Crime And Criminal Justice System

Reiman and Leighton comprehensively begin the discussion of crime by outlining their main objectives, establishing the immediate problems surrounding crime control in America, and setting the groundwork for their premises. In recent years, the crime rate in the United States has declined. This decline is generally attributed to ‘tough on crime’ and mass incarceration policies, but the authors are quick to assert that other variables--economic, social-- are greater contributors to this decrease, with the ‘imprisonment binge’ only actually contributing a small amount to the decline. These strict crime enforcement policies might have a small impact on crime prevention, but criminologists are concerned with the potential effect such policies might have on criminal justice procedures--promoting profit rather than safety-- and endangering citizens’ rights (particularly those considered minorities).

Criminology is focused on the attempt to understand the meanings involved in social interaction. Theorists have tried to explain sociological behaviour by looking at the patterns created by individuals that commit crime. The August 2011 riots are pivotal in explaining criminological behaviour since official statistics show that 865 individuals were put in prison by the 9th September 2011 for offences related to the disorder between 6th and 9th August 2011. This is not to say that others were not involved, but that they have simply not been identified to date and may never be identified, however the evidence we do have about the recent riots gives us plenty to talk about. This essay will

Criminalisation, a process through which certain actions/behaviour becomes illegal, is a main component of the PIC (Gordon, 1999). Actions and behaviour only becomes ‘crime’ after it has been legally (or sometimes culturally) labelled (Gordon, 1999). This also occurs when the enforcers of the law target certain groups within society for power and control. An example of criminalisation of a specific group in society is the target of homeless people where the state attempts to control homeless people through making legal policies that stretch from sleeping in public spaces to making informal trading for some income on the streets illegal, giving them grounds to be punished and either fined or incarcerated (Fooks & Pantazis, 1999). Women who have substance abuse are criminalized through the new-implemented policies that could send them to jail or have a ban from being qualified for state benefits if doctors were to ever find evidence of drug use during their pregnancy

Mojo is another interactive, participatory and architectural surveillance art work of Moeller in San Pedro, California 2007. It is a 45 inches height beam, which is similar to a street light beam, which attaches with an arm-like robotic and automatic tracking spotlight. “Before the wall came down between East and West Germany, if you walked in the forest near the border, you might find yourself in the middle of such a light” Moeller said. “Would that be fun? Probably not. But the way Mojo looks takes us out of this context of evil-looking tools of repression. Think about a clown in the circus or the follow spot in a Broadway musical. Is the sculpture intended to communicate that other layer or not? I leave that up to the people who experience

The purpose of this essay is to discuss whether a perspective of social harm is more advantageous and useful over that of crime. In order to explore these advantages, this essay will look at the aetiology of crime from a legal perspective; which is arguably very narrow and individualistic in nature. As well as from a perspective of social harm, which is possibly more progressive as it broadens an understanding of ‘crime’ over that of many other serious harms.

This is where the abolitionist approach comes in. The term ‘crime’ when used with reference to the abolitionist position should be understood as ‘social conflict’, an ‘accident’ or a ‘problematic event’ from this point in the essay, as abolitionist believe in the reconceptualising of the notion of crime. Abolitionism emerged in the 1960s as an anti-prison movement, it was viewed as a way of reconstructing the social control of crime and deviance (Cohen, 1985). It holds that the role of the criminal justice system should be reduced drastically, and other methods of dealing with deviant behaviour should be adopted. The aim of this approach was to reduce the level of suffering offenders face, pushing for the state and society to rethink punishment and consider the human involved. They see crime as the result of social order and fail to see how punishment is an appropriate reaction. The view here is that there should be minimal involvement in personal lives of individual, but a central focus on care for all members of society. Seeing more importance in reconciliations, as a way to restore both the criminal and the victims of crime within society. Concerning themselves with the integrity and dignity of these individuals in society. The belief within the abolitionist approach is that threatening or punishing criminals is ineffective, sanctions clearly do not work and reoffending rates support this, making offenders feel oppressed and marginalising them within the community only

From the 19th century to the 20th, crime control state agencies have become instilled with ‘penal welfarism’ and rehabilitation. However since then they’ve been dominated by risk management, incapacitation and retribution. In clarifying this change Garland; the formal organisations of crime control have a tendency to be responsive. Garland states “too often our attention focuses on the state’s institutions and neglects the informal social practices upon which state

The concept of ‘crime’ is something that depends on time, place, and other influences. For this reason, researchers have been trying to get criminologists to rethink their definitions of ‘crime’ and consider the idea of ‘social harm’ which could help better explain the causes of human suffering and the definitions of ‘crime’ and ‘criminals’ and broaden the application of criminal justice. What this rethinking can do for criminologists broadly is give them a broader picture of human psychology as well as the range of harms that individuals, communities, or whole societies experience. In this context this can include crime in the sense of activities of individuals as well as government and institutions.

