Justice System and Criminality - Assignment Example

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM HOW UNDERSTANDING IT INCREASES SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE ON CRIMINALITY AND JUSTICE Introduction Criminal Justice is among the most misunderstood factors of the society. There appears to be different sides of perception regarding this matter from different sectors of the human community. The divisions primarily are based from two major views. The first division is where the knowledgeable individuals belong. They are those who are more aware of the situation and the theories that underlie it. While on the other side of the division are those who primarily base their understanding upon what is actually obvious. They intend to comprehend with what Criminal Justice through the basis of the actual situations that happen in the society. This is where misconception of the whole idea of what crime, what justice and what Criminal Justice is as a whole. In this paper, the difference of the two major perceptions addressed earlier with regards the reality of Criminal Justice shall be discussed. More likely, this study shall be directly focused upon the importance as well as impact that education has on individuals who have not gained deeper understanding of what Criminal Justice is. The idea is to compare their perceptions with others who are simply basing their beliefs regarding the said issue on obvious occurrences. The society is certainly surrounded by the many influential effects of mass media towards the views of the public. Television programs primarily contribute to the social identity of the reality behind the existence of Crime and Criminal Justice. These programs consequentially make the Criminal Justice look much sophisticated and creative enough to support the idea that the said sector in the society indeed exists in fine reputation. On the contrary, actual news reports find it hard to connote to this particular idealism of the truth when several corruptive activities within the offices of the Criminal Justice Personnels occur. From this, it could be noted that the vision of the society is primarily blurred out by the extremities of the presentation of both media and news with regards the systematic operation of Criminal Justice sector of the human society. On the contrary, those who are educated, given the chance to understand and really get involved with the system of the said social field of revealing the truth behind the anomalies of humans in the society understand the situation quite clearly. Although it cannot be denied that they too are influenced by the idealisms passed on through media and news, they have a ground of consideration so as to base the idea that they are really going to believe into. And from this, it could not be denied that their grounds of belief are solid truth. Crime and Justice Defined In theory, the criminal justice system is designed to protect the law-abiding citizens and to keep crime and the criminals under control. In reality, however, the system in America today provides massive safeguards for accused persons. . . yet fails to provide elementary protection for its law-abiding citizens. To understand the situations better, consider the following accounts that pertain to the present situation of the society [particularly America] in connection with the application of the Criminal Justice System. On the Streets Based on police statistics on felonies or major crimes in 1979, a report in the New York Post indicates that in Manhattan “peaceable persons have one chance in seven of becoming victims of aggressive persons who risk one chance in six of being arrested.” So the increase of crime and the inefficiency of the criminal justice system are approaching “that perfect balance where it is no more dangerous to be a criminal than to be a law-abiding citizen,” says the report. But, does even the one criminal out of every six who is arrested really face any danger? In the Courts “Ninety-nine of every 100 persons arrested on felony charges in New York City never go to prison,” says a New York Times report, “and more than 80 are not even prosecuted as felons.” The blame is being placed on inadequate personnel and facilities. “Because we can only try that limited, limited number of cases, we are forced to do things all along the system that I don’t think anybody is comfortable with,” said the mayor’s criminal justice coordinator, Robert Keating. The “things” done included dismissing or letting off as minor crimes about 80 percent of the felony cases. So whose interests are being served? In the Prison Even sending the one in every 100 to prison does little good for the victim. Why? First of all, it costs the victim, the taxpayer, plenty to keep the criminal in prison—$10,000 to $30,000 per inmate per year. And, because most prisons are running out of space, the balance sheet shows, for example, that in 1979 in New York State, “9507 convicts were committed and 8802 were released, not so much because they were redeemed as because their custodians needed their rooms,” says the Post report. The result? Criminals are back on the streets without anyone’s having assurance that they will not repeat their crime. The cycle starts all over again. Obviously, by taking the said accounts into consideration, it could not be denied that the vicious chain of the recurring violent events in the society cannot be ceased as easily as perceived. This is where the effective application of the Criminal Justice System should be duly applied. During the past centuries, Criminal Justice has taken different phases of changes through the years. Because of the increased number of crimes, there is also an increased pressure given to the ones who are applying the Criminal Justice System as they are expected to at least bring the society to its betterment in terms of social security. Moreover, instead of purely punishing the people who have erred against their fellowmen and the law as it is, the regulations changed to helping the so called “criminals in becoming the best people they could be after they have done a wrong act against the law. This procedure is primarily called “rehabilitation or reformation”. For instance, over the last century much attention has been given to efforts to rehabilitate criminals, striving to make social adjustments in them rather than primarily punishing them. This philosophy has also tended to encourage more leniencies in sentencing. All too often the liberal, “humane” approach has resulted in returning to the streets persons who are habitual criminals. In Thinking about Crime, James Q. Wilson (1975), professor of government at Harvard, concluded: “Wicked people exist. Nothing avails except to set them apart from innocent people. . . . We have trifled with the wicked, made sport of the innocent and encouraged the calculators. Justice suffers, and so do we all.” (Wilson, 1975, 25) Of those who are still working to improve the system of justice, many are adjusting their approach. Some are now holding that “Punishment Is a Deterrent to Crime,” as one headline stated it. Professor Isaac Ehrlich of the University of Chicago recently completed a study that shows that “essentially, people are deterred by the certainty and severity of punishment.” And there may be hope that acting on this view will give the public some reason to think that a measure of justice can come to “the halls of justice.” (Wilson,. 