth, hold the highest position in government and industry, control the military, make more scientific and scholarly discoveries, and are more prominent in sports and entertainment than women” (Goodstein). This paper will discuss the roles of women in the criminal justice system...
Words: 1666 - Pages: 7
...Bureau of Justice Statistics at yearend 2012, approximately 6,937,600 offenders were under the supervision of adult correctional systems (2013). Of this number, more than 60% of the inmates in prison are minorities however; they make up only 37% of the United States population. Considering the trends in which minorities commit crimes, such broad statistics conceal that racial disparities pervade each stage of the U.S. judicial system, from arrest to trial and sentencing. The first stage of the judicial system is the arrest made by an officer. Police are given an incredible amount of discretion to use that leads to bias and racial profiling. According to Paul Bou-Habib in his article “Racial Profiling and Background Injustice”, he states, “The main reason in favor of using racial profiling in the context of criminal investigation is that I can increase the chance of catching criminals” (para. 2). A key factor in the imbalance of the arrests on minorities in comparison to whites is that they commit more crimes at higher rates. In the article, “The Correlates of Law Enforcement Officers’ Automatic and Controlled-Race Based Responses to Criminal Suspects” by B. Michelle Peruche & E. Ashby Plant (2006) suggests that: Such responses may be influenced by stereotypic expectations. For example, it is possible that Black men are more likely to be violent and hostile may create expectations that Black people, particularly Black men, are more likely to be violent criminals than White...
Words: 2887 - Pages: 12
... Makita Walker, Joseph Washington CJA/214 May 24, 2012 Jesse Banks Police Culture The history of policing can be traced back to the beginning of time. When looking at the subject of police work there is a large culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying, and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. A large element of the police job that plays a large factor in the work and attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an office will face while performing on the job. Another part of the job that plays a large part in the culture of policing can be found when one examines how women and ethnic minorities have achieved equality in law enforcement. Finally, policing culture can be analyzed when looking at the internal and external mechanisms that influence and control police discretion. Police culture continues to puzzle the average citizen; not belonging to “the brotherhood.” Police officers command a certain respect simply by donning the uniform and carrying a badge. The police culture provides many benefits to individuals who belong to this private organization. Officers of the law have their own social circle that only persons with a badge and uniform are allowed to be a member of. Also, it has been shown that police officers have difficulty in relationships with family members, friends, and personal relationships...
Words: 1344 - Pages: 6
...America’s Justice System: Justice for All? ENG122 English Composition II Instructor: August 26, 2013 America’s Judicial System: Justice for All? Law enforcement can be an admirable job for anyone who takes this position seriously. It is a job that has its rewards. Conflict comes to light when the differences of opinions regarding the disparities in the judicial system on all levels of law enforcement. Even though there are many whites that do not agree with the facts, the statistics show that African Americans and Hispanics are incarcerated at a much higher rate than whites. The judicial system in the United States has shown favoritism and bias towards white defendants, especially the wealthier white defendants for hundreds of years. There are racial disparities that burden our judicial system with the appearance and often the reality of unfairness. Visit any criminal trial in America today and you will see that the judge, the prosecutor, the court stenographer, the clerk, the bailiff, other various court personnel, the defense attorneys, and more often, the jurors are all white. One excellent example of these disparities would be in the recent “George Zimmerman” trial in Sanford, Florida a town who has allegedly had a history of racial violence and judicial disparities in and out of the court room (Maur, 2010). There are questions often asked, is there justice for “all” in our criminal courts and judicial system, and what is racial disparity? Some...
Words: 2906 - Pages: 12
...Two reasons why crime and deviance are in all societies: - No everyone is equally socialized into norms and values. Some are likely to be deviant. - Diversity of lifestyle and values. Different groups have their own subcultures with distinctive norms and values. Some may see deviant acts as normal. > Durkheim says in modern societies there is tendency towards anomie. The rules for behaviour become weaker and less clear-cut. This is because modern societies have a complex division of labour meaning individuals become more different from each other. Crime is more likely. Positive functions of crime – it also performs two positive functions Boundary maintenance - produces a reaction from society, uniting members in disapproval of criminals and reinforcing their commitment to shared norms and values. Adaptation and change – all change starts with an act of deviance. There must be scope to challenge existing norms and values and this will seem deviant in the short run. Criticisms - Durkheim says society requires deviance to function properly but states no way of knowing how much is the right amount. - Functionalists see crime in terms of its function. Crime may not exist to fulfill these functions. - Functionalists look at how functions of crime serve society as a whole and ignore how it might affect different groups or individuals within...
