Criminal Justice Issues - Assignment Example

Chapter 3

Should society attempt to restore law violators to the community, or should violators merely be punished for their misdeeds?

Mostly, the reasons for imprisonment are based on preventing future crime, punishing the law offenders, it is used to ensure that the victim gets closure, and it is considered to be a chance for the perpetrator to rehabilitate. From the reasons provided, it is fair to say that the law offenders must be incarcerated in order for them to be easily rehabilitated and prevented from performing future criminal activities. When a criminal is allowed back to the society, they will have a higher possibility of repeating the same crime since they will feel as if they can get away with it. When a crime is done, it often leaves the victims in a bad state or even cause fatalities in cases involving murder. Thus, not punishing the law offender can lead to increased fear of the victim or the family members that the criminal will come back for them. The victim will not be at peace, which is unfair.

Also, it is possible that the ethical, psychological, or moral conditions which had prevailed during the criminal’s first offense are still existent in them. The offender will be isolated from the rest of the people as people will always associate them with the offence they did. Society has vividly stated the functions of imprisonment as the “accepted” way of punishing law offenders. There is no cruel punishment that is allowed on the law offenders despite the offence committed. The society often sites the role of imprisonment as a method of rehabilitating the law offenders, which is beneficial for them at the end.

Discuss the characteristics of a psychopath/sociopath

The research on psychopathic behavior reveals that they present numerous traits such as being incapable of having a guilt feeling, empathy or remorse for the actions they do. A majority are manipulative, cunning, and identify the differences between wrong and right, but do not regard applying them. Initially, the psychopaths are increasingly dependable, dedicated and trustworthy, but they can become very unreliable and display no interest or regard to the way their activities affect the situation, despite its significance. Also, they are not able to accept the responsibility for the failures. The sociopaths or psychopaths are pretenders and are good at mimicking human emotions at cue. When they seem to humble themselves and are owning up to the mistakes done, their actual objective is to be professed as the sacrificial lamb ready to take the blame on behalf of others. They also like to cheat, steal, agitate, fight, and commit adultery. They seem to be drawn to the antisocial behaviors that are highly risky and have unclear goals.

Should victims ever be to blame for their victimization?

Victim blaming is referred to as the devaluing activity that takes place when the victims of accidents or crime are held responsible for the crimes which have been committed against them. The blaming of the victims is never justifiable. It is the attempt to reverse victimization through saying the perpetrators were not able to control their urges, which is incorrect. By blaming victims, they will continue to be hurt by the incident and they will feel abused, unable to continue living normal lives. It is clear that the blaming approach is not efficient in resolving the violence issues, or in safeguarding the victim from additional victimization and abuse.

Chapter 4

Research a case in which the defendant used the defense of entrapment

Entrapment is defined as the inducement by the government official of an individual to participate in criminal activities through using fraud or unwarranted persuasion in the effort to set up the criminal charges to be brought against the individual. One of the cases is the Sherman v. United States. The defendant was being charged with selling narcotics. The defendant and government agent initially met in the hospital where they were receiving medication for drug addiction. Eventually, the agent asked the defendant the location for purchasing drugs since they both experienced hardships in overcoming the addictions. The defendant was not for the issue. However, the agent acted as if he was having problems and progressively pressed that issue, making the defendant fall for it. The defendant purchased drugs from a supplier on behalf of the agent.

Chapter 5

There is concern that history may be repeating itself in policing due to increased reliance on civilian volunteers and privatization. Is this a cause for concern?

Crime is a major concern for the majority of the population. The main crime law increasing the resources that are present to combat the criminal activities has presently been enacted. Numerous techniques and means like intensifying dependence on the community policing, private police, and the problem-oriented policing, are used as an attempt to curb crime and intensify the sense of security for citizens. Relying on civilian volunteers is not bad as individuals in the community will be optimally governed when they participate in watching over the community.

The civilian participation provides personnel, financial, and strategic advantages to the police departments. The communities that are policed benefit from the participation of the entire community, which minimizes criminal activities. The ones that volunteer, as reserve or auxiliary police officers, end up benefiting themselves in terms of skills. Volunteers assist in investigating crime and interviewing the victims under the radical shake-ups of police influences proposed by governments. Specialists in accounting or computing have a role in the cyber-crime and financial crime inquiries. The use of volunteers enables them to carry out the tasks like interviewing the victims and also taking the statements from witnesses.

Private police outnumber public by a factor of three to one. Is this beneficial or harmful?

It is beneficial to use private policing. Private police entail the self-employed people and the privately funded organizations and business entities offering the security-related services to the specific customers at a price. The move toward the private policing has taken place due to the increased demands that have been placed on the public policing and the resulting requirement to develop the urgencies for use of the resources available. The businesses are better able to get restitution and not have to prosecute. In any situation, the need to avoid publicity and solely recover losses usually results in businesses relying on the private police to investigate instances like the theft by employees. With the use of private police, a business can purchase only the required services rather than having to challenge the public police agencies, that are largely immune to the market forces.

Chapter 6

Do the disadvantages of proactive policing outweigh the advantages?? Explain.

Yes. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. This is because it brings the police and community closer together. As observed in the LA police department, the community policing has been effective in minimizing the crime.

Can the police and the community ever form a partnership to fight crime?? Why or why not?? Does the community policing model remind you of early forms of policing?? Explain.

Yes, the community is dependent on the police to prevent disorder and assists in emergency situations. On the other hand, the police depend on the communities to report the crimes and offer vital data that is essential in solving crime and addressing the concerns of the community. In current decades, the association has advanced as the communities and the police have come to benefit more from each other as each one progressively identifies the significance of functioning together as partners. As well as the traditional policing forms, a recurrence of the “community policing” has been widespread in numerous communities.

What are the relationships among community policing, problem-oriented policing, and intelligence-let policing? Are they similar or fundamentally different?

Community policing is a system of assigning the police officers to specific regions so that they are familiar with local inhabitants. The problem oriented policing is the policing strategy involving the analysis and identification of distinct crime and disorder issues, so as to develop efficient response strategies. The intelligence-let policing is a model established on risk evaluation and management. In all the three, they depend on information from third parties making them similar in a way.

Chapter 7

Article Review

The article is about stress in the line of police work. The stress may be internal such as conflicting regulations and officers or they can be external such as involvement in violent crimes and shootings. The stress experienced by the police could result in additional problems like substance abuse and marital issues. The article further explains that officers need to understand causes of stress in the workplace in order for them to alleviate control. According to the article, the causes of stress include the internal sources like excessive paperwork, poor equipment and lack of rewarding. The sources might also be external like unfavorable rulings from the court, allegations of racism and brutality from the public, lack of funding, shootings, among others. The article presents the symptoms of stress in police that involve Difficulty remembering instructions, Difficulty communicating thoughts, Difficulty maintaining balance, increased anger, Loss of objectivity, among others. If the symptoms are experienced, the article presents several ways of managing stress, which include having a balanced working hours of no more than 12 hours, drinking plenty of water, using of counselling assistance programs, physical exercises, among others.