In: Other Topics
...Is the U.S. Criminal Justice System a true system? William H. Watson IV University of Maryland University College Is the U.S. Criminal Justice System a true system? The criminal justice system in the United States (U.S.) is not a true system; or at least not a true functioning system. A true system is a fine tuned process, where all participants involved work towards a common goal. Every transition in a true system, is a smooth change, where no participants in the system will do anything to jeopardize the proper functionality of the next process in that system. This is not the case of the U.S. criminal justice system. The U.S. criminal justice system is comprised of numerous individuals, groups, organizations, and agencies funded by both government and non-government sources. Because, the U.S. criminal justice system is funded from different entities, there are several different agendas being carried out. There are three major components to the administration of the U.S. criminal justice system: the police, the courts, and corrections. In a perfect criminal justice system the police would arrest violators of the law, the courts would prosecute all law violators, and corrections would punish and rehabilitate violators, to integrate them back into society. While this is the formula the U.S. criminal justice system governs itself by, reality shows us that this quite often this is not the case. Only ten percent of court cases ever go to trial, with......
Words: 6671 - Pages: 27
...The Criminal Justice System, a system the British government set up to deal with the treatment of law-breakers, has three main goals to achieve social order, these are, (1) enforcing criminal law, (2) maintaining law and order in the society, and (3) helping victims. This may seem to be a well thought of system, but like any other organisation, there are flaws, and one of the major flaws is discrimination, and the bias that stems from discrimination. Discrimination on the basis of class, gender, sexuality and ethnicity operates at the level of attitude, on the street, in the home, at the workplace or at social venues. In regards to the Criminal Justice System, race and gender are always accounted for in court proceedings. As Smith in 1997 said, “the apparent ‘fairness’ of the criminal justice system does not mean that the outcomes will necessarily be unbiased”. Tonry in 1997 found that even though certain ethnic groups are far more often caught in the net of criminal justice than others, they have elevated rates of official offending which differ from one country to another. The major ethnic group in Britain and Wales being black people whose families originated from the Caribbean in the 1940’s. (cited in the Oxford Handbook). Black people find themselves subject to rules made for them by white people, it is also the same for other groups living in the same culture, e.g. it seems to be men that make the rules for the women in society, even though this seems to be......
Words: 1848 - Pages: 8
...reentry programs should include three or more phases designed to transition the inmate into the community. The first phase would begin in the institution with service delivery congruent with the inmate’s needs. The second phase would begin as the inmate is released from the institution. The inmate’s risks and needs may change significantly as he or she enters the community context. Ideally, the individual would continue in treatment services and case plans would be updated as needed. The final phase is an aftercare or relapse prevention phase where clients would receive ongoing support and services to address their needs (Taxman et al. 2003) The problem with reentry begins with the Corrections part of our Criminal Justice System. While inmates are incarcerated they receive treatment for any health issues as well as various programs to help them upon release. However, the problem with the programs is that they are not being reassessed to determine whether or not they had an impact on the offenders’ risk of future criminal behavior. This process should begin once the offender returns into the community and also while they are under supervision. The results of the reassessment should then guide any changes within the offenders’ treatment plan as well as determine the effectiveness of the programs for future inmates or offenders’. The Second Chance Act of 2007 was created to reauthorize the grant program for reentry of offenders into the community in the Omnibus......
Words: 2769 - Pages: 12
...| The Correctional Client | | CRMJ 220-01MWF 10:00-10:50am | | | Alicia Marie | 2/27/2013 | | Abstract In this research paper I will talk about chapter 6. In chapter 6 of my correction process book it talks about the Criminal Client. In this research paper you will understand how the criminal justice system operates as a large selection process to determine who ends up in the corrections system. You will also describe some of the main similarities among and differences between the general population and people who end up under correctional authority. I will identify different types of offenders in the corrections system and the kinds of problems they pose for corrections. I will describe the classification process for people under correctional authority and know why it is important. And lastly you will understand the important problems and limitations in classifying people under correctional authority. The conclusion of the research paper will note how all of these things compare to reality today. Keywords: situational offender, career criminal, sex offender, drug abuser, alcohol abuser, mentally ill offender, deinstitutionalization, mentally handicapped offender, long term prisoner, and classification systems. Chapter 6 starts off telling me about a man name Michael G. Santos’s. He is a long term offender who was sentence to 45 years in federal prison because of cocaine trafficking when he was 24 years old. While he was incarcerated, he has......