1975, 59) With regards this, there also came to be the development of compensation based justice whereas the criminals are asked to pay for what they have done in terms of money aside from being sentenced as it is. The Toronto Star (July 22, 1976) reported: “A law offender should directly pay the victim for the damage or loss caused, the Law Reform Commission said in a working paper yesterday. . . . ‘Restitution and compensation have been chosen for early consideration because they represent means of directing more attention to the victim of the crime, stressing the responsibility of the offender and the state [to] make up for the harm done to the greatest possible extent.’” That Canadian paper told also of experiments in Edmonton in which offenders had to “work off fines instead of going to jail.” Knowing what Crime and Justice really is in accordance with the actual accounts that are reported with regards the said issues, it is then essential that knowing the different factors that influence the said issues be discussed clearly as well. How Criminal Justice Should be Perceived Is there really a proper way to define Criminal Justice, aside from the nominal definition above? The proper way to define Criminal Justice then must be carefully studied, especially for survey questionnaire formulators so as not to further spread “misperceptions” on the System. The joint Bureau of Justice Statistics and Princeton University Project held in October 1993 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993) challenged the criminal justice community in a healthy debate on appropriate ways and means by which policymakers and practitioners can effectively use. The participants wholeheartedly concentrated their attention towards the components of the criminal justice system and the utility of performance measures for each. This is what the group came out with, in that: “Efficiency and fairness are central goals for the administration of criminal justice in the United States. Efficiency means economically applying available resources to accomplish statutory goals as well as to improve public safety. Effectiveness refers to carrying out justice system activities with proper regard for equity, proportionality, constitutional protections, afforded defendants and convicted offenders, and public safety. Assuring equal treatment and handling of like offenders and giving equal weight to legally relevant factors in sentencing represent the types of concerns generally expressed about the fairness of the criminal justice system.( National Criminal Justice Commission (U. S.). (1996). The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission. ) The group pondered over the commonly held notion that the U.S. Criminal Justice System is chaotic and poorly administered. However, hard facts reveal of records from the last ten years showed that the States, due to well implemented judicial reforms effectively brought about three record high rates in the prison population: per capita, per reported crime, and per arrest (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993). For example, a National Academy of Sciences panel concluded that rising imprisonment rates may have reduced crime rates in the Nation by 10% to 20% (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993). For truly, the history of the American criminal justice system is all at once multiple, vague, and contradictory, in that it: “…is a history of swings in public mood. Americans have long been ambivalent about the purposes of criminal justice. Among other things, they have wanted a criminal justice system that apprehends and visits harm upon the guilty (punishment); makes offenders more virtuous, or at least more law abiding (rehabilitation); dissuades would-be offenders from criminal pursuits (deterrence); protects innocent citizens from being victimized by convicted criminals (incapacitation); and enables most criminals to return as productive citizens to the bosom of the free community (reintegration). (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993). This means that, in effect, in the System, everyone, to the last of its citizens is expected to participate towards the System’s success. By virtue of this study, contribution to the System is thus welcomed by the System for its betterment. Thus, citizens becoming co-producers of justice, in that: “This democratic vision supplies a rationale for identifying the major purposes of the system in terms of four civic ideals: (1) Doing Justice, (2) Promoting secure communities, (3) Restoring crime victims, and (4) Promoting non-criminal options. Justice can be defined as the quality of treating individuals according to their civic rights and in ways that they deserve to be treated by virtue of relevant conduct. Criminal justice is rights-respecting treatment that is deserved by virtue of criminal conduct as judged by the rule of law. Thus, doing justice implies at least four things: hold offenders fully accountable for their offenses, protect offenders’ constitutional and legal rights, treat like offenses alike, and take into account relevant differences among offenders and offenses”(Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1993). The definitions of crime as derived from the validated and authorized sources of the most effective ways by which Criminal Justice could be defined in accordance with what is true. Media Works and Criminal Justice System It has been mentioned earlier, the media and the news have the most important and influences that affects the social perception of the truth behind the actual systems-procedures of Criminal Justice. Programs such as CSI (Crime Scene Investigation]; Criminal Minds; Bones; Law and Order and other more programs pertaining to the different procedural sequences that the law follows to be able to arrive in a certain conclusion giving the crime offenders as well as the victims the justice that they need from the law. Psychologists say that “viewing television certainly affects the ability of one to understand the most important factors of the society especially with regards the procedural approaches on law as well as regulative justice” (Coon, 1999, 152) Hence, from this, the study of experts attest to the fact that what the media portrays about the systems of the society is more likely the primary reason why the public population view Criminal Justice as they