173 Reflective Journal. Week 1: Aims of the criminal Justice system This week was essentially an introductory topic and provided me with a basic understanding of the aims and operations of the criminal justice system. I learned that there is a number of different steps within the criminal justice system and the involvement of all the parties involved such as police, judge and jury and the defence. According to John Champion the main purpose of the criminal justice system is to process and prosecute individuals who commit crimes against society and to deal out suitable punishments for these individuals. This is a pivotal part in terms of maintain the functioning of society and to ensure that people don’t go around breaking laws wherever and whenever they want.
Assess the usefulness of functionalist approaches in explaining crime The functionalist approach to analysing deviance and the causes of crime looks at society as a whole. It explains crime that the source of criminal behaviour lies in the nature of society itself rather than in psychology or biology. Functionalists such as Durkheim see deviance as an inevitable and necessary part of society and too little is unhealthy. Some also consider crime to have positive aspects for society. In this essay we will assess the usefulness of these functionalist theories, and look at how it helps us explain crime.
Mr. Beccaria and other members of the Classical School fought for punishment to be set by legislative instead of judges having all of the authority for punishment. The members of the Classical School of Thought believed that preventing crime was more important than punishing the criminal. When criminals know what the punishment is going to be for the crimes that they are going to commit it will help to deter the crimes from being committed. When people do commit crimes the crime is done of their own free will. This procedure of knowing the punishment with it being severe to the
Module 1 Homework Assignment CRJ100: Introduction to Justice Administration Timothy Sox Brian Danigole May 29 2012 1. What is an institution of social control? Explain how criminal justice is an institution of social control. Institution of social control: an organization that persuades people through subtle and not-so-subtle means to abide by the dominant values of society. Criminal justice is part of the institution of social control, because they persuade you to follow social values.
They STOP THE INCARCERATION AND START THE REHABILITATION 15 participate in anger management courses and substance abuse counseling if necessary, and do manual labor on the facility grounds or in the community. (Clark, 2013). Although shock incarceration is a better solution then adult prisons, it has been criticized over its incidents involving abuse of inmates by staff. (Cullen, 2012) Punishment and rehabilitation are a major part of the criminal justice system and will be effective in controlling crime if there is a way to incorporate the two factors to work together. Punishing and following up with rehabilitation through community supervision can help prevent crime.
Consensus Theory CRJU: 4300-992 Dr. David Montague June 18th, 2012 Introduction The consensus theory of criminal law states that society makes its own path and that path is an outcome of social needs and values. The consensus theory’s main purpose is to satisfy a majority at large. The consensus model depends on the idea that society is an integrated whole that seeks stability. There are some laws that represent consensus among people, such as [homicide].In a consensus model, law becomes more important as society becomes more impersonal, because the law is a formalized way of enforcing previously informal social norms. Consensus theory means any area dealing with a problem where several objects must be simplified to one.
Every ethical theory has its own unique way on looking into issues. Utilitarian stands out the most to me because it stands for the belief that moral rules should be choices made by a society to promote the happiness of its members. Through the utilitarian view the argument could be made that these prisoners are being treated to good and not good enough. If this theory was utilized within the jail system many issues would be solved and go along with the right and not wrong. I was a Correction Officer for a few years in the city jail called Rikers Island.
Affect on society Community corrections affect society because some people do not feel safe knowing that there is a criminal out and about with the freedom to do whatever, he or she pleases. A person, whom commits a crime while in the community, will return to jail to finish up his or her time that he or she was sentenced, depending on the new crime committed, whether it is the same crime or not, the offender can have time added to his or her present sentencing. Hypothesis and Effectiveness Community corrections are forms of discipline that works when it is directed toward the correct group of people. Every person deserves a second chance, unless you are a person whom thinks that killing a person, is a good way to solve
Assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems. Illustrate your response with sociological arguments and evidence. To assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems, I will first look at what official statistics are, I will then look at crime and suicide as two examples of social problems. I will look at how both Positivists and Interpretativists use these statistics and how useful each of these sociological approaches find them. Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law.
People being labelled (negatively) will always be affected according to their label, and society plays an important role in the labelling process. In the next few paragraphs the contribution of Becker as an exponent of the labelling perspective will be discussed along with the process of labelling and the typology of deviants. Labelling as a cause of crime According to the Study Guide (The explanation of crime), Becker shortly discussed the way different sets of rules affect the theory of labelling as a cause of crime while developing his theory. This labelling theory, also known as the societal reaction theory does not only define deviants, it can also make them. When someone is labelled an offender they are forced by society to live according to this label which could minimise their chances of being law abiding citizens and limit their chances of finding decent jobs.