Words: 1849 - Pages: 8
...Crime victims rights Advocates for victims' rights have long complained that they have been sidelined by a criminal justice system that is focused on the interplay between the state and the defendant. With the enactment of the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, that is changing. The authors examine the current state of victims' rights, the evolution of the enforcement mechanisms, and the emerging role of the criminal practitioner in regards to these rights. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] Advocates for victims' rights have long complained that they have been sidelined by a criminal justice system that is focused on the interplay between the state and the defendant. With the enactment of the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, that is changing. The authors examine the current state of victims' rights, the evolution of the enforcement mechanisms, and the emerging role of the criminal practitioner in regards to these rights. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT] You have requested "on-the-fly" machine translation of selected content from our databases. This functionality is provided solely for your convenience and is in no way intended to replace human translation. Show full disclaimer Neither ProQuest nor its licensors make any representations or warranties with respect to the translations. The translations are automatically generated "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" and are not retained in our systems. PROQUEST AND ITS LICENSORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,......
Words: 5571 - Pages: 23
...separation can be damaging to a woman’s family. According to a Department of Justice study, almost 1.5 million minors had a parent in prison during the study year 1999 and it says that today the number is likely even higher, some researchers believe that it’s close to 2 million. Statistics show that many of these children will be incarcerated as juvenile offenders, developing a long cycle of hopelessness and crime. The people who are responsible for the children according to the Department of Justice statistics, are 28 percent fathers, half are grandparents and the last of them are with other relatives and in foster homes. Placing the children with these individuals can be good or bad. For example, a 13 year old boy may be placed with his dad who has never been in his life prior to the mother being incarcerated. They can both bond and make up for lost time or, they cannot have any connection at all and end up hating each other which is never a good environment for a child or minor. Different adult personalities and what a child is used to can definitely impact children’s development and their living situation. I believe that all of those aspects should be assessed before placing a child in another person’s care, so that at least the state is shown giving the kid a good chance at a good life. Although some people of America may feel that giving mandatory care to pregnant women would be catering to criminals, it’s not! Babies are our future… right? I do believe that pregnant......
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...al-Timimi’s Case Study CRJ300 – Introduction to Criminal Justice Colorado State University – Global Campus Professor Lisa A. Hoston February 22, 2015 Should al-Timimi’s advocacy of violence be unlawful? In this particular instance I feel that the “system” got it right. The idea to take on America and its people is an idea that too many groups such as the Muslims, and Islamic, just to name a couple are to willing to use the words of al-Timimi’s to advocate their cause against the U.S. Ali Al-Timimi criminal history ties him to being the spiritual leader of the Virginia Paintball Jihad Network, a group of men indicted of crimes related to terrorism. Al-Timimi activities had him indicted in 2004 and was convicted in 2005 of soliciting and engaging others to levy war against the United States as well as attempting to contribute services to the Taliban. Members of the Virginia Paintball Jihad cell testified at Al-Timimi's trial that he convinced several of them to travel to Pakistan to obtain training for jihad from a U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. The words of al-Timimi, at the time, were words that could have easily encouraged an already unsteady group of individuals to engage in war against the U.S. and its allies. The world as we know it today is still very unstable as a result of 9/11 and its consequences that at any minute utterance of such words could once again bring havoc upon a nation that has already suffered at the hands of groups and......
Words: 817 - Pages: 4
...a variety of theories of why people commit crime; criminology, in part, is the study of crime. Your paper will discuss a famous criminal trial of your choosing (I will provide a list of famous trials that you may choose from). In the paper, you must discuss criminological theories of why the defendant (allegedly) committed the acts charged as well as whether or not a particular criminological theory best explains the prosecution’s theory of the case. This paper is due on or before TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015 AT 4PM Parameters of the Paper 1. Your paper must include the following information: a. Explain the (alleged) facts and circumstances of the case. b. What charges were filed (what laws were allegedly broken). c. Why the trial was considered famous. d. The criminological theory(ies) behind the defendant’s motives for why they (allegedly) committed the crime in question. You must also include a detailed explanation of the theory, including the theory’s history and basis and whether or not you agree with the theory generally and specifically in this case. e. The verdict of the case and (if applicable) the sentence received; and whether you agree or disagree with the decision. f. The aftermath of the case and its affect on the criminal justice system or within the criminology academic community (i.e. why is this case important or worthy of study?). 2. YOUR TOPIC MUST BE APPROVED. 3. You must submit a synopsis of......
