Cultural Concerns and Influences, Criminal Justice System - Research Paper Example

Running Head: CULTURAL CONCERNS AND INFLUENCES Cultural Concerns and Influences The different constructive elements, which constitute the American culture and the American characteristics, differentiate them from their neighbors, European nations and other countries of the world. In America, a mixed culture is evident due to migration of people from different countries with different cultures. But, it is observed that the culture which is in maximum contact with American society is the African culture. The ethnicity of US society is a collection of different ethnic group due to migration issue. America is like a boiling pot which mixes the diverse ethnicity and race within the society. Another important feature of the American culture is its plurality and unity. So, American culture can be termed as a new way of living due to collection of different value system, historical background, geography, norms and immigration issues (Constructive Elements of American Culture, n.d.). Owing to these reasons for understanding this culture and society requires studying of human process and about the culture of the immigrants. This influx of immigrants to US is posing as a major challenge for CJS or criminal justice system. It is also evident that little attention about the criminal justice system had been paid by the social science researcher on the issue of immigrants. Recently conducted researches also revealed cultural diversity is one of the major concerns of the criminal justice professionals. (Travis, 1998, p.1) Britain has also faced similar kind of situation due to issues of immigration from diverse ethnic back ground. So, for providing fair justice and instill confidence within all ethnic groups about the ability of UK Government they had tried to put up a good policy for fair and effective system of criminal justice. They made the CJS free from prejudice in order to deliver justice and safety to the ethnic groups (Narduzzo, 2007, p.2).There are different factors which influence the CJS which will help to understand the complexity faced by the criminal justice system to render service to the community members which will be discussed elaborately in the paper. Existing Criminal Justice System Situation with respect to mixed culture Criminal justice system depends on the ecological factors of the environment. It may be the climate, geography, community size, and its economic position - agrarian, service and industry. This ecological factor lays a major impact on the culture and history of the community. In small communities, which is based on agrarian occupation an immediate link between the community members and the criminal justice official is present due to their social affiliation. In this kind of scenario most of the problems are resolved informally rather than following formal procedures. On the other hand, the industrial ecology brings in immigrants with different set of values which contradicts with the local inhabitants. This complex situation creates a heterogeneous environment for criminal justice system. Large communities of urban industrial origin also create much more complexity for the criminal justice professionals. It is owing to the fact values and demands of community members differ and that is why the service expected by them from criminal justice system varies greatly. These results in incorporation of bureaucracy within the system in a large extent and the officials may not be easily available also for personally meeting the community members. Geographical condition also creates social problems, for example in Las Vegas many drifters, criminals and tourists come in search of excitement. On the other hand illegal immigration problems persist in Texas, California and border of Mexico. This helps to understand the uniqueness of the problem faced by the criminal justice system. Political condition also affects the criminal justice system. As for example, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is an organized political force which stresses on fair treatment of African Americans by police agencies. They also fight for the equal opportunity employment within the criminal justice agencies. American Friends Service Committee (1971) also tried to reform the prison system by making them more humane. Citizens also appeal for tougher criminal sentence. This culminates pressure on the judges and they become vulnerable. It is due to the demands of public on political system. The political system in turn pressurizes the criminal justice system. (Stojkovic, Kalinich& Klofas, 2007, pp.54-56) Many times it has been observed that individual factors also impede the criminal justice system to render their service to the community. It can be successfully explained by the research question which arose during a social science study “whether immigrant victims have a more difficult time than other victims in dealing with the police and the courts because of difference in language, expectations, and treatment by official.” (Travis, 1998, p.1) The research report suggested that many immigrants have a serious problem that is they fail to report crimes. The report says it is due to the inhibitions within victims due to language barrier, expectations and treatment by officials. This scenario is enabling the criminals to roam free and eroding the functional ability of criminal justice system. If we observe the audits of Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (2007a) it evident that black or minority ethnic or BME group people are admitted more in mental health clinic through criminal justice system. It is also observed that they are admitted more frequently under Mental Health Act sections and secluded from the rest more frequently. The BME group also feels they are recommended with high dosage of medication instead of less utilization of talk therapy. Due to this reasons they are also less satisfied with the services rendered by the criminal justice system. This type of situation may arise due to cultural factors, racist practices, ignorance or incompetence and impacts of intergenerational trauma. The cultural misinterpretations due to difference in ideology of the BME lead to misdiagnoses. Racial stereotyping of BME group by psychiatrists though is an argumentative issue it is evident within the system. The different experiences within the BME groups generally arise from ignorance or incompetence of