Socialization and Crime in Canada - Essay Example

Socialization and Crime in Canada This article seeks to emphasize that crime results from deviating from social control. Exemplification is profound in individuals who carry themselves according to what their societies preferences termed as good-mannered. Crime, however, deviates from these laws but is still taken as the norm. There can never be a society existing in an environment that has no crime. Crime, therefore, can be referred to as acts by any human that is against the rest of the other human beings. These acts may endanger or degrade an individual. Where crimes are absent, lying as one of the moral inadequacies are detrimental in a society and bring consequences that would be caused by normal crimes and that would be punishable by law. A part of the community in this article welcomes some norms that would otherwise and normally be taken as deviations. One would expect that all patients in a mental hospital are mentally ill, which is considered as a form of social control setting (Huff, 2008). However, there are some instances when these illnesses differ from what is considered as a norm in this facility to indicate signs of ‘normality,’ these patients have to be sent to their homes, once their behavior conforms to the outside society’s norms. The same is the case with the wrongful convictions (Pearson, 2005). Scholars have long gained for their close attention to activities or how the citizens are affected by fear of crime. Most research seems to agree that societal or neighborhood activities such as noise or public drunks are powerful in generation of fear feelings as a crime on its own. The resultant implication falls to removal of graffiti on the walls or riffraff on the streets to lower the level of fear. If a community were to clean up their actions to standards approvable by the public, there would be an improved quality of life in the society. Herein is an examination of several influences of physical and social incivilities on the reactions to criminal characters by perceptions of fear feelings and risk. The examples offered are drawn from a source in the Canadian print. These real life experiences appeal for the social construction of social deviance, fear and risk, correlation between physical and social incivility and or perception of risky instances (Huff, 2008). Incivility can be correlated to fear: though less strongly, it is fear predictive as its casual results are pre-meditated to some extent entirely by perceiving the uncertain crimes. All these findings are made to draw attention to these disadvantaged individuals but have acquired little, if any, attention in the present. Research concerning this matter of risk antecedents is purposed to improve the human understanding of the causal factors influencing risk perceptions. Evidence ought to be evaluated and analyzed against theories, explanations or models. Camera evidence, relevant journals, online databases or books must be consulted to ensure that the right thing is achieved whilst maintaining the positive social norms (Leo and Gould, 2009). This literature achieved its course by indicating that victimization is a reality and can be experienced both vicariously and directly; race, income, gender, perceptions of incivilities and crime have a consistent effect on the way people perceive risks to victimization in both trivial and heinous crimes. The perceived risk have been highlighted to show how strong this influences a fear of crime. More research on this topic would be used in assisting to lower the risk perception at a level that aligns with the actual risk. Consequently, this lessens the fears of crime and increase the quality of lives. The cases used are not isolated or unique to Canada given that convictions vary in number to a wider extent (Huff, 2008). Every involved miscarriage of justice lands a blow within the society crippling the confidence to the legal system. The prongs of the legitimacy in the criminal justice system are undermined by these wrongful convictions (Pearson, 2005). When an individual is under wrongful conviction, they are punished for offences they did not take part while the involved perpetrator walks scot free (CBC News, 2010). To worsen the situation, advocates admit that most of those exonerated have long been on the lookout as their applications stalled for months to decades in the processes of federal review boards. The justice minister was sited back in 2000 announcing of plans in line with the prevention of similar occurrences. But has this been achieved? The alterations included in the Canadian Criminal Code assists the ministry to utilize its discretion in response to individuals who demand the release, wrongfully convicted, backed by innocence claims (Huff, 2008). Others just waste their energy with no one to intervene. There are groups initiated purposely against the wrongful convictions that advocate on behalves of the victims of unfair jailing (Pearson, 2005). To emphasize the gravity of the matter, a better understanding of social deviance would be crucial. It can be defined as a phenomenon that exists in societies