Words: 735 - Pages: 3
...that may alter the need and/or effectiveness for this proposed treatment such as the types of crimes (involvement or discovery crimes), if the crime requires immediate response, and the potential for citizen delay in contacting the police. Both Spelman & Brown and Antunes & Scott conducted experiments to answer the proposed question: Do police calls need a rapid response? The results of these two studies are unanimous that most crimes do not require a rapid response for service; Spelman and Brown analyzed the characteristics of citizens when they contact the police across several cities in relation to the low level of high risk crimes called-in correlating to minimal arrests. Their research concludes citizen behavior negatively impacts police ability to effectively perform their role using rapid response service. Spelman and Brown also place emphasis on the types of crime and whether the type of crime negates immediate response, the two main areas of crime being discovery and involvement crimes. Discovery crimes are reported at a significantly higher rate and the criminal actions have been completed before the crime was discovered, and involvement crimes are reported at a far lower rate and the victimizer is directly confronting the victim. Hence less reports of crimes requiring immediate attention continues to drive the statement that most crimes do not require rapid response since the actions have already ceased. Antunes and Scott’s research explored the inward......
Words: 2570 - Pages: 11
...In chapter 3 of The Practice of Research in Criminology and Criminal Justice there are four areas of focus. They are concepts, measurement operations, evaluation of measures, and levels of measurement. We are going to address conceptualization by using substance abuse and related ideas as examples. For measurement, let us review first how measures of substance abuse have been created, utilizing procedures as available data, questions, observations, and less direct and prominent measures. We will also explain how to assess the validity and reliability of these measures. Finally, the level of measurement reflected in unrelated measures is our last topic. Hopefully, at the end of this you will have a fine comprehension of measurement. A concept is a mental image tat summarizes a set of similar observations, feelings, or ideas. "Concepts such as substance-free housing require an explicit definition before they are used in research because we cannot be certain that all readers will share the same definition. It is even more important to define concepts such as poverty or social control or strain, we cannot be certain that others know exactly what we mean." The meaning of concepts is often disputed among experts and illuminating the meaning of such concepts does not simply benefit those unfamiliar with them. In order to do ample work of conceptualization, we need more than just a definition, for our concepts. We will probably have to distinguish inner aspects of the concept.......
Words: 1226 - Pages: 5
...The question of what causes people to exhibit criminal behavior is a question that continues to puzzle and intrigue scholars of criminology even after centuries of study. Many theories of crime exist. A couple of these concepts are the Classical, whose supporters insist that humans freely choose to commit crimes, and those which maintain that biological, psychological, and social characteristics influence criminal behavior. All philosophies attempt to explain the causation of criminal behavior, in different ways. Classical Theory The classical school of crime causation came about in the eighteenth century as a result of the Enlightenment and emphasized free will and reasonable punishments. Classical thinkers from this time period strongly believed that in order for punishment to be effective, it must outweigh the pleasure that may be derived from crime. There are certain basic assumptions associated with the Classical school. Among them are the individual action of free will, and most human behavior comes from the process of rational thought coupled with the ability to act freely. Another one of these assumptions were that punishment defined as a necessary evil required to deter law violators from repeating their crime as well as to present an example to potential criminals. Cesare Beccaria ( 1738-1794) was one of the first classical thinkers i noted in my studies. His publication of “Essays on crime and punishment” was an immediate success in it’s release in 1764,......
