Probability Distributions - Assignment Example

Probability Distributions This report contains the findings of a study done to determine the age, gender and crime distribution in various correctional facilities in the USA. It also includes the satisfaction scores for key components of criminal justice system and services. The research participants were 25 prisoners serving various jail terms in both the state and federal prisons. The survey established that four out of every five prisoners are males. Moreover, a person aged between 16 to 49 years is three times more likely to commit a crime than a person who is over 60 years old. Burglary topped the list of the most committed crime with 44%. On satisfaction, the criminal justice ranked first with 5.4 points while sentencing closed the list with 5.0 points. Introduction Correctional facilities play an integral role in criminal justice system. These facilities key responsibility is the incapacitation of a convicted person to deter recurrence of crime. They do so through the execution of the punishment given to a convicted offender by the court. However, they also provide other services such as rehabilitation and skill training. In US, the facilities fall under state or federal government although, private prisons also exists. The Federal Bureau of Prisons manages all the federal prisons while the Correction Departments in various states runs the state prisons. An offender gets an admission to prison after sentencing by a judge in state or federal courts. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) 2011, there were about 1.5 million prisoners in both state and federal prisons. Of this population, 40% were above 40 years old. The drug related offenders accounted for close to half the population of inmates in federal courts. Besides, the persons aged between 20 to 44 years committed most crimes accounting for 78% of the prisons’ population. In the same report prepared by BJS, approximately 92% of the prisoners are males. On crimes, apart from drugs, robbery, murder, assault, and burglary are the most common crimes in US. Although, the BJS 2011 statistics showed that the population of US prisoners declined by 0.9%, the incarceration rates outnumbers countries such as Canada and United Kingdom. Therefore, the conclusion is that the criminal justice system has weaknesses that need address from stakeholders. One of the main challenges faced by the system is the disproportionate number of African American and Hispanics in US prisons. While they are the minorities, they make up about 70% of the prisoners. This disparity elicits a perception that the system is discriminative. Another problem is the overburdened criminal justice system caused by understaffing of the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. As a result, the crime reporting, investigation and trial do not take place as expected. The problem also leads to backlog of cases in courts thus hampering administration of justice. Other challenges include lack of access to legal representation, inconsistent sentencing of convicts and poor correction services. . Analysis and Discussion Question 1. The variables captured in the data were gender, facility, age, crime, duration of sentence and services satisfaction scores. The state or federal prisons were the location for data collection process. The survey used age composition and categorized the ages into three groups, 16 – 21, 22 – 49, and 50 – 65 years old. It also gathered data relating to three types of crimes namely homicide, robbery, and burglary. In addition, the study grouped the jail terms into three categories, less than 1 year, 2 to 5 years and over 5 years. Finally, the satisfaction scores were on a scale of 1 to 7, where, one and seven represented complete dissatisfaction and satisfaction respectively. Question 2. The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation uses the statistics to sensitize the public about the challenges facing the criminal justice system in US. The organization is a non-governmental body that gives advice to stakeholders within the criminal justice system such as lawyers, law enforcers and the public. Besides, it acts as a source of information for policy makers in the justice sector. They published the report on their website and print media for research purposes and general consumption. The foundation conducts awareness and outreach programs based on the statistics. Question 2. A. Statistics are of valuable importance to any organization. It helps to determines the success level of strategies employed by organizations. Moreover, the statistical findings influence the planning and allocation of resources within organizing. For criminal justice agencies, the crime reports provide critical information used for evaluating crime levels. The public use the statistics to hold the individual and agencies in the criminal justice system accountable for the state of security in the country. Question 2.B. Critical decisions within organizations concern the future. However, the unpredictability of the future makes it had to make good decisions. Consequently, mangers of these organizations must make apt prediction about the future based on some assumptions. This