do. The extremities of the presentation of the criminal justice procedures certainly makes a strong impact on the perception that the society opt to believe. On the contrary, educational procedures of examining the actual situation of the application of Criminal Justice deals with much more validated source of information. This is the reason why there is an authorized pursuance of the experts with the application of the educated view of Criminal Justice to regulate the influences brought about by media to the society. Education and the Perception of the Educated Individuals The Educational Presentation of the theories and principles behind the application of Criminal Justice certainly points out the importance of seeing the major elements of application in terms of fulfilling the goals of Criminal Justice for the society. Most likely, the importance of these elements are exaggerated, overrated or understated through the informations presented by media. However, validated education makes it certain that all the sides of the application of Criminal Justice are presented in a balanced procedure of revealing the truth to students who are majoring in the said course. Crime and Justice in the Eyes of the Society Crime is what describes the unlawful acts of individuals against the policies that are made for a certain community of humans. However, because of the influence that the media, the social groups and other more factors that contribute to social knowledge in general; the view of individuals towards the effectiveness of the system of the application of Criminal Justice becomes misunderstood. However, to those who are able to gain accurate knowledge on what Criminal Justice is all about, they are the ones who understand the ins and outs of the system. Seeing clearly the negative and the positive side of the said lawful arrangement of dealing with social conflicts, these knowledgeable individuals are able to understand the deeper reason why things happened the way they do in application of justice during certain situational accounts. To give the discussion a clearer perspective, the following paragraphs shall define the different views of the society in contrast with the views of the knowledgeable individuals with regards the system of Criminal Justice. Sociological Understanding of Crime Sociologists are able to categorize crimes in four major divisions. The said divisions are as follows: Conventional Crime- Refers to the violent, the property and the Moral crimes. Most often than not, these offences are collectively described as offences made against the identity of an individual. The scope of effect is much less compare to the other types of crimes that are to be cited later on. The range of the age of people who are affected by this type of criminal offence are most likely coming from all ranges of age. Young and old share the threat of being a victim of this particular anti-law offense. Occupational and Corporate Crime- These are crimes that are made within a certain business organization. Most often than not, the motive that drives offenders in committing this type of crime is greed and selfishness when it comes to monetary issues. For this reason, it could be noted that ages 28-59 are most likely the victims of this particular crime. Organized Crime- usually, this type of crime also happens within business tie-ups. The situation though is more complicated because the scope of the crime is larger than that of the occupational crime. Usually, the crime happens within the supervision of a cretin chain of commands from different people whereas the ones who would benefit from the result of such crime would also be in numbers and not as individual partakers of the act. Political Crimes- The crime that is in connection with this is primarily a situation that involves dc rime offences within the government officials’ territories. At one point, these types of offences could be noted to be controversial and are socially affecting. Understanding these particular divisions, the society sees the criminal justice system as a sector of the society that helps eliminate the said chaotic events in the human community. However, it could not be denied too that they lack the knowledge of how the said system really works. What the procedures are and how are the regulations being carefully implemented. Here is where the conflict begins. Summary and Conclusion Paradoxically, the very institutions used to fight crime are also among those frequently blamed for boosting its rise. The courts, for instance, are accused of “coddling” criminals. But the courts complain of being understaffed. Courts do not write laws, but merely carry out those made by legislative bodies. But other people ask: ‘Why don’t the police “crack down” on criminals?’ The police, too, are restricted. For instance, in the U.S. the Fourth Amendment forbids a policeman to make an unreasonable search or seizure. If you live in the United States, would you want that law repealed so that a policeman could invade your home any time he wished? As matters now stand, the courts and prisons cannot handle the criminals the police are sending them. How would they cope with even heavier loads in a ‘crackdown’? (Wice, 2005, 65) Matters other than ‘catching criminals’ also receive high priority among police activities; they search for missing children, recover stolen property, make sure businesses are properly licensed and provide emergency medical assistance. There are disputes among neighbors, common drunks and traffic violators to be dealt with. Too, changes in the economic situation have affected all kinds of employment, including police work. In the 1930’s there were 17,000 New York city policemen; now there are over 30,000. Yes, crime is so ‘woven into the fabric of society’ that the criminal justice system composed of police, courts and prisons can do just so much; each is just one small part of the whole picture. References: The Sequence of Events in the Criminal Justice System” (The Flow Chart) (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997)? http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cjslfowco/pdf, page 1. (August 21, 2009) Cook, John Raymond. (2000). Asphalt Justice: A Critique of the Criminal Justice System in America (Praeger Series in Criminology and Crime Control Policy). Praeger Publishers. Coon, Dennis. (1999). Psychology: Behavior and Development. Praeger Publishers. National Criminal Justice Commission (U. S.). (1996). The Real War on Crime: The Report of the National Criminal Justice Commission. Perennial; 1 edition. Savelsberg, Joachim J., Lara L. Cleveland, Ryan D. King (June 2004). "Institutional Environments and Scholarly Work: American Criminology, 1951-1993". Social Forces 82(4): p1275-1302. Wilson, James Q.. (1975). Thinking About Crime. Vintage Books. Wice, Paul B.. (2005). Public Defenders and the American Justice System. Praeger Publishers. Read More