The legal definition of crime is “an act of violation of a criminal law for which a punishment is prescribed; the person committing it must have intended to do so and must have done so without legally acceptable defence or justification” (Walsh & Hemmens 2008:2). Alternatively, deviance is any social behaviour which departs from that regarded as ‘normal’ or socially acceptable within a society or social context (Jary & Jary 1991:160). The underlining focus of my essay is The Criminal Justice System in England and Wales which is a key public service consisting of various bodies and individuals including: the Police, Crown Prosecution Service, Her Majesty’s Court Service, National Offender Management Services (Probation and Prisons) and Youth Justice Board.

The central problem was that 'wholesale improvement in social conditions resulted in not a drop in crime but rather the reverse' (Young 1998, p.159). Critical criminology had a significant impact on academic criminology over two decades ago but still remains important and influential today. "The new criminology had a brief period of decline and is now experiencing a resurgence of interest and influence" (Walton & Young 1998). Critical criminologists raise a number of important questions and see crime as a process related to wider economic and political structures of power. They question the way social control operates and is used. They explain crime as a result of the alienation and powerless of the working class, controlled by capitalism.

Social class and crime and punishment has always been an issue in the UK if not globally. For the elite, the criminal justice system serves a purpose to deter and prevent crime, but the reality is that the poor are punished for crimes they commit more so than those of a upper class who commit the same crime. The question is who is to blame for this image of the poor being criminals and the working class crime phenomenon, is it the moral Panic created by the media to distract from the reality of the white collar corporate crime being carried out by the most powerful of society or is it down to Poverty, Labelling, economic and social positioning which all contribute to deviant behaviour. The aim of this essay is to provide a critical criminological view of the punishment of the poor with a wide range of theories and ideas to contribute to the understanding of the poor being punished from the 18th century to today 's contemporary society. It will aim to develop an understanding how criminals and deviant behaviour were defined and perceived from historical periods to now.

Criminology is the definition of our crime today, it defines many aspects and elements that challenge our common sense understanding of crime. The term ‘Criminology’ was first introduced into the English language in Garland 1988 by a criminologist Havelock Ellis (jones, 2013, pp. 2-3). However criminology was present in the 1860’s as Henry Maudsley a medic that worked in the prison systems to study insane and feeble - minded criminals (jones, 2013, pp. 2.) Criminology gives an understanding to those that seek justice although some victims may prevent crime or encourage it to gain the same significance. The reasoning of crime has changed considerably over the past 40 years, some say it was the change of the criminal justice system abolishing Capital punishment in 1965, or just the development in different legislations. Making punishment more psychological rather than physical punishment may have increased the velocity of the crime rate today as some may argue it is less harsh. Criminology is one to justify these changes to prevent criminal offences. Criminology is enforced to understand and analyse the extent of offences and how legislation is formed and put into practice. Development in crime in our

The Criminal Justice System, a system the British government set up to deal with the treatment of law-breakers, has three main goals to achieve social order, these are, (1) enforcing criminal law, (2) maintaining law and order in the society, and (3) helping victims. This may seem to be a well thought of system, but like any other organisation, there are flaws, and one of the major flaws is discrimination, and the bias that stems from discrimination.

Classical criminology is “usually seen as the first ‘real’ criminology” (Tierney,2009), due to its emergence in the eighteenth century, heralded by scholars Jeremey Bentham and Cesare de Beccaria. It is centred on the ‘act’ rather than the ‘offender’, as well as the use of punishment as a deterrence. Yet whilst classical criminology has evolved slightly over time, it’s narrow minded focus on the ‘offence’ rather than the ‘offender’ can result in the overlooking of crucial details that may have facilitated the offence. Such details can include low-socio economic upbringing, mental health issues or social inequality. Therefore, when dealing with youth crime in Melbourne, only a limited amount of crime is explainable as classical

Criminal Diversity Thesis Statement Although it is hard to make a statement that only certain groups are involved with criminal activities, some people are far more likely than others to commit offenses and or being victimized. Discussion The decade of 80’s saw an increasing apprehension of crime escalation in both the United States and Europe. In Britain, for instance, during the decades of 70, 80 and 90, the crimes reported have increased thrice in numbers. For instance, during the decade of 70’s, around 1.6 million offenses were recorded as compared to the increased number of crimes in 1992 that numbered to 5.4 million crimes in England. These increasing numbers have unquestionably focused the attention of politicians, investigators,