requires knowledge of uncertainty, which is the probability. Therefore, the probability gives the chances of occurrences. Probability gives the chances of occurrences. This likelihood of occurrence is important in decision-making processes within an organization. Through probably, the manager uses the predicted approach to select the best decision choice (Anderson, 2008). In criminal justice system, the probability of a crime happening in an area, age group or gender may influence the choice of intervention. Question 3. The males dominate prisons in the US. The population of men is four times bigger than that of females in the correction facilities in the United States. Meaning, men constitute 80% of inmates. This figure agrees with other countries statistics, and sociologists continue to explain the disproportionate population of males in correctional facilities. According to the labeling theory, women are less likely to develop deviant behavior because the society considers them less deviant. Another explanation given by the psychologist for gender difference in crime is cognitive difference. According to this theory, boys and girls have cognitive differences, which influence their behavior. Consequently, girls feel more emphatic about people suffering than boys. Hence, this attitude cushions them from antisocial acts (Siegel, 2012). Question 4. Majority of male prisoners, 40%, serves a jail term of more than 5 years while 30% each serve 2-5 years and less than 1 year. On the other hand, a judge sentenced 40% of women for a jail term of either less than a year or 5 years and above. Minority, 20%, of the women got a jail term of 2-5 years. The survey also established that majority, 40%, of the prisoners serve a jail term of 5 years and above Question 5. Burglary topped the list of the most common crime with 44% of male prisoners jailed for committing the offence. Robbery and homicide came second and third with 32% and 24% respectively. Among the female, burglary ranked first with 45%, followed by robbery and homicide each at 35% and 20% respectively. On the other hand, on the female side, homicide and burglary emerged as top crimes with 40% each. Only 20% of women prisoners committed robbery. On an overall basis, burglary and homicide had 36% each while robbery trailed with 28%. Question 6. There was no significant difference in the sentence satisfaction score of female and male prisoners. The scores for females and males are 4.8 and 4.99 respectively. However, the satisfaction level of males was higher than that of females by 0.19 points. This gets explanation from the finding that about 80% of females serves a jail term of more than 1 year compared to 70% for males. This perhaps contributed to the feeling of dissatisfaction with the sentences. Question 7. Out of 25 prisoners in the correctional facilities, nine aged between 16 to 21 years. This gives a probability of 0.36. The age and crime is a subject of intense debate among criminologist. Life course perspective of criminality attempts to explain this relationship. According to this theory, immense biological and emotional changes occur to a person transiting to teenage. Biologically, a person becomes physically stronger and manifests sexual maturity. Psychologically, a person acquires an independent attitude or desire for autonomy. This adulthood desire makes a person to develop rebellious acts to break away from parental authority. Consequently, the teenager, ventures out into a society where parents’ supervision is minimal (Benson, 2013). If the community does not provide life opportunities, the teenager turns to crime for survival. Question 8. Ten of the twenty-five participants had a criminal justice satisfaction score of 5.2 or lower. This gives a probability of 0.4. Meaning, among ten prisoners, four are likely to rate the sentence satisfaction 5.2 points or less. Question 9. Five out of every twenty-five prisoners are females. Of the five female prisoners, two committed homicide. Hence, the probability that an individual is a female and convicted of homicide is 0.08. Question 10 Out of the twenty-five participants, twelve came from state facilities. Besides, seven out of the twelve participants in the state prison gave a legal services satisfaction score of 5 points or more. Therefore, the chances of getting an individual in state prison and with legal satisfaction score of five or more is 0.28. Conclusion The finding of this report reveals the gaps that exist within the criminal justice system in US. For instance, women are more likely to commit homicide compared to men. Again, women serve longer jail terms than men. This, valuable information should be used to guide the reform in criminal justice system to make it fair and accountable to the citizens of US. References Anderson, D. R. (2008). Quantitative methods for business. Mason: Thomson. Benson, M. L. (2013). Crime and the lifecourse: An introduction. New York: Routledge. Bureau of Justice Statistics (2012). Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4559 May, D. C. (2008). Corrections and the criminal justice system. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Pub. Siegel, L. J. (2012). Criminology. Belmont: Wadsworth. Read More