Words: 2171 - Pages: 9
... Criminal Justice Candidate’s Name: Institution’s Name: Course title: Instructor: Date: Introduction Criminologists and other social theorists have over the years come up with theories that seek to explain a phenomenon in society. In the field of criminology, notable theorists and scholars include; Edwin Sutherland, Donald Cressey, Robert Merton and Travis Hirschi. The preceding scholars and theorists in the field of criminology seek to explain the causative agents of criminal behaviour and crime in general (Akers, 2012). The theory advanced by Sutherland, and Donald attempts to explain how the associations that on involves themselves in help define their good habits or criminal behaviours. Secondly, Travis propounds in his theory of Social Bond how the level of bonding with society will or will not influence criminal behaviour. Thirdly, Robert Merton’s theory of crime inclines itself toward biological factors and social structures; how they contribute to the criminal behaviour (Akers, 2012). In trying to understand the principles mentioned above further, a look at the case of Aaron Hernandez will help put the averments in the mentioned theories into perspective. Aaron Hernandez was a former American football player born in 1989. Aaron was convicted of murder. On the August of 2013 Aaron was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd. In another trial in May 2014, Aaron was indicted for a double homicide that happened in 2002 of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro......
Words: 1436 - Pages: 6
...early 20th century when it was recognized that children and adults are different, and the rehabilitation process for them should be different as well. Until the late 19th century children and adults where tried alike in criminal courts. When a juvenile offender commits a crime it is the responsibility of the state to rehabilitate the juvenile offenders, as well as protect them. Youth crime rates have actually declined over the past twenty years, despite the public’s perception that it has increased. This has led to an overwhelming support that the juvenile court system be restructured to include tougher crime punishment, such as being able to try children as adults. This belief is that children are able to commit the same crimes as adults, and why should they be treated any different. Take for instance that if an adult commits a murder they will likely be in prison for the rest of their life, whereas a child or youth offender would likely be out by the time they are twenty one. Juvenile and criminal courts have many differences but the most outstanding is that juvenile courts tend to focus on the offender rather than the crime itself. Juvenile court is long believed to focus on the rehabilitation of the offender, as opposed to the focus of the crime as in criminal court. With rehabilitation in mind this gives the court much more leniency and flexibility, with options as far as punishment goes to the judge. The main concern in the public’s eye is the effectiveness of the......
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...Criminal Responsibility within Children Misty M. Lane PYSCH 210-B16 Liberty University Abstract According to Berger (2011), early childhood is defined as the ages two through six. During this time the child does what he/she knows best and learns through the act of playing. However, what happens when a child accidentally commits a crime can cause controversy. The purpose of this case study is to determine at what age is a child held criminally responsible. The law states that children under the age of seven are not considered criminally responsible for committing a criminal act. Within this case study, we will explore and support why developmental factors within this age group support the legal system. Criminal Responsibility within Children In Michigan, a child at the age of six stole a weapon from his home and accidentally murdered a fellow student that he had argued in the past. When the child was questioned about the crime, he stated it was an accident and he was only trying to scare her. What role does development play in the decision making process at this age? According to Berger (2011), a child at the age of six lacks the brain maturation and development that would allow to purposefully commit a criminal act. The pre-frontal cortex is responsible for the brain’s decisions. This includes proper planning, selecting, and coordinating. Maturation of the prefrontal cortex plays a major part in the development of children. Older......
Words: 773 - Pages: 4
...conclusively define an event as crime is shown by the variety of crimes ; robbery, credit card fraud, drug peddling, rape, insider trading, prostitution, bigamy and attempted suicide to name but a few. They should entail punishment in the ideal situation. These situations can and do take place in extremely dissimilar conditions and for conflicting reasons. This stochastic variable makes it hard for the criminal justice system to be foul proof and have a “recognized measuring standard” of crime to a level that incorporates the total outlook of various social groups (Digital Films, 2012). Any action against the word of God, the laws of a country or one intended to cause harm and hardship to an individual or a society is defined as crime (Danny Dorling et al, 2005). ANALYSIS Two parameters determined the public’s perception of crime in most cases; the most reported crimes in the mainstream media and the most likely crimes they encounter in their daily lives. The majority of the interviewees are more inclined to see a criminal in the terms of a “gun – toting street criminal” not as an “immaculately dressed wall street banker”. Time and lack of information insulates the public when it comes to white collar, corporate and state sponsored crimes, which are more sophisticated and have much wider impact. According to the Jones and Bartlett, a Gallup poll of 2009 found fifty percent of the respondents believed street crimes such as burglary, rape, murder, drug peddling,......
Words: 1064 - Pages: 5