Words: 7771 - Pages: 32
...03-Banks.qxd 1/30/04 4:52 PM Page 57 3 Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System ETHICAL BACKGROUND It is generally agreed that discrimination based on ethnic origin is morally wrong and a violation of the principle of equality. The equality principle requires that those who are equal be treated equally based on similarities, and that race is not a relevant consideration in that assessment (May and Sharratt 1994: 317). In other words, it is only possible to justify treating people differently if there exists some factual difference between them that justifies such difference in treatment (Rachels 1999: 94). Equality is a nonspecific term that means nothing until applied to a particular context. Thus, in a political context, equality means equal access to public office and equal treatment under the law, and equal treatment extends to equality in terms of job hiring, promotion, and pay. Race refers to groups of persons who are relatively alike in their biological inheritance and are distinct from other groups (American Anthropological Association 1997: 2). Ethnicity is a cultural phenomenon referring to a person’s identification with a particular cultural group (Hinman 1998: 403). Race is socially constructed, and the notion that persons “belong” to a particular race was developed in the last century based on the belief that there was a biological basis for categorizing groups of people. Biologically, however, the term race has no meaning, yet society...
Words: 10761 - Pages: 44
...Imbalance of Minorities in Our Prison System Brady Jacobs ENG 122: English Composition II Prof. Jennifer Chagala December 1, 2014 American prisons are highly racially imbalanced in a country that incarcerates more of its population than any other nation in the world. I see this first hand in my career as a correctional officer at a state prison. I see the imbalance every day and it doesn’t fluctuate. There are several reasons for this imbalance. Poverty, disrespect of legal structure, lack of discipline, inadequate education, and drugs are the main causes of the disproportionate ratio of minority inmates. The NAACP has a broken down some solid statistics on this issue as well. Poverty is one of the many contributing factors to why people are imprisoned. Poverty becomes more prevalent with minorities who have been previously incarcerated. It also becomes increasingly difficult for them to find a job once they are released from prison. Today’s economy is already stacked against them and if they are unable to find employment it could lead to recidivism. When people get desperate they tend to do desperate things. Here is a simple scenario: a man cannot get jobs earning money righteously so he will find other ways to provide for his family. Most men who try to make a dishonest living are eventually caught and are consequently incarcerated. Examples could range from anything to writing bad checks all the way to armed robbery. This may lead to...
Words: 1452 - Pages: 6
...Jaclyn Glovasky EN 102 111 10/29/2015 Inequality in Criminal Court Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics, while gender refers to behaviors, roles, expectations, and activities in society. Social inequality plays a big part in who commits crime, who is victimized by crime, and how it is dealt with. Inequality can be based on gender, race, and social class. Being part of a family is central to the development of sex roles. Women’s role is learned to be nurturing, caring and keep the family unit running smoothly, whereas men connect the family to the larger world, through achievement, goal attainment and breadwinning in the instrumental role. However, problems arise with the assumption that because women...
Words: 393 - Pages: 2
...Crime and Deviance AN INTRODUCTION TO CRIME AND DEVIANCE Definitions * Crime- An act which breaks the criminal laws of society. * Deviance- refers to the behaviour which is disapproved of by most people in society and which does not conform to society's norms and values. TOPIC 1: FUNCTIONALIST, STRAIN AND SUBCULTURAL THEORIES Durkheim's functionalist theory: * Socialisation and Social control are two key mechanisms which allow social solidarity to occur in society. The inevitability of crime: * Functionalists see too much crime as destabilising society. * They also see crime as inevitable and universal- Durkheim, 'crime is normal... an integral part of all healthy societies.' * There are two reasons why C&D are found in all societies; 1.Not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values. 2. Different groups develop their own subculture and what the members of the subculture regard as normal, mainstream culture may see as deviant. * Durkheim also discusses that in modern societies there is a tendency towards anomie (normlessness). The diversity of modern societies means that the collective conscience is weakened, and this results in higher levels of C&D. The positive functions of crime: * For Durkheim, crime also fulfils two important functions; boundary maintenance and adaptation. * Boundary Maintenance- In Durkheim's view, the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society's shared rules and reinforces...
Words: 20916 - Pages: 84
...Minority Inmates in American Prisons Noreen Harman ENG122: English Composition II Instructor January Pearson July 7, 2014 There is a disparate rate of minorities in the American prison system currently. I will present evidence from scholarly resources proving that the reason why the minority population is so high is due to racial profiling. The judicial system imposes stricter and longer prison terms on minorities because of their culture. Blacks are about eight times more likely to go to prison than whites, which dwarfs black-white disparities in, for example, unemployment rates (2-to -1 disparity), infant mortality (2-to -1 disparity), and out of wedlock births (3-to-1 disparity). L.J. Geo (2010). African American and Hispanic offenders were more likely than whites to be sentenced to prison, especially if they were male, young and unemployed, S. Spohn (2000). Even though there may be a high rate of minority crimes being committed, I believe the reason for having so many minorities in prison is due to the current judicial system stereo typing. In the article Rethinking Drug Courts: Restorative Justice as a Response to Racial Injustice, it talks about the rate of drug crimes committed by minority and longer sentences imposed to blacks and Hispanics. Drug court offers offenders the opportunity to not do time in prison and get court supervised treatment instead. This is beneficial to the families of minorities so they can keep working and providing...
Words: 3140 - Pages: 13
...The criminal justice system uses a lot of terminology that can be hard to understand, two words commonly used are disparity and discrimination. In this essay I will define and give current examples of the terminology. I will also explain why knowing the difference between the two is important in the criminal justice system. Disparity and discrimination are similar terms. You might be asking yourself what is disparity? Disparity can be defined as a lack of similarity or equality. Diversity can be defined as the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. One current and highly controversial form of discrimination that we are facing worldwide is same sex marriages. No matter if you are for it or against it you have seen or been affected in some way by the topic. By not allowing same sex marriages to be validated we are discriminating against the gay and lesbian community. There are still many forms of discrimination that take place in today’s society; unfortunately a lot of discrimination is racially based. We also see a lot of gender based discrimination; typically men are still paid more than women for the exact same job. America is the most racially diverse demographic nation in the world. Many people working the criminal justice systems are aware of the racial disparity and would like to counteract it. Racial disparity in the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of the racial or ethnic group within control of the system is greater than the...
Words: 738 - Pages: 3
...comes to hiring the most qualified candidates and also those candidates that come from racial/ethnic minorities and female applicants. Having diversity within a law enforcement agency is critical. Bringing cultural understandings and native language skills to the force, minorities’ play a key role for success when the officers are called to help those groups of individuals. “In short, the police may be seen more legitimate and may be better able to partner with community organizations in fighting crime if they more closely resemble and identify with the communities they serve” (Raganella and White, 2004; Scivner, 2006). Due to the higher standards that most of the law enforcement agencies require, there are many individuals that would make outstanding police officers, but do not meet many of the requirements such as a college education. However, there are many other circumstances that can attribute to the lower number of minorities and women in law enforcement. One of the biggest issues with recruitment of racial/ethnic minorities and women basically boils down to “an insufficient number of these groups simply not applying for the job” (Scivner, 2006). According to Ravens 2010, “lack of awareness suggests a deficiency in outreach actions and events; that is, there is not enough recruitment in areas where demographics suggest that qualified female and racial/ethnic minority candidates could be found (page 16). Even if the candidates are not qualified to become part of the...
Words: 2038 - Pages: 9
...leniency of sentencing female offenders in the criminal justice system. It has been suggested the shift turning to harsher, more severe punishments is due to more female practitioners in the criminal justice system which subsequently reduced the chivalry hypothesis. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the literature and empirical research regarding past and present studies of female offenders, the chivalry hypothesis, the differences in male and female convictions, and to answer the enduring question: Is chivalry dead? While this paper does not incorporate all of the literature available, it does offer a good snap shot of many pertinent studies conducted regarding these topics and the issues pertaining to them. Female Offenders Then and Now Over the years, the empirical evidence supporting the position that women offenders are treated less harshly than their male counterparts has been at best inconsistent. (Burnett, 1994: Coombs, 1995: Denno, 1994: Johnson & Nagel, 1994: Klein & Kress, 2014). The writers of these studies used a variety of theses to explain the leniency. Some suggested women are treated with chivalry and thus given lighter sentences for similar offenses created by men. While others suggested the leniency was due to the majority of females in the court system are first time offenders. In 1994, Kathleen Davy published Gender, Crime and Punishment. In the book she explores whether men and women who are convicted of similar crimes, are punished...
Words: 2560 - Pages: 11
...01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Step 7 A Judge Is Assigned to Hear the Case ❖ 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 N 30 L In the previous two chapters, we learned about the two attorneys in the courtroom drama, the prosecutor and the defense attorney. In this chapter, we turn our attention to the third member of the courtroom work group, the judge. We will learn what judges do and how they become judges. Then, we will look at judges’ discretion and how it affects their relationships with others. INTRODUCTION Judges are by far the most easily recognized member of the courtroom work group, both by their conspicuous robes and by their prominent position in the courtroom. They are also the subject of many stereotypes because the public wants to believe that judges combine patience, wisdom, and compassion to arrive at fair decisions, while they eschew the character flaws that sometimes form the basis of decisions by others, including prejudice, intolerance, favoritism, and hostility. Unfortunately, judges are human and their decisions occasionally reflect such a reality. One West Virginia judge, for example, became so enraged at a defendant who began cursing at him in court that he jumped down from his bench, tore off his judicial robe, and bit the tip off the defendant’s nose (Smith, 1998). He served five days in jail on state assault...
Words: 21662 - Pages: 87