the criminal justice system due to institutional racism. The socio-economic antecedents mainly cover the impact of negative characters related to racist attacks, child protection, education, criminal justice system, etc. Though it is accepted that these racist activities bear a negative impact mentally on the victim, but no further attempts made beyond this to resolve this issue as a contributor to stress. The intergenerational trauma due to the learning of historical events like slavery also impacts the judgment. Through all these malpractices we can gather evidences of discriminatory practices of the criminal justice system within a mixed culture society. (Sewell, 2009, pp.30-34; Mauer, 1999, p.2) Again if we observe the status of Britain regarding the criminal justice in mixed culture society, it is evident that due to public concerns about the discriminatory roles of police and CJS the Government introduced “Scrap Sus Campaign’ in (1979) and PACE (Police Criminal Evidence Act 1984) to regulate the discrimination (Narduzzo, 2007, p.13). The PACE allowed searches on ‘reasonable suspicion’ and rights were given to police officers for voluntary and non-statutory searches. It was later reworked by a new legislation which enables to prevent harassment of community members by over-zealous constables to balance the right in favor of individuals. Furthermore, they provided guidelines to limit the misuse of this right by police by stating it cannot be applied by stereotyping an individual or from any prejudice. The officers were also made liable to state the aim and reason behind performing the search. Every details of the search were to be monitored and recorded (Narduzzo, 2007, pp.13-15). In this way the prejudice towards the ethnic groups can be reduced and would enable the government to provide a fair justice and safety to them. Functioning of Police Department A very important issue is police cannot enforce each and every law and arrest every lawbreaker. It is due to the limitations in legal rules according to which the police have to perform. Example, Police needs search warrant for searching. Limitation of resources is also a problem for the police force. The police also have to follow some policies to decide upon which crimes to be addressed. This helps to control the crime rate to attain official attention and the ability of system to grab the offenders. The police also play a bureaucratic role during some instances like border CJS. A few such issues are they have a discretionary power to determine which suspect to be arrested; as the outcome of cases depends on prosecutors and judges they cannot control it, they can only bring the suspects in the judiciary process; they have to follow orders from the superiors, at times uses their discretionary power in judgment (Cole & Smit, 2006, pp.166-167). According to ‘Sir Robert Peels Nine Principles for Modern Policing’ basic mission of police is prevention of crime and disorder; performance of their duty needs public approval; willing co-operation of the public is required to maintain the law and respect for the law; degree of co-operation from public diminishes the use of force from the police department; public favor can be only gained by impartial service; physical force should only be used as extreme measure to restore law; police serves the public and public can also serve the law, so the harmonious relation must be maintained between them; police should only act towards their function without usurping the judicial powers; and the efficiency of police is related with absence of crime and disorders (Situational Crime Prevention Or Problem-Oriented Situational Interventions, n.d.). In the real life scenario of these days it is observed that the nine principles mentioned by Robert Peel would not hold true. Mainly the last one which states the efficiency of police lies in absence of disorder and crime; it cannot be attained in real scenario due to complexity in socio-economic condition. The police efficiency should measured by observing the declination in crime rate of the area or the nation. In recent times, the police can only maintain their duties by performing the orders of their superior in the hierarchy level as discretionary powers allotted to them are being reduced by the system and government to maintain harmony between the public and the police. This also enables to instill confidence between the ethnic groups about law and fair justice. But the principles regarding impartial service and performing their duty with public approval is getting reduced day by day due to different factors like personal, ecological and political factors as mentioned earlier in the paper. So, in this era a full application of the Robert Peel’s principles in police department cannot be attained, but if some of the principles can be maintained it will surely serve the society in much better way. References 1. Cole, G. & C. Smit (2006), The American System of Criminal Justice, Belmont (USA): Cengage Learning 2. Constructive Elements Of American Culture (n.d.), Education and Culture, Retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://www.cpcpc.org/18/constructive-elements-of-american-culture 3. Mauer, M. (1999), THE CRISIS OF THE YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, Retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://exodusfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/CrisisofyoungAfricanamericanMale-M.pdf 4. Narduzzo, D. (2007), AN EXAMINATION OF HOWCHANGES IN POLICING PRACTICES HAVE AFFECTED CRIMINAL JUSTICE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MINORITY ETHNIC COMMUNITIES., Retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Narduzzo%20-%20Changes%20in%20Policing%20Practices.pdf 5. Situational Crime Prevention Or Problem-Oriented Situational Interventions (n.d.), Retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: http://www.popcenter.org/conference/conferencepapers/2008/scp.pdf 6. Sewell, H. (2009), Working with ethnicity, race and culture in mental health: a handbook for practitioners, USA: Jessica Kingsley Publisher 7. Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D. & J Klofas (2007), Criminal justice organizations: administration and management, Belmont (USA): Cengage Learning 8. Travis, J. (1998), Immigrant Populations as Victims: Toward a Multicultural Criminal Justice System, Retrieved on July 18, 2011 from: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/167571.pdf Read More