governed by norms. The most likely reactions on facing social norms are two: violate or conform to the provisions. The social norms are categorized as implicit and explicit; explicit norms cannot be regarded law. A good example is a computer lab’s notice that warns against food and drinks allowance to the premises. In the real sense, defiance blends with conformity according to individual behaviors. It is quite rare to come across someone who conforms to the entire social norms. Deviance and conformity can be expressed in a common behavior. Look at a situation where someone will try to break the free way’s speed limit yet they know that it is illegal as they tend to drive with the flow, a critical entity of norms, conformity and deviance. Driskell suffered a wrongful conviction of his friend Perry Harder from Winnipeg. Perry Harder had been shot several times to death. The social relationship got his friend in trouble and was sentenced a year later into life imprisonment. Had the investigations been carried accordingly, it would not have taken that long to realize that the evidence provided did not directly link him to the crime. The social circle could yes have left chances of leaving the hair in the vehicle, but conclusions without strict scrutiny left Driskell planted into a crime from the fact that the society wanted to justice served as the norm. Although the trail is terminated, the wrongful convict is not exonerated but instead a public enquiry is laid. Reliability of witnesses was highly regretted. There are those innocent persons who entirely have no counter information that would clear their names from the crime books (Jarvis, 2009). On the realization that nothing can be done to alter the situation, they at some point end up pleading guilty to ease the burden of more years in jail while in the real sense they should be free. Hanemaayer’s case of 1987 serves as the best example to emphasize this hard truth. He was charged in connection to the assault, knifepoint, of a young girl aged 15 years. Less a day in jail from the two years sentence in jail lead him to plead guilty from the fears now brought to reality of the life that awaited him. His fears lead him to plead guiltily and were orchestrated by the fear of a longer jail term as advised by his then lawyer. It was not until a confession was taken seriously by a group against wrongful conviction that the innocent victim walked after acquaintance. This event indicated how far fear can go to define the actions resulting from criminal acts by others (Macleans," n.d., para. 1). What happens when one pleads guilty, and the evidence testing does not take place only because the society takes it directly that the victim can only be guilty from the fact that crime is unacceptable. Since 1997 to 2003, Simon Marshall was wrongfully imprisoned after confessing to sexual assault string of crimes. Had it been known that he was mentally disturbed, he would have been a free man. Why was the DNA evidence provided in this case not tested? Although Simon Marshall’s criminal record was expunged and ruled as a justice miscarriage, the society has every reason to distrust the legal system in their pursuit to serve justice. It was also realized that the police concerned with this investigation were under several breaches of conduct at their task. The wrongs of one lead to the conviction of the other. $2.3 million compensation awarded to Simon would not have been lost into the public system if everyone attended to their tasks accordingly (Botting, 2010). A poll in Canada in the near past involved the society by getting their opinion on persons they deemed the worst criminals. Does a deviant act imply that one is guilty? Some of the named individuals could be innocent, yet the act of deviance labels them as criminals without a second consideration. These crimes are rated according to their gravity. The society does not accept crimes. It is, therefore, imperative to realize that crime tagging should not be concluded by the day’s judgment; however, follow up activities should follow these convictions whether wrongful or not to eradicate any chances of jailing a free individual (Botting, 2010). References Botting, G. (2010). Wrongful conviction in Canadian law. Markham, Ont.: LexisNexis. Huff, C. R. (2008). Wrongful conviction international perspectives on miscarriages of justice. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Canadas most notorious - Macleans.ca. (n.d.). Macleansca. Retrieved June 15, 2014, from http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/canadas-most-notorious/ CBC News. (2010, October 14). Canadas wrongful convictions. CBCnews. Retrieved June 15, . 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-s-wrongful-convictions-1.783998 Jarvis, J. (2009). The Wrongful Conviction Of Forensic Science. Forensic Science Policy & Management: An International Journal, 17-31. Leo, R. A. and Gould, J. B. (2009). Studying Wrongful Convictions: Learning From Social Science. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Vol 7:7. Pearson, R. G. (2005). A Strongly Held, But Wrong Conviction. Science, 1814b-